Chosen

A few reflections on a word...

1. The love of the initiator is a choosing love. The husband chooses and bestows love. The reason that the bridegroom analogy is so present in the Word is that it succinctly conveys the nature of God's love for us. It is a choosing love that picks from among many. Those that are loved by God are chosen.

2. Chosen implies that others are not chosen. This is the nature of things, and any dissembling here is foolish. If you choose something, you pick it out distinctly from among many things. The other things are not chosen.

3. Thus the foolishness of Arminian thought here, and the empty notion that God's choice is based on foreknowledge, that he knew who would choose him and chose them before he could do it. This is to toy with language and alter the nature of a word in pursuit of a philosophical assumption. This Arminian choosing is no choice, but rather alters things so that our love becomes the choosing love, that we chose God from among other options, and that he knew this in advance. What choice is that? This is an empty passivity that we shun when we see it at work in a human relationships.

4. No, choice is choice, and if God said that he chose us in Christ before the creation of the world, we should acknowledge that he meant that, simply, and rejoice in the fact. It exalts us not a bit to be chosen, since it happened "while we were still sinners." But choosing exalts us, cleanses us, sets us before the throne of God in glory. Choosing is the power of God, and let us leave that power in his hands.