Elected and Beloved

Elected and Beloved

“We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father, knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God.” 1 Thess. 1:2-4.

Paul was fully assured that the ones he wrote to in this passage were elected and beloved by God. He could see that by their work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope. Their entire conduct testified to an intimate fellowship with the Father and the Son. They had an understanding of life that only those who have been taken aside and are beloved by the Lord in a special way can receive.

God loved His people Israel beyond all measure. That is why He entrusted them with the best thing He could give them: His holy and good laws. When Israel kept these laws, they were highly exalted above the Gentile nations. They were an elected and blessed people with covenants and promises.

When Jesus sojourned here on earth, His Father said about Him: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” He was entrusted with the Father’s will, and He carried it out perfectly in every way. Because He was obedient above all, He was exalted above all. Phil. 2:8-9.

Jesus elected a small flock of disciples who had a heart to follow Him and obey Him. He loved them and trusted them more than anyone else on earth. He called them His little flock; He Himself would feed and lead them, and they would not fear anything. Luke 12:32.

He said these words to His disciples: “At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him. If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” John 14:20-21, 23.

Here we can see how our love relationship with Jesus is established and deepened through obedience to Jesus’ commandments. Jesus often took Peter, James, and John with Him when He was going to do something out of the ordinary. There was no one with whom He had such intimate fellowship as with them. The places at His right hand and at His left in heaven are determined by our relationship of love and obedience to Him that has been established here on earth in life’s many situations. This also holds true for any of the other places in heaven.

Jesus did not give gold and goods to His disciples; however, He gave them something that will abide forever: His Word. When Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount to His disciples, it was an expression of His most fervent love for them. It was the dearest and most precious thing He had to give them. By these words they were raised above all the nations on earth; they became a heavenly light on the mountain. He revealed His own life to them so they could follow Him.

The Sermon on the Mount is the summation of royal laws for Jesus’ disciples for all times. No one else can enter into them; they do not have a heart and mind for it and will remain on the outside. It is only granted to those who are elected (those who love and are beloved of the Lord) to enter into the life and spirit of the Sermon on the Mount, and into the glory that follows this life for time and eternity.

Toward the end of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus says, “Enter by the narrow gate!” He Himself invites us to enter into the life He has laid out before us. And seeing that it is He who invites us, we can safely follow Him—not in self-confidence, but in confidence toward Him who invites us and who has all power in heaven and on earth. If we enter in with full confidence and out of love for Him, fully prepared to keep everything He has said in His Word, then He has also promised to love us, reveal Himself to us, and help and strengthen us in every possible way. His eyes will rest on us, and He will be with us all our days, even until the end of the world.

But outside are all the mockers and liars who say that it is impossible for anyone to keep the Sermon on the Mount. Thus they have also said that God’s power is not good for anything, and that Jesus’ disciples are building their house on sand. This flock of religious mockers is not small. But God be praised that we have not been elected to be part of that flock.

Shimei went by the wayside and cursed David. But David said that if God has permitted it, then let him curse. David’s election was different, so he went his way with God’s blessing over his life. But Shimei went to meet his judgment. The judgment and the curse have always fallen back on the mockers’ and persecutors’ own heads. This is also the case with the blessing. It will always abundantly return to those who bless.

The full assurance that we have been elected and are beloved by the Lord gives us great joy and strength. This will produce the same result in us as it did in the Thessalonians: work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope, while we wait for Jesus who will come with all His saints. Whom should Jesus love, bless, strengthen, and help here on earth if not His true disciples and followers? They will be first in line to meet all His goodness and help. He will see to it that no temptation will be too strong for them and that everything will serve them for their good. He does not give us a single command to oppress us and weigh us down. Not at all! All His commands are eternal life and will make us happy for time and eternity. The laws of the Spirit of life are written on the hearts of those who are elected and beloved of the Lord.