His choice, Not ours [part 3]

Published in Pasugo, April 2005

That God’s chosen people are gathered as one is …
His choice, Not ours (Third of six parts)

GOD SETS APART His people, gathers them together, and makes them one.

So it was in the beginning and has always been ever since. When God created Eve and brought her to Adam, He blessed them and made them “one flesh” (Gen. 2:22-24).
Then, after the first couple sinned, was thrown out of Eden, and began to populate the earth, God set apart for Himself one race of people whom He called His children – the descendants of Seth (Gen. 3:24; 4:26).

When God saw that wickedness prevailed in the ancient world (the holy race having been mixed with the cursed race) and decided to put an end to it, He chose and saved from the great flood one family – that of Noah – through one ark. From Noah’s family of eight sprung a new human race, which later on also grew stubborn and ceased to gain favor in God’s sight. And so, God called Abraham from whom descended one nation, Israel, whom He blessed with all the privileges of being God’s elect.

One remnant seed
However, as what our previous article has shown, Israel failed to uphold their sacred calling as God’s chosen nation. Instead of faithfully obeying God’s commandments, the whole nation – from the leaders down to the people – repeatedly turned away and refused to heed His voice. Thus, the Israelite people, from being a precious gem in God’s sight, was reduced to being “a worthless slag,” “a dross” that is left over after silver is smelted (Ezek. 22:18, New Living Translation).

But God’s election or setting apart of people for Himself did not end with Israel’s apostasy. God’s everlasting covenant with Abraham continued through what the prophets called “the remnant seed.” Concerning this, Apostle Paul wrote:

“And Isaiah crieth concerning Israel, If the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, it is the remnant that shall be saved: for the Lord will execute his word upon the earth, finishing it and cutting it short. And, as Isaiah hath said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, We had become as Sodom, and had been made like unto Gomorrah.” (Rom. 9:27-29, American Standard Version)

Indeed, God’s covenant with Abraham and His policy of electing people as His own were not nullified when the Israelite people fell away from God’s grace. For there would be a remnant of Israel who would be saved when the Lord would execute His judgment on the earth.

It should be noted that the prophecy spoke not of many remnant seeds but of only one. This was emphasized by the Apostle Paul as he explained who the prophesied remnant seed of Abraham is:

“The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say ‘and to seeds’, meaning many people, but ‘and to your seed’, meaning one person, who is Christ.” (Gal. 3:16, New International Version)

The remnant seed of Abraham through whom God’s everlasting covenant would be perpetuated is Jesus Christ. It does not mean, however, that no one else could have the chance of being elected to serve God in the Christian era, for the Apostle Paul also said that “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Gal. 3:29, Ibid.).

As it has been since the beginning, the right to serve God during the Christian era remains to be a divinely appointed privilege exclusive to God’s elect. And it is Christ together with those belonging to Him whom God has elected to replace Israel as the people of His choice. Together, Christ and those who belong to Him are considered “Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

Now, didn’t the prophecy state that there would be not many but only one remnant seed to inherit God’s promises to Abraham? If all those who belong to Christ are also considered Abraham’s seed, doesn’t that mean that there are more than one remnant seed?

One new man
That there is only one remnant seed to inherit God’s promises to Abraham is not contradicted by the biblical fact that Christ and all who belong to Him are together counted as Abraham’s seed. This is because those who truly belong to Christ are gathered together as one:

“… Jesus was going to die … to bring together into one body all the scattered people of God.” (John 11:51-52, Today’s English Version)

Like their predecessors, the people of God in the Christian era are gathered as one. Christ brought them together into one body. This body is the Church headed by Christ:

“And He is the head of the body, the church.” (Col 1:18, New King James Version)

And so, those who truly belong to Christ are the members of the Church of Christ. Although they are many, all of them are gathered together as one body in Christ (Rom. 12:4-5) and, as such, they are united with Him as “one new man” in God’s sight with Christ as the head:

“Having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace.” (Eph. 2:15, NKJV)

The preceding biblical passage speaks of the “one new man” as having been created “from the two.” The two referred to are Christ Himself and His Church, joined together as head and body, respectively. Hence, there really is only one seed, and not many seeds of Abraham because in God’s sight, Christ and His Church are no longer two entities but one – one new man.

