Featured God's CHOSEN are always SAVED

People keep telling me that God chooses people for a purpose, but that does not mean that they are saved and offer the Jews that reject Jesus as an example of God's "chosen people" who are not saved. To the core of my being that feels like "HORSE-FEATHERS"! So let's start with the OT and take a close look at the verses on God's chosen:

The word is Strong's H972: בָּחִיר bâchîyr, baw-kheer'; from H977; select:—choose, chosen one, elect.

Here are all of the Old Testament verses that contain that word:

• [2Sa 21:6 NASB] 6 let seven men from his sons be given to us, and we will hang them before the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, the chosen[H972] of the LORD." And the king said, "I will give [them.]"
• [1Ch 16:13 NASB] 13 O seed of Israel His servant, Sons of Jacob, His chosen[H972] ones![H972]
• [Psa 89:3 NASB] 3 "I have made a covenant with My chosen;[H972] I have sworn to David My servant,
• [Psa 105:6 NASB] 6 O seed of Abraham, His servant, O sons of Jacob, His chosen[H972] ones![H972]
  
• [Psa 105:43 NASB]43 And He brought forth His people with joy, His chosen[H972] ones[H972] with a joyful shout.
• [Psa 106:5NASB] 5 That I may see the prosperity of Your chosen[H972] ones,[H972] That I may rejoice in the gladness of Your nation, That I may glory with Your inheritance.
  
• [Psa 106:23 NASB] 23 Therefore He said that He would destroy them, Had not Moses His chosen[H972] one stood in the breach before Him, To turn away His wrath from destroying [them.]
• [Isa 42:1 NASB] 1 "Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen[H972] one [in whom] My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations.
• [Isa 43:20 NASB] 20 "The beasts of the field will glorify Me, The jackals and the ostriches, Because I have given waters in the wilderness And rivers in the desert, To give drink to My chosen[H972] people.
• [Isa 45:4 NASB] 4 "For the sake of Jacob My servant, And Israel My chosen[H972] [one,] I have also called you by your name; I have given you a title of honor Though you have not known Me.
• [Isa 65:9 NASB] 9 "I will bring forth offspring from Jacob, And an heir of My mountains from Judah; Even My chosen[H972] ones[H972] shall inherit it, And My servants will dwell there.
  
• [Isa 65:15 NASB] 15 "You will leave your name for a curse to My chosen[H972] ones,[H972] And the Lord GOD will slay you. But My servants will be called by another name.
  
• [Isa 65:22 NASB] 22 "They will not build and another inhabit, They will not plant and another eat; For as the lifetime of a tree, [so will be] the days of My people, And My chosen[H972] ones[H972] will wear out the work of their hands.

Starting with [2 Samuel 21]

1 Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David sought the presence of the LORD. And the LORD said, “It is for Saul and his bloody house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.” 2 So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them (now the Gibeonites were not of the sons of Israel but of the remnant of the Amorites, and the sons of Israel [fn]made a covenant with them, but Saul had sought to [fn]kill them in his zeal for the sons of Israel and Judah). 3 Thus David said to the Gibeonites, “What should I do for you? And how can I make atonement that you may bless the inheritance of the LORD?” 4 Then the Gibeonites said to him, “We have no concern of silver or gold with Saul or his house, nor is it for us to put any man to death in Israel.” And he said, “I will do for you whatever you say.” 5 So they said to the king, “The man who consumed us and who planned [fn]to exterminate us from remaining within any border of Israel, 6 let seven men from his sons be given to us, and we will [fn]hang them before the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the LORD.” And the king said, “I will give them.”

7 But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the oath of the LORD which was between them, between David and Saul’s son Jonathan. 8 So the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, Armoni and Mephibosheth whom she had borne to Saul, and the five sons of [fn]Merab the daughter of Saul, whom she had borne to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite. 9 Then he gave them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they [fn]hanged them in the mountain before the LORD, so that the seven of them fell together; and they were put to death in the first days of harvest at the beginning of barley harvest.

