Bible Truth #93 - 1 Corinthians 1:26-31

1 Corinthians 1:26-31

26  For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:

27  But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;

28  And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:

29  That no flesh should glory in his presence.

30  But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

31  That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

Who was Paul writing to? Christians. Go back and read verse 2 in case you have any question at all:

To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:

OK, so now that we have clarified to whom Paul was writing, let’s continue. Paul was writing to those whom God has called (Romans 8:29-30).

Now, how many times did Paul write “God chose” in those verses? Three times he wrote that GOD hath chosen and nowhere did he write that we accepted it. Nowhere did he write we had anything to do with our being chosen, and in fact, quite the opposite. In verse 30 Paul clearly writes that it is because of Him (God) that we are in Christ Jesus. Not because of anything we desired, not because of anything we did, and not because of anything we prayed, but because of God. And that perfectly reconciles with the rest of the Bible.

But I know those who believe in decisional salvation will probably deny this too, even though practically the same thing is said in Romans 9:16 - It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. Hmmmmmm, “man’s desire or effort”... it sounds like those in Matthew 7:21 who desired to believe and be saved, and even cast out demons in Jesus’ Name. But! It doesn’t depend on that, it depends on God’s mercy. That’s why Jesus told them to go to the Lake of Fire. (Matthew 7:23)

We become children of God not by HUMAN decision (John 1:13).