God applies the gospel according to His sovereign choice. Before the creation of the world, He chose particular individuals to eternal salvation, not based on foreseen faith, but based only on His good pleasure alone.

God’s Sovereign Choice

Romans 9:1-24

David and Courtney were newlyweds and head over heels in love. They were just starting their life together. They had moved into a new apartment and were just getting settled, when the next door neighbors knocked on their door. When David and Courtney answered the door, the neighbors said, “Hi, we’re your next door neighbors, and we wanted to welcome you to the apartments here. We’ve brought you some hot homemade bread and chocolate chip cookies.”  After they had chatted a while, the visitors told David and Courtney that they had just started attending a little church just down the street, and would they like to come with them this Sunday? Although David and Courtney didn’t attend church and weren’t really very interested in spiritual things they surprised themselves by agreeing to go.  That Sunday the pastor preached the gospel. He spelled out Ruin by the Fall, Redemption by the Blood of Christ, and Regeneration by the Spirit. As the pastor taught the congregation about the sinfulness and guilt of all people, but also of the free grace, love and forgiveness that God offers in Christ, Courtney became convicted of her own sin and guilt. She became fearful that she was headed for hell. At the same time she began to hope it was possible for her to receive God’s forgiveness and mercy. At the end of the sermon, when the pastor asked those who were not Christians to repent of their sin and put their trust in Christ for salvation, she did just that. David, on the other hand, thought the pastor’s sermon was a bunch of nonsense, and rejected it. That was 30 years ago.  Over the years Courtney’s life has been transformed into a devout, loving, gracious, prayerful Christian. However, David, remained the same man he had always been. The question I want to ask you this morning is, “Why?”  Both David and Courtney heard the exact same sermon, by the same pastor, on the same morning, in the same church building. Why was Courtney saved while David remained an unbeliever?

That is the question I want to seek to answer for you from the Word of God. Before we dive into this subject you need to know that there are two different answers that Christians give to that question. Some Christians say that the reason one person is saved and not another lies in the free will of the sinner. Some sinners make a decision of their free will to believer, while other sinners make a decision of their free will not to believe. In this way of thinking, God has done everything He can possibly do for the salvation of the human race, and now it is up to us. They would say that the reason Courtney was saved and not David was because Courtney made herself to differ.

Other equally sincere Christians say that the reason Courtney was saved, and not David, was not the free will of Courtney, but the sovereign will of God. In other words, Courtney was just as sinful, depraved, and lost as David, but it was God who made her to differ. Furthermore, they say that God made the decision before He created the world that He would extend His sovereign grace to Courtney and grant her salvation and eternal life.

There was a time when almost everyone believed the earth was flat. It was a comfortable theory to live with – safe, easy to understand. Believing it didn’t make it true, but it made life easier to handle and more predictable. So when scientists began to affirm that the earth was round, contrary to the way it looked to everyone’s eyes, that it was spinning on its axis and floating in a great sea of space, people grew very alarmed. Our problem when we come to a passage like Romans 9 is that we have grown up thinking God is flat – safe, easy to understand and predictable, fitting comfortably into the pattern we have made for Him. We’ve got Him crammed into our nice, little, neat theological boxes. However, I think you are going to see today from Romans 9 that God cannot be contained in our nice, comfortable theological box. In fact in Romans 9, God comes bursting out of any box that we try to confine Him in. This chapter will challenge the thinking that whether you are saved or not is ultimately up to you. In fact, this chapter teaches that whether we are saved or not is ultimately up to God!

I, as your Pastor, am bound before God, to believe and preach what the Bible says is true – not what I want to be true. In 1990, this subject assaulted me like a ton of bricks. At first, I couldn’t accept it. My mind turned from it in horror. It took me a full year of reading, thinking, praying, and studying before I could fully surrender to the truth of God’s Sovereign Choice. You may be like I was 22 years ago. You may not like the message I have to preach today. You may argue with it, fight against it, reject it, ignore it, and slam your Bible shut and refuse to believe it. You may shake your fist at God and cry, “It can’t be. It’s not fair.” But none of that will change anything. Truth is still truth, and facts are still facts. Arguing against a truth in God’s Word is like banging your head against a rock. You can bang all you want, but it’s not going to destroy the rock. It’s only going to hurt you.

