Why Would God Choose Any Of Us?
Why Would God Choose Any Of Us?
By: Dr. Danny Purvis
During Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem just days before His crucifixion and resurrection, He had an interesting conversation with some Pharisees. They were obviously not happy with the acclaim and praise Jesus was receiving. So when they heard His many disciples praising His name and welcoming Him as the long-awaited Messiah they confronted Jesus and demanded that He rebuke His disciples and tell them to be quiet. Jesus’ response was quite enlightening to say the least. Luke records Him as saying: “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”
What was Jesus trying to say here? I think we can come up with many different avenues of approach but I think that one of the most important things He was saying to them (and us) was that He does not need us. But what is also true is that He wants us. And by “us” I, of course, mean Believers…Christians. See…here’s the thing. God does not need any of us. If every single human being on the planet refused to praise Him, it would not diminish His worthiness of being praised. Not in the least. To make this point, in a way, God is saying to us that we are as useful to Him as a box of rocks. He does not need us…but he does want us. He desires a relationship with us. He chooses us to be a part of accomplishing His will in this world though He does not need us to do so. If He needed us…He wouldn’t be God. So that bags the question. Why would He choose any of us to receive His gracious gift of salvation so as to accomplish His will?
It's not like we earned the right for Him to choose us. In Ephesians we read: “even as He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him” (Eph. 1:4). He also tells us: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God” (Romans 3:10-11). We are told throughout Scripture that our sinful nature separates us from God and makes us unworthy of His grace, mercy, and salvation. He does not simply bring out our innate, dormant goodness…because we have no goodness in us. So, we go back to our question: Why would God choose any of us?
In church we have been going through Romans and this week we begin chapter 4. As with all of them, it is an amazing chapter touching on this point. In the first 8 verses Paul is reminding us, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that salvation is not something we earned and therefore we cannot boast about being saved. But then he does something fascinating. He uses two heroes of the faith as examples for what he is trying to say. Those two titans of the faith? Abraham and David. Along with Moses these are probably the “biggest” names in the Old Testament. They are true giants of the faith. Why does Paul use them here though? We can certainly conclude that they both had very admirable traits as they traversed through their faith journey. And we know a great deal about them because God spilled a lot of ink talking about their lives.
But remember the theme of these 8 verses in Romans 4. God is telling us about salvation and how nobody deserves it. So it would probably behoove us not to focus on the reasons why God chose these two people (and as a result…us). Instead I think we should look at the reasons we can see why God should NOT have chosen them…at least as conventional wisdom goes. And there are plenty of reasons we might could come up with why God should not have chosen either one of these men. Let’s take a look just at Abraham.
In both instances, we have to look at their backgrounds and their actions as Believers. There is much to scrutinize here. Yes, Abraham is often referred to as Father Abraham…the father of the faith. But were there reasons we could come up with that would have made him the not obvious choice? Besides the fact that Abraham was well advanced in age…probably looking at spending his last years with his family and having a wife who could not bear children…there is something else we often miss. Abraham was a pagan. In Joshua 24:2 we read: “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor; and they served other gods’”. Abraham was a pagan and came from a family of pagans as illustrated by the phrase “they served other gods”. In fact, Jewish tradition holds that Abraham and his father were idol makers. In other words, they carved household idols to sell to other pagans so they could worship them in their home.
Abraham wasn’t a deep-down good and Godly person. He was a pagan that worshipped false gods and encouraged others to worship false gods. And yet, God chose him anyway. But what about after he became a Believer? When Abraham began to prosper in wealth and land, he drew the attention of a nearby king named Abimelech. Abimelech knew that God was with Abraham and so proposed a treaty whereby both men swore not to deal with each other deceitfully. All good, right? But keep this in mind. Before the treaty was proposed, Abraham had had a previous run-in with Abimelech. At that time he feared that if the king knew Sarah was Abraham’s wife, he might kill Abraham as his own. So…Abraham lied. He told Abimelech that Sarah was his sister…which led Abimelech to take her as his own (funny how lies work out this way). It was God Who intervened and told Abimelech the truth and also told him that had he consummated his relationship with Sara God would have killed Abimelech.
There was no reason for Abraham to lie. God had already made His covenant with Abraham. But deceit ran in his family. Nahor was deceitful. Isaac was deceitful. Jacob was deceitful. Abraham lied because he didn’t trust God…and it almost cost a man his life. And yet, God chose him anyway. The point? None of us should be chosen by God. None. We have flaws before we come to Christ. We have flaws after we come to Christ. God should not choose any of us. But yet, He does. Why? Well, let’s go back to Ephesians. We looked at verse 4 where we are told that God chose us in Him before the foundation of the world. In Ephesians 1:5 we are told why. “he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according the purpose of His will”. He chooses us because it is His will to do so. His will to show mercy on whom He will show mercy. It is to show His glory and His righteousness (Romans 3:25).
I am eternally grateful His choosing is based on His righteousness…His glory…and His will. Because if that were not the case…we would all be lost.
