What it Means to be Chosen

The Master and Savior we know said that He alone has all authority in heaven and on earth.[1] He demonstrated His authority by calling to Himself those whom He desired. Since He had all authority on earth, He assumed the right to direct the lives of all those whom He called. Those who believed were to be taught to obey everything He spoke in all the Gospels, especially the so-called hard sayings.[2] He decided whom He wanted and summoned them to active service as disciples, not weekend warriors who still carried on their jobs during the week. This was the only way to fulfill the Great Commission.

No doubt they had already heard Him speak and talked to Him before He came to them with the demand that they should leave everything behind. Yet it was only after He was declared the Christ that He told them it was a man’s personal relationship to Him that would determine his eternal destiny.[3] He commanded that they abandon absolutely everything that possessed them — homes, farms, parents, relatives, friends, children, brothers, sisters, jobs, and ambitions and set out with Him on His mission.[4] He demanded that they, His followers, should uproot themselves, that they should abandon the safety of the status quo and the security of their own domains. These words of His in Mark 8 and 10 were the most direct and powerful words He spoke concerning someone’s salvation. They were the unmistakable good news of how to escape from death. In short, He demanded that they bid farewell to 'normal life' and actually hate their life in the abnormal society of their day,[5] with its 'my four and no more' existence, to take up their cross and follow Him.[6]

He demanded then — and the Good News we have today still demands the same response — loyalty and devotion to Him and to His commands. Only those who see the worth and value of Christ will be able to do this; everyone else will do what the rich young ruler did — reject the free gift of eternal life. If He did not command us the same way He commanded His disciples back then, we would not be disciples because we would not be worthy of Him.[7] We would be something less, for just as He gave up His life for our sake, so we must give up our sinful lives for His sake. And He would be something less if He were to accept anything less, for then He would not be the same yesterday, today, and forever.

In the same way, if we did not demand the same response, we would find ourselves preaching another gospel by the power of another spirit and would be proclaiming another Jesus. We would be found preaching a message that a man’s possessions and family were more important than knowing Christ. We would be utterly unworthy of Him, even accursed.[8]

Demands of the Gospel

In order for us to know what gospel we have received, and whether or not He has chosen us, we need to know from His word all that He demanded of His followers. These words of His are deserving of full acceptance for He is the Word made flesh. He demanded that loyalty to Him should surpass the dearest and most intimate loyalties in life. He insisted that loyalty to Him must come before all things. All things meant all of your own possessions. Possessions are obviously things that you own, things that belong to you, that you control. But possessions also means things that dominate you. It could be a spirit, a passion, or an idea. It is anything contrary to the word of God, no matter how well accepted by the so-called church. An example of this is the idea that women should be allowed to teach or exercise authority over men. To give up all of your possessions means to relinquish control over things you own and to let go of every other spirit, idea, or passion, and to start being ruled by the words and commands of the Master.

Total Surrender

This is surrender to Him. It is what a desperate man will do in order to cling to the One who has the power and authority to save him from sin and death. This is what it means to be saved by grace through faith. No one can do anything to be saved except believe, which, as the Scriptures make abundantly clear (especially in the Greek text), means you come into the obedience of the faith.[9] Apart from this obedience there is no objective proof that you love this Savior who saved you from eternal death.[10] Surrender means to make your life available to him to the extent that He controls all your time and ambitions. It means that loyalty to Him must come before loyalty to wife and children, mother and father, friends, brothers and sisters, jobs and education, ambitions and desires. This is what allows you to follow Him and become His disciple.[11] Surrender is the normal response to God’s gift of faith.

In fact, He made it clear that whoever does not take up his cross daily and follow Him is not worthy of Him.[12] The word daily in Luke 9:23 entails all the demands upon your life within the body of Christ. This body must be a community where the demands to lay down your life are the essence of your daily experience. Apart from this community, where will you live after you have given up all your possessions? Who will you encourage daily apart from this environment — the brothers in Christ you see once a week?[13] How is it you will live seeking first His kingdom and its righteousness when you, like everyone else who doesn’t know God, is so extremely busy making ends meet trying to keep your family properly clothed, fed, and sheltered?[14] This laying down of your life for your friends daily is the greatest expression of love that can be demonstrated.[15]

To Never See Death

From all this we can see that the Master expressed things in no uncertain terms. He made it clear that true disciples abide in His word,[16] and that it is by keeping His word that one would not see death.[17] The word is not vague. The choice is clear. It is absolute. He did not speak in the realm of 'various interpretations', any of which might be valid. But today it is virtually impossible to find absolute interpretations of the Scriptures we have been talking about among Bible teachers and reference books. Where can you go in the Christian church today to find absolutes, to find interpretations that do not contradict each other?

For instance, you will find  many varied interpretations of what the Master meant in Luke 14:26-33 among Bible scholars today. But their interpretations miss the point. They major on the exact meaning of “hating your parents” or “hating your own life,” but fail to see that what the Master stressed is the absolute, unqualified, unconditional claim that He has on the life of all disciples. The fundamental significance of these verses, especially the meaning of the parable of the two kings, is totally missed. They are the only terms of peace The Master ever offered to anyone seeking eternal life. It is the same response He gave in answer to the question, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”[18]

What is stressed is absolute loyalty to the Son of God who came to save from death all who would believe according to the gospel, which is good news to the one who obeys Him and His word.[19] Death is absolute for all mankind, for it is the penalty for sin, and the call out of death is absolute, without compromise.

So it would be hard to say that these qualifications and demands are not relevant today in order to follow Him within the framework of true community. Consider what would happen if those who have taken His word seriously started to once again preach with the same authority He exercised to make disciples of every nationality. Would they be arrested?

For sure, if once again the message of salvation was preached with authority, then there would also once again be a living demonstration of a radically new life lived corporately like the pattern established for the church in Acts 2 and 4 after Pentecost. Then the Holy Spirit would be able to convict the world of sin.[20]  But until this happens, the whole world is lost.

Brought in from the Cold

So why do we live the way we do? Because the gospel tells us to.[21] The gospel is the answer to the basic problem with humanity, which is the disintegration of basic human relationships. This is expressed in alienation and loneliness. So we live the way we do because our God wants to prove that our Master took away the guilt of sin that separates us. If He broke down all barriers and thus solved this basic problem with humanity, then all of us who are in Him must be one. If we are not integrated into this body which is one, then we are left out in the cold.

We are so thankful that we are chosen. Our Father in heaven knows who are His. He has known us, chosen us before the foundation of the world. Somehow, He saw beyond our rebellion, our faults, all our problems, and knew our hearts. He knew that we would obey Him if we ever got the chance. He gave us that chance by providing His Son as the one sacrifice for our sins, thus removing the guilt of sin from our conscience by the blood of His Son. And then He gave us His Holy Spirit to dwell inside of us to help us to obey. It is overwhelming to consider that God, the Creator of all things, would hand pick you to do something or that He would have confidence that you would obey Him. This is the faith He communicates to His people, that He can save them, and they can obey Him. This is why He gives them grace, so that they can obey Him. What an awesome Being we serve! His purpose is great. He must have a loyal people that He can command. We’re thankful to be a part of what He is doing on the earth.