The first question that we tackled in our study of Romans was, “Why do We Need the Gospel?” Then we tackled the question, “How did God accomplish the Gospel?” Now we are going to ask the question, “How does God apply the Gospel?” He does it in 3 ways: according to His Sovereign Choice, according to His Irresistible Call, and according to His Invincible Goal.

If we are to understand Paul’s argument in Romans 9, we have to understand the problem that causes him to write this chapter. In Romans 9:1-2, Paul tells us that he has great sorrow and unceasing grief in his heart for the Jewish people of his day. What Paul is about to say is so shocking that he has to introduce it by saying that he’s not lying, his conscience bears him witness in the Holy Spirit. Well, how great is Paul’s sorrow and grief? Verse 3 says it is so great that if it were possible Paul would be willing to go to Hell, so that the Jews wouldn’t have to! He says that he could wish that he were accursed, separated from Christ for the children of Israel. In Romans 10:1 Paul says that his heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is for their salvation. Paul loves them so much, that if he could, he would be willing to be separated from Christ in hell for all eternity if it would just mean that they would be saved. The Jews of Paul’s day were accursed, separated from Christ, and headed for eternal damnation in spite of all the spiritual privileges God had granted them. In 9:4-5 Paul spells out 8 great privileges: to them belonged the adoption as sons, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the Law, the temple service, the promises, the patriarchs, and the Messiah had come into the world as a Jew Himself. The question this poses is in 9:6, “Does that mean the word of God has failed?” Does the fact that the majority of Israel have not believed on Jesus Christ mean that God has been unfaithful to His word? Now, what does it mean for the word of God to fail? The word “fail” means “to fall”. It’s the opposite of “to stand.” There is a parallel passage in Romans 9:11, “in order that God’s purpose according to His choice might stand.”  What Paul is saying is that the word of God has not failed – it stands. Then he tells us that God’s purpose stands. So, I understand “the word of God” in verse 6 to be “the purpose of God” in verse 11. So the question Paul is asking in verse 6 is, “Since the Jews have not believed on Christ as their Messiah and Savior, does that mean that God’s purpose has fallen to the ground?” And the resounding answer is “No!”  God’s purpose is related to His choice (9:11). The reason God’s purpose has not failed or fallen is because it was never God’s purpose to save every physical descendant of Abraham. That’s what Paul means at the end of verse 6 when he says, “For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel.” What Paul means is that they are not all God’s chosen people even though they are Jews according to the flesh. God never chose every member of the Jewish race to be saved. There was an elect group of Israelites among the Jewish people. And that’s the reason that the purposes of God have not fallen to the ground. God’s purposes haven’t failed because it was never God’s purpose to save every Israelite. It was God’s purpose to save some Jews, but not all. That’s why the majority have not believed on Christ.

So, Romans 9 is all about God’s Sovereign Choice. As we work our way through this theologically robust chapter, we are going to examine first, the Reason for God’s Sovereign Choice. Then we will examine the Reactions to God’s Sovereign Choice.

1.  The Reason For God’s Sovereign Choice: (9:6-13)

We Are Not Chosen Because of Human Descent (9:7-9)

In this passage Paul is clear – Isaac, not Ishmael was chosen to be included in the covenant. Paul points to Abraham’s two sons – Ishmael and Isaac. He says Isaac was chosen to be included in His covenant, while Ishmael was passed by. Then he explains by telling us that “it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants. For this is a word of promise: “At this time I will come, and Sarah shall have a son.” Simply because Ishmael was physically descended from Abraham didn’t mean he would be included in the covenant. Rather, it was Isaac, the child of promise who was included. Isaac was born according to God’s promise when it seemed humanly impossible. Abraham and Sarah were 90 and 100 years old, past the age for childbearing. Likewise, not every Jew who can trace his ancestry back to Abraham is a child of God, but those who have been born of the Spirit miraculously by God are the true children.  That’s why John the Baptist said in Luke 3:8, “Do not say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.”

