For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. Ephesians 1:4

The aspect of Divine Election is one subject I have grown to appreciate and understand more fully over the years. As much as I believe firmly in Evangelism and the great commission, I firmly believe that only God can save people, that He ultimately decides who He will reveal the glorious gospel to as we proclaim it.

Here’s a few questions to ponder…

Can a person decide to be saved when the term "Saved" implies being rescued by another? Is Salvation a choice based on a decision or does salvation come through a divine conversion? Can a lost soul consciously reject the gospel of Jesus Christ if he fully comprehends it? Is it possible to decide to follow Jesus based on one’s own free will? OR is their a higher power at work at the very moment of inception? In other words, is our ability to comprehend, understand, receive, and believe the gospel of salvation in itself an act of God’s grace and power alone? If you believe we are saved by the grace of God, and you believe that, as Jesus said, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him” (Matt 11:27) then you must conclude the latter. And that is what solidifies ones salvation and what holds us to Him…Grace. It is not for us to decide, it is His choice…

John 5:21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.

Matthew 11:27 “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

A revelation of God’s Grace and mercy in the work of Jesus Christ upon the cross is so powerful, the bibles states that “the gospel IS the power of God unto salvation.” SO the point at which one is born of God (conversion) is accomplished soley by the grace of God and who can resist the will of God at that moment. For conversion is so powerful it cannot be resisted. The natural response one can only have when the gospel is fully realized is to receive it and believe it and to be forever changed by it.

Imagine for a moment that (while you were still dead in sin) you see your sin in all of its wickedness as God sees it, then you see how it has offended and grieved the holy, righteous judge of the Universe! You see yourself as the object of His wrath and fury. Your sin is so perverse, so depraved, so utterly shameful in contrast to His holiness and perfection. Then you see Christ, the sinless Lamb of God upon the cross, and you realize the agony and suffering that came upon Him with such violent force was His demonstration of Love towards you. And at that very moment you knew that Christ had stood between you and the hammer that was meant for you, that you deserved. You knew that Jesus Christ has paid the price and satisfied justice in your behalf. Imagine that you are absolutely convinced beyond any doubt that this gospel is true and the only way you can avoid having the terror of God’s indignation fall upon you is to throw yourself upon the mercy extended to you through Jesus Christ… then try to imagine saying, “naw I’m going to reject Christ, I’m not going to make this decision today.”

Stupid right? That would be dummer than rejecting a cold bottle of water in the middle of the Sahara after 2 days of aimless wandering. Yah, you’d never do that, and that’s why you didn’t do that… you couldn’t possibly reject something so good. Which brings us to the realization that those who supposedly “reject Christ” or “reject the gospel” never did reject anything… they simply were not enlightened to the truth and did not fully comprehend it, nor could they believe something that has not fully manifested itself as divine revelation knowledge.

If coming to faith in Jesus Christ has anything to do with our own choice, then salvation is not based on the grace of God. “It is by Grace that you have been saved, through faith…” That is how powerful this passage is. It asserts that your point of conversion was a divine conception that only God could perform and allow… it is by His grace that you could even comprehend it because in the darkness and depravity of our minds, we cannot even believe or embrace the gospel for a mere second. It must be revealed to us by the will of God. Your profession of faith was simply the natural result of what God had already revealed to you by his grace. There was no decision or choice involved…. your “choice” came after what had already occured. The act of God’s grace simply prompted a natural response. The sinners prayer cannot save anyone. If your confession was manufactured by the notion that you can be saved by your own choice, it is most likely not authentic, but simply a mere human attempt. A true conversion will be evident by an internal assurance of salvation and a radical change in your desires. But the confession of faith is an affirmation of what has already been realized in your heart, it is not in itself a formula for salvation. God saves us by His grace… and we have nothing to do with it. Receiving Christ as Savior comes about as natural as a blind man receiving his sight. And that’s what we were, blind, but now we see… by God’s grace!

The way we live out our lives as Christians will determine how we view our entry point into the kingdom of God. If we believe it was by our choice/decision, then we will always rely on our own will and ability. Pleasing God will always be a duty and our own efforts to plese God will be burdensome. But if we know that our entry point was by the Grace of God alone, we will always rely upon the Grace of God to sustain us and keep us. When we finish the race and receive a crown it will be the grace of God that caused it, and no man can boast. We are humbled at the very thought that God would impute to us His Righteousness, making us the objects of His favor rather than the objects of His wrath. And we will only remain humble if we realize just how amazing His grace was that brought us where we are.

Perhaps this raises many complex questions and you find yourself struggling with this just like I once did. So I’ve linked to an article for your reading pleasure. It is very powrful and convincing, and it will give you an awesome revelation of God's sovereign grace.

http://www.reformationtheology.com/2005/12/is_divine_election_fair_by_pas.php