2 Timothy 1:9-10

2 Timothy 1:9-10
1:9 He is the one who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not based on our works but on his own purpose and grace, granted to us in Christ Jesus before time began, 1:10 but now made visible through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus. He has broken the power of death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel!


Notes:
1. God is the one who saved us, through Christ... He is also the one who called us. It seems fairly clear that God’s involvement in bringing us around to faith, and thus salvation, is more than simply having put the message out there, and whomever finds it and believes will be saved. No, God has put the message out there, but it is also He who calls us, He who draws us, by His Holy Spirit, according to His purpose.

This leaves us with the question of why God would choose some of us, but not others. Is it as the calvinists assume, and solely by His discretion, and He chooses whom He will and lets the rest burn? I don’t see that as lining up with the character of the God of the Bible, the loving God who “wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” 2 Tim 2:4, Not to mention the fact that scripture clearly states in several places that ALL who believe in the name of Christ will be saved. I can see how one could come to that conclusion, but for me to get there, I have to take individual portions of scripture out of the context of the rest of the scripture and the overall message of the Bible...

So, we have to reconcile this. God chooses us, but at the same time, we have to choose Him. Some assert that He called a people for himself, not specifying which specific people, but a nation for himself, of those who would believe. And out of that, He calls people to himself by his Spirit, and those who respond are saved. This is a valid argument, but I’m not sure that I can get there myself. There seems to be too many references to personal calls for me to fall there. Where I currently stand, and I am by no means stating that I am definitely correct in this, we won’t ever fully know the truth about this until we get to heaven, is that God is the God who searches the hearts of man. He knows us better than we know ourselves, and He, out of his knowledge of us, calls us and draws us to himself based on His knowledge of us, based on His knowledge of whether we will choose Him or not, based on His knowledge of our hearts. And once He calls, we have the choice of whether to accept His gift or not... It could be a general call, and he may not be referring to specifics here. God may call many... actually, scripture does say that many are called, but the chosen are few. Why would God call many and only choose a few? Because the chosen are the ones who accept his call or invitation... more on this later

2. He has broken the power of death and brought life and immortality to light... How cool! God has died for us, so that we don’t have to fully die, and can live as immortals with Him in eternity. The gospel, the good news about Jesus, is what brought this to light.