“But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” 1 Peter 2:9
There is a pervasive and dangerous misunderstanding about election; that is, the idea that God, before the dawn of time, reached into the mass of humanity and arbitrarily assigned certain souls to heaven and others to hell, with no recourse and no choice on their part. This teaching has done enormous damage to the Gospel, and more importantly, it cannot survive contact with the full counsel of Scripture. This is not an impunity of God’s sovereignty; however, it is interpreting His sovereignty through the lens of His nature. Absolute sovereignty cannot be interpreted to mean God can act contrary to His own nature. If He were able to violate the basic tenants of His nature; that is, that He is loving, just, and righteous—then He would no longer be the God He says He is. Ice does not become something other than ice by being colder. But if you heat ice, it is no longer ice at all. God cannot be less than God and remain God.
God, at the very core of His being, is love.
But what does that actually mean? We throw the word “love” around so casually that it has nearly lost its weight. So God, in His mercy, gave us a definition—not in abstract theological terms, but in the language of lived human experience. In 1 Corinthians 13, He tells us exactly what love looks like in human terms we can understand:
“Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.” 1 Corinthians 13:4–8
Every phrase relates to something we have either experienced or desperately longed for in another person. You know what it feels like to be on the receiving end of someone who suffers long with you—who absorbs your worst moments without abandonment. You know the sting of envy in a relationship, and you know its absence when someone genuinely celebrates your win as if it were their own. You know what it means to be around someone who is not puffed up—who has every reason to lord their position over you and simply… doesn’t. You know what it is to be believed in when you have stopped believing in yourself. You know what it means to have someone bear all things alongside you—not fleeing, not keeping score.
This is not merely a description of how God behaves on His better days. This is His nature—unchanging, eternal, and incapable of contradiction. Every attribute listed in that passage is a window into who God is. Jesus lived for us as a human. And God reinforced this in raw, unguarded emotion:
“As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live.” Ezekiel 33:11
That is not the voice of a God who has coldly pre-assigned souls to destruction. And then there is Jesus, standing over Jerusalem—the very city that would hand Him over to be crucified—and weeping and praying: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” (Matthew 23:37) That image—a hen gathering her chicks—is the image of a protective and fiercely devoted mother. That is the heart of God toward people who had already decided to reject Him.
A God who creates souls for the express purpose of condemning them could not be the God of love as love is described in His own Word—God whose very essence—is love that bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, and never fails.
God’s nature is also perfectly just which also reinforces the point that He does not choose some people for heaven and some for hell. A just God does not sentence the defendant before a trial. Justice, by its very definition, requires that the outcome correspond to the action. You cannot have a just verdict where the verdict preceded the choice. God’s Word says His justice is perfect: “He is the Rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are justice, a God of truth and without injustice; righteous and upright is He.” (Deuteronomy 32:4) Perfect justice and pre-assigned condemnation cannot occupy the same throne.
And then there is God’s righteousness. Righteousness is moral integrity—the unbreakable consistency between who God says He is and what He does. If a teacher announced on the first day of class that she had already decided which students would pass and which would fail—regardless of their work, their effort, or their engagement with the material—we would call her corrupt. Every student who showed up, studied hard, and still received a failing grade would have been wronged.
Nor can God be righteous if He authors a rigged outcome and then holds people accountable for it. He cannot declare “Be holy, for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16) to people He has already determined will never be holy. He cannot issue a genuine command to a person who was never given a genuine choice. Even the simplest of minds can understand this would not make Him righteous. It would make Him evil and that is a contradiction of His own Word—which would also make Him a liar. The Bible is clear:
“Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne.” (Psalm 89:14)
Everything God does is built on his nature of love, righteousness, and justice.
Understanding God’s nature is of enormous help for understanding the parts of the Bible that talk about election. The obvious explanation is that election is not “who” but rather, “what” was chosen.
