Do you appreciate that you have been chosen… and by God!? You have been invited to accept His invitation to become a member of His family. However, You have to accept His choosing. Both have to occur.
“Blessed and worthy of praise be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ, just as [in His love] He chose us in Christ [actually selected us for Himself as His own] before the foundation of the world, so that we would be holy [that is, consecrated, set apart for Him, purpose-driven] and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined and lovingly planned for us to be adopted to Himself as [His own] children through Jesus Christ, in accordance with the kind intention and good pleasure of His will—to the praise of His glorious grace and favor, which He so freely bestowed on us in the Beloved [His Son, Jesus Christ].” (Ephesians 1:3-6, AMP)
“But when [in God’s plan] the proper time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the [regulations of the] Law, so that He might redeem and liberate those who were under the Law, that we [who believe] might be adopted as sons [as God’s children with all rights as fully grown members of a family]. And because you [really] are [His] sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba! Father!” Therefore you are no longer a slave (bond-servant), but a son; and if a son, then also an heir through [the gracious act of] God [through Christ].” (Galatians 4:4-7, AMP)
Predestined? Absolutely. I would argue that everyone is predestined to be part of the Family of God. The difference is that not everyone accepts this, does not choose to activate being chosen. It truly is our choice to act on being chosen or to reject it. Part of this understanding, I think, is based in what we believe about Free Will.
What do you think? Do you have Free Will? Whether you exercise it or not… you do! However, there is no scripture that speaks directly to this question. Yet… there are, by implication, verses that relate to this. Two of them are:
“It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don’t use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that’s how freedom grows. For everything we know about God’s Word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself. That’s an act of true freedom.” (Galatians 5:13-14, MSG)
“I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse; therefore, you shall choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants,” (Deuteronomy 30:19, AMP)
Since we are told to renew our minds (Romans 12:2), this must mean that we do have choices. Otherwise, why the need to renew? If we are robots or on the other end, subject to fatalism why would we need to know, to see options, to make decisions? We wouldn’t. Man is a remarkable creation. We are told things we should not do and things we should. If we have a mind then we must be able to understand. It is always our decision. And the most important one is whether or not we accept the Father’s invitation to become part of His family. It is always our decision, our choice.