It’s the same today. Just because you have Christian parents doesn’t mean you are saved and going to heaven. You must be born again! You must be a child of the promise. You must repent and believe on Christ for yourself. No child will enter heaven by hanging onto his Christian parent’s coattails. So, the first thing Paul teaches us is that God’s sovereign choice has nothing to do with natural, physical, human descent.

We Are Not Chosen Because of  Human Deeds (9:10-11)

Paul knows that some folks would say, “Well, sure, Ishmael wasn’t included in the covenant. His mother was an Egyptian slave! Furthermore, God passed him by when he was about 15 years old, after he had already disqualified himself by his sinful life.” So, in order to close that loophole, Paul brings in another example. He is going to prove here that Jacob was chosen to receive the birthright and the blessing over Esau. This was true even though both Esau and Jacob had the same Jewish parents, and the choice of Jacob was made before either one was even born.  In the example of Isaac over Ishmael, Paul was stressing that God’s choice is not dependent on human descent. In his example of Jacob over Esau, Paul is stressing that God’s choice is not dependent on human deeds. Notice in verse 11-12, “for though the twins were not yet born, and had not done anything good or bad, in order that God’s purpose according to His choice might stand, not because of works, but because of Him who calls, it was said to her, ‘The older will serve the younger.’” Paul is emphatic – Jacob wasn’t chosen over Esau because of any of his works. How could he be? He wasn’t even born yet!

If you tell me, “Brian, I’ve got a $20,000 car here. If you pay me $20,000, I’ll give you the car.” Now, I think we can all agree that that is works, not grace. But suppose you said, “Brian, I’ve got a $20,000 car, but I’m just going to give you the car.” We would all agree that’s grace, not works. But what if you said, “Brian, I’ve got a $20,000 car her, but I’ll be $19,999 gracious to you if you’ll simply pay me $1. Is that grace or works? In reality, he is still selling you the car, but just at a lower price. The principle is exactly the same. The car can be yours if you will pay a certain amount. You are selling the car, not giving the car, even if you sell it to me for only $1. You haven’t changed your principle, you have just lowered your price. If we try to say that God has done 99.99% of everything for your salvation, but he is requiring you to add your .01% which is your faith, salvation is still on the principles of human merit. It’s not a gift, because you had to add something of your own to get it. Until we accept the Biblical doctrine of God’s Sovereign Choice, we will never end up with a salvation of free grace. If God chooses me to salvation because He knows I will choose to believe of my free will, it’s not a free gift. I had to add something of my own to get it. But salvation is free! “Being justified as a gift by His grace” (Rom. 3:24).

Now you may say, “Brian, I know that my salvation is free, but isn’t it dependent on my will, my choice?  Romans 9:16 says, “So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.”  No, it doesn’t depend on your fickle, sinful will. If it did, all of us would end up in hell! It depends on God’s almighty, sovereign will!  Well, then, if God’s sovereign choice does not depend on human descent or human deeds, or even human choice, what does it depend on?

We Are Chosen Because of a Divine Determination (9:11-13)

Notice what Paul emphasizes in verses 11-13.  God’s Purpose – God’s Choice – God’s Call. It’s all God! If God has saved you, He didn’t do it on accident. He did it on purpose. And if He saved you on purpose, He formed that purpose before He even created the world. That’s exactly what Paul says in 2 Tim. 1:9, “He saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity.”  God had a purpose in saving sinners. It was to bring glory to His great and holy name. And so, to glorify Himself, God chose to save certain sinners. That is taking us back to God’s choice. And then in order to actually save those sinners God had chosen, He calls them. We’ll have much more to say about God’s Irresistible Call next Sunday.

Now, it was the custom of the day that the firstborn son would receive the birthright. However, God displays His sovereign choice, by passing by Esau and granting the birthright to Jacob, the second-born son. Further God says in verse 13, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” God says that He made the decision to love one and hate the other.

Now, of course, at this point, Paul anticipates that his readers are going to have some strong objections to what he has taught. And, every time I have taught these truths, I find people having the same strong reactions.  Let’s look at those reactions. We’ll see 2 different objections that Paul brings up, and then I’m going to bring up 2 more that I have heard from many different people.

