197. Holy and without Blame
Ephesians 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.
The promise that we will be holy and blameless is really quite unbelievable, because we don’t see it by any stretch in this life. Nevertheless, the promise is still two-fold: 1) Later, of course, when we die and rise again to new life with God we will be, and we must be, holy and without blame in order to live in the new heaven and new earth with a Holy God. We look forward to that day with eager anticipation; 2) Nowin this present age, before we die, we are also holy and blameless before Him in love, although we can only know this by faith. By faith in Christ we are declared righteous and holy and the hope of holiness is a present reality. We do not see any holiness in ourselves and we certainly are familiar with blame and guilt. Although sin and flesh and world are covering over the holiness within, it is there. The Word of God says so, and so it must be so.
The power of the Gospel, which brings the forgiveness of sins, is real and effectivewhether we feel it or not. The reality does not depend on our subjective feelings, but it depends on the external Word that announces forgiveness and declares righteousness. We listen to the Gospel, we hear the Absolution spoken, and we receive the body and blood for the forgiveness of sins. This Word and Sacrament service toward us makes it happen. In love we are holy and without blame. The Holy Spirit makes us agree with the eternal truth of God’s Word.
Also, the truth says that He has chosen us in Him before the creation of time and space, long before we were even conceived. The one simple idea of Choosing, or Election, or Predestination is to assure the heart of God’s Lovebeyond the possibility of any doubt. We need to keep in mind this one, single purpose for the teaching of predestination: “He chose us in Him.” The Doctrine of Election is meant to make us firm in the faith and remove doubt; it is definitely not meant to reason it out, to say more than the Bible says, to argue over the nuances and differences in the meaning of Predestination, or certainly not to cause divisions. Predestination says one thing, not two: “I love you!” The Promise is bedrock solid from eternity to eternity. I can assert: “I am holy and blameless in love.”