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God's unconditional choice
We read in Ephesians 1:3-4, "Praise be to the God and father of our lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight." Here we come to the Biblical teaching of God's unconditional choice. These verses speak of God choosing people to become saved and notice it says "in him" that is, Christ. What does this mean? How does God save us, or choose us, in him? God chose us in Christ by Christ suffering the wrath of God for us. In order for this to be possible, Jesus has to be God, part of the trinity -- Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Not three gods but three persons, all one God . They are three and one simultaneously. This is possible because God is not limited to our human perspective of space and time.
The reason Jesus Christ must be God is evident because of the following discussion. Man has sinned against an infinite and Holy God and this according to justice deserves infinite or eternal punishment. If Jesus was not God, he could never withstand the eternal damnation of many people placed on him. The punishment was so intensified that it became the equivalent of all those that would ever become saved spending an eternity in hell. The hell that was due to those whom God has chosen was intensified and placed on Christ. Only God can intensify the infinite (hell) and only God could withstand hell intensified.
God did not pay for the sins of all mankind in this manner. If he had, everyone would become saved. Since many will suffer hell, it would be unjust to send them to hell if Christ has already suffered for their sins. Justice will not allow paying for one crime twice. Therefore God chose some, and paid for the sins of some by placing the punishment due unto them on his son.
If salvation is to be of grace alone, God's choice must be unconditional. This means that God did not choose me because he paid for the sins of everyone and looking into the future foresaw that I would believe. This would be a conditional choice. God, looking into the future saw us as lost sinners that would not desire fellowship with him. Since God's choice is unconditional, the reason for his choice of some over others is not possible to ascertain. To be able to do that, we would have to know the mind of infinite God. But let it be known that God's choice is not due to any efforts of man. All of man's spiritual efforts can only be the result of God's choice.
At this point there lies a danger. Some may say, "Since salvation is not due to my efforts but is a result of God's choice, I don't need to do anything because if God has chosen me, I will be saved." This is usually the objection of those that don't want to turn from their sin and use God's choice as an excuse to remain indifferent concerning their sin. This objection is dead wrong because while salvation is purely a result of God's choice, the means, or in other words, the things God uses to save people are the actions of other believers and also and more importantly your own actions. As it says in Philippians 2:12-13,"...work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and act according to his good purpose." So here we are doing things -- confessing our sins, looking to Jesus for payment of our sins, and turning from and fighting against those sins. And this is God working in us.
Perhaps an illustration is in order. I am an unsaved man. I walk into a room. There is a Bible there, I read. I become aware that I am a sinner, guilty, subject to God's wrath. I feel a purposelesness and restlesness because I am beginning to understand how I have lived my life without God and even against Him. I see I need my sins paid for, and only Jesus can do that. I pray to God, that Jesus may be my savior and pay for my sins. I now notice God has put in my heart a desire to follow him, and given new purpose and meaning for my life. I am now thankful and want to live for him, praying for his help, strength, power, all the way. All of these things it seems like I did, but behind the scenes, God did it. Of course salvation does not always happen exactly this way, but it is a good general illustration. So to say "If God has chosen me, I don't need to do anything" flies in the face of the clear teaching of the Bible. It is despising the method through which God has chosen to save people. Also, this alleviates any fears that God may not save us because we were not chosen. If we truly and honestly desire him, we have been chosen.
A good verse that speaks of salvation being not conditional upon things we have done is Titus 3:5. There it says, "He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy." God did not save us because he knew we would believe beforehand, rather, he knew we would not believe unless he chose us. If he saved us because he knew we would believe in him, the Bible could not say it was not because of righteous things we had done, because believing is a righteous thing that we do. It is not possible that God's word could contain such a contradiction, or any contradiction for that matter, so we believe as a result of God working in us. Also to say God's choice is conditioned upon our believing runs contrary to Ephesians 2:8 that says we are saved through faith, or believing, and that is not of ourselves. In one sense and one sense only can it be said that salvation is conditioned upon believing. That is, it is a condition that to be saved, (true) belief must be present. But it is a condition God fulfills. This is an unconditional choice whose requirements God fulfills as he works in us.
Bible Readings: Luke 15:11-32, John 1:12-13, John 15:16, Romans 5:6-7, James 1:18.