8Pentecost2003 “God Chose You” Eph. 1:3-14
Aug. 3, 2003 (c) 2003, Rev. Robert C. Baker,
Redeemer Lutheran Church and School, Vero Beach, FL
Choices, choices, choices. It seems like every time you turn around, you’ve got to make a choice. Where to go? What to wear? What to eat? Do I stay in my job or look for another place to work? Public school, or private school? What movie is suitable for my teenager? Whom to elect into office? We are constantly bombarded with the command, “Make a choice!”
Of course, while those choices might be for a good end, on the opposite side of the coin, there are choices that have only a bad end. Pro-choice, which is just a euphemism (a nice word for a bad thing) for abortion. Euthanasia (choosing to die: someone else, which is murder, or yourself, which is suicide). Gay marriage (choosing whom you’ll marry, regardless of gender). Choosing not to come to church.
One Sunday outside the front door of a church, a little girl stood with her mother waiting for dad to bring around the car. An older gentleman approached the little girl and stuck out his fists, fingers tightly closed. “Little girl,” he said, “there’s a quarter in one of my hands. If you choose which hand, I’ll give it to you.” Not to be outfoxed, the
little girl replied, smiling, “And if you choose to tell me which hand it’s in, I’ll take it.”(1)
In our Epistle this morning, St. Paul talks about a choice, a choice that has everlasting consequences. Indeed, out of all the choices that have ever been made or ever will be made, this is the choice that lasts forever. But, there’s a catch. This choice isn’t
ours, it’s God’s. St. Paul tells us in our epistle, that God has indeed made a choice, without our involvement, without our opinion, and without our vote. He says that the choice made by God is Good News: that in Christ, from eternity, God chose you.
There’s two horrible doctrines floating around that we need to talk about. First, there’s what’s called “double predestination.” Promoted by John Calvin, this view of choice says that God chose some to go to heaven, others to go to hell. Talk about
fatalism! If you were chosen to go to hell, it doesn’t matter if you believe in Jesus as your Savior or not. You’re still going to hell. And if you were chosen to go to heaven, it doesn’t matter if you live like the devil all of your life. You’re still going to heaven.
Horrible!
Another horrible doctrine promoted by Jacob Arminius is what is now called “decision theology.” “It only takes a spark, to get a fire going.” “Accept Jesus as your Savior.” “Pray this little prayer with me.” “Ask Him into your heart.” But, dear friends, I ask you: When I’m doubting my salvation, when I’m really worried about my relationship with God because of my sin, when I’m wondering if I’ve ever done enough,
do you think that I’d ever be comforted knowing that “all is well” between God and me because of my choice? Not at all!
But Scripture is clear as it is comforting. A choice has been made for us, and only God made it. For all those who are saved or will be saved, God made the choice in Christ for them. And for all those who will be damned, they’re damned because of their unbelief
in Christ. Our assurance as Christians does not find its foundation on our choosing God, but in God choosing us in Christ. Before the foundation of the earth was laid, before the stars and planets were whirled into space, out of His love and mercy and because of Christ, God chose you.
Listen again to St. Paul: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will—to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves. In Him [Christ] we have redemption through His blood the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.” (Eph. 1:3-8)(2)
Paul goes on just a few verses later to reverberate that we have been predestined, that we have been chosen! What a glorious, Gospel doctrine! That the choice that matters the most was made by God even before the world began, and in and through Christ’s life, death and resurrection, God chose us. Someone has said that the doctrine of “predestination” of the elect is the only doctrine where there is no Law. It is all Gospel!
God did not choose us because we would become better people. He did not predestine us because we would make great strides in improving our lives. Believe it or not, God did not choose us or predestine us based on His foreknowledge, that is, because He knew, ultimately, we would come to faith. Rather, in His mercy and solely on account of His Son, God chose
us before even time began. After we were born, the Holy Spirit called us through the Gospel, and gave us the gift of faith so that we could believe in Jesus as our Savior. And now, through Word and Sacrament, that faith is strengthened so that we may live our
lives in service to Him. A choice was made; God chose you.
Because of that eternal fact, motivated by the Holy Spirit, and in view of faith, we can make good choices. Here the Bible must be our guide; too many Christians walk around saying, “Well, I’ll just let the Holy Spirit tell me what to do.” What they’re
really saying is, “I’ll just rely on my emotions, or wait until the mood strikes.” The Spirit, dear friend, always points us to the Word. God’s choosing us from eternity means that we can make good choices. We can make an assessment of our situation, weigh the outcomes and make a choice. We can listen to what the doctor has to say, and make a choice. We can observe the choices made by our kids and then, as parents, make a choice. We can choose to use our bodies in God-pleasing ways. We can choose to speak good things about others, to “put the best construction on everything”. We can choose to make Adult Bible Study, children’s Sunday school, or every-Sunday worship a priority, something that we choose, by God’s grace to do. Because your eternity is secure in God’s
choice, you can begin to make good choices for yourself and for others.
A man dies and goes to heaven. Of course, St. Peter meets him at the pearly gates and says, “Here’s how it works. You need 100 points to get into heaven. You tell me all the good things you’ve done, and I give you a certain number of points for each item, depending on how good it was. When you reach 100 points, you can get in.”
“Okay,” the man said, and began to list his good things. “I was married to same woman for 50 years and never cheated on her, even in my heart.” “That’s
wonderful,” Peter said. “That’s worth three points.” The man is shocked, “Three points!” But he goes on. “Well, I attended church all my life and supported it with my tithes and my service.” “Terrific,” said Peter. “That’s certainly worth a point.”
“One point?” the man complains, but continues. “I started a soup kitchen, and I worked as a volunteer in a shelter for homeless men.” “Fantastic! Two points for that.” The man is getting desperate. “Two points? At this rate I’ll never make it into heaven except for the grace of God.” Peter rejoices, “Bingo—100 points! Come on in!” (3)
Dear friends in Christ, our loving relationship with God our heavenly Father is not based on our good works, our right reason, our heightened emotion, our perfection, or even on our ability to make choices. Rather, it is based solely on our Savior Jesus Christ.
In and through Christ alone we have been saved. It is by God’s choice from eternity that you are His child, it is by God’s choice that the Spirit through the Word brought you to faith, it is by God’s choice that He strengthens you through His Means of Grace, it is by
God’s choice that you live your life as a faithful father or mother, son or daughter, church member, employee, retiree or student, and citizen. It is all God’s doing, it is all by God’s choice. And for God choosing us in Christ before the very foundation of the world, we freely choose—not only by our lips, but also by our lives—to give Him all the praise and
glory.
1) Robert C. Baker
2) Scripture passage NIV.
3) From Charisma, October 2000, p. 19. Quoted in Concordia Pulpit Resources, Carl Fickensher II, ed., Vol. 13, Part 3 (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2003), p. 9.
