A people for his own possession

 This week I want to look at what the Word of God says about salvation. Now I know that if you lean toward being a Calvinist then you will be feeling doubtful as to whether I will treat this subject fairly. I can assure you that I will endeavour to be fair in my presentation of the facts as they appear in the bible. Before I jump into the many scriptures that relate to this subject I would point out that the bible has one continuing theme from the beginning to end. That God wants a people for his own possession.

Two scriptures that relate to this are Deuteronomy chapter 7 verse 6 “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth...” ESV This speaks to the nation of Israel and is delivered through Moses and the Law. The other scripture is 1Peter chapter 2 verse 9 “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light...” ESV This scripture relates to all Christians. Those of Israel and those who are in the Gentile Church as of such are we.

But it applies to the angels as it applied to Adam and Eve. Lucifer was created perfect and the scriptures tell us he remained so until sin was found in him. Ezekiel chapter 28 verse 15 “You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you...” NKJV So although Satan was created perfect he chose to sin and became corrupted. Not only was he corrupted but he corrupted a third of the angels of heaven and led them in rebellion against the Creator. Revelation chapter 12 verse 4 “His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth...” Satan and the angels that followed him were defeated and cast out of heaven.

So God began the creation on Earth and created mankind in His own image. Adam and Eve were made perfect. But in Genesis chapter 3 verses 1-7 we see the Serpent spin God’s commands another way to deceive them into disobeying God. So they went from being a people for God’s own possession to a people separated from God by sin through disobedience. This is the same tactic that Satan has used to divert mankind throughout history.

Now prior to the great deluge mankind has completely forsaken the Creator to the point that He said he regretted ever creating them and only Noah was a person for His own possession. Through Noah and his family God was able yo re-establish mankind after the flood. Within a short time disobedience had recurred at Babel where mankind built a tower to heaven. God destroyed it and confused the language sending mankind off into different races and nations. This I believe, was to stop Satan creating a world empire and setting up worship of himself at that time.

Shortly thereafter God called Abraham out of Ur of the Caldees and into Canaan and made a covenant with him and his descendants. The offspring of Abraham and Sarah were driven into Egypt by famine and settled there where they stayed for nearly four hundred years until God sent Moses to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt.

For the first time God lived with the nation of Israel as they journeyed around the Sinai while he gave them the law and prepared them to enter Canaan. Thus began the nation of Israel. This is where God said through Moses “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth...” So you see here that God desires a people who will obey him and be holy to Him. His treasured possession.

My belief is that God not only calls his people and enables them to come to him. He enables them to choose him and He only wants those who seek him in their hearts. Those who reject God are those who never sought to follow Him in the first place. John chapter 3 verse 18 puts it this way Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. ESV

So what is belief? Merriam Webster Dictionary defines belief as “A state or habit of mind in which trust or confidence is placed in some person or thing.” So it is an action or in Christian terms a work. So in this case this scripture is crucial to God seeking a people for his own possession. A people who choose to follow God. Jesus said in the scripture above that if we don’t believe we are condemned already. He clearly indicates in this scripture that we have the choice.

Yes we are chosen but we are chosen on the basis that we have a heart condition that is favorable to God. A heart condition that will lead us to respond to his calling. A heart condition in which He can engender that action of belief within us. Without that action of belief we are condemned already. Without that belief we do not have faith.

Merriam Webster dictionary defines faith as “belief and trust in and loyalty to God.” Hebrews chapter 11 verse 6 says “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” ESV So if we cannot please God if we are without faith. We cannot believe that He exists and rewards those who seek Him with eternal life. Again we see that faith is an action just as belief is an action. So if we are to draw near to Christ Jesus or if we are drawn near by the Father then an act or work of faith has to occur before God can redeem us.

It is a confusing business to tease out the threads of knowledge and to understand what the bible says about predestination. Being chosen by God and choosing to follow God. Being sought on the basis that we choose God and being accepted on the basis of election from the beginning of time. Understanding that we are hapless lost souls who can do nothing of ourselves to rectify our position before God. Yet also being chosen on the basis of acceptance of Christ’s redemptive work on the Cross. It begs the question “Do we believe ourselves or does God enable us to believe?” For myself I believe it is both. We need the Father to draw us near and we need to answer Christ’s knock on the door with a resounding “Yes!” Indeed “Yes I wish to be a chosen person who is holy to the Lord and a treasured possession out of all the peoples on the face of the Earth.”

I can tell you that it is true that I wish with my entire being to be a part of a holy nation and a royal priesthood. A people belonging to God. Now you might say that I can’t say that for myself and that only God can cause me to say it at all but I can tell you that I desire it with all my heart. Now, it seems to me that I wish it and I believe it but you may be right and that it only seems that way because God has done this for me. Yet it seems to me that I have made that decision and I believe it with all my heart and I also believe that God intends that to be the case.

So if we conclude where we began and look at the case of the Angels and Adam and Eve. In the case of the Angels they were created perfect and with purpose. As I understand it God did not allow for them to be other than they were made to be. Perfect and without sin. Yet in time because they are self aware entities. Satan was corrupted with personal sin and in due course he caused a third of the Angels to be corrupted with sin as well. It would seem that this led to the creation on Earth.

On Earth God performed the Creation as it is described in Genesis and He created Adam and Eve as the first humans. He placed them in the Garden of Eden and placed them in control of everything in Creation. He gave them instructions as to which trees they might eat of and specifically forbade them to eat of the Tree of Knowledge. This was a choice that God allowed them to make for themselves but it was a test of character as well.

You could argue that God drew them to disobey simply by instructing them not to eat of the fruit of that tree. In issuing that instruction it became a part of the law of God. Romans chapter 4 verse 15 says “For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.” ESV and Romans chapter 5 verse 20 it says “Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more..” ESV So where there is law there is sin. If there had been no instruction regarding the Tree of Knowledge neither would there have been disobedience on the part of Adam and Eve.

So, finally, what am I saying here. Well, put succinctly I am saying that the fall of man was necessary for man to have experienced the consequences of sin. To know what Christ Jesus was saving mankind from and sort those whose desire and love for God was great, inspite of being lost in their sins. Therefore, God desires a people for his own possession. A people who will choose to follow Him. A people who given the choice will remain obedient to Yahweh Elohim simply because they are His people and He is their God. He loves them boundlessly and they return that love in unending faith and loyalty for eternity.

Reference List

All verses come from the English Standard Version of the Holy Bible

Belief https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/belief 16/03/21