2. The Reactions To God’s Sovereign Choice: (9:14-24)

Objection #1: God’s Sovereign Choice Makes Him Unfair! (9:14-18) 

Of course, the very first thing that occurs to us when we read that God chose Jacob and passed by Esau, even though neither one had even been born and hadn’t done anything good or bad, and that God loved Jacob but hated Esau, is “That’s not right! That’s not fair!” Now, the way you know whether you are understanding Paul’s argument correctly is that it will naturally lead to this objection. If your understanding of what Paul is saying doesn’t lead you to say, “That doesn’t seem fair”, you don’t understand his argument! Many preachers say, “Well, you see, the real reason God chose Jacob over Esau is because God knew that Jacob would have a spiritual bent and Esau would be a fleshly man.” I’ve heard that taught many times. But if that is true, then why in the world would Paul imagine an objector saying, “That’s unjust and unfair of God” as he does in 9:14?  So, what’s the answer to this charge? Is God unjust and unfair? Keep reading – “May it never be!”  Now, why does God’s sovereign choice not mean that He is unfair? You want justice and fairness? Then God’s going to have to cast the whole human race into hell!

No, God’s sovereign choice does not make God unjust, it makes Him merciful! That’s what this paragraph is emphasizing. Notice verse 15, “For He says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’”  Or again in verse 16, “So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.”  Or again in verse 18, “So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.”  And what does God do if someone tries to stop Him from showing mercy to His people, like the Pharoah of Egypt, who refused to let the children of Israel go free?  God hardens him, and then destroys him!

You say, “Brian, that still doesn’t seem right. Shouldn’t God save everybody?”  My friend, the doctrine of Election does not damn any man who ought to be saved; but it saves many men who ought to be damned! We’ve all sinned away our right to salvation and eternal life. The marvel is not that God doesn’t save everyone. The marvel is that God saves anyone! If there are 10 men on Death Row, and the Governor out of his goodness and mercy grants a pardon to one of them, is he being evil or good? Of course he’s being good. The Governor isn’t being unjust to the 9 that end up in the electric chair. They are getting what they deserve for their crimes. However he is showing great mercy to the 1, because he deserves to go to the electric chair just like the other 9.

Objection #2: God’s Sovereign Choice Makes Us Robots!  (9:19-23)

Paul’s imaginary objector is saying, “If what you are saying is true, and that nobody can really resist God’s will, why would He judge anyone? If those who are lost are lost because God has not decided to save them, then how can God righteously judge them? Aren’t they just doing what God has already determined? If so, how can God punish them for doing what He has determined?” That sounds logical right? Well, how does Paul respond?

Paul’s answer is, “Who are you to criticize the Almighty?!  God is the Creator, and you and I are the creatures. It’s insane for the creature to answer back to his creator! That’s not our place. Our place is to bow to His will.”

In this passage, Paul does not say that we are robots, but he does say that we are clay vessels. God is the potter, and we are the clay. Of course, a potter is absolutely free to make anything he wants to out of the clay. He can make an exquisite vase to place up on the mantle as an admired decoration, or he can make a garbage bucket out of it. It’s the potter’s right. He is the creator, so he is free to do whatever pleases him.

Now Paul tells us in verse 22-23 that God has made 2 kinds of vessels: vessels of wrath and vessels of mercy. Some scholars believe that this means that God created certain individuals to burn in hell and others to rejoice in heaven. But notice, that it says in verse 22 that God made from the same lump vessels of wrath and mercy. In order to suffer wrath there must be sin. In order to be shown mercy, there must be sin. Therefore, this lump is a fallen lump. When God elected certain persons to salvation, he did so as He considered them already to be fallen. Paul is not talking about God creating the lump. He’s talking about God creating two kinds of vessels out of clay that already exists. In other words, I don’t believe God chose some people to go to hell in the same way that He chose others to go to heaven. No, when God made His choice to save some, He considered them as already fallen. So, if it is possible to put an order on God’s decrees, I would see it like this:

1. God decrees to create the world.

2.  God decrees to permit the fall.

3.  God decrees to save a definite number of the human family by Christ.

Seen in this way, God is not predestining anyone to hell. They are already on their way to hell because they are fallen in Adam. But He is choosing to bring a bunch of sinners to heaven. God didn’t need to decide we would end up in hell, because we were already headed there. God’s election was God’s determination to save a great number of sinners who were headed for hell and could not save themselves.

