60 Seconds – The Chosen

A devout, aged southern pastor was asked by one his parishioners to explain the doctrine of election. His reply was,” You know what an election is when we elect the President and the Governor. In the Kingdom of God, there is always an election going on. Only three votes are cast. The Lord always votes for you. The devil always votes against you. And you have the deciding vote.”

Paul declared, “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love” (Ephesians 1:4). “Chosen” means “to pick or choose out for one’s self.” Hermann Cremer explains, “The word is used of God choosing out Israel from among the nations to be the channel through which He will bring salvation to all those in these other nations who will receive it. The same usage applies in the case of individual sinners selected out from among mankind. These are selected for the purpose of being channels through which the knowledge of salvation might be brought to the rest of mankind, so that those who put their trust in the Lord Jesus as Savior might be saved. This precludes the idea that those not selected are rejected or refused salvation.” Further, He has chosen us “to be holy and without blame.” “Holy” means “to separate from things secular and dedicate to God.” “Blameless” is defined as “without blemish, free from faultiness, as a sacrificial animal without spot or blemish, or as the Lamb of God.”

Harry Ironside, pastor of Moody Church in Chicago from 1930 to 1948, had a unique ability of making difficult and controversial truths, such as election and predestination, easier to understand. He described a door where the sinner is standing outside the door, and reads above, “Whosoever will, let him come.” The sinner believes God’s promise, steps through the door, and is saved. He then turns around and reads above the inside of the door, “Chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world.”

“Let a man go to the grammar school of faith and repentance, before he goes to the university of election and predestination” (George Whitfield).