Former things have passed away and all things are being made new. Genesis tells of Paradise lost whereas Revelation anticipates Paradise restored. Presently, God is delivering people out of domain of darkness and bringing them into the kingdom of the Son (Col. 1:13). Like a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis, Christians are to shed the vices of their former lives and display the higher virtues of the new life in Christ. Such is befitting of the people who are “God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved” (Col. 3:12b).[1]
What does it mean to be chosen, holy and beloved of God? Scriptures applies these titles to the Israelites, Christ, and the Christian.
Israelites: The titles of chosen, holy, and beloved were bestowed upon the Israelites. Moses said to those entering into the promise land,
You are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt (Deut. 7:6-8).
Notice Moses explicitly states, “You are a people holy to the Lord your God” (v. 6a), “The Lord your God has chosen you” (v. 6b), and “the Lord loves you” (v. 8).
Israelites were chosen, holy, and loved. This position was never by their own merits. They were hardly the mightiest among the nations. They never lived in total unwavering sinless perfection.[2] Rather, their position was according to the faithfulness of God, who kept His covenant with their forefathers — namely Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Gen.12:1-3; 15:1-20; 17:1-21; 26:1-5; 28:10-22).
God’s Word never returns void, and what He promised came to pass. Prior to Israelite entry into the promise land, Moses declared: “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations” (Deut. 7:9). Upon establishing settlements in the promise land, Joshua announces to the Israelites: “Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass” (Josh. 21:45). God’s faithfulness made all the difference in the world.
Christ: The titles chosen, holy and beloved of God are likewise applied to Jesus Christ.
Christ is God’s chosen servant, filled with the Holy Spirit, who unassumingly and peacefully ministers to establish justice upon the earth (Matt. 12:15-21; cf. Isa. 42:1-3). The Lord taught that He would suffer and die but rise to life again on the third day (Mk. 8:31). Peter rebuked Him for saying such things, but Jesus replied, “Get behind me, Satan!” (Mk. 8:33). Eight days later Peter, James and John witnessed the Lord’s Transfiguration, and Luke tells us that they heard the voice of the Heavenly Father declare: “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” (Lk. 9:35).[3] Peter came to know Christ as “a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious,” who fulfilled what the Scriptures foretold concerning the rejected stone becoming the cornerstone (1 Pet. 2:4, 6-7; Acts 4:11-12; cf. Psa. 118:22, Isa. 8:14, 28:16) and He bore our sins upon the cross, and provided a way for us to die to our own sin and to live righteously, for by His wounds we are healed (1 Pet. 2:24; cf. Isa. 53:5). Christ is thus the chosen redeemer.
Holy is a title rightly applied to Christ as well. He was tempted in every respect yet without sin (Heb. 4:15).[4] Simon Peter declared Jesus to be “the Holy One of God” (Jn. 6:69). Even a demon was compelled to identify the Lord as “the Holy One of God” (Lk 4:34). Jesus is the righteous one who suffered on behalf of the unrighteous (Gal. 3:13-14; 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Pet. 3:18).
Christ is also God’s beloved Son. John the Baptist baptized the Lord, and when Jesus came out of the water, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him, and the voice from heaven said, “You are my beloved Son” (Mk. 1:9-11; cf. Matt. 3:13-17; Lk. 3:21-22). Again, at Jesus’ transfiguration the voice from heaven declared, “This is my beloved Son” (Mk. 9:7; Matt. 17:5). The Gospel of John teaches us that the Heavenly Father loves the Son (Jn. 3:35; 5:20; 10:17).
Christians: Followers of Christ are identified as chosen, holy, and beloved of God. These titles are part and parcel of every spiritual blessing God bestowed upon them. Paull writes,
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved (Eph. 1:3-6, emphasis added).[5]
Called out of darkness into the light, they have been chosen to be a royal priesthood, a holy nation (1 Pet. 2:9). Christ is the chosen redeemer and the Christian the chosen redeemed. They are God’s elect.
Believers are holy. The followers of Christ are called “saints” throughout the New Testament. They are the holy ones set apart or consecrated to God. They have been made righteous by the blood of the Lamb (Rm. 3:21-25; Jn. 1:29; 1 Jn. 1:5-2:2). They are daily being transformed into the image of God and God is working to bring their transformation to completion (2 Cor. 3:17-18; Rm. 8:28-30; 1 Jn. 3:2-3). They are thus to be holy for God is holy (1 Pet. 1:14-16).
Christ’s followers are loved by God. God’s love for them is demonstrated in Christ dying for their sins (Jn. 3:16; Rm. 5:7-8).
If there is going to be any removing of old vices and putting on of the highest virtues, it begins with understanding that such is befitting for those who are chosen, holy and beloved of God. William Hendriksen explains:
“Election affects life in all its phases, is not abstract. Although it belongs to God’s decree from eternity, it becomes a dynamic force in the hearts and lives of God’s children. It produces fruits. It is an election not only unto salvation but definitely also (as a link in the chain) unto service. It has as its final aim God’s glory, and is the work of his delight” (Eph. 1:4–6).