10 And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until [fn]it rained on them from the sky; and she [fn]allowed neither the birds of the sky to rest on them by day nor the beasts of the field by night. 11 When it was told David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done, 12 then David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the open square of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them on the day the Philistines struck down Saul in Gilboa. 13 He brought up the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from there, and they gathered the bones of those who had been [fn]hanged. 14 They buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the country of Benjamin in Zela, in the grave of Kish his father; thus they did all that the king commanded, and after that God was moved by prayer for the land. [NASB]​

This first one is one of the more difficult texts, because Saul is one of the more complex relationships in the Bible. The KJV words it "Saul, whom the LORD did choose" which says the same thing. I would call your attention to WHO is making this claim (and who is not making this claim). God is not claiming Saul as His chosen, but these non-Israelites are claiming Saul was chosen by God. I am always careful not to put words in God's mouth that God did not say.

So why was Saul made king? It was not God's wish or Samuel's choice. God gave the stubborn people what they wanted as a punishment. The expression "give 'em enough rope to hang themselves" comes to mind. However, even in punishing the people with a king, God withheld no blessing from King Saul at the start of his reign. So God was gracious enough to even bless the PEOPLE'S CHOICE! However nobody ever claimed that God is under any obligation to save OUR chosen. I am a believer that God saves HIS chosen. Saul was not God's chosen, David was.

Since God did not choose Saul, 2 Samuel 21 does not prove that God "chooses for a purpose but not for salvation".

 

1 Chronicles 16 contains a Psalm of Thanksgiving containing the word "chosen":

8 Oh give thanks to the LORD, call upon His name;
Make known His deeds among the peoples.
9 Sing to Him, sing praises to Him;
[fn]Speak of all His [fn]wonders.
10 [fn]Glory in His holy name;
Let the heart of those who seek the LORD be glad.
11 Seek the LORD and His strength;
Seek His face continually.
12 Remember His wonderful deeds which He has done,
His marvels and the judgments from His mouth,
13 O seed of Israel His servant,
Sons of Jacob, His chosen ones!
14 He is the LORD our God;
His judgments are in all the earth.
15 Remember His covenant forever,
The word which He commanded to a thousand generations,​

Young's Literal Translation reads "O seed of Israel, His servant, O sons of Jacob, His chosen ones!" placing the verse as four clauses all representing the same group. Those who are the "seed of Israel" and "His (God's) servants" and "sons of Jacob" and "His (God's) chosen ones". The rest of the Psalm supports that God's chosen ones are also God's faithful servants (saved in NT parlance). Note the rest of the attributes of "God's chosen" ...

• v.8 give thanks; call on His name
• v.9 sing praise to God
• v.10 glory in God's name; glad heart
• v.11 seek God continuously
• v.12 remember God's deeds
• v.14 the LORD our God
• v.15 remember covenant & words God commanded

This does not describe a people chosen for a purpose but not saved. This described people whose heart belongs to the LORD.
So 1 Chronicles 16 does not prove that God "chooses for a purpose but not for salvation", rather it claims that "His chosen ones" have a heart on fire for God.

 

Just requesting clarification, since this topic was focusing on the Jews as God's chosen (and was therefore presenting OT verses containing the Hebrew word for "chosen") ... do you view Acts 9:5 and Romans 11:28 as being verses written to Jews and not about gentiles?

I just want to know how to interpret your response before I can reply to it.

 

Umm ... that was Hebrew (the language of the OT) ... and I used the specific Hebrew word to identify every verse that contained that word so I could study scripture by comparing "apples" to "apples". If we compare different Hebrew words that have similar translations in English, we may loose some of the original meaning. If we ignore other instances where the Bible used the same word in the original language because a translator chose a different English word, we are again not trusting ALL OF SCRIPTURE to interpret itself.

A second reason is the definition of the Hebrew word "בָּחִיר" is "select:—choose, chosen one, elect."
The definition of the English word "choose" is

transitive verb

• 1a : to select freely and after consideration
  • choose a career
• b : to decide on especially by vote : elect
  
  • chose her as captain
• 2a : to have a preference for
  • choose one car over another
• b : decide
  
  • chose to go by train

intransitive verb

• 1 : to make a selection
  
  • finding it hard to choose
• 2 : to take an alternative —used after cannot and usually followed by but
  
  • when earth is so kind, men cannot choose but be happy— J. A. Froude

The Hebrew and English words do not have exactly the same meaning, so it is helpful to revisit what the author meant by the word in the original language.

