Core Christian Value
We are “elected” by God to be His children; the Word (in 1 TIMOTHY 2:4 NKJV) says, “God our Savior …desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Do it.
When we talk about the issue of choosing to follow God and being filled with His Spirit, it is critical to understand two facts. The first is stated by Jesus. Listen. “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.” JOHN 15:16 then Paul says, 14 “for when Gentiles, who do not have the law (of Moses), by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, 15 who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them.” ROMANS 2:14-16 NKJV
Yes God chose you and yes you responded because He placed the truth in your heart. Did God know you would or would not respond to His call? Yes, but you, in this physical body, limited by time and space, do not know the Alpha from the Omega, the beginning from the end. God does! He sees you now and then, before you were born and in eternity. Nothing you do surprises God. He knew the choices you would make. Do you feel you are free to reject God? Yes you are but God knows, even now, your final circumstance. He chose you! Now, you respond to His love …or not.
God made it easy for you, in a sense. Listen to the teaching of the Apostle John: “…the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him. 1 JOHN 2:27 NKJV
You read, up above, that your thoughts excuse you or accuse you. That is because God gave you a conscience, the Truth in you. That is why those who reject God will be without excuse. Listen to an explanation by Paul: 19 “because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse”, ROMANS 1:19-20 NKJV
First, the Father and Son chose you and secondly, you responded, just as They, the Holy Trinity, knew you would. They, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit placed the truth on your heart and you responded or not. God wants you to respond positively. He wants you to spend eternity with Him.
Does it bother you that God knows your final circumstance and you may not? Certainty is at your doorstep! Do you ever wonder about whether you truly know right from wrong? When there are questions, where do you turn for answers? Allow me to offer a hint; “Thy Word I have hid in my heart that I might not sin against you.” Can the Word of God become a point of reference for you if you do not read and study it? The Bible is God’s Word, written for you. It is God speaking to you through the words of Jesus, the prophets and the apostles. The interpreter is the Holy Spirit in you.