choosing precedes calling

I was listening to John Piper this morning and he stated something I have read and received before, but in the Holy Spirit's timing, today it harvested.

I was aware of the journey of the apostle Paul and his shortcomings prior to his calling on the road to Damascus. What I had not pieced together was his being chosen long before both his shortcomings and his calling.

It was not until Piper referenced I Timothy 1:16 that the Holy Spirit brought it all together. I have read I Timothy before. But today, reading it through the lens of Romans, revealed something I had not seen until now.

Prior to today, I believed that God called Paul despite his shortcomings for the sake of demonstrating His mercy. However, that initial belief did not have scriptural foundation. Today, the Holy Spirit gave that to me.

A giving. An allowed understanding that opened the door to many others.

The life of the Israelites, Moses, and King David. A revealed pattern of God's choosing and calling. Scriptural demonstrations and expressions of the fruits of patience and longsuffering of God. The love of God in the New Testament.

As I have stated time and time again, read Scripture for relationship, not intellect. The knowledge and wisdom given to you, allowed to you in the midst of that relationship, is a byproduct of the relationship, not the goal.

Knowledge and wisdom are given. They are allowed and granted by the Holy Spirit based on the posture of your heart's reception.

I cover this in detail in the entry "Given Understanding."

I reinforce that point today because when you read from the lens of relationship, with an understanding that knowledge of the Word is given to you, you can then ask, seek, and knock for further understanding.

ask like a child

You must be like children asking our Father questions. He wants you to ask.

Luke 18:17

¹⁷ Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein.

You ask questions like these with open eyes and open ears.

God, why did you call Paul despite what he had done? God, when did you choose Paul, was it before or during the call? And God, is this a nature of yours, this process of choosing before calling? Father, what can I learn from this?

This is how you converse with our Father in the midst of your relational, one on one time with Him. Not with a theological agenda. Not with a conclusion already formed, waiting to be confirmed.

You come with a child's posture, hands open, genuinely wanting to know.

This is what it looks like to sit on His lap. A child does not approach their father with a prepared argument. They simply ask, because they trust that their father has the answer and that their father wants to give it.

That dependence is not weakness. That is the very posture Jesus said was required to receive the kingdom.

The disciples demonstrated this consistently. After a parable was shared, they did not walk away and reason through it alone. They asked Jesus for further interpretation. That was not a sign of spiritual immaturity. That was the posture that unlocked deeper revelation.

So too, you should ask for interpretation from what the Holy Spirit has shared with you through your reading of the Word. Do not assume you have seen everything a passage contains, due to a preset lens. Ask our Father what He is showing you.

Our Father gives wisdom liberally to those who ask.

James 1:5

⁵ If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

Liberally. Haplos. Haplos from haplous (ἁπλοῦς), Strong's G574, simply, openly, generously, without reserve or hidden motive. (Greek)

Upbraideth. Oneidizontos. Oneidizontos from oneidizo (ὀνειδίζω), Strong's G3679, to reproach, to upbraid, to cast in the teeth, to rebuke with insult. (Greek)

He does not give reluctantly. He does not make you earn it before He releases it. He gives, and He does not hold your asking against you.

The word "upbraideth not" is the assurance that your questions do not frustrate Him, they invite Him.

Your asking, seeking, and knocking, as stated by Jesus, is not limited to natural provision (Matthew 7:7-11). It extends into the spiritual (Luke 11:9-13), into the knowledge and wisdom of the Word itself.

When you ask these questions, you begin to seek His Word for answers, allowing Scripture to interpret Scripture.

It is in seeking that you see the nature and character of God expressed through the fruits of longsuffering and patience. Not as isolated attributes, but as a foundation that runs through all of Scripture.

Longsuffering. Makrothumian. Makrothumian from makrothumia (μακροθυμία), Strong's G3115, patience, forbearance, endurance, slowness in avenging wrongs. (Greek)

his choosing first

God's choosing precedes His calling.

He does not choose in the midst of His call. His calling confirms and comes into alignment with a choosing that was already made. The call is not the beginning. It is the evidence of what was decided before it.

The fact that He has called you to salvation, and you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, is a confirmation that He chose you. A choosing that took place before the foundations of the earth.

Ephesians 1:4

⁴ According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

Chosen. Exelexato. Exelexato from eklegomai (ἐκλέγομαι), Strong's G1586, to pick out, to select, to choose for oneself. (Greek)

This is the elect Paul speaks of in Romans 9. You were not chosen because you accepted. You accepted because you were chosen.

God's calling you despite your long list of shortcomings is not based on who you are, but rather whose you are. You are His. Why? Because He chose you long before He called you. The gap between the two is the expression of His longsuffering and patience.

You struggle in understanding why and how our God operates, due to a lack of knowing Him. A knowing that is revealed through Scripture, not simply the experience of Him. Read the entry, "Experiencing vs. Knowing God."

You have not broken free of the thought patterns of earning your relationship with Him, while ironically having accepted His grace.

You have accepted your salvation through Christ but have not entered into relationship with God.

You cannot fathom God choosing you despite what you have done.

Particularly on the topic of Paul, as you seek understanding around the process of God's choosing and calling, these challenges are put to rest and the questions posed early in this entry are answered.

chosen long before called

Let us start by unpacking the statement made earlier regarding God's longsuffering and patience sitting at the foundation of all of Scripture. We will use four major examples: the Israelites, Moses, King David, and Paul.

Scripture is not limited to these examples; there are many more. But for the sake of today's entry, we will use these four.

In every one of these examples, the nation of Israel and each individual was chosen long before they were called.

The Israelites were a nation chosen through Abraham long before they became a nation.

Moses was chosen as a baby, Exodus 2:2-3, long before he was called at the burning bush.

