Years ago, I remember a celebrity, a masculine man with boundless self-confidence who spoke big words. He once told the media that he had become a believer. He said: “I gave Jesus a chance.” But does a person choose to follow Jesus? Does he have a part in his own salvation? This is both a simple and a difficult question.
Who Chose Whom?
First of all, I would have liked to tell this strong man that it is actually God who can give man a chance. Jesus emphasises this in the Gospel of John:
”You did not choose me, but I chose you” (John 15:16).
Or if we broaden the perspective, just as the people of Israel are God’s chosen people in a temporal sense, so those who follow Jesus are his chosen people in a spiritual sense. God chooses those who will be saved.
Sounds simple, doesn’t it? But as we continue to read the Bible, the question of who chooses whom seems much harder to understand. I mean, many scriptures seem to show that the choice is up to man. Jesus himself often urged his listeners to take action to repent. For example:
“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark. 1:15).
In short, it really seems to be a matter of a person’s own decision to repent and follow Jesus.
So how do we explain this contradiction? If God has already chosen those whom He will save at the beginning of time, how can an individual, sinful human being have any hope?
God Does Everything
Saving man from eternal damnation is God’s secret. We must admit that we cannot fully understand it, but nevertheless, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we are able to understand what is necessary for salvation. Man is not able to approach God. As Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans:
”No one seeks for God.” (Rom. 3:11).
If you want to be saved, there is nothing you can or need to do on your own. Instead, repentance is completely God’s work and a great gift to man. Martin Luther explained sanctification, the Third Article of the Apostles’ Creed, this way:
“I believe that by my own understanding or strength I cannot believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him, but instead the Holy Spirit has called me through the gospel.”
God can give you a personal time of visitation. He can open your conscience so that you feel sorrow for your sins, and maybe you start to pray. He can show you the way to a believer who can forgive your sins on behalf of God as God sent Philip to the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts. 8:26). He can give you the words to ask for forgiveness for your sins, and He will give you the power to receive absolution by faith.
Do Not Lose Your Hope
Although every person who will be saved is chosen by God from the beginning of time, do not lose hope. God alone knows whether you are one of His chosen people, though you yourself cannot know. He can call you and lead you to find His kingdom of grace. He hopes that you will receive the gospel of forgiveness, praying for the strength to believe it, and follow Jesus and his own. You see, you can only find him by looking for his own on the Earth.
Do you feel that God may be calling you at this moment? I would like to say like Paul in his second letter to the Corinthians:
”Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God” (2. Corinthians 5:20).
And in the Letter to the Hebrews 3:15:
“Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.”
If you hear God’s voice calling you, obey it. Repent and believe the gospel of forgiveness in the name and blood of Jesus, preached from the kingdom of God.
Author: AH
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