About Theology Do We Chose God or Does God Chose Us?
| Do We Chose God or Does God Chose Us? |
| Written by David Zook |
| Monday, 26 October 2009 21:19 |
|
This may be one of the most difficult things to understand about grace. The essence of grace is unmerited favor. That is there is nothing one can do to earn favor. You can’t behave into it, you can’t buy into it, nor can you wish your way into it. You are at the complete and utter mercy of the sovereign decision maker to receive it. Now this gets a bit technical, but it is significant to understanding who chooses who. The verb “were appointed” is written in the passive, not active voice. In the passive voice, the subject receives the action, it doesn’t do the action. This means that the Gentiles did not appoint (chose) themselves to believe. So who appointed (chose) them? A sovereign God did … out of his good pleasure. This is one example of many in Scripture that points to this view. In addressing how people come to trust Christ, Paul instructs the Roman church that God is responsible for calling people to himself (Romans 8:29-30). As Paul was praising God for the spiritual blessing we have in Christ to the Ephesians church, he plainly declares that God chose us (those who would trust Christ) before the foundations of the world (Ephesians 1:4-6). Now, this view cuts across so much of modern thought because we are taught that we have free will and are able to make decisions based on that freedom. We do have free will and we have the ability to make decisions like what to eat, wear, who to marry, etc. This leads many people to believe that they can choose God too. But it’s not quiet that easy. Scripture declares that we are dead because of the sin that is in us. (Ephesians 2:1) So, how can a dead man chose life? Like Lazarus needed Jesus to physically resurrect him because he could not chose life (John 11:43), we need God to proactive (chose) toward us, because we can’t, so that we may live with him for eternity. |
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