Beloved…

Beloved…

To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ~ Romans 1:7

Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. (Genesis 6:8) Abraham was called the friend of God. (Isaiah 41:8) The Lord passed before Moses and proclaimed His Holy Name. (Exodus 34:5-6) We are told, “Among many nations there was no king like Solomon who was beloved of his God. (Nehemiah 13:26) The Prophet Daniel was told by the angelic messenger: “O Daniel, man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you.” (Cf. Daniel 10) Indeed, the people of Israel were beloved of God, for He again declared through the Prophet Jeremiah: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love!” (Jeremiah 31:3)

We can relate to these great men of faith, and countless other men and women who have lived extraordinary lives of faith. We honor and esteem them as great examples; and yet, none of them were without sin in their lives. Indeed, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) I believe that is why many Christians struggle with the idea that any of us could be loved by God. We know our inner selves. We know the thoughts of our hearts. There is an inward shame that our holiness … our innocence has been marred with sin – even when unintended….

Paul dealt with these feelings as well. In the ignorance of his religious fervor, Paul persecuted the church of God. And in remorse, Paul referred to himself as the chief of sinners and noted: “But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display His immense patience as an example for those who would believe in Him and receive eternal life. (1 Timothy 1:15-16) And, “For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God, I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:9-10)

I laid this foundation of scripture to emphasize this point: The love of God is not dependent upon our hearts, our deeds, or our degree of righteousness or holiness! Rather, consider this truth:

Romans 5:6-10 (ESV)

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by His blood, much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by His life.

1 John 4:9-11 (ESV)

In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

My friend, if you have received Jesus, the Beloved Son of God, as Lord and Savior, you too are in the Beloved. Do not allow unbelief to make you forget that you are greatly loved by God. You are so loved that you were bought with the precious blood of Christ! (1 Peter 1:18-20) For all the time you lived in sin and indulged in it, you must have been beloved for God to have been so very longsuffering with you. Yes, His grace and lovingkindness brought you repentance, reconciliation, and adoption. When you received Jesus, when you believed in His Name, you were given the right to become a child of God! (John 1:12-13) Indeed, all of this proves that God has lavished His unmerited love upon you! And there is nothing that will ever separate you and I from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord! (Romans 8:38-39)

Ephesians 1:3-8 (ESV)

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, with which He has blessed us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us….”

Have a Blessed Day!

Chosen…

Chosen…

For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be His people, His treasured possession. ~ Deuteronomy 7:6

What does it mean to be “chosen”? The Oxford Dictionary defines the verb this way: “Having been selected as the best or most appropriate.” Notice that the word indicates past tense. Chosen is an action that has already taken place. The Collins Dictionary states the adjective means: “Picked out by preference.” Further, Vocabulary.com defines the noun as “One who is the object of choice; who is given preference.” I especially like the Merriam-Webster Dictionary definition: “One who is the object of choice or divine favor – an elect person; one who selected or marked for favor or special privilege.”

From the beginning, Scripture informs us of this theological concept of divine election:

Genesis 6:7-8 (NIV)

So, the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” But Noah found favor (grace) in the eyes of the Lord.

Genesis 18:18-19 (NIV)

Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what He has promised him.

Throughout the Old and New Testaments, we see that God chose certain individuals to accomplish His purposes for His creation. And because God is omniscient, knowing the end from the beginning, His elect were ordained before the creation of the world. As Paul affirmed: “For He (God) chose us in Him (Christ Jesus) before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will— to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves. (Ephesians 1:4-6)

In this biblical context, I ask again, “Do we as believers truly understand the implications and significance of being chosen by God?” Is not the thought of being chosen by God for redemption and eternal salvation one of miraculous wonder? As I mediated on this reality this morning, I became overwhelmed in my heart. To understand that we are “chosen” by the Creator brought a deep, reverential fear to my soul. While I felt immense gratitude and praised the Lord for His unmerited kindness and grace; I realized the gravity of responsibility that election brings with it….

When I was a child and played outdoors with my neighborhood friends, we would gather to play a game of baseball, basketball, or football. The best players would be team leaders, and they would choose other players for their teams. I would be anxious because I was not usually selected first, second, or even third round. Still, I would be chosen for a team. I can remember how desperately I wanted to make a big play, score points, or otherwise prove my ability to contribute to our success … to demonstrate worthiness for my selection … to be the winner at the end of the game.

This morning, I was confronted with the same conviction during my prayer time. The God of the Universe had chosen me to be on His team … to bring and use the talents that He sovereignly gifted me for this life, and to contribute those talents in such a way as to do His will on earth as it is done in heaven. Indeed, “For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” (Romans 8:29) Needless to say, I was filled with tears of regret and remorse. Father God often wanted to put me in the game, but too often I was content to sit on the bench. Lord Jesus, I pray you would forgive me this wrong….

1 Peter 1:1-2 (NIV)

To God’s elect … who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with His blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

1 Peter 2:9-10 (NIV)

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

My friends, I pray that we will reflect deeper on our election. We were chosen for an ordained purpose – to commit our lives to His service and to fulfill our individual roles in the Kingdom of God. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10) Therefore, let us be even more diligent to make our calling and election sure. (2 Peter 1:10) Yes, we have graciously been chosen for eternal redemption; and our Father has ordained that we should serve Him with our whole being. Amen.

1 John 4:9-11 (NKJV)

In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the atonement for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Have a Blessed Day!

You Are Chosen…

Colossians 3:12 (NIV)

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

Our Verse of the Day draws our attention to the types of conduct (virtues) we should exhibit as believers. Since the verse begins with the word “therefore,” I would like us to review the preceding context to better understand what it is “there for”:

Colossians 3:1-14 (NIV)

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming (on those who are disobedient). You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

From the context, we can readily see that our relationship with God the Father is predicated upon our identity in His Son – Christ Jesus. We were buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life – a resurrected life. (Cf. Romans 6:4) And Paul reiterates this metaphor in his letter to the Colossians as well.

Colossians 2:11-14 (NLT)

When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting away of your sinful nature. For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with Him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead. You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for He forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.

Paul admonishes us to “put to death” whatever belongs to our sinful nature … the earthly ways in which we used to lived … and to put on the new self, made in the image of our Creator. This new creation is who we are now … chosen people … holy and dearly loved. We have been resurrected with Christ into newness of life. He has forgiven us all our sins and commuted the penalty of sin against us. That payment … that purchase of judicial pardon … was paid through His blood atonement upon the cross. And so, our new life in Christ calls us to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness (Cf. Ephesians 4:24) … and which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Indeed, the new self … will clothe itself with the virtues of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience … with an attitude of forbearance and forgiveness … with a mindset and disposition of love to activate and bind them all together in our inner being.

As another observation, I want us to see that this inspired message from Paul is quite consistent with the inspired teaching shared by Peter in our previous study:

2 Peter 1:3-11 (NIV)

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

The new life that we receive through faith in Christ Jesus calls us to change and transformation. The process of sanctification begins at the new birth … and continues as we add to our faith and put on the garments of our new nature. It is a spiritual process that engages us through the renewing of our minds so that we do not conform to the pattern of this world. (Cf. Romans 12:2) Yes, my friends, let us walk in step with the Spirit of God as chosen and dearly loved children. And in view of God’s mercy, let us offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—which is our true and spiritual worship….

So Now You Know…

Have a Blessed Day!

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. ~ 1 Peter 2:9-10