 

Thank you.
Within the context of how it is being used ... quite frankly, against NT scripture in my opinion ... I need an OT choosing that is equivalent to being "the elect" [G1588 = ἐκλεκτός ] in the NT. You may be right about another Hebrew "chosen", but the ultimate question is to find an OT counterpart to [G1588]. I suppose the LXX translation of the OT might help identify which specific word is best.

 

That was an epic fail.
Genesis 23:6, Genesis 41:2, Genesis 41:4 and Genesis 41:5 all came up as a LXX verses containing [G1588] (“chosen”).

 

Thayer’s Greek Lexicon offered this on the definition of G1588 most applicable to a discussion of the NT Saints:

1. chosen by God, and
a. to obtain salvation through Christ (see ἐκλέγω); hence, Christians are called οἱ ἐκλεκτοί τοῦ Θεοῦ, the chosen or elect of God (cf. Winer's Grammar, 35 (34); 234 (219)), (יְהוָה בְּחִירֵי, said of pious Israelites Isaiah 65:9, 15, 23; Psalm 104:43 (Ps. 105:43), cf. Wis. 4:15): Luke 18:7; Romans 8:33; Colossians 3:12; Titus 1:1; without the genitive Θεοῦ, Matthew 24:22, 24; Mark 13:20, 22; 1 Peter 1:1; with the addition of τοῦ Χριστοῦ, as the genitive of possessor, Matthew 24:31; Mark 13:27 (T Tr omit the genitive); κλητοί καί ἐκλεκτοί καί πιστοί, Revelation 17:14; γένος ἐκλεκτόν, 1 Peter 2:9 (from Isaiah 43:20, cf. Additions to Esther 8:40 [Esther 8:368:12t] (Esth. 6:17, p. 64, Fritzsche edition)); ἐκλεκτοί, those who have become true partakers of the Christian salvation are contrasted with κλητοί, those who have been invited but who have not shown themselves fitted to obtain it (others regard the 'called' and the 'chosen' here as alike partakers of salvation, but the latter as the 'choice ones' (see 2 below), distinguished above the former; cf. James Morison or Meyer at the passage), Matthew 20:16 (here T WHomit; Tr brackets the clause); Matt 22:14; finally, those are called ἐκλεκτοί who are destined for salvation but have not yet been brought to it, 2 Timothy 2:10 (but cf.​

 

Since my close personal friend, Barry, wants to talk about Isaiah 42:1, I will skip over the Psalms and examine "chosen" [H972] in Isaiah 42 next.

Isaiah 42:1-5 [NASB]
1 “Behold, My Servant, whom I [fn]uphold;
My chosen one in whom My soul delights.
I have put My Spirit upon Him;
He will bring forth justice to the [fn]nations.
2 “He will not cry out or raise His voice,
Nor make His voice heard in the street.
3 “A bruised reed He will not break
And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish;
He will faithfully bring forth justice.
4 “He will not be disheartened or crushed
Until He has established justice in the earth;
And the coastlands will wait expectantly for His [fn]law.”​

Fortunately, we don't need to guess about who this servant is since Matthew already revealed that particular truth in his Gospel:

[Matthew 12:15-21 KJV] 15 But when Jesus knew [it], he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all; 16 And charged them that they should not make him known: 17 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, 18 Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles. 19 He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. 20 A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory. 21 And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.​

Isaiah 1 is not speaking about "just any" servant chosen by God, it is speaking of The Servant, God's CHOSEN ONE ... our Lord Jesus, the Christ. To argue that Jesus (God incarnate) is an example of a "chosen one" that was picked for a purpose but need not have been saved is nonsensical. True, Jesus did not NEED saving, but that hardly proves God's "chosen/elect" includes both saints and sinners.

 

Thank you for your opinion.
Is there any verse of scripture where God claims unsaved Jews are "His chosen"?