Christlikeness: Chosen to be holy and without blame

Believers should always rejoice in the fact that we have been chosen by God’s mercy. One of the questions I kept asking as a young Christian was, “Why did God choose person A and not person B?” The sovereignty of God is beyond our justification and as such we should stand in awe knowing that God actually set us apart for Himself even before the foundation of the world. In Ephesians 1:4, Paul admonishes the church that God chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. We were chosen to display holiness and be blameless before God in love. just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love (Ephesians 1:4 NKJV) This work of God done even before we were born was ultimately to make us like Christ. Jesus Himself told His disciples that “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 (John 15: 16). The doctrine of election as presented in this verse and the Ephesians verse implies that God chose those who will be saved. These elected believers are to reflect Christ on earth through their lifestyles. We have been called into a lifestyle of holiness because He who has called us is holy (1 Pet. 1:15-17). So what should we do? Holiness and blamelessness is not imputed in us at birth. If that were so, babies latching on their mums breasts will not bite their mums. We learn on a daily basis to live holy and blameless. It is not taught at school and neither can we attain it on our own. If we need God’s standard of holiness and blamelessness, then we need God’s manual on holiness and blamelessness. The word of God is the standard and nothing can replace that. Our self righteousness cannot replace God’s standard. “I am a good person” doesn’t meet God’s standard. We need to go back to the word of God and start from there. If anyone asks you why we need God’s standard of holiness and blamelessness, share with them Acts 10. Remember, that Cornelius was “a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always (Acts 10:2 NKJV). However, to meet God’s standard, he had to be born again. He needed salvation.

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