doctrine

1. Kawthoolei Hope Theological Seminary
Course Instructor: Ashelu
Name: Saw Hay Ler Pweh
Subject: Worship and Preaching
Topic: Why God has chosen us?
Ephesians 1: 4-6, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we
should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as
sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of
the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
Hymn: 10, Glory to Jesus
Introduction
I would like to remind and learn together from the Bible scripture text, Eph 1:4-6 Paul
wrote the letter to the Ephesians and said "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
to the saints who are in father and the Lord Jesus Christ." God chose us before the foundation
of the world to be holy, blameless before Him in love and we have to praise his glorious,
grace and glorify God. This is the Paul reminded the Ephesians and also each one of us. Why
God has chosen us? This is a big question for us. As we are Christians we have to examine
ourselves before God in every time. According to this topic, we will learn there are three
points as follows.
1. God has chosen us to be holy
The living God, God of creation and cleans our sins and chose us to be holy people. In 1
Peter 1:13-16. "Therefore, prepare your minds for action, discipline yourselves. Set all your
hope on the grace that Jesus Christ wills you when he is revealed. Like obedient children, do
not be conformed to the desires that you formerly had in ignorance. Instead, as he who called
you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct, for it is written, you shall be holy, for I
am holy". This scripture says that Peter confessed us we must be holy because God whom we
worship is the holy God. So, brother and sister in Christ, as Peter and Paul encourage and
remind us that we are chosen by God to be holy for Him. Peter tells us to be like our heavenly
Father holy in everything we do. Holiness means being to tall devoted or dedicated to God,
set aside for his special use, and set apart from sin and its influence. We cannot become holy
on our own, but God gives us his Holy Spirit to help us obey and to give us the power to
overcome sin. Don’t use the excuse that you can’t help slipping into sin. Call on God’s power
to free you from sin’s grip. Therefore, let's try together to be holy for God.
2. God has chosen us not to be blamed before Him
The word "blame" means useless, unavailable, not doing or achieving what is needed or
wanted, meaningless, damage and ineffectiveness. Therefore, God does not want us to be like
that. Moreover, we have to be full of love because the Bible says that "God is love". In Eph
1:4, Paul states that God has chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world which is

2. why we should be holy and not be blamed before Him. Peter also states in 1 Peter 1:19, "with
the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. A slave was "redeemed” when
someone paid money to buy his or her freedom. God redeemed us from the tyranny of sin,
not with money, but with the precious blood of his own son. We can’t escape from sin on our
own, only the life of God’s son can free us. So that we become new creators. As we know
that God has chosen us not to be blamed before him.
3. God has chosen us to praise his grace and glorify before Him
The word "praising" means that word which is begun by the believers "Christians' ' None
of the other religions know about praising. They do not even know the meaning of that word.
Therefore, we are Christians we must praise and glorify Him. In Psalms 117 it is clearly
stated that "All of your nations, come and praise the Lord! Let everyone praise him. His love
for us is wonderful: his faithfulness never ends. Shout praise to the Lord we should also
consider as under mentioned". Praising and glorifying" these two words are understood like
the world's pros and cons. Both of these words should be related. We must praise and glorify
God from the bottom of our hearts. We should surrender to God in every possible way. As we
are chosen we must praise and glorify before Him. Therefore, we must constantly praise and
glorify Him. Psalm 103: 1-5, Isaiah 25: 1-3, O Lord, you are my God, I will exalt you and
praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things. Isaiah exalted
and praised God because he realized that God completes his plans as promised. God also
fulfills his promises to you. Think of the prayers he has answered, and praise him for his
goodness and faithfulness.
Application
Paul says that God “chose us in him” to emphasize that salvation depends totally on
God. We are not saved because we deserve it, but because God is gracious and freely gives
salvation. We did not influence God’s decision to save us, he saved us according to his plan.
It is hard to understand how God could accept us. But because of Christ, we are holy and
blameless in his sight. God chose us, and when we belong to him through Jesus Christ, God
looks at us as if we had never sinned. All we can do is express our thanks for his wonderful
love. In our life, we should praise and glorify Him. God can use our praise in miraculous
ways. We know that God worked a miracle when Paul and Silas praised Him while
imprisoned. Even after suffering beatings and imprisonment, they were “praying and singing
hymns to God”. At midnight, the prison doors shook open from a violent earthquake. God
released them from prison and they led their jailer and his family to believe in God.
Conclusion
God has chosen us to be holy and God has chosen us not to be blamed before Him.
Thus, we need to be holy, not to be blamed before Him. God has chosen us to praise his grace
and glorify before Him. We must praise His grace and glorify Him. And we know that
praising and glorifying God is very important in our life. 2 Corinthian 1: 3-4, Psalm 138: 1-2.
This scripture tells us, thanksgiving be an integral part of our praise to God. As we praise and
thank God for material and spiritual blessings, we should also thank him for answered prayer.