Chosen by God (Part I): "The Choicest Servant"

First, I want to address the “Chosen One” whom we are all familiar with...Jesus Christ, whose very name means, in part, “Chosen” or “anointed” one. We can see this as early as Isaiah 42 “Here is my servant whom I uphold. My Chosen One in whom I delight” (v2). Now, let us be clear, Christ was not chosen among many men to be the Messiah. He simply was the “Elect One”. Now allow me to take an important sidebar into that word “elect” or “chosen”. Time and space don’t allow me to unpack what I’ve learned about this word (I am indebted to authors C. Gordon Olson, Norman Geisler, and Robert Wilkin for almost all that is written here) but I’ll give a few practical examples to illustrate. In Ancient Greece, there was this thing that we call a “democracy” where people “elected” others to a position (this is where we get our word which has evolved into a more simplistic “to choose”). Now, the original Greek, carried with it an idea of choosing the best or “choice” option (see Olsen’s BCAA pp.315-318 for more technical info [link above]), which is why when people held “elections” they were “choosing” the person they believed had the qualities best suited to the task at hand (before you call me a heretic remember we’re still talking about Jesus).

Another illustration helps us understand this word better. When you go to the grocery store, you “choose” your fruit and vegetables. Do you do it arbitrarily? Of course not. You choose the “choice” fruits and vegetables. This is the primary meaning of elect/choose in the Greek that we miss in the English (if you don’t believe me, consider the following verses where such usage fits much better than the simplistic/traditional “to choose”: Ex 14:7, 17:9, 18:5; Rom 16:13; Col 3:12; 1 Ti 5:21. Additionally, “elect”, as mentioned briefly before, also carries with it an idea of “appointment to service” [cf Acts 1:21, Jn 6:70, etc.] which is not discussed in detail here but fits with Christ being the “Choicest” to accomplish the task He came into the world for). So, when we say Jesus was (and is) the “Chosen One” we really mean “Choice One”...born of a virgin, sinless, fully Deity, all-loving, all-just, all-powerful, etc. That is, He was qualitatively the “Choicest One” for the task at hand (before He even entered the world). As a concluding thought to the sidebar, the banana example sums it up nicely. In the same way that your “choice” of a banana is based on its “choiceness” which has little to do with arbitrary “selection” and more to do with the quality and characteristics of the banana (again, see above for Scriptures supporting this usage).

As mentioned before, Christ in His choiceness was appointed to a task (to teach, live, die, be resurrected, and reconcile the world to Himself). We can see more how what is often translated “chosen” means “choice” in passages like 1 Peter 2:6. With its close proximity to “precious” in this verse, “chosen” (or “choice”) is also paralleled with “beloved” in other passages. We see where Jesus is referred to as “My Beloved Son” at His baptism (Lk 3:22, Mk 1:11; Mt 3:17) and then in very similar language referred to as Chosen (or “Choice”) both at His transfiguration (Lk 9:35) by God the Father and by Pharisee mockers at His crucifixion (Lk 23:35). What brings the two terms, “beloved” and “choice”, together is 1 Peter 1:6 where we see both right next to each other, each describing Christ, the “Elect” Cornerstone. The word “chosen”’s close proximity to “precious” helps us to see it as “choice” and not as a simple “choosing”. So, in conclusion, Christ’s “chosenness” has absolutely nothing to do with the verb “to choose” more than His own precious-, beloved- and choice -ness. I’m almost certain that I’ve lost a handful of you in this short explanation but I trust that the noble-minded (Acts 17:11) will find the truth as they wholeheartedly seek it.

Christ being the “Choice One” is foundational for understanding how we are “chosen” in light of Christ’s “choiceness” and how we are united to His choiceness by faith (which I will show later). In the next entry, we will start by examining an oft misunderstood parable called “The Wedding Banquet” in Matthew 22:1-14 where we will see a very clear shift in understanding what it means to be “chosen by God”. Until next time...take everything you’ve heard here and be a Berean: “Search the Scriptures daily to see if it is true”.