John 15:16 “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.”
In the previous section, we established very clearly the truth from the word of God, which is that all men either accept or reject the salvation of God, as an act of their free wills. But as we will see in this section, scripture also reveals to us the very clear truth, that it is God Who chooses who will be saved and who will not be saved. Later in this series, we will explain how these two seemingly diametrically opposed truths; can be reconciled from God’s word. But first I want to establish the truth from God’s word, that God is the One Who chooses, and not man. And so, in order to establish this truth I have once again quoted four witnesses that all confirm the same truth to us, i.e. that it is God Who chooses us and not we who choose God. The four witnesses are the Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, the apostle Paul and the apostle Peter. The first witness quoted above is the Lord Jesus. In this passage, the Lord Jesus is very emphatic about the truth, that the disciples did not choose the Lord, but that rather it is the Lord that chose the disciples. And in context, the Lord is very clearly teaching about those who come into the kingdom of God. And so, very clearly we can see from this passage that it is God Who chooses us to be saved and not ourselves.
Michael E.B. Maher
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