Songs and Meditations on Grace

I was getting ready for work this morning when a song popped into my head, Jaci Velasquez's God So Loved The World. The song is simple enough, but for some reason I thought about it and went to the next verse in Scripture, John 3:17:

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

The reason that this impacted me so much in thinking about this song and these verses was the correlation between salvation and the doctrine of election: Christ did come into the world to proclaim Truth and while He did state that this Truth would pit mother against daughter, and father against son, Christ came with the hope of the Gospel. Christ's entrance into the world was the ONLY way to save us from our path of destruction.

God had given His people, Israel, generations to attempt to obey His law; he would punish them, forgive them, then they would forsake him again. He could not leave redemption to chance or to our fickle nature--He sent Christ into the world to guarantee (not just make possible) the salvation that He would give.

When Christ speaks to Nicodemus in John 3 about being "born again," this is not the same as being educated on what car to buy or what college to attend and then making that choice. Because with most choices in our lives, if we really look deep down, we could see certain motivations that drive us to make those choices--even ones that on the outside appear good, moral and/or altruistic.

The radical nature of the "choice" of following Christ is one that is totally opposite of our thinking: we must "die" to self, giving up our desires to make His desires and will first. Think about that: we must submit to the will of someone else. Have you ever known yourself (or someone else) to purely want to do that, in any situation? Sure, on the outside, a person wouldn't let on that it rubs them a little wrong when they're asked to do something, but apart from Christ's indwelling, would you not act the same way? The Holy Spirit must move in our hearts, changing our hearts to be receptive to the Truth and to truly live for others rather than ourselves.

If the change in our hearts or choice to follow Christ is grounded in ourselves and our own power, rather than Christ, then is it not subject to the same weakness of foundation as all other choices?

I mean, I have a problem with "buyers remorse" sometimes--can you imagine if the salvation decision was as easily abandoned--would God do it that way? Would God, in His infinite wisdom, have Christ die for those who would not ultimately be saved simply because those people did not "choose" to? And this is election: that God not only ordained the vehicle for salvation (which is the birth, life, death and resurrection of His Son Christ) but He ordained the method, means and timing of our justification, sanctification and our ultimate glorification.

I thank God that He holds me firm in His grip and my faith is bound up in Christ's faithfulness rather than my own, and that He drew me to Himself, knowing that Christ had already paid for my specific sins on the Cross.