Why us? Part 3

Posted : Sunday August 19, 2007 |

What I’d like to do here is give five blessings that come from knowing that we are chosen by grace.

First, knowing that we are chosen by grace will keep us humble. Every time we think that we’ve earned our salvation, every time we think that our growth in holiness given us some leverage with God, election by grace reminds us that our deliverance and all of God’s blessings are in Christ. Ephesians 1 is designed to show all that went into God saving us. And you know who’s missing in that chapter? You are! No other truth will put us in our place quite like this one. Look at whom God chose? God chose the small, the weak, and the sinful. Paul puts it like this, “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.” (1 Cor. 1:27-29).

Second, when we realize that we are chosen by grace, we will have an increasing wonder at our new identity. The amazing thing about God’s saving us is that he takes us where we are and gives us an identity that we could never have achieved on our own. In 7:6 we read, “You are a holy people 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.” Now how can that be? We’ve just learned that we’re a sinful people—no different than anyone else. How can God call us holy? He can do it by grace! Being holy doesn’t mean that you’re better than anyone else. It means that you’ve been set apart for something unique. It means that you’ve been given a destiny. And this destiny automatically imparts on you a new identity.

Every time you hear that you’re a saint—remember the cross! You didn’t earn that title, and you certainly can’t live up to it. The only reason you’re a saint is because God, in his grace, set his love on you.

Third, knowing that we are chosen by grace will motivate us to worship God alone. If you think that you’re the best thing since pernil, and that it’s because of your self-worth, or your self-reliance, or your self-righteousness that God saved you, then you’ll not worship God. You’ll be busy worshiping yourself. But if you realize that there is nothing in you to merit God’s actions, that all that he had done for you was motivated out of his love, because of his honor, and according to his plan—then this will liberate you to get the focus off yourself and onto Christ. Election by grace reminds us that all of God’s mighty acts were motivated not because we’re hot stuff, but because he is worthy of having a community of worshipers. Election makes every thought you have about your salvation a God-centered thought. It will cause you to burst out in song singing: Si no hubiera sido por el Senor, si no hubiera sido por el Senor, mi alma se hubiera perdido, si hubiera sido por el Senor!

Fourth, knowing that we are chosen by grace will move us to genuine holiness. If you look at Deuteronomy 7:8-9, you’ll see an interesting logic. “It was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore, that the Lord your God is God, he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.” God, because of his grace and honor, chose to save for himself a people from bondage. Since it’s not because of who you are, or what you can do, or how holy you can be, but because he alone has delivered your life, because he has proven himself faithful to his covenant—the most natural response is grateful obedience. Look at verse 11, “Therefore, take care to follow the commands.”

When you understand that you’ve been chosen by grace to a new identity, to be God’s dearly loved child, not because of who you are, or what you can do, this will reorient your motives at the deepest level. Why should we walk in good works? Why should we persevere in being conformed to Christ? Because we’ve been chosen in Christ to know God as our Father, not as our banker. A banker gives you what you put into the account, but a Father generously blesses his children from the riches of his love.

Fifth, knowing that we are chosen by grace gives us confidence in reaching our destiny. In 7:17, the Israelites ask, “These nations are stronger than we are. How can we drive them out?” How does Moses answer them? “Oh don’t worry. Just follow these seven guidelines and you’ll be guaranteed success.” No. He tells them to remember who God is and what he’s done for them. Verse 18, “Don’t be afraid of them, remember well what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt…The Lord your God will do the same to all the people.” What God has started by grace, he will finish by grace. Notice that while Israel was expected to be prepared to fight, over and over again Moses tells them, “God is the one who will fight for you.” Look at chapter 9:1-3, “Hear, O Israel. You are now about to cross the Jordan to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you… The people are strong and tall—Anakites! You know about them and have heard it said: Who can stand up against the Anakites? But be assured today that the Lord your God is the one who goes across ahead of you like a devouring fire. He will destroy them.”

Why would God destroy the enemy? Because God had chosen to give the land to his small, weak, and sinful people. If you know that God is faithful to his promises and that he has chosen you not because of who you are, but because he’s a covenant-keeping God, then all the obstacles that Satan can throw out you will not overwhelm you. Christ has triumphed over your enemies. There’s incredible power in knowing that God has freely chosen to enter in a covenant of love with you. No matter how great your struggle against sin is, no matter how powerful the addiction claims to be, if God has promised and has chosen to bring you out from sin’s power—then there’s nothing that can stop his work in your life.

For many of us, there are a lot of things that are “up in the air.” But even in a world of insecurities, we can know that God has fixed his eternal gaze on us, controls our destiny, and will not let anything get in the way. You can be certain that when God sets out to begin someone’s salvation, he will inevitably finish it! If God saves me without my works, then he will graciously give me a destiny without my deserving it at all.

But how can I know that I’m in the Israelite camp and not in the defeated army? In the book of Joshua, before Israel took siege of Jericho, they sent some spies. And one of the inhabitants, a woman named Rahab, took the spies in and protected them. Why? She tells us, “I know that the Lord has given this land to you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.” Rahab was confessing her faith in the one true God. She knew that the only way to be saved from the wrath of God was to throw herself at the mercy of God.

Cry out to Jesus, “Lord have mercy on me, the sinner.” Say to him, “God, nothing in my hands I bring, simply to your cross I cling. Foul, I, to the fountain fly. Wash me, Savior, or I die!” When you do that, you’ll discover that the God that approaches your doomed city is the God that comes to rescue you and to give you a destiny!

Pastor Suler Acosta