And so, God’s way of setting apart His people, starting with one man, remains unchanged. According to His sovereign will and choice, He gathers as one those whom He counts worthy before His sight. This was true of the former generations of God’s elect since the beginning. So it is of His chosen people in the Christian era.

One Church
It follows, then, that for one to be counted among God’s people in the Christian era, he needs to unite with Christ by becoming a part of His body or a member of the Church He Himself built. Thus taught our Lord Jesus Christ:

“I am the door, if any one who enters by me, he will be saved …” (John 10:9, Revised Standard Version)

In order to be embraced by God’s covenant with Abraham, Christ commands anyone who wants to be saved to enter Him, that is, to become part of His body or Church (I Cor. 12:27; Col. 1:18). In this pronouncement of Christ, it is apparent that all the people have the chance of becoming part of God’s people. So fulfilled is the prophecy that Jesus will save by means of His death not only his followers from the Jewish nation but also all the scattered people of God (John 11:51-52).

But while the salvation that Christ offers is open to everyone, the means by which to attain it remains absolute. It is only by entering Christ or becoming a member of His body or Church that anyone, Jewish or not, can be counted among God’s chosen servants and thus be saved. Christ emphasized this as He likened His union with the members of His Church to that of the branches connected to the vine:

“You did not choose me; I chose you and appointed you to go and bear much fruit, the kind of fruit that endures. And so the Father will give you whatever you ask of him in my name.

“Remain united to me, and I will remain united to you. A branch cannot bear fruit by itself; it can do so only if it remains in the vine. In the same way you cannot bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine, and you are he branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will bear much fruit; for you can do nothing without me.” (John 15:16, 4-5, TEV)

Those who think that God’s policy of electing people to serve Him is against Christian doctrine are mistaken. Christ Himself underscored the importance of being among the Lord’s chosen. He said that those who are separate from Him cannot bear fruits of righteousness. Meaning, God will neither accept nor count as righteousness the services rendered to Him by those who are not united with Christ as His branches or not members of His body or Church.

One faith
Christ’s establishment of His Church was an integral part of His public ministry. As Christ declared the founding words, “On this rock I will build my church,” He likewise promised that “the powers of death shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18, RSV).

When, in fulfillment of God’s plan, Christ died on the cross, was resurrected, and eventually ascended to heaven, He left the Church in the care and administration of the apostles. Into that same Church, the apostles and the early Christians converted and baptized many people, including Gentiles:

“In the same way, all of us, whether Jews or Gentiles, whether slaves or free, have been baptized into the one body by the same Spirit, and we have all been given the one Spirit to drink.” (I Cor. 12:13, TEV)

Thus, even as the Church in those times spread throughout the Mediterranean world, it remained to be one organized body of Chris’s believers, having one faith and one hope:

“There is one body and one Spirit – just as you were called to one hope when you were called – one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (Eph. 4:4-6, NIV)

This refutes the claim that the Church of Christ is made up of factions that, though professing belief in Christ, have differing and often contradicting beliefs and practices. The true Church is an organized body whose members espouse one faith and function according to the dictates of the head – Christ. It is a single organization composed of members who share “one hope … one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all.”

Therefore, as it is God’s standing policy to elect people to serve Him according to His own choice, it is also His sovereign will that that people He chooses as His servants be gathered as one before Him.

Note: summary

· Adam and Eve joined as ONE flesh to dwell in the Garden of Eden
· Seth’s descendants, ONE race of God’s children
· Noah and the Ark, ONE family saved through the ark
· Abraham and the Israelite people, ONE nation under God
· Jesus Christ, “Abraham’s seed” (Rom. 9:27-29; Gal. 3:16) who, by means of His sacrificial death, would gather the people of God into ONE body (John 11:51-52)
· The Church established and redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ – ONE body composed of members with one faith and one hope (Matt. 16:18; Acts 20:28; Rom. 12:4-5)
· By giving His life for the Church, Jesus Christ created in Himself ONE NEW MAN by standing as the head of the Church, which He made His body (Eph. 5:25; 2:15; Col. 1:18)
· God’s everlasting covenant with Abraham continues in Jesus Christ and His Church who are united as the ONE remnant seed of God’s elect
· Upon Jesus Christ’s ascension to heaven, the Church of Christ under the administration of the Apostles grew and spread to the Gentile lands

(TO BE CONTINUED IN NEXT MONTH’S ISSUE)