Now, God demonstrates His wrath in the vessels of wrath, and He demonstrates His mercy in the vessels of mercy. God gets glory through the vessels of wrath just as He gets glory in the vessels of mercy. Remember that the glory of God is the demonstration of His attributes. Well, God demonstrates His wrath and power upon one kind of vessel, and His mercy upon the other kind of vessel. Both kinds of vessels bring God glory.

The bottom line – you and I are in no position to blame and criticize our Maker! He does what He wants, when He wants, where He wants, to whom He wants, because He is God, and we can’t call Him into question.

Objection #3:  God’s Sovereign Choice is Based on Him Foreknowing Who Would Believe (9:11-12) 

To be fair I need to be honest with you and tell you that the majority of Christians hold this view. There are two kinds of theology related to this issue:  Reformed and Arminian. Every Christian believes in Election. They have to. It’s in the Bible. The words “chosen” and “predestined” occur many times in your New Testament. The only difference between these two theological systems is whether they believe God’s Election is conditional or unconditional. Conditional Election means that God’s choice or election of certain people to salvation is conditioned by His foreseeing faith in them. Those who believe in “conditional election” believe that God looked down through the corridors of time and saw which people would believe on Him, and because they were going to choose Him, He chose them. Now, of course, this really wasn’t any choice on God’s part at all. At best, God was simply ratifying their choice. Unconditional Election is the doctrine that God made His choice of particular people to salvation apart from them meeting any condition at all. In other words, God’s choice of the sinner had nothing to do with anything they would do or anything within them at all. It was based on God’s good pleasure alone.

No, let me ask you, as we read Romans 9:11-13, does it support Conditional Election or Unconditional Election? Well, let’s read it, “for though the twins were not yet born, and had not done anything good or bad, because God looked down the tunnel of time and saw that Jacob would believe and Esau wouldn’t it was said to her, ‘The older will serve the younger.’ Just as it is written, ‘Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.’”  That’s not what it says does it? No, Paul puts the reason for God’s choice, not on what He foresaw Jacob and Esau would do, but on God’s purpose, God’s choice, and God’s call.

Now, let me ask you, “If God did look down the tunnel of time, what would He see? How many sinners would He see that would repent and believe without His grace?” None! God has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men, and what did He see? Well, we don’t have to guess. Psalm 14:2-3 tells us, “The Lord has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt; there is no one who does good not even one.”  If God were to look into His time tunnel, He would only see the entire human race rushing headlong into hell!  No, my friends, the Bible does not teach that God’s election is based on the fact that He foresees that we will believe. His election is unconditional. And thank God it is! If it were conditioned upon anything within us, we would all be lost!

Objection #4:  God’s Sovereign Choice is National, Not Individual and it is to Service, Not to Salvation

This objection goes like this: “Yes, it is true that God has made a sovereign choice. However, His choice was not of individuals. God did choose the nation of Israel to certain privileges like the ones spelled out in Romans 9:4-5. But God has not chosen particular people to eternal life. Well, let’s test that theory out against Paul’s argument here in Romans 9.

Remember the principle that we have been drilling over and over on Wednesday nights at our Bridge Group – context! Let’s look at the context again. Remember that Paul begins the argument by telling us how grieved and sorrowful he is that his countrymen are accursed and headed for eternal damnation, in spite of all their privileges. Then he goes on to tell them that not every person physically descended from Israel was true Israel. In other words there was a smaller group within Israel who were chosen. What were they chosen to? Well, verse 8 says they were “children of God.” Well, the phrase appears twice in Romans 8:16 and 8:21, and in both cases it refers to saved person. The expression “sons of God” appears in Galatians 3:26, and it refers to a person who has faith in Jesus Christ. Even in this very chapter, in 9:26, Paul speaks of sons of the living God as individuals, Jews or Gentiles, who have been called by God to salvation. So, every other time that Paul uses the expression “children of God” or “sons of God” he is speaking about someone who has received eternal salvation.

