Contrary to the belief of many Christians, we were not saved by love, but by grace, by grace through a faith that did not even come from us. “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:44) Theologians have debated these and other verses like them since they were penned, all of those that speak of predestination, those where the Lord says, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee.” (Jer. 1:5)
The key words, the subject matter that has brought division throughout the ages is “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” (Eph. 2:8) Grace means unmerited favor, it has absolutely nothing to do with works, God’s grace shows no merit toward any work, for “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” (Isaiah 64:6) Yes, after we were saved, the Holy Spirit guides and leads us on the path we should be on, yes, if you desire crowns you must apply yourself, and if you want to be the friend of Christ, you must obey His commandments, (John 15:14) but these are all after the fact of our salvation. Those who think they will wait for their final day, even if they knew the hour, will still not be saved, you cannot just repeat some words that the pastor or another believer says, if you are not saved by grace through faith, you will not enter into the kingdom.
Why has God Almighty decided to choose some but not others? I don’t know, and neither does anyone else. We cannot say that He “looked down through time,” for the Lord is not hindered by any of His creation, He lives in an unbounded now, He is omnipresent, everywhere at all times. Here is where some will say that we had a choice in the matter, by our decision, as if by some logical fact, at some point in time we saw, understood, and accepted the fact that Jesus is Lord, yet this cannot be so, “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Cor. 2:14) If indeed it was our choice, by the volition of our free will to either accept or decline the invitation, then grace would hold no merits, it would be bypassed by works, an impossibility. No my friends, we are saved by grace from God through a faith that was given by God.
The subject matter is far too deep for this simple writer of letters, but the facts stand clear as far as the Scriptures are concerned, grace is what saved you and I, not a rational, logical deduction of the truths of the Scripture, not a deed done by us, nothing we can do of or in ourselves can save a man. “For many are called, but few are chosen.” (Matt. 22:14) Again, called yes, but not all are chosen, and not because of a refusal on their part, for every effort is given by the Lord, “As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live.” (Eze. 33:11) Yet few are chosen, chosen does not infer any action on our part, He is the One who does the choosing, He is the One that makes the decisions. I believe that everyone who is meant to be saved will be saved, all of the sheep of His fold will be accounted for, none will be lost. (John 6:39)
Yet the question remains, why you and not your friend down the street, why you and not that neighbor across the hall. I do not know, and neither does anyone else, every single word that I have written here could be wrong, but I do not think so. The verses are clear, Almighty God can do as He desires, as long as it is within His character, and He has never deviated from that yet, nor will He ever. The main point is this, we do not know, and so we are commanded to reach all we can for Him, what we must remember is that many are called, but few are chosen.
We, every single born-again believer, are the elect, (Matt. 24:24) we have been chosen, we have a responsibility, that should be our first concern, the reasons why we should leave to God, He is wise beyond any comparison. “What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction.” (Roams 9:22) There are two kinds of vessels on this planet, only two, if you know which one you are, then it was grace, not love, not works, not anything else that brought you to this place. If these truths are not enough to humble you, then nothing will.
