The Divine Choice Of God

“You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain”                                                                                    

                                                                                                                                           – John 15:16.

There is a very clear line between how God and man make choices.  Man makes common choices everyday of his life; such as what to eat, what to wear, where to live, where to attend school, who to marry, what career path to choose, his belief system, what car to drive, how to raise their children, etc. These are normal choices that God obviously knows about, but he does not pre-determine them; these choices aren’t critical to his eternal plan, and were not made for man before the foundation of the world. These human choices are always made in real time. God allows us to make these choices whether they’re good or evil, unabated. Sure other people can influence us in one way or another, but ultimately, the decision to choose what we do is ours. And if we’re honest, the majority of mankind makes these choices without consulting the Lord first would you not agree? Man wants to be his own sovereign and does not want to be told what to do, not even by God Almighty. In short, man does not care what God thinks. That’s why he commits evil wicked choices everyday.

When it comes to God  choosing whom he wants for whatever reason, it never requires man’s cooperation or approval to actualize His plan. When God makes a decree, it’s done outside of time, because He is outside of time, and at the precise moment in time He wants to effectively make His plan come to pass in the life or lives of those He chooses, it will come to pass, it will not tarry. This truth encompasses the whole of scripture. Let’s look at several texts to amplify this point:

God chose Noah – Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord (Genesis 6:8). By faith Noah being divinely warned of things not seen, moved with godly fear prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith (Hebrews 11:7).

God chose Abraham – And he (Abraham) believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness (Genesis 15:6). Righteousness was deposited in Abraham’s account by God because he believed in the promises of God. God didn’t need Abraham’s approval to choose him. God pre-determined Abraham’s fate.

God commissioned Moses to deliver the Hebrews from Egypt – Moses like us made excuses as to why he could not do what God commanded, but since it was in the pre-determined plan of God to choose Moses, it was going to come to pass as God prescribed it would (Exodus 3:14; Exodus 4).

God chose David to be King of Israel – Samuel the judge was sent to Bethlehem to anoint David with oil to be the next king of Israel (I Samuel 16:13). This was a choice God made alone to set his particular love upon David. Neither David’s good looks or pedigree influenced the Lord’s decision.

God chose Jeremiah as a prophet to the nations before he was born – Before I formed you in the womb I knew you. Before you were born I sanctified you, and ordained you a prophet to the nations (Jeremiah 1:5). Although Jeremiah was a chosen vessel, he wanted to resign his office as prophet because to him the word of the Lord was too hard to declare; it brought extreme pain and ridicule. Our humanness and sin will always be an obstacle when we’re endeavoring to do God’s will (Jeremiah 20:7-9; Romans 7:15-25).

God chose the nation Israel out of all the nations of the earth – For you are a holy people (not because of them, but because of God) to the Lord your God. God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the people of the earth. The Lord did not set his love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because the Lord loves you (I John 4:19), and because He would keep the oath which he swore to your fathers (a covenant promise with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob), the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of Pharaoh king of Egypt (Deuteronomy 7:6-8).

The Lord sovereignly chose Cyrus king of Persia to authorize the Hebrews to return to Israel – Thus says the Lord to his anointed, To Cyrus whose right hand I have held – to subdue nations before him, and loose the armor of kings; to open before him the double doors, so that the gates will not be shut. I will go before you, and make the crooked places straight. I will break in pieces the gates of bronze, and the cut the bars of iron. I will give you the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, the Lord who call you by name Am the God of Israel for Jacob, My servant’s sake, and Israel My elect (emphasis added). I have even called you by your name; I have named you, though you have not known Me (Isaiah 45:1-4).

Here God chose king Cyrus, a gentile king. At the time of this prophecy, it was nearly 150 years before king Cyrus was even born. Cyrus in 538 B.C. was stirred by the Spirit of the Lord to proclaim through out his kingdom that God commanded him to build the Lord’s house in Jerusalem (Ezra 1:1-4).

This was all by the foreknowledge and pre-determined plan of God. Cyrus for this purpose was God’s instrument and his elect. God chose Cyrus before he was born. God didn’t wait for Cyrus to say yes to authorize his plan; God authorized it in eternity past himself, and actualized it in real time through his servant.

Jesus commissions Peter, Andrew, James and John – And Jesus walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fisherman. Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” They immediately left their nets and followed Him. Jesus also called James and John to follow Him. They left their nets and their father, and followed Jesus (Matthew 4:18-22).

Jesus commanded these men to follow and they obeyed. God didn’t provide an ultimatum. Their names were written in the Lamb’s book of life so therefore they were from eternity past chosen by God the Father as a gift to the son (Luke 10:20).

Saul (name changed later to Paul) was chosen by God to preach the gospel to the Gentiles – The Lord speaking to Ananias said, “Go for he (Saul) is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before the Gentiles, kings and children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake” (Acts 9:15).

Although Paul was persecuting and imprisoning Christians, God called him to be a preacher to the Gentiles. This proves that even the chosen can resist God’s will until such time God effectually calls the chosen sinner to repentance. This of course was unbeknownst to Paul at the time. He was a chosen vessel by God in eternity past, and God effectually called him at the precise time He desired Paul to repent and be baptized. God chose Paul, not the other way around.

II Corinthians 1:1 says that Paul is an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God (italics added).

I Timothy 1:1 says Paul and apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Savior (italics added).

The apostle Peter declares us a chosen generation – In 1 Peter 2:4 says we’re chosen by God. In verse 9 it says we’re a chosen generation and a royal priesthood, and a holy nation, His own chosen people (italics added).

The point I’m hoping to drive home is that when God chooses man, it benefits him, but it’s not because of him; it’s because of God who does everything according to His own good pleasure and intention (Ephesians 1:5,9).

God’s choice is an elective divine prerogative that glorifies himself. God will not share his glory with another (Isaiah 42:8; 48:11). God’s divine choice is something he always does, alone. None of the people God chooses for salvation think for one minute that their freedom of choice is being violated. Why? Because they know they have been saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8,9). God’s choosing is never apart from our will. Our will has to be altered by God at the moment of his effectually calling  us to himself or else we would never believe God’s word. This process never precludes human responsibility either. Somehow, God’s sovereign will and human responsibility are the two dynamics that mysteriously operate in God’s effectual call. God is always is the aggressor and provider in this process because it’s God’s plan and his doing. Man is passive in salvation and is the blessed recipient in this plan (i.e. the elect); he can not add to it by his obedience, and he can not subtract from it by his disobedience. This plan is fixed and complete in the mind of God (Romans 8:29,30; Ephesians 1:4;Titus 1:2). God’s sovereign elective choice is totally independent of man’s influence; man however is the object of the Father’s affection in His sovereign choice.

Isaiah 55:11 says, “So shall My word be that goes out of my mouth; It shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it “ (Emphasis added). God’s words always prevails, it never fails.

 “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the statues of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether” (Psalm 19:7-9).

 So you see, the pendulum swings both ways; man chooses what he wants to do not fearing reprisal from God. How much more does the sovereign of the universe have the right to choose what He wants to do in the realm of his own creation? God is never accountable to man, nor will he ever be. In predestination, and divine choice, God’s perfect will trumps man’s will every time. In human choice, man can choose what he wants( precluding salvation on his own), but it doesn’t mean he can always accomplish what he wants if God or man prevents him.

God always does what he wants (Psalm 115:3).

Finally, I heard someone say, God doesn’t see a thing as just and does it, God does it and then the thing becomes just because He is just.