A deliberate act of will or decision, in which God chooses individuals or peoples to be his or calls them to perform certain tasks or responsibilities. Human beings are also required to make choices, particularly between good and evil.
God's sovereign choice
Malachi 1:2–3 See also Romans 9:10–15; Exodus 33:19; 1 Corinthians 1:27–28; James 2:5
“I have loved you,” says the LORD. But you ask, “How have You loved us?” “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the LORD. “Yet Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated, and I have made his mountains a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.”
God's chosen people
Israel
Deuteronomy 7:6 See also Exodus 19:4–6; Deuteronomy 14:2; Psalm 65:4; Isaiah 14:1, Isaiah 41:9; Jeremiah 3:14
For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all peoples on the face of the earth.
NT believers
Ephesians 1:4 See also Romans 8:28–33; 1 Peter 2:9
For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His presence. In love
God chooses people for special tasks
Exodus 3:10 See also 1 Samuel 9:17, 1 Samuel 16:1–13; Haggai 2:20–23; Mark 3:13–19 parallel Luke 6:13–16; Acts 9:10–15; Galatians 1:15–16
Therefore, go! I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring My people the Israelites out of Egypt.”
God chose where he was to be worshipped
Deuteronomy 12:5 See also Deuteronomy 12:11, Deuteronomy 12:14, Deuteronomy 12:18, Deuteronomy 12:26, Deuteronomy 14:23, Deuteronomy 16:2, Deuteronomy 16:6–7, Deuteronomy 16:11, Deuteronomy 16:15–16, Deuteronomy 26:2, Deuteronomy 31:11
Instead, you must seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to establish as a dwelling for His Name, and there you must go.
People must choose between good and evil
Joshua 24:15; Proverbs 16:16 See also Exodus 32:26; Deuteronomy 30:19; 1 Kings 18:21; Proverbs 3:31, Proverbs 8:10; John 7:17
But if it is unpleasing in your sight to serve the LORD, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD!”
How much better to acquire wisdom than gold! To gain understanding is more desirable than silver.
Examples of bad choices
James 4:4 See also Proverbs 1:28–33; Isaiah 65:12, Isaiah 66:3–4; Matthew 27:21 parallel Mark 15:9–11
You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God.
Examples of wise choices
Hebrews 11:24–26 See also Joshua 24:21–24; Ruth 1:16; 1 Kings 3:5–14
By faith Moses, when he was grown, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to suffer oppression with God’s people rather than to experience the fleeting enjoyment of sin. He valued disgrace for Christ above the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his reward.
Related themes
Dictionary of Bible Themes © 1999 Martin Manser, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, via Bible Aquifer. Formatted for this site, with Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible.