The Chosen?

The Bible says that God chose Christians. In fact, it says that He “chose us in Him before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4). It also says that he “predestined” us (Eph. 1:5). We are “elect according to the foreknowledge of God” (I Pet. 1:2). There is no denying that the Bible states these things. The debate is about what they mean.

In Acts 2 the Jews asked Peter, “What shall we do?” (v. 37). Some preachers say there is nothing we can do to be saved. If that is true, then why didn’t Peter correct these people? Why didn’t he say, “It’s not about you doing anything. It’s entirely and only a matter of God’s grace. You were born a sinner and there’s nothing you can do. You can only be saved if God sends the Holy Spirit to regenerate your heart and give you faith.” But that’s not what happened. They asked Peter what to do and he told them what to do: “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins: and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (v. 38).

Peter told these people, “Be saved from this perverse generation” (v. 40). If they had no choice about being saved or lost, why would he say this? Remember that Peter and the other apostles were speaking by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And that brings up another question: If these people had no choice in the matter, why was he preaching to them to begin with?

What then do verses mean when they say that God chose and predestined us? Here’s an illustration. The Bible says when God saw how wicked the world was, “it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him in his heart” (Gen. 6:6, KJV). Now the father of much of this modern talk about us not being able to choose was John Calvin. But even he admitted that verses like Genesis 6:6 and others are figurative. God is speaking to us as a man would speak. That is common in the Bible. God’s repenting in Genesis 6:6 is no more literal than His rising up early in the morning in Jeremiah 7:25. God speaks to us and even describes Himself in a way we can understand—on our level. If we can see this in other verses, we should have no trouble interpreting the words “chosen” and “predestined.” God chose us because He saw through His infinite foreknowledge that we chose Him. In that sense He predestined and chose us—in pre-recognition of our free choice, not without it.

Kerry

West End church of Christ • April 6, 2025