Salvation: Why me? - 535
By Tim Lamb
A fellow at a Bible study I attend asked the question that had
troubled him. “Why did God pick such an ungrateful, faithless, people
as the Jews of the Old Testament to be His ‘Chosen Ones’?
I can’t help thinking it was for this purpose: To give hope to the
rest of us ungrateful faithless people. And the purpose for that hope
is simple, to bring glory to Himself. God is glorified in His
Justice; dispensing the consequences of sin. God is glorified in His
Mercy; taking those consequences of your sin and mine onto Himself.
God is glorified in His Grace; giving eternal life and “child” status
to those who cannot earn it and do not remotely deserve it.
We are saved from our sin for the same reason God picked the Jews and
in the same manor that He is glorified in creation; it is to His glory
to make something out of nothing, and without Jesus we are nothing.
Romans 8:28 says “God works all things together for good to them who
love the Lord, to them who are called according to His purpose.”
ALL Things! My sin, my weakness, my ungratefulness, my lack of faith?
Yes, all things! God uses the junk, filth, and blasphemy of our
lives to remind us of our need for a Savior. The knowledge of His
justice causes fear in those who are unrepentant, and fear of the Lord
is the beginning of wisdom (noted three places in scripture) and
wisdom is the beginning of understanding God. A man who fears for his
salvation can be shown the path to it.
The knowledge of my sin is the overcoming of my ungratefulness. How
can I not give thanks to God when I know He has forgiven me such a
great transgression? My lack of faith demonstrates my need for the
Author of my faith (Hebrews 12:2) and like the man in Matthew chapter
nine, my lack of faith causes me to cry out “…help Thou mine
unbelief”.
I have looked at someone oozing with talent and personality and
leadership and thought what a great Christian that he would make.
With all those gifts God could surely use them. In reality, in most
cases, God would first have to break them with the knowledge of their
sin; His justice; their lacking; His completeness; their depravity;
His righteousness; their need; and His forgiveness. Those talents may
rise again in that fellow following His conversion but only after
going through the fire – the cleansing fire that brings us to need
Him.
The question of why God chooses some and not others becomes redundant
in light of 1 Timothy 2:3,4 – “God desires all people to be saved and
to come to the knowledge of the truth”. In His sovereignty God has
given up what he desires to receive those who desire Him. So why me?
Why you? Why any one of us ungrateful humans? To glorify Himself
God has chosen to reveal Himself to all who will receive Him and oddly
enough that seems to be the weakest of men. Not by our might but by
His grace - He is worthy of Glory.
|