King David was chosen as a young boy, before he ever physically wore the crown, and was appointed to hold the lineage of Jesus Christ.

Lastly, Paul.

He was chosen in the womb, Galatians 1:15, long before he was called on the road to Damascus, Acts 9:3-6.

These examples give both scriptural confirmation and demonstration that God's choosing always precedes His calling. Covenant, an establishment of relationship, precedes calling.

Let us start with Israel. A people that grew into an adulterous and wicked nation, serving other gods at the foundation of their wickedness.

Moses grew into a prominent figure in Egyptian society, raised in the house of Pharaoh. By proximity, that placed him inside the pagan customs, practices, and knowledge of Egypt. He also killed a man out of anger, Exodus 2:12.

Where do we begin with King David? He served as a hired mercenary for the Philistines, committed adultery with Bathsheba, and murdered Uriah with the pen.

And lastly, Paul was a Pharisee who persecuted and hunted Christians.

In each of these examples, the nation of Israel and each individual was chosen long before their shortcomings and sin. A choosing that, in God's omniscience, knew every act of sin they would commit before they committed it.

Particularly with the Israelites, their sin was not a surprise. It was prophesied and made known to the people before it occurred.

Despite all of their accounts of sin, it did not change God's choosing, nor prevent His calling.

God sent and sacrificed His only begotten Son for the lost sheep of Israel, calling them back to Himself.

Moses was called to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt and into the promised land.

David became and remained King of Israel until his death, and was blessed with a covenant to carry the lineage of Jesus Christ.

And Paul, on the road to Damascus, was called into apostleship and became one of the most prominent teachers of the New Testament.

I say again.

God's choosing precedes His calling. He calls those He has already chosen. Your calling unto God is not based upon who you are, but whose you are. You are His because He chose you.most highlighted & shared

God calling out to you is simply His calling you back. His call is not the establishing moment of being His. It is the fulfillment of that which has always been.

the gap between choosing and calling

God's demonstration of His longsuffering and patience in the gap between His choosing and calling does a few things.

It puts to rest whether you are truly His. It puts to rest the shame you carry of the life you lived prior to being called to your salvation.

Why?

Because through the examples shared today you learn that He did not choose you because of who you are or what you can do, but because you are His from the start.

Your calling to salvation is simply a call back to Him. The same call He made to Adam in the garden.

Genesis 3:9

⁹ And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

He was not searching because He did not know. He was calling because Adam was already His.

Secondly, it gives a detailed demonstration of God's longsuffering and patience, teaching you as a believer how you are to walk in those same fruits.

When seeds are planted, the Word of God in your life and in the lives of others, you do not determine the soil or the timing of the harvest. You longsuffer and remain patient alongside God in your own process and in the process of others.

The gap between their choosing and their calling. Only God knows whether He truly chose them, and their fruits will reveal that truth. Not you.

Lastly,

the power of choosing

it teaches you the power and commitment behind choosing. Today, believers and non-believers alike do not understand unconditional choosing, which makes it difficult to both receive God's choosing and to deploy His example of it in your own life.

People make choices based on predicted outcome, not faith and commitment. At the center of that choice is self. What best serves me. You call before you choose.

Let me be clear.

This is not a promotion of self-sacrifice or self-abuse. I am not saying to remain with someone despite enduring mental, physical, emotional, or spiritual abuse because you chose them. That is not what this is.

I am speaking to the healthy, Christ-centered relationship that experiences its natural process of development, its natural ups and downs.

It is the power of choosing your spouse that equips you, through our Father, for the calling of marriage. The choice is made before the proposal is spoken or accepted.

Once you and your spouse choose one another, what comes in between is naturally a part of the process, the development and expression of the fruits of patience and longsuffering.

The issue faced today is that you never truly choose. And because you never truly choose, you are never equipped to faithfully walk through longsuffering and patience.

You are never brought to the perfection that patience establishes in a person.

I would argue the greatest lesson God is teaching you on your faith journey is patience.

What God is teaching you is that the calling does not establish the choosing. You must first choose, and He equips you to walk through the calling.

In your salvation you must choose, and He is your strength in walking out that salvation.

In marriage you must first choose, and He is your strength in walking out that marriage.

You are not equipped for marriage at the moment you ask, "Will you marry me?" or say, "Yes." You are equipped when you chose that person long before those words were ever spoken. The proposal is not the beginning. It is the fulfillment of a choosing that was already made.

God equips you for the journey ahead, both on your faith walk and in your marriage, not at the moment of the call, but in the choosing that preceded it.

II Timothy 1:9

⁹ Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

Called. Kalesantos. Kalesantos from kaleo (καλέω), Strong's G2564, to call, to summon, to invite, to call by name. (Greek)

before the world began

Before the world began. Not after you got your life together and right with God. Not after you earned it. Before the world began.

This is the assurance you carry out of this entry today.

God did not call you because of who you are. He called you because of whose you are. You have been His long before you ever knew His name.

The gap between His choosing and His calling in the lives of the Israelites, Moses, David, and Paul was not a period of waiting on God's decision. His decision was already made. That gap was the expression of His longsuffering and patience, working all things together toward a moment that was always coming.

That same truth belongs to you. Every shortcoming, every season of wandering, every version of yourself you are not proud of, none of it changed His choosing.

His calling out to you has simply confirmed what was already decided.

Stop trying to earn what has already been given. Stop carrying the shame of who you were before the call. Stop questioning whether you are His.

Enter into relationship with the Father who chose you before the foundation of the earth. Ask Him your questions like a child sitting on our Father's lap. Trust that the One who chose you before you knew Him is more than able to walk you through everything that comes after.

Choose. Then trust Him to equip you for the calling. Choosing precedes calling. And He chose you first.