What Does It Mean To Be “Chosen in Christ?”
The phrase “chosen in Christ” is unique to the Christian tradition and has a multilayered meaning. Whether you’re a believer in or curious about the Christian tradition and the symbolism that comes with it, when you ask yourself what it means to be “chosen in Christ,” you move closer to a deeper appreciation of God’s grace, mercy, and love.
Election Comes Through Christ Alone
If you’re a believer, you should first understand that election isn’t something you earn or achieve. Election is a gift given by God through Christ. It is a grant of a sacred opportunity to move toward salvation. And that salvation comes from walking through the door that God has opened through Christ. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, sinners experience a change of heart, a yearning for repentance of sins, a deepening of faith, and the submission to God’s authority. These sinners can be saved, justified and forgiven, and sanctified. Sanctification enables a person to move with the Holy Spirit to represent God’s way on Earth through the example of Jesus Christ.
Election is a calling, but it’s up to the person who is called to accept the call. This acceptance is an agreement to accept and follow God’s teachings through Christ. Acceptance forms a relationship and defines a path.
Jesus Came To Fulfill a Purpose
Christ is said to have come to fulfill a purpose. His whole existence was to glorify God. But this didn’t end in His death, burial, and resurrection. Every baptized individual is still fulfilling this purpose every day, and the fulfilment of Christ’s purpose is perpetuated with every lost person who is found and saved.
Glory is simply an act of love—showing compassion to humanity despite all the transgressions that have fallen in the hands of those outside of divinity, which represents the fellowship of man.
The Holy Trinity
In the Christian church, the Holy Trinity is comprised of three in one: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost (or Holy Spirit). These are simultaneously separate and unified. God is the great creator of heaven and Earth and the source of love and law in the world. Jesus Christ, his only son, is the ordained intermediary between God and human beings. We pray “through Jesus Christ, our Lord” so that Christ can convey our hopes, gratitude, anguish, and love to God. And the Holy Spirit is like the “breath of God” that moves us toward accepting Christ and doing His work in the world.
Finding Our Worth
Some people outside the faith think that our worth is something that is earned or discovered. But God’s love extends to everyone, from believers to nonbelievers, from sinners to those who have repented of their sins. Through this unconditional love, the Holy Spirit leads us toward a remaking of ourselves into faithful people. Energized by the Holy Spirit, we pursue and follow the Word of the Lord and the teachings of Jesus Christ.
Divine love extends to all of us as the children of God. The Christian faith is erected upon this belief and upon the acknowledgement that Christ came into this world to save us from sin and lead us toward salvation.
Looking at Christian belief through this lens warms the soul and fills us with joy and celebration. Our eyes are opened to faith and gratitude for the amazing love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness of God. People who have felt the hardships of life and who may feel inadequate to receive and give love can learn through faith that God’s unconditional love can fill their hearts and souls. They in turn can take that love into the world and allow its light to shine on others.
Election Is Not Rejection
It’s critically important to understand that election by God is not a rejection of those not “elected.” Anyone can find salvation through repentance and faith. Election is simply one means God has chosen to gather his flock.
But anyone can seek salvation through Christ. Anyone can repent of their sins, ask for forgiveness, and resolve to walk in the path that Christ has mapped out for us. Election of some does not mean damnation for everyone else. Salvation comes from a sincere desire to become free of sin and an acceptance of the truth of God’s love, grace, and forgiveness.
Understanding that God’s love is given, not earned, can be overwhelming—but it can also be freeing and inspiring. Rejecting God’s love and grace out of some misguided sense of unworthiness is a tragedy, but God will never give up on you. You have an infinite number of opportunities to accept God’s love and forgiveness and to acknowledge His grace through gratitude and faith.
Faith Is Central to Everything
The groundwork for religious tradition is rooted in faith. Faith inspires hope in the soul’s redemption and comes through God’s grace. Through that grace, the elected are led toward salvation. Faith is a surrender of the wrongheaded notion that individuals are in control: rather, faith leads believers to live the lives God wants for us through the teachings of Jesus. Christ came to help us understand this and, through faith, to spread the good news of God’s redeeming grace.
So what does it mean to be “chosen in Christ?” It means that God chooses us to come to Him through Christ. The doctrine of election means God is always seeking His children, opening the door to salvation and eternal life. That door opens not through any action, works, riches, or devotions. Those who realize through the Holy Spirit that they’ve been given the incredible opportunity to accept salvation can move forward in this world imbued with God’s love. That love then shines through the elect who have accepted God’s invitation to inspire others to seek God and follow His commandments and Christ’s teachings.
It is beyond any human being’s control to be “elected.” God calls His elect because He wants to give them the chance to be their best selves and serve Him in the name of Christ. Others come to Christ and, through Christ, to God by hearing the whisper of the Holy Spirit or through the divine love expressed in God’s Word in the Holy Bible.
However one finds faith and Christ, ongoing contemplation and study of God’s Word is an integral aspect of Christian practice. Christians and those drawn to Christianity can find study Bibles for sale at The KJV Store.
