In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ in accordance with his pleasure and will. Ephesians 1:5
In the Old Testament we find that God predestined the Israelites to be his people. “Out of all the nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites” Exodus 19:5-6. However it was not enough to be chosen. They still had to exercise faith in God to be made righteous.
Paul writes in Galatians 3:8 “The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: All nations will be blessed through you.” So although the Israelites were chosen to be God’s people it was God’s intention to bless all nations through them. They were to be his witness and his instrument of blessing. We see this often in the Old Testament. Ruth and Rahab were not Israelites but came to be included with God’s people; Jonah is sent to Nineveh and other prophets are sent to Egypt and Edom. Being predestined was never meant to exclude others.
In the New Testament the church is now God’s chosen people. “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God” (1 Peter 2:9). God has predestined the church and likewise it is God’s intention to bless all people through the church. The church is God’s body in the world to reach out to all people. Being predestined still doesn’t mean excluding others. Rather it should motivate us to fulfill God’s intention of the church being his witness and his instrument of blessing to the world.
I agree wholeheartedly. It is clearly his intention thoughtout all of the bible to move into the whole world.
Also, I would like to say that I am not a church bigot. There are truly some fantastic churches out there. God has laid on my heart the attempt to try and collect the disaffected and give some type of direction for the, “Now that I do not have a church home. What now?” So I try to talk to them. But I need to be challenged in my thoughts if I am out of line. I appreciate when you do that. Also, I am thankful that you have had a number of good churches that you have found. MAybe you could write about how you find a good place of worship. Maybe that is the direction that is needed for these disaffected. Please pray for me as I try to reach these people through cyberspace.
I agree wholeheartedly. It is clearly his intention thoughtout all of the bible to move into the whole world.
Also, I would like to say that I am not a church bigot. There are truly some fantastic churches out there. God has laid on my heart the attempt to try and collect the disaffected and give some type of direction for the, “Now that I do not have a church home. What now?” So I try to talk to them. But I need to be challenged in my thoughts if I am out of line. I appreciate when you do that. Also, I am thankful that you have had a number of good churches that you have found. MAybe you could write about how you find a good place of worship. Maybe that is the direction that is needed for these disaffected. Please pray for me as I try to reach these people through cyberspace.
Thanks for your comments, Nate. I do pray that God will lead you as you reach out to these people.
Rather than looking for a ‘good’ church I would suggest looking for a godly couple/family who go to church. Once we lived in a small town with few church options. We went to a church and met a spiritually mature couple who had been Christians about 25 years longer than us. We had fellowship with them in their home, they prayed with us and they taught us heaps. We went to the same church and they taught us how to handle it. They had been apart of the community for a long time and understood the people at the church and they help us to understand them too.
Thanks for your comments, Nate. I do pray that God will lead you as you reach out to these people.
Rather than looking for a ‘good’ church I would suggest looking for a godly couple/family who go to church. Once we lived in a small town with few church options. We went to a church and met a spiritually mature couple who had been Christians about 25 years longer than us. We had fellowship with them in their home, they prayed with us and they taught us heaps. We went to the same church and they taught us how to handle it. They had been apart of the community for a long time and understood the people at the church and they help us to understand them too.