Her Who Was Not Beloved God Has Called Beloved

“As indeed he says in Hosea, “Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’ and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’ ” “And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’ ” And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved, for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.” And as Isaiah predicted, “If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring, we would have been like Sodom and become like Gomorrah.”” -Romans 9:25–29

What is most ironic about our human nature is our proclivity to major on the minors, to focus on the periphery and not the center, to be overly concerned about the “what ifs.” This is not to say there is no place for such considerations and contemplations, but to be overly concerned over that which we have no influence, over that which is above our pay grade so to speak, is to miss the abundance of riches supplied by what concerns us. I’m speaking of the doctrine of election.

The tendency amongst modern, and particularly, democratically-minded, Christians is to focus on what appears to be unfair about God’s elective purposes. Was it Pharaoh’s fault that he was judged when is was, after all, God who hardened his heart? What about the Jews that rejected Christ as their Messiah—or Judas even of whom Christ said it would have been better for him to have never been born—is it fair that God would harden them in order to redeem the vessels of mercy prepared beforehand for glory?

Let us consider three things. First, God is God and we are not. He is omniscient (he knows everything, the end from the beginning) and since wisdom is by definition based on knowledge, the foolishness of God (as if there could be such a thing) is higher than the wisdom of the wisest man. The goodness of God is “gooder” than the goodness of the “goodest” man. The mercy of God is more merciful than the most merciful man. You get the idea. God does not act capriciously, but wisely; and only because of his elective purposes has salvation been made possible for any human being.

Second, that God would reveal to us through his word that he has made such elective purposes is to know that God meant for us to know such things without telling us why. This is a curious thing God has done. Yet, literary tragedy (the fall of a noble person because of some flaw in his person) has since some of the earliest known writings of man (i.e., Homer) been meant to invoke fear and pity in the reader/listener for cathartic purposes. In other words, to learn of the tragic plight of another who is in some way like ourselves or better than ourselves is fear for ourselves and take pity on others. The catharsis is cleansing relief that causes us to say, “but for the grace of God there go I.” While this is only conjecture on my part, there seems to be some likeness to it in such statements as Peter makes in his letter where he says to the believers: “Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall” (2 Peter 1:10).

Third, the very point Paul is making in pointing to God’s elective purposes—something which the Jews had no quarrel with—is to show that our salvation is a result of nothing less than God’s gratuitous nature, grace! In our understanding of redemption, we must begin in the proper place. We are condemned already. We are by nature, children of wrath. On our own, there is no hope of salvation. Technically, if God would have allowed each of us die in our sins, he would have done so justly. But he didn’t. Because of grace alone, he has made those who are not his people into his people. Her who was not beloved, God has called beloved. If God would not have saved us, we would have all ended up like Sodom and become like unto Gomorrah!