Deeper Reflection
GOD’S ELECTION OF A PEOPLE FOR HIMSELF IS A MYSTERY: “Scripture nowhere dispels the mystery of election, and we should beware of any who try to systematise it too precisely or rigidly. It is not likely that we shall discover a simple solution to a problem which has baffled the best of brains of Christendom for centuries.”³⁹ Amidst the difficulties and questions over the doctrine of election, one thing is clear: God chose us in love. Paul unites the love of God and the election of God: “loved by God, that He has chosen you” (v.4). God “has chosen” Israel, and us in Christ, “to be a people for His treasured possession…He set His love on you and chose you…because the LORD loves you” (Deut 7:6-8). Why did God choose us? Because He loves us. Why does God love us? Because He loves us. And God loves us not because we are loveable, but only because “God is love” (1 Jn 4:8, 16). And God’s love was most supremely demonstrated on the cross. So, “with this mystery we must rest content”⁴⁰ with constant deep gratitude to God, while humbly asking, “God, why me?” And “we know” that God has chosen us because we are growing in active and productive faith, love and hope (vv.3-4). The church is “a community beloved and chosen by God in a past eternity, rooted in God and drawing its life from Him, and exhibiting this life of God in a faith that works, a love which labours and a hope which endures”⁴¹.

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³⁹ John R. W. Stott, The Message of Ephesians, The Bible Speaks Today (IVP, 1979), 37 ⁴⁰ John R. W. Stott, Thessalonians, 31 ⁴¹ John R. W. Stott, Thessalonians, 31; emphasis mine