I do not wish to enter into the theological debate concerning man’s responsibility in relation to God’s sovereignty. I simply desire to emphasize the fact of God’s selection. We all have become Christians because of this selection. Many of us do not even know why we became Christians in the first place. Some of us may even have tried to stop believing in the Lord, but we were not successful in doing so. On the one hand, it is wonderful to be a Christian; but on the other hand, it is extremely trying and difficult. We Christians are not only Jacobs, but also Jobs. Due to God’s selection, we had no choice except to become Christians. Now that we have believed into the Lord Jesus, we simply cannot escape from Him. This proves that we have been selected by God.
Within us there is something that causes us to believe in the Lord, whether we want to believe in Him or not. This comes from the selection of grace. We may want to get a “divorce” from the Lord, but He refuses to sign the certificate of divorce. God is not afraid of any attempt we might make to escape from Him. He knows that however hard we may try, we cannot get away. This is the strongest proof that we have been selected by God. How marvelous is the divine selection of grace!
We see God’s selection in a practical way in our preaching of the gospel. A number of unbelievers may attend the same meeting and hear the same message; however, only certain ones respond. This is difficult to explain. We can attribute it only to God’s selection, predestination, and calling.
I remember a story told about D. L. Moody. One day a student expressed the concern that through his preaching of the gospel someone could be saved who had not been selected by God. Moody told him not to be troubled, but to simply continue to preach the gospel. Furthermore, Moody said that he should allow anyone who is willing to believe to receive the Lord. Moody went on to say that over the entrance of heaven there will be written the words, “Whosoever will may come,” but that after a person passes through the entrance, he will see inscribed upon the inside of it these words: “Chosen from before the foundation of the world.”
If we would properly serve God in the gospel of His Son, we must know that the gospel includes the selection of grace. The gospel is wholly a matter of God’s sovereign mercy. Many years ago, I had some realization of this, but my realization is much stronger today. Through many years of experience, I have become strongly and deeply convinced that everything that happens to us is of God. All is a matter of God’s mercy. The more we see this, the more we shall spontaneously bear our responsibility before the Lord.
However, even the bearing of responsibility is of God’s mercy. Why is it that some believers are willing to bear their responsibility and that others are not? The answer lies in God’s mercy. In 9:15 Paul quotes the Lord’s words, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy.” Because of God’s mercy in His selection of grace, we responded to the gospel when others did not respond; we received a word about Christ as our life when others refused to receive it; and we took the way of the Lord’s recovery today when others drew back from taking this way. Some can testify that although they are in the Lord’s recovery today, those who brought them to this way did not come this way themselves.
Regarding His recovery, God has mercy on whom He will have mercy. We are not in the Lord’s recovery because we are more intelligent than others or because we seek the Lord more than others do. Our being here is altogether due to the mercy of God. If you consider how the Lord brought you into the church life in the Lord’s recovery, you will worship Him for His mercy. I believe that we in the Lord’s recovery are among the remnant according to the selection of grace (11:5). Regarding the gospel, the ministry of life, and the church life in the Lord’s recovery, God has had mercy upon us. How we must praise Him for His sovereign mercy!
We should have no trust in ourselves, and we should not think we are here because of anything that we are or that we have done. Our being in the Lord’s recovery today is not of our willing nor of our running, but of God, the One who shows mercy. What a mercy that we are saved and that we are willing to take the Lord’s way! Furthermore, it is a mercy that we are willing to be separated from today’s evil age. The world is both attractive and attracting. Nevertheless, I can testify that I simply have no appetite for the things of the world. I am covered with a kind of divine insulation, an insulation that keeps me from the world system. This is another aspect of God’s mercy.