Imagine being one of God’s chosen people! Is it really possible? Is it really available?
Special privileges go with those connected to ‘the Top.’ Those highly favored of God Almighty have an indescribable future prepared for them — for eternity. I say ‘indescribable’ because that’s what God’s Word says.
I Corinthians 2:9 However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” — the things God has prepared for those who love him–
If you were the son of a King, don’t you think that your Father would favor you over others simply because of your relationship with him? Of course he would. It’s always family first in God’s thinking and planning.
Is Israel God’s Chosen People?
Isn’t the nation of Israel God’s chosen people? I’m not Jewish, and it appears God may have forsaken His people — has He, or are they still His chosen people?
Way back near the beginning, God chose the nation of Israel to be His people. He wanted them to walk with Him, keeping His commandments and in return He’s bless them and keep them safe from all enemies. He said that He would give them the land where Israel now is, and a much larger parcel of land than that.
But Israel continually walked away from God and did not keep his commandments. They worshiped the gods of the Assyrians, Egyptians and Babylonians. The rejected God’s Word and in turn rejected God’s protection. By the time Jesus was born, the upper hierarchy of Israel’s rulers had become so corrupt that Jesus rebuked them publicly more than once.
The heart of God’s chosen people was so disconnected from His heart that He gave them a ‘spirit of slumber’ that they would not believe until the Messiah returned a second time after his crucifixion, resurrection and ascension into heaven. You can read all about it in Romans chapters 9-11. Here’s a portion of that section.
Romans 11:1-9 I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.
God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you know what Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel:
“Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me”?
And what was God’s answer to him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”
So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.
What then? What the people of Israel sought so earnestly they did not obtain. The elect among them did, but the others were hardened,
as it is written:
“God gave them a spirit of stupor,
eyes that could not see
and ears that could not hear,
And David says:
“May their table become a snare and a trap,
a stumbling block and a retribution for them.
May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see,
and their backs be bent forever.”
God is so gracious and merciful that He will never cast away his people forever. No, He’s got plans for them and that for good. But for now, God has given Israel a ‘spirit of slumber’ to prevent them from believing, except for the few (remnant) elect He’s chosen now.
God has done this to open the door of salvation to the rest of the world, called “the Gentiles” in the Bible. Let’s continue in Romans 11.
Romans 11: 11-28 Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious.
But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their full inclusion bring!
I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry
in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them.
For if their rejection brought reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?
If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.
If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root,
do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you.
You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.”
Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but tremble.
For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.
Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.
And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.
After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!
All Israel Will Be Saved
I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, and in this way all Israel will be saved. As it is written:
“The deliverer will come from Zion;
he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.
And this is my covenant with them
As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs,
for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.
Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience,
so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God’s mercy to you.
For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.
Isn’t that amazing? Were you able to follow it through? God has concluded all of Israel in unbelief that He might have mercy on all, and so “all Israel shall be saved.”
Who Are God’s Chosen People in the Interim?
So if God has temporarily suspended Israel’s calling and election, except for a small remnant, who are God’s chosen people today? Does He have any? The answer, straight from God’s heart, the Bible, is YES! Let’s see what God says.
Ephesians 1:1-11 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints who are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:
Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
According as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
To the praise of the glory of his grace, in which he has made us accepted in the beloved.
In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Which he has abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he has purposed in himself:
That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who works all things after the counsel of his own will:
That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
In whom you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after you believed, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise,
Who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
Wow! If you believe in Jesus, God says that He “chose” you from before the foundation of the earth! That was a long, long time ago — way before any person was made! God’s foreknowledge if unrestricted. He’s not time-locked as we are. He doesn’t predict, he foresees and foreknows. This is beyond our human comprehension but nevertheless it’s true.
Here’s another verse telling us what God thinks about those He’s chosen.
Romans 8:33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.
Nobody — spirit or human — has the right to bring any charge against God’s chosen.
When you belong to God, you are privileged indeed. This relationship with the Creator of the heavens and the earth is available through His Son Jesus Christ whom God sent to save the world.
How to Accept God’s Invitation
Romans 10:9 If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe God raised him from the dead, you shall be saved.
Answer God’s call today. What are you waiting for? You can be ‘blessed with every spiritual blessing” if you just but act. It’s not your fault you were born into this mess called life in a fallen world, and God has provided a way out. There’s a new world coming my friend; one where only good and no evil exists. Do you want to be part of it — forever? You can. Just answer God’s call; accept His invitation.
Are you one of the truly chosen of God?
My Own For You 