Deuteronomy 12:5 But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put HIS name there, even unto HIS habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come:
In the New Testament church today, God chooses where HE will put HIS name.
Acts 2:47 And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.
God
opens the eyes of those persons whom HE has chosen and gives those
individuals understanding causing them to be born again as a new
creature, a Christian.
We recognize them by the Spirit of God which is in them for we have that same Spirit in us.
Acts 13:48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.
Salvation is of God, of the will of God.
When God chooses that individual for salvation, God opens that person's eyes and all of a sudden he sees the truth of God.
It is all of God by the will of God.
There can be a group of people sitting together and all of a sudden one in the group sees.
That is the way it was with Paul on the road to Damascus. There were other men traveling in the group with Paul. But it was Paul's life that was changed forever when
Jesus spoke from heaven though all the men saw light around them and
all the men heard a voice from heaven, but it was Paul who was called by
Jesus and changed forever. Jesus even said: "Saul, Saul" ... calling him by name.
Acts 9
2 And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.
3 And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:
4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou ME?
5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? (Instantly changed.)
And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.
7 And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.
7 And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.
We
see an instant change in Paul. Paul was enroute to Damascus to try to
find Christians so he could bind them and carry them to prison. But
when the voice from heaven spoke, Paul was changed immediately from that
person that he was before hearing that voice.
There was no learning involved. It was instant change. Paul was born again.
II Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
💥💥💥
We are not chosen by God because we are worthy. We have done no good work causing us to be chosen by God.
We are chosen by God because it is the will of God for us to be saved and it is the will of God that HIS name would be placed on us by HIS Spirit.
💥💥💥
I was reading a book about sin when God spoke to me and said, "Joan ... you know all these mistakes you've been making all these years? Those weren't mistakes. Those were sins."
I was very shocked. And I was changed immediately.
I
thought I was changed by that book I was reading so I went to a
Christian book store and bought several copies of that book and gave
these books to many people thinking they would also be changed as I had
been changed.
But it was not that book that changed me. God changed me by HIS own will according to HIS purpose.
💥💥💥
If
you were saved at the time you heard a preacher, you might have tried
to get others to hear that preacher thinking they would be saved as you
were.
It
was not the preacher who saved us. It was God opening our eyes to HIS
truth. We were not saved by our own will. It was God's will for us.
We are the elect, chosen by God, in such cases.
Paul explains this in Romans 9.
7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.
8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.
9 For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sara shall have a son.
10 And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac;
11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of HIM that calleth;)
12 It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew MY power in thee, and that MY name might be declared throughout all the earth.
18 Therefore hath HE mercy on whom HE will have mercy, and whom HE will HE hardeneth.
💥💥💥
After
God chooses to reveal Jesus, the Word, to us from heaven and causes us
to be born again, we overcome the problems as we go through this present
life by turning to God and hearing from God. We go in the way shown us
by God as long as we live on this earth, overcoming the problems
through that Word given us by God in the situations of this life.
And Jesus says at the end of our lives on this earth:
Revelation 3:12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of MY God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of MY God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from MY God: and I will write upon him MY new name.
💥💥💥💥💥