The Divine Election
“That is, in Christ, He chose us before the world was made so that we would be His holy people, people without blame before Him. Because of His love, God had already decided to make us His own children through Jesus Christ. That was what He wanted and what pleased Him”-Ephesians 1:4-5.
Ephesians 1:4-5 is one of many verses in the Bible that says that God choses us to be saved instead of us choosing to be saved. Why would God choose us? It is nothing that we do because there is no good in us without the help of the Holy Spirit. It is up to God and what He decides to do. He picked us to be saved even before He created the foundation of the world.
The decisions He makes brings Him glory, even if He pick sinners like us to be saved and to serve Him. He picks us instead of us picking Him. We are chosen by God so we cannot boast about ourselves or think we are better than others (Ephesians 2:8-9). If we were allowed to save ourselves, then no one will be saved because we are all wicked and none of us will choose God (Jeremiah 17:9).
God’s call to salvation is a divine call. When we get the divine call, we cannot say no, just like Paul when he got his call to serve Jesus while on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:3-6). Jesus also called the disciple Simon Peter and his brother Andrew to follow Him (Mark 1:16-18). We have no power over who gets saved except for God.
God is very merciful and wants everyone to come to repentance, but some will not because they are stubborn and refuse to change (2 Peter 3:9). God tells us to pray for the lost. It does not make sense. Why would God want us to pray for people who He did not pick to be saved? It is a mystery, but God still commands us to do so (James 5:16).
Pray of the day:
Dear heavenly Father,
It is by Your mighty power that we can live a life to serve You. Thank you for saving us from destruction even though we deserve it. Give us the power to turn from sin and turn to You instead for help. Please help others to know the truth of salvation and open their minds to understand the Gospel. You are worthy to be praised and we are grateful that You are our God. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen!
