God Chooses Faith

God has mercy on whom he will have mercy. For some, those words limn an arbitrary selection, made draft board-like by a God who keeps his own counsels. Though God speaks these words self-descriptively, are they meant to convey divine capriciousness? Considering that God says so much else about himself that is not capricious, I would say, no.

That God exerts his will to direct the course of history to a foregone conclusion does not mean that true independence amongst humankind has to be co-opted in order to accomplish his aims. In another post, I pointed out that God’s ultimate purpose in making us was to create family and friends that could relate to him on his level. Certainly, one aspect of that level is freedom of choice and action. I believe it is essential to God’s design in choosing ends that humans express freedom of choice and action.

Is faith even possible under any other conditions?

Paul tells us that faith is the crucial factor in God’s selecting. Faith is what includes us, unbelief is what excludes us. And just so we’re clear on this, faith is not the result of our desire or work, it is merely a reaction to God’s intervention. Apart from God interjecting himself into our lives and presenting us choices, no one would call on him. God sends word to us of possibilities with him, he asks us to trust him, to make a faith choice, a real choice. Who can get the credit for that but God? 

Those who get saved merely respond to God’s tap on their shoulder. Therefore, every single one who walks into the kingdom to come will be able to say they do so because they believed in what God said and did, even though they never could have without God's interposition. In God's scheme of things we’re not puppets or pets. He does not intend for us to walk in uncertainty, wondering whether or not we are one of those that he’s pre-wired for salvation, nor does he desire any of us to smugly rest on our laurels, certain that we are. 

God asks us to examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith. Like faith itself, that's something God doesn't do for us, but that we do ourselves. It can serve little purpose, it seems to me, for folk to get lost in arcane theological conjectures concerning their election when, practically speaking, the point becomes moot if one believes and has experienced the reassuring work of the Holy Spirit. The only truly helpful thing for those who call upon the Lord to know about election is that God chooses faith.