Do We Choose CHRIST? – Not Really!

Among the most common personal salvation phrases used in Christian circles are “You must choose CHRIST” or “I choose/chose to follow CHRIST” or “I gave my life to CHRIST”, or some similar account. You’ve heard it or said it on countless occasions, as I have.

However, mature believers know that this account of our salvation is incorrect scripturally – that in the wantonness of our flesh we have no desire to “choose CHRIST” and never would – not for the long haul. It is our Father who chooses us for salvation and presents His chosen to His SON for cleansing and purifying.

Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. Ephesians 1:4

JESUS Himself makes this fact abundantly clear in the Gospels – All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. John 6:37 JESUS acts only on what the Father supports, so He accepts His Father’s choices for His Church and protects them as the Father wills – unto eternity.

• For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will. And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them up at the last day. John 6:38-39
• I can do nothing on my own. I judge as God tells me. Therefore, my judgment is just, because I carry out the will of the one who sent me, not my own will. John 5:30

Once the Father does the choosing and presenting to the Son, we have to follow Him. The Spirit of GOD brings about a rebirth in us whereby we accept what the Father has already done – decided on us as children of GOD.

We do not make the decision to be in GOD’s family.

“I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” John 3:3

JESUS explains true rebirth to the Jewish religious leader Nicodemus – that unless the Holy Spirit changes him on the inside, his own efforts will not cause belief in CHRIST as Messiah and lead him to experience GOD’s Kingdom.  “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life…” (John 3:5-6)  

We who are “saved,” “choose CHRIST,” or “give our lives to CHRIST” do so because of GOD”s Spirit at work in us and not because we make an intellectual choice to be “spiritual” or “a better person.” Since what we do in the flesh is always tainted by the flesh, GOD uses His Holy Spirit to initiate our salvation.

The act is entirely outside ourselves and GOD alone gets the glory. We then have nothing of which we can boast – GOD did it all. (Ephesians 2:8)

He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. Ephesians 2:2

We are reborn children of GOD for the Kingdom of GOD, not for ourselves.

Through CHRIST we obtain the righteousness of GOD which propels us to do the works for which GOD has designed for us to do for the advancement of His Kingdom. For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10

When we truly understand that we are chosen we can do for the Body of CHRIST what GOD wills with boldness and freedom and no condemnation of the flesh. We recognize that it is not about us but about the Father and His Son.

We are free to serve Him without worrying if we are ever doing well enough or trying hard enough.

We find freedom in the fact that we are but a tiny cog in the wheel of the Father’s grand scheme of regeneration.

The souls we are “winning for CHRIST” have already been won! We are in effect reaping a harvest that we didn’t plant – GOD and His Spirit have already done the work for us.  

“…What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike! You know the saying, ‘One plants and another harvests.’ And it’s true. I sent you to harvest where you didn’t plant; others had already done the work, and now you will get to gather the harvest.” John 4:36-38

Knowing that He chose us to be part of His Church we can be the most joyful of people – doing all that the Father wills to bring the most glory to HIS NAME!

“You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit…” John 15:16

Prayer and Thanksgiving: Holy Father, truly, YOU are the only WISE GOD! We thank YOU for a perfect salvation plan, which YOU completed before the beginning of time; we proclaim the excellencies of HIM who has called us out of darkness and into HIS marvelous light! Thank YOU Father that YOU did not leave the choosing to us knowing how much we love our sin and hate YOUR righteousness, YOU decided, to save us from ourselves. Thank YOU for using us to be harvesters of the crop YOU planted with wisdom and forethought.  Because YOURS is perfection, we are not surprised by or question YOUR choices…we are just grateful for CHRIST JESUS our LORD and YOUR Holy Spirit working together to do what we could never do on our own, save us to the uttermost. We give all glory, all honor, and all praise to YOU and we ask all things in JESUS’ NAME.  Amen!

Always by God’s Word and prayer,

Cecile