We Are Chosen

Ephesians 1:4

The theological term ‘election’ is something that’s been debated for centuries by people who have minds and intellects that are infinitely greater than mine. The debate in it’s simplest form asks this question, “Do we choose God or does God choose us?” We could point to many verses in the Bible that seem to indicate that we are responsible for embracing or rejecting God. There are other verses that say that God does the choosing. This is one of those verses. It is very explicit. It is very plain. Just as HE CHOSE US IN HIM. The term ELECTION is the term that theologians use to simply state WE ARE CHOSEN.

‘We are chosen’ is spoken in the ‘MIDDLE VOICE’ in the Greek, and through translation into English we lose a little of the impact of what is being conveyed by Paul. The MIDDLE VOICE means that the subject initiates the action and participates in the results of the action! The middle voice calls attention to the subject as the one who is acting on His own behalf, intimately involved in the action to bring about a desired end. The subject is GOD. The action is the CHOOSING.

God did not choose his children and then walk away. He is fully, totally, intimately involved in your life and mine – participating in His action upon us… why? That you and I would be holy and blameless before Him! Election does not have to be a troubling doctrine for us. We don’t need to engage in endless debate on who chooses whom. James Montgomery Boice makes this helpful comment on the topic: “Instead of destroying the value of human choices, election gives us a capacity for choosing that we did not possess previously as unregenerate persons”.