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Posted: Sunday 16 February, 2014 at 10:10 AM

Chosen In Spite Of

Carl Greaux

    My friend, if you are a child of God then truly you were chosen as such in spite of what you are, not because of what you are.

     

    God knew from all eternity everything that you were and everything that you would be. When God redeemed you He did not choose you because of any goodness that He saw in you. Therefore, He also does not keep you because of any goodness in you.

    My friend, this is also true in our human relationships. You do not love your children because they are well-dressed. No, to the contrary, you do all in your power to make them well-dressed, well-mannered and clean, because you love them. You do not love them because they are clean; you clean them because you love them. 

    This is what is taught in God’s Word. And this teaching can change your life if you will realise that just as you are, God receive you. Just as we are, without anything to commend us outside the Lord Jesus Christ, is how each of us must come before God.

    My friend, this do not minimise sin. Not in the least! Sin was fully dealt with on the cross. There, between Heaven and Hell, the Son of God endured in His own body and soul the wrath that our sins deserved. God does not blink at sin or ignore it. God dealt with it fully in His Son who received and endured an infinite punishment in our stead.

    Therefore, we need to know that God loves us just as we are, and accepts us as His own. By His grace He is making us what He would have us to be and that is more like Jesus.

    So, if you know that you are a child of God and chosen in spite of, then you know that God accepted you just as you were the moment you trusted in Christ. But since that time, perhaps you have returned to your own works or ways, trusting that they will make you acceptable to God. Now you may fear coming to Him because you do not believe that you are still acceptable.

    My fiend, you never were and you never will be acceptable to God in your own right. Yet, in Christ, we are acceptable even though we are entirely unacceptable; beloved though unlovely.

    Many Christians, especially new ones, when they sin feel “Oh how could this be? How could I have done this against God who has done so much for me? I suppose I’m not even a Christian any more”. They are afraid to come into God’s presence.  They turn away from His Word and from prayer, which is the very thing the devil desires them to do.

    I humbly suggest that they should go immediately to a gracious Father who loves them, knowing that He will receive them, and in the name of Christ confess their sins and claim anew His forgiveness and refilling with His Spirit. We live the Christian life by constantly confessing and repenting our sins and by faith claiming and taking hold of the grace of God and His forgiveness in Christ.
     
    By doing this, I believe we will find that we can live our lives far more righteously than we have previously. This does not mean that we will never sin, but it does mean that when we do sin we are not going to get into that downward spiral which takes us even farther away from God.

    My friend, let us not forget that God has promised to receive us when we live each day in the attitude described in 1 John 1:8-10 which reads: “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.”   

    Yes my friend, this verse outlines the walk of faith that we are to have each moment of each day. Clearly, moment by moment, should the child of God acknowledges his sin and depend solely on Jesus for his acceptance by God with the assured hope that he is chosen in spite of.
     
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