We Belong To God!

When we count our spiritual blessings we must be careful to note that we belong to God. Fact: God deliberately chose us to become his people; we actually belong to Him!   

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4, According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5, Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. (Ephesians 1:3-6)

This is a tremendous blessing from God our Heavenly Father (Eph. 1:4-6)! He did not choose us because we were deemed worthy or merited it by our outstanding performance. No, His selections are a matter of extraordinary grace. He dealt with us not according to what we deserved, but according to His goodness, love, grace, and mercy (Titus 3:4-7).

God, our Heavenly Father, has chosen us (Eph. 1:4). Look at what verse four says, “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world….” This of course is the marvelous biblical teaching of election, a doctrine that has caused most of us to scratch our heads. I am among the first to admit I do not fully understand the teaching, but I do believe it.

Very likely all of us as genuine Believers in Christ will agree that salvation begins with God, and not with us. Note the words of our Lord Jesus, “Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you” (John 15:16 see also Matt 9:12-13). As lost sinners, left to our own traditions and habits, we would never have sought the Lord God (Rom 3:10-11; 1Cor. 2:14); this profound reality is clearly attested in the Word. It was the true and living God who in peerless love sought us out and rescued us from the ravages of awful sin (Luke 19:10; John 6:44, 65).

So what is the Bible referring to when Paul used the term “chosen” in verse four. Well “chosen” means exactly what you think it does: to make a choice; to pick out; to select. In this context it refers to the biblical fact that God choose individuals to salvation. The entire process of being exposed to the Gospel, conviction by the Holy Spirit, and the sinner believing the truth is spelled out in other places (2Thess. 2:13-14). Still the Scriptures repeatedly refer to Believers as “elect according to the foreknowledge of God” (1Pet. 1:2). God actually laid his affections on some and the end result is the salvation of those selected. The Scriptures teach that we can know whether we are elect by our response to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We who hear and believe are also selected by God (1Thess. 1:4-7). According to the Apostle Paul, God made this selection “before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4). Clearly there was no one around to influence God’s decision! God was entirely free in His choices to save sinners.  

Well, speaking about this subject in this manner makes us a little uneasy at times. Allow me to clarify what I do not mean by the previous statements. There is nowhere in the entire Bible where it is taught that God chooses men to be lost. The fact that He chooses some to be saved does not imply that He arbitrarily condemns all the rest unfairly. God NEVER condemns people who deserve to be saved (there are none)! He is; however, extremely guilty of saving people who ought to be condemned to the Lake of Fire forever! Compare Rom. 9:23 to 9:22.  God prepares vessels of mercy to glory, but He does not prepare men for destruction: “they do this for themselves by their unbelief.” God simply respects their decision (MacDonald).

Sometimes we feel like God is being unfair to some people because they were not selected. The truth is God did not have to select anyone at all and He would have been justified to do so. We all deserve Hell forever since every single one of us has sinned. No one even deserves to hear the Good News once; it is an act of mercy and grace when the message falls upon the ears of lost humanity. When God chose some to be saved it was a demonstration of grace in the extreme. Why should he be viewed as a shady character because He chooses to show love and mercy to people who did not deserve it? The teachings connected to election fully recognize that God is really GOD. He is sovereign, that is, He can do what He wants, when He wants, with whomever He wants, and however often He wants. When he behaves like God, no one can object because we are all fallen sinners who deserve the worst, but God gracious selected some to have His best instead. If one lifeguard discovers four people drowning, but he only manages to rescue three of them, is he a villain because he did not save all of them? It has been well said, God can do as He pleases, although He never pleases to do anything unjust. If left alone, ALL men would be lost. Does God then have the right to show mercy to some?

No doubt someone is thinking to themselves, “This is not the full picture!” What about human free will and the power of human choice? If you are asking this question you would be correct to do so. The incredible Word of God squarely teaches human responsibility also. The same Bible declares sovereign election and human responsibility. One implication of this is that no one can use the doctrine of election as an excuse for not being saved. God makes a bona fide offer of salvation to all people everywhere (John 3:16; 3:36; 5:24; Rom. 10:9, 13). Anyone can be saved by repenting of sin, and believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, if a person is lost, it is because he chooses to be lost, not because God desires it. Remember God is not willing that any should perish, but that “all should come to repentance” (2Pet. 3:9). Unfortunately many are not willing to repent believing the Gospel of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins.

It remains then that the same Bible explicitly proclaims election and free salvation to all who will receive it.  In fact both teachings are found in the same verse: “All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me; and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37). The first half of the verse speaks of God’s sovereign choice; the last half extends the offer of mercy to all humanity. I fully appreciate the difficulty these teaching present to the human mind. I have decided to accept them both by faith. God said it and I believe it. The questions do not automatically disappear, “How can God choose some and yet offer salvation freely to all men?” Frankly, we may never fully grasp this even with glorified minds…. We must humble ourselves admitting that God is grander and greater than we can comprehend.  

The point here is that we are extremely blessed because we belong to God, and He belongs to us! We can understand and appreciate the fact that we are His, and He is ours. You and I, as the people of God, do not need to accommodate whatever whelms, dictates, or requirements of the lost or unsanctified in order to feel like we ‘fit in.’ We do not need to conduct our lives compromising our spiritual integrity just to gain the approval of the ‘in crowd.’ We do not have to give up our bodies in sinful sex to seize some sense of belonging to someone. We are free from all these type temptations because we understand that we belong to God, and He belongs to us. This is the wonderful gift He affords us when we drink in deeply the truth that He selected you and me for Himself. What an awesome privilege afforded us as Believers. This we can rejoice in and give thanks unto the God who chose us for Himself! Beloved, bless the LORD for this completely outrageous spiritual blessing! Live daily in freedom from the temptation to compromise to merely be accepted by worldly and wicked individuals. The most important Person in the universe is your Heavenly Father; this is enough for certain. Beloved, acknowledge how blessed you are and live in the power and grace of belonging to Almighty God!