Divine election

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you (John 15:16)

Divine election, when coupled with the doctrine of predestination, is almost a perennial theological problem. It is one of the doctrines requiring one’s committed and faithful thinking. It in a theological analysis is of God’s grace enabling the chosen ones to be blessings to others.

You did not choose me, but I chose you… (Eph. 1:1-4)

1. All the while the disciples of Jesus may have thought that they have chosen Jesus (Cf. John 6:66-69)
   1. They have left all they had to follow Jesus (Matt. 19:27)
   2. They have denied themselves, carrying their own crosses
2. But it was Jesus who chose them (Cf. John 6:44; 65)
   1. The disciples were not special people with peculiar talents
   2. They were ordinary ones (Cf. Deut. 7:7; 9:4-6)
   3. They were not in a position to earn any favor from Jesus
3. It was always the Lord Jesus who won them over to Himself (Luke 5:1-11)
   1. He saw and called them (Luke 5:27)
   2. He forgave and restored them (John 21; Matt. 14:31-33)
   3. He taught and trained them (Matt. 13:52)
4. It was the Lord Jesus who appointed them as apostles (Matt. 10:1ff)
   1. They were sent to proclaim the gospel
   2. They were to do so in power and authority
      1. So that their fruit may abide
      2. So that their labor of faith and love may be established

So that whatever you ask the Father…

1. The conjunction “so that” indicates the purpose of divine election
2. God’s election of Israel was to be the light to the Gentiles (Isa. 45:4)
3. Jesus’ choice of disciples was to bear fruits; Fruits to bear include
   1. Fruits of faith and love (1 Thes. 1:3-8)
   2. Fruits of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22 ff)
   3. Fruits of spiritual understanding (1 Cor. 2:12)
4. Our prayer for such fruits of faith and love for others to see Jesus will always be granted
5. This is how the Father will also honor a true servant of the Lord Jesus (Cf. John 12:26)

God has graciously chosen us to bear fruits of faith and love in the name of Jesus. In doing so, we are the praise to God our Father!