Light and Love

But can we who are saved boast that we are better, or that we are more wise than others, or that of our own free wills we accepted Christ and God's offer of pardon? No! Here sovereignty and election come in. We were "chosen... in Him [Christ] before the foundation of the world" (Eph. 1:4), and so we cannot glory in ourselves or in our good choice, but "He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." 1 Cor. 1:31. "Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." John 1:13. Again we read, "No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him." John 6:44. There had to be a work of God in us by the Holy Spirit, as well as a work of God for us through the redemptive sacrifice of the Lord Jesus at Calvary, or we would never have been saved. This does not set aside or change man's responsibility, but it is when all has failed in our responsibility that God steps in with His sovereign choice for blessing. God created men and women as responsible beings, and it is sad when they blame God for the choice they make to go on in their sins and reject His goodness. If they would only come, He says, "Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out." John 6:37.
Some may say that they will wait to see if they are elected to be saved, but if they will come as sinners, they will receive a welcome and a pardon through the precious blood of Christ. Then they will know that they were chosen, elected and predestinated for blessing. If they refuse, they will decide their own case, for they, as responsible people, have refused God's pardon.