Consider a job offer. When a person accepts a job, the employer has a purpose and benefits in mind. The moment that job offer is accepted, the employee has an array of benefits, authority, and responsibilities. This is the Biblical explanation for election. God, before the foundation of the world, established a mission to offer every human created in His image the opportunity to be in relationship with Himself and He determined exactly what would belong to everyone who chose to join His family. The benefits are chosen by God. The choice to accept the gift of salvation and belong to God’s family is ours.
To accept the gift of salvation and belong to God’s family is our choice, the benefit package was God’s choice.
This has always been the pattern. No one is chosen because of bloodline, background, intellect, or moral record. You are chosen because you said yes—and the One who extended the offer has now commissioned you for the most important mission in human history. Forgiveness, adoption, the indwelling Spirit, eternal life—none of it earned, all of it supplied entirely by God. Our part is simply to take the job. This was exactly the pattern with Israel. God did not choose them because Hebrew blood was superior or because they were the most impressive nation on the map. Moses told them plainly:
“The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples.” Deuteronomy 7:7
The Jewish nation was chosen because God had a job for them to do—to receive His Word, steward His covenants, and bring forth the Messiah into the world. The purpose of that calling was declared all the way back in Genesis: “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:3)
Israel was the lampstand, not the flame; and the light they carried was meant to illuminate the whole world.
Israel’s election was never about racial superiority or covenantal favoritism. They were entrusted with the written Word, the covenants, the promises, the bloodline through which Messiah would enter the world. Paul asks, “What advantage then has the Jew?” And his answer is direct: “Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God.” (Romans 3:1–2) The word “oracle” simply means the spoken or written word of God. They were the custodians of Scripture—the Law, the Psalms, the covenants, the promises. Everything God had spoken and committed to writing. They were, in essence, the guardians of the Bible before the Bible was complete. What God began with Abraham, He continues through the Church. The book of Peter weaves the transition together:
“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.” 1 Peter 2:9–10
This is the language God used at Sinai when He called Israel “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19:6) God is applying it directly to the Church—a body composed of both Jews and Gentiles, bound together by one Gospel. The mission has not changed. The benefits of our calling are glorious—and they exist in service of that mission. The Church is not chosen so that she might SIT in the light. She is chosen so that she might CARRY the light into every dark place. For the one who has accepted the gift of salvation, the Great Commission is not optional:
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 28:19
The Great Commission is our job description.
At the center of everything is the glory of God. Romans 11, concludes the lengthy dissertation of Israel’s election and the Gentiles’ inclusion with an eruption of praise:
“For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever.” Romans 11:36
The beginning and end is God’s glory. The Christian life, then, is not a life of spiritual accumulation of self-glorifying accomplishments. It is a life of spiritual distribution. We have been pulled out of darkness not merely to enjoy the light, but to become, in Christ, “the light of the world.” (Mathew 5:14) We are a city set on a hill that cannot be hidden. The mission is the church, living out the very purpose for which she was chosen to accomplish.
If you have chosen God’s gift of salvation then you have been given an amazing benefits package that God chose for you to enjoy. The benefits are lavish, and supplied entirely by Him—forgiveness, adoption, the Spirit, eternal life, the very righteousness of Christ credited to your account. God has given us the opportunity to invest them and receive a 10,000% return. We have been given a job with marvelous benefits. So let’s get to work and glorify God in all we do today!
“Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31
PRAYER: Father, what a privilege to be called into this mission—to say yes to You and discover that in doing so, we have been entrusted with the greatest news the world has ever heard. Set a fire in us—a holy, unstoppable desire to glorify You in everything we do. Whether we eat or drink, whether we work or rest, let it all be done for Your glory. Make us demonstrations of Your grace. Let the fruit of Your Spirit pour out of us so naturally that the people around us cannot help but ask what is different—and let us never waste that open door. Send us into every ordinary day as bearers of the light of Jesus Christ. We are the lampstand You have placed in this generation. May we never hide the flame. May we live today with boldness, with love, and with joy. In Jesus, name. Amen
