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For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. (Ephesians 1:4)

The next verb we meet in Paul\u2019s long run-on sentence running from verse 3-14 is the verb \u201cchose.\u201d \xa0As in, \u201cGod chose us in Christ before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.\u201d \xa0

Peterson quips that \u201ceveryone he has ever become acquainted with has a story, usually from childhood, of not being chosen: not chosen for the glee club, not chosen for the hockey team, being chosen last for the sandlot softball team, not chosen for a job, not chosen as a spouse.\u201d

All of us probably have a story like that somewhere in our past or present\u2014the story of being left out, ignored, and counted as worthless. \xa0In fact, I know this is true. \xa0So many members of our church have told me over the years how they have this feeling of just not quite ever belonging to this church. \xa0It is one of the most consistent and pervasive feelings that describes our congregation. \xa0A group of people who don\u2019t feel like they quite belong to each other. \xa0Ironically, I think this sense of \u201cnot belonging to the group\u201d is part of the secret sauce that makes Immanuel such a hospitable and welcoming congregation to newcomers, that like us, don\u2019t yet belong.

But against that story of our not-belonging, God\u2019s story speaks a different word. \xa0God chose us. \xa0And not like two captains picking the best for their teams or like the last-minute sympathy rescue of a stray mutt at the pound. \xa0No, God chose us before the creation of the world\u2014before we had done anything good or bad, indeed before we had done anything at all. \xa0

This is a significant point. \xa0Against the backdrop of concerns over human sexuality and whose in and out of the church because of the bad things they have done or believed about it\u2014the Canons of Dort with its so-called five points of Calvinism reminds us together with Paul here in Ephesians that before the Creation of the world God chose us. \xa0That is\u2014before we existed, before we were sinners, and before we were saints\u2014God, in Christ, chose us. \xa0Our place in the Church of Jesus Christ does not depend on our faithfulness, but on God\u2019s choosing. \xa0In the Reformed tradition, we have called this\u2014to go back to those five points of Calvinism\u2014the doctrine of \u201cUnconditional Election.\u201d \xa0Without any conditions\u2014without any thought to our own worthiness or unworthiness\u2014God chose us.

Another couple points of Calvinism are important to remember here too: \u201cIrresistible Grace\u201d and the \u201cPerseverance of the Saints.\u201d \xa0Having been chosen by God before the Creation of the world, we are unable to wriggle our way out of God\u2019s hand. \xa0His grace is irresistible and his preservation of his people complete, such that every one of those who he chooses, he is able to save by drawing them into and keeping them in, his grace. \xa0Every one that God has chosen becomes \u201choly and blameless in his sight.\u201d \xa0Not because they stop sinning, but because Christ has become sin for them such that God sees\u2014not our sin\u2014but the holiness and blamelessness of Christ that has been given us.\xa0

To anyone who would suggest that a habitual, unrepentant life of sexual sin puts someone out of the church has not yet grappled sufficiently with the Canons of Dort, nor the strength of the Covenant established by the Sovereignty of a God who choses without conditions, and who through the utterly effective work of Christ is able to make his church holy despite their sins. \xa0The Gospel is good news\u2014stronger than any secular culture, more powerful than any sin. \xa0Dare you believe it?

If so, then it is also good news for those of us who feel we just don\u2019t belong. \xa0God\u2019s sovereign choosing is not just for the worst of the sinners that we can currently imagine in our culture today. \xa0It is for all his chosen people. \xa0And the gift that comes through God\u2019s choosing is the assurance that despite all our feelings to the contrary, we do belong: body and soul, in life and in death, to our faithful Saviour, Jesus Christ\u2014and so also to his church. \xa0To this church, where together, in faith we learn ever so slowly what it means to belong truly to one another in love, as fellow members of God\u2019s holy and blameless, chosen covenant people.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21).

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