In apposition with the expression “God’s elect” are the ascriptions “holy and beloved.” As God’s chosen ones, these people, both individually and collectively as far as they are true believers, are holy, that is, “set apart” for the Lord and for his work. They have been cleansed by the blood of Christ from the guilt of their sins, and are being delivered, more and more, from sin’s pollution, and renewed according to the image of God (see on verse 10 above). They are, moreover, “beloved,” and this especially by God (1 Thess. 1:4; cf. 2 Thess. 3:13).[6]
Christians are the followers of Christ. Just as God’s chosen, holy, and beloved Christ exists as the quintessential example of the way humility leads to exaltation (Phil. 2:5-11; cf., Jas. 4:10; 1 Pet. 5:6; Matt. 23:11-14; Lk. 18:9-14), Christians are then to “put on…compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience” (Col. 3:12c). Life in Christ involves “bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” (Col. 3:13). The Lord never minces words when condemning unforgiveness: “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matt. 6:14-15). Unforgiveness is a sign of being outside the kingdom of God, so the parable of the unforgiving servant (Matt. 18:21-35). Moreover, as Christ displayed agape in laying down His life for us, Christians are to “[put on] love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony” (Col. 3:14). But the very absence of agape signifies a person’s estrangement from God (Jn. 15:12; Rm. 5:8; 1 Jn. 4:7-12).
We who are Christ followers are the chosen, holy and beloved people of God. This is our position in Christ. We neither earned it nor deserve such kindness; yet, God chooses us out of sin and darkness to be His holy and beloved people. As recipients of God’s bountiful grace, we are to put on the highest virtues befitting of the grace received — compassion, kindness, and humility. We forgive because we have been forgiven. We love. The love we share binds together what has fallen apart in this sinful and fallen world. Our love puts the disharmony back into perfect harmony.
— WGN
[1] All Scripture cited from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016).
[2] Torah refers to the five books of Moses. They are also referred to as the Pentateuch.
[3] During the crucifixion, the religious leaders mocked the Lord, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” (Lk. 23:35). The Lord died, but much to their own chagrin He came back to life on the third day, as it was necessary according to Moses and the prophets for all these things to happen to the Messiah, i.e. the Christ (Lk. 24:13-27; Acts 2:22-24).
[4] Jesus Christ being fully divine is unable to sin; however, being fully human, He could experience genuine temptation. But the Lord never succumbs to the enticement to sin. For discussion, see Adam Pelser, “Genuine Temptation and the Character of Christ,” Christian Research Journal, 30, 4 [2007]: https://www.equip.org/article/genuine-temptation-character-christ/. Another helpful treatment can be found in Paul Copan, “That’s Just Your Interpretation:” Responding to Skeptics Who Challenge Your Faith (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House Co., 2001), 138-143.
[5] Other passages on divine election include: John 15:16, 1 Corinthians 1:26-31, Colossians 3:1, 2 Thessalonians 2:13-15, and 1 Peter 2:4-10. The identification of believers as being chosen and predestined naturally traverses into the divine sovereignty and human responsibility question. If God knows all things, controls all things, and always succeeds at accomplishing all that He wills to do, are humans genuinely responsible for their actions? Are those predestined to be adopted as sons and daughters of God only able to positively respond to the evangelistic call to repent? Are the non-elect unable to positively respond the evangelistic call to repent? Various perspectives on the nature of divine election and genuine freewill have been proposed. Augustinism is set against Pelagianism and Semi-Pelagianism. Calvinism against Arminianism. The Bondage of the Will by Martin Luther is a reply to The Freedom of the Will by Desiderius Erasmus. Other views on resolving the divine sovereignty and human responsibility debate include Molinism (Luis de Molina), Amyraldism (Moise Amyraut) and Moderate Calvinism (Norm Geisler). Volumes can be written about on this subject. To dive in to the subject on divine sovereignty and human responsibility, I found these books from the representative viewpoints to be helpful: J.I. Packer, Evangelism & the Sovereignty of God (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1961), R.C. Sproul, Chosen by God: Know God’s Perfect Plan for His Glory and His Children (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1986), R.C. Sproul, Willing to Believe: The Controversy Over Free Will (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1997), Norman Geisler, Chosen But Free: A Balanced View of Divine Election (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House Publishers, 1999), George Bryson, The Five Points of Calvinism: Weighed and Found Wanting (Costa Mesa, CA: Word for Today, 1996), Robert Shank, Elect in the Son: A Study of the Doctrine of Election (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House Publishers, 1970, 1989), Kenneth Keathley, Salvation and Sovereignty: A Molinist Approach (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2010), and David Basinger and Randall Basinger, Predestination and Freewill: Four Views of Divine Sovereignty & Human Freedom (Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1986). Very helpful insights on freewill can be found in Clay Jones, Why Does God Allow Evil? Compelling Answers for Life’s Toughest Question (Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 2017).
[6] William Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary: Exposition of Colossians and Philemon, vol. 6 (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1953–2001), 155–156.
Love Truth Blog 