Then, notice verse 16, “So then it does not depend on the nation who wills or the nation who runs, but on God who has mercy.” What? It doesn’t say that? No, it is the man. Notice also that it is not the receiving of privileges or service that is mentioned, but of mercy!

Then in verse 18 Paul says, “So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.” Again, Paul’s concern is not nations, but individuals. Jacob and Isaac are examples of individuals that God had mercy upon, and Pharoah is an example of an individual whom God hardened.

Again, let’s examine 9:22-23.  In this section Paul describes vessels of wrath prepared for destruction. Furthermore he describes vessels of mercy prepared beforehand for glory. What do “destruction” and “glory” speak of? What do “wrath” and “mercy” speak of? It couldn’t be more clear. Paul is speaking of eternal salvation and eternal damnation.

Again, in verse 24, when Paul wants to tell us who these vessels of mercy are that God has prepared for glory, he doesn’t say that it was the nation of Israel. He says, “even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.”

Or, if you need further proof, just look at the larger context. Romans 9 comes after Romans 8 and before Romans 9:25-10:21. What is Paul speaking of in those chapters. Is it national privileges or individual salvation?  In Romans 8:28-39 it is all about God’s sovereign purpose to foreknow, predestine, call, justify, and glorify a particular people, and these people can not be separated from His love. I would say that’s referring to eternal salvation, wouldn’t you?  Let’s look at Romans 9:27, “it is the remnant that will be saved.” Or look at Romans 9:30-33. There Paul is talking about the righteousness which comes by faith. That clearly refers to salvation. Or 10:1, “Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation.”  I could show you many more references, but I think this is sufficient. Suffice it to say, that Romans 9 is not about National Privileges. It is about Individual Salvation.

Application:

Unbelievers

If you have never become a true believer in Jesus Christ, what does this passage have to say to you. Some unbelievers think it means that God is standing at the door of heaven, and people are thronging to get in the door, and God is saying, “Yes, you may come, but not you, or you, or you – yes, you may come, and you, and you, but not you.” That’s not the situation at all! Rather, God stands at the door of heaven with His arms stretched out, inviting all to come. However, everyone is running in the opposite direction towards hell as hard as they can go. So God, in election, graciously reaches out and stops this one, and that one, and this one over here, and that one over there, and effectually draws them to Himself by changing their hearts, making them willing to come.” If you aren’t saved, don’t go away from this sermon thinking that even though you want to be saved, you can’t, because God hasn’t chose you! If you are willing to be saved in God’s way, you can be saved. Are you willing to repent of your sin and trust in Christ alone? Then do it right now. If you do, it was because you are one of the elect! So, come to Jesus Christ this morning!  But what if I wasn’t chosen? Anyone who comes to Christ in repentance and faith was chosen. Election should never make you feel like you can’t be saved. It ought to make you feel like it is possible for you to be saved. Without election none could be saved, because we are all dead in our sin. Because of election, it’s possible for you to be saved. Why do you delay? Why do you resist? Come in faith to Christ today, and you will find out that you were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world!

Believers

Let this truth produce worship! That’s why Paul brings up the doctrine in Ephesians 1:3-6. He says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world.”  Bless God for your election! Get on your knees and worship God if you are a believer.

Let this truth produce a zeal for evangelism! If God has chosen a people out of every tribe, tongue, people, and nation that will be saved, then we need to get out there and preach the gospel to them so that they will be saved!  If God hadn’t chosen anyone, I wouldn’t waste my time evangelizing, because I believe what the Bible teaches about sinners – they won’t seek God, and they won’t come to Christ. Let the doctrine of God’s sovereign choice fire you up and put a passion in your soul to work together with God to bring in His elect!

Let this truth produce humility!  If you were saved by the right use of your free will, you could stand up in heaven, and look down at the man in hell and say, “I’m here because I chose to believe while he didn’t. I made myself to differ.” But God’s election eliminates all boasting because it teaches me I had nothing to do with producing or receiving my salvation!     1Cor.1:26-31

Let this truth produce holiness! Col.3:12-13 says, “And so, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.” Paul exhorts them to live a holy life. But what is this exhortation to holiness based on? 3 things that are true about them:  they are chosen of God, holy, and beloved. Let the fact that God has chosen you to salvation spur you on to live an obedient, holy life!

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