-Dr. Danny Purvis
By: Dr. Danny Purvis
During Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem just days before His crucifixion and resurrection, He had an interesting conversation with some Pharisees. They were obviously not happy with the acclaim and praise Jesus was receiving. So when they heard His many disciples praising His name and welcoming Him as the long-awaited Messiah they confronted Jesus and demanded that He rebuke His disciples and tell them to be quiet. Jesus’ response was quite enlightening to say the least. Luke records Him as saying: “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”
What was Jesus trying to say here? I think we can come up with many different avenues of approach but I think that one of the most important things He was saying to them (and us) was that He does not need us. But what is also true is that He wants us. And by “us” I, of course, mean Believers…Christians. See…here’s the thing. God does not need any of us. If every single human being on the planet refused to praise Him, it would not diminish His worthiness of being praised. Not in the least. To make this point, in a way, God is saying to us that we are as useful to Him as a box of rocks. He does not need us…but he does want us. He desires a relationship with us. He chooses us to be a part of accomplishing His will in this world though He does not need us to do so. If He needed us…He wouldn’t be God. So that bags the question. Why would He choose any of us to receive His gracious gift of salvation so as to accomplish His will?
It's not like we earned the right for Him to choose us. In Ephesians we read: “even as He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him” (Eph. 1:4). He also tells us: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God” (Romans 3:10-11). We are told throughout Scripture that our sinful nature separates us from God and makes us unworthy of His grace, mercy, and salvation. He does not simply bring out our innate, dormant goodness…because we have no goodness in us. So, we go back to our question: Why would God choose any of us?
In church we have been going through Romans and this week we begin chapter 4. As with all of them, it is an amazing chapter touching on this point. In the first 8 verses Paul is reminding us, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that salvation is not something we earned and therefore we cannot boast about being saved. But then he does something fascinating. He uses two heroes of the faith as examples for what he is trying to say. Those two titans of the faith? Abraham and David. Along with Moses these are probably the “biggest” names in the Old Testament. They are true giants of the faith. Why does Paul use them here though? We can certainly conclude that they both had very admirable traits as they traversed through their faith journey. And we know a great deal about them because God spilled a lot of ink talking about their lives.
But remember the theme of these 8 verses in Romans 4. God is telling us about salvation and how nobody deserves it. So it would probably behoove us not to focus on the reasons why God chose these two people (and as a result…us). Instead I think we should look at the reasons we can see why God should NOT have chosen them…at least as conventional wisdom goes. And there are plenty of reasons we might could come up with why God should not have chosen either one of these men. Let’s take a look just at Abraham.
In both instances, we have to look at their backgrounds and their actions as Believers. There is much to scrutinize here. Yes, Abraham is often referred to as Father Abraham…the father of the faith. But were there reasons we could come up with that would have made him the not obvious choice? Besides the fact that Abraham was well advanced in age…probably looking at spending his last years with his family and having a wife who could not bear children…there is something else we often miss. Abraham was a pagan. In Joshua 24:2 we read: “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor; and they served other gods’”. Abraham was a pagan and came from a family of pagans as illustrated by the phrase “they served other gods”. In fact, Jewish tradition holds that Abraham and his father were idol makers. In other words, they carved household idols to sell to other pagans so they could worship them in their home.
Abraham wasn’t a deep-down good and Godly person. He was a pagan that worshipped false gods and encouraged others to worship false gods. And yet, God chose him anyway. But what about after he became a Believer? When Abraham began to prosper in wealth and land, he drew the attention of a nearby king named Abimelech. Abimelech knew that God was with Abraham and so proposed a treaty whereby both men swore not to deal with each other deceitfully. All good, right? But keep this in mind. Before the treaty was proposed, Abraham had had a previous run-in with Abimelech. At that time he feared that if the king knew Sarah was Abraham’s wife, he might kill Abraham as his own. So…Abraham lied. He told Abimelech that Sarah was his sister…which led Abimelech to take her as his own (funny how lies work out this way). It was God Who intervened and told Abimelech the truth and also told him that had he consummated his relationship with Sara God would have killed Abimelech.
There was no reason for Abraham to lie. God had already made His covenant with Abraham. But deceit ran in his family. Nahor was deceitful. Isaac was deceitful. Jacob was deceitful. Abraham lied because he didn’t trust God…and it almost cost a man his life. And yet, God chose him anyway. The point? None of us should be chosen by God. None. We have flaws before we come to Christ. We have flaws after we come to Christ. God should not choose any of us. But yet, He does. Why? Well, let’s go back to Ephesians. We looked at verse 4 where we are told that God chose us in Him before the foundation of the world. In Ephesians 1:5 we are told why. “he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according the purpose of His will”. He chooses us because it is His will to do so. His will to show mercy on whom He will show mercy. It is to show His glory and His righteousness (Romans 3:25).
I am eternally grateful His choosing is based on His righteousness…His glory…and His will. Because if that were not the case…we would all be lost.
-Dr. Danny Purvis
Recent
Archive
2024
January
February
March
July
2023
July
August
September
October
November
Categories
no categories
No Comments