“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9)

man in gray hoodie and black pants holding brown cardboard box — Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

A remarkable facet of God’s love is that believers have been chosen by God to be His very special people. What a thought! That God would purpose to set his love on us is amazing! But so often, because of my pride, I forget that the special place I have in God’s heart is not because I am great. To put it another way, I am not choice but chosen. And there is a big difference.

To be “choice” means that I made the cut. I am somehow better than others around me. This fuels a sense of pride that I am loved because I brought something to the deal that benefits God or justifies his choice of me. But that is the complete opposite of the gospel. My acceptance and yours before God is not based on our goodness, moral excellence, or anything else. A relationship based on being “worthy enough” would choke the joy out of it and give us every reason to boast on our “good” days and despair on our “bad” days. Furthermore, it would create communities of pressure, pretending, and judgment instead of beautiful environments of grace, love, and humility.

To be “choice” means that God’s love depends on us. But to be “chosen” means that God’s love depends on himself. It means he loves us because he loves us. It means there is no reason outside of his own unwavering self-determination to love us as he does! To be “chosen” is to be secure in God’s love.

Dear believer, as we ponder and accept the liberating truth that we are not choice but chosen, the joy of salvation will follow closely behind!

The Daily Pulse of Immanuel

Not "Choice" But Chosen