P2 Biblical Survey of Election - Joshua to Malachi

Amos 3:2 “You only have I chosen among all the families of the earth; Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.”

Review
Yesterday we explored Genesis through Deuteronomy to discern the Bible's teaching on God's elective purpose of grace.  We discovered the following truths:

1. The purpose of election: Godliness
2. The target(s) of election: The helpless
3. The motive behind election: God's love
4. The timing of election is outside of history or eternity

In today's most we will consider the remainder of the Old Testament's testimony on this important doctrine of what the Baptist Faith and Message deems: "God's elective purpose of Grace."

Historical Books affirm Sovereign Election
As you survey the historical books (Joshua-Esther), the poetic books (Job-Song of Solomon), the Major Prophets (Isaiah-Daniel) and the twelve Minor Prophets (Hosea-Malachi), you will find no less than 65 references to God's election of Israel as a nation and individuals unto salvation or vocation.  We learn that God chose Saul to be Israel's first king in 1 Samuel 10:24 before the people ever concluded or affirmed him has their leader.  Scripture progressively reveals its truths, and so as you go further and further along in the sacred books, you find out more detail.  You also discover that seeds and principles outlined in earlier portions of scripture are affirmed and spelled out more explicitly in latter portions.  Individuals like David (1 Chronicles 28:5) for example were chosen both to serve as king as well as chosen unto salvation.

God's Sovereign Election in the Poetic Books
  Moses was chosen by God unto vocation and salvation. (Psalm 106:25-26)  Again in studying the doctrine of election, one must also consider that scripture equally affirms that God's choice is the background behind those who chose to believe on His promises.  Moses and David for example are included in the famous faith chapter of Hebrews 11.  This particular observation is to remind the reader of the Biblical pattern on Sovereign election, namely that it does not contradict nor cancel out the other Biblical teaching on man's need to respond to the Gospel. As the Baptist Faith & Message 2000 states: "Election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners. It is consistent with the free agency of man, and comprehends all the means in connection with the end. It is the glorious display of God's sovereign goodness, and is infinitely wise, holy, and unchangeable. It excludes boasting and promotes humility." The fact we see men like Moses and David in the famous faith chapter of Hebrews 11 helps us to see both truths of God's Sovereignty and human responsibility as complementary, rather than contradictory truths. 

God's Sovereign Election in the Prophetic Books
As you continue on in the Old Testament, you discover that God's elective purpose of grace included the preparation for the Savior of the world.  Isaiah is perhaps the one book out of all the prophets that is the most detailed in the doctrine of election.  In addition to revealing God's Sovereign choice for rulers whom He would use to carry out purposes of judgment, such as Cyrus in Isaiah 45, a much greater revelation is given concerning God's Sovereign purposes in preparing for the Savior's coming.  Isaiah writes about how the Messiah is God's chosen servant in Isaiah 42:1 and 43:10.  God most certainly was not up in heaven hoping and wishing that Jesus in his humanity would acquiesce to the promptings of His Divine purposes.  God already had the Savior of the world chosen, an arrangement He worked out with Jesus in His Deity in eternity past. (Acts 2:23-24; 2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 1:2)

Now it must be remarked that God's choosing of other people was done so before their birth (Jeremiah 1:5), however God's electing of other people is not attended with the same conditions as the Messiah's election.  Biblical revelation teaches nothing about human beings pre-existing.  Rather the easiest way to think of God's Sovereign elective purpose is to realize that God had such people on His mind from all eternity.  This particular truth of election's timing is covered in the greatest detail in the New Testament.  

As a side note
In future posts we will look in detail at the Biblical Survey of election in the New Testament. Essentially God's progressive character of revelation in His Word must be kept in mind when studying any topic in scripture.  As the old saying goes: "The New Testament in the Old is concealed and the Old Testament in the New is revealed."  Seeds of thought made known in the Old Testament become full grown trees in the New.  The outline of election traced here in the Old Testament becomes a full colored painting by the time we reach the Gospels, Acts and Epistles of the New Testament.  That survey, as we said, will be done in the near future as a continuation of the Biblical survey we have done these past two days.

Conclusion For the purposes of today's post, we close out the Old Testament treatment of God's Sovereign elective purpose by noting that the final mention is made of Jacob and Esau in Malachi 1:2.  Whenever you survey all the 65 plus references to election in the historical, poetic and prophetic books, you come away with the same fundamental truths we discovered in our survey of Genesis through Deuteronomy yesterday:

1. The purpose of election is Godliness. 
2. The motive of election is love.
3. The target(s) of election are the helpless.
4. The timing of election is outside of history or eternity.

P1 A Biblical Survey of Election - Genesis to Deuteronomy

Genesis 18:19 "For I have chosen him, so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him.”

Introduction
When God says of Abraham in Genesis 18:19 - "I have chosen Him", it is the first mention of the word "chosen" in the Bible.  The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 calls this truth: God's elective "purpose of grace": "Election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners. It is consistent with the free agency of man, and comprehends all the means in connection with the end. It is the glorious display of God's sovereign goodness, and is infinitely wise, holy, and unchangeable. It excludes boasting and promotes humility."  In past blogs we have noted the practical importance of election as well as a thumbnail sketch of its relationship to human responsibility in salvation.  God's Sovereignty and the human responsibility to believe the Gospel are both taught in scripture as complementary, not contradictory truths. The importance of Divine election in the Biblical record cannot be overestimated.  For starters, the subject of election can be divided into four subheadings: 

1. The corporate election of nations, such as Israel. (Psalm 105:6,26; 106:25)

2. The election of Jesus as the Savior of mankind. (Isaiah 42:1; 45:10; Luke 9:35)

3. The election that deals with certain vocations like kings, priests, prophets, apostles and other vocations. (Jeremiah 1:5; Galatians 1:15)

4. Then of course the most common designation, election unto salvation. (The majority of passages, such as Ephesians 1:1-14 and 1 Peter 1:1-2)

Though we can certainly make mention of the first three, the fourth area is what we will be considering as we trace election through the Bible.  Moses' writings will be featured today, being that the doctrine of election is first mention in the books of Genesis through Deuteronomy. We won't focus on every passage (since there are over 100 in scripture), however we can treat a fair number to gain a sense of the common principles God has ordained in the Biblical doctrine of Election unto salvation.

Election's Purpose: Godliness
Genesis 18:19 is the first mention of the word "chosen" in the Bible that states: "For I have chosen him, so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him.”  Abraham is the proper starting point, being that he is designated the father of faith and is used often in scripture as an illustration of many other fundamental truths of salvation.  Abraham is designated as having believed God, and it being credited to him as righteousness. (Genesis 15:16)   Abraham, the father of faith (Romans 4:11,16), was chosen by God the Father.  God chose Abraham for the purpose that Abraham would command himself and his children to do righteousness.  This speaks of the purpose of election.  Other scriptures reveal this to be the reason why God chose as many people as possible to call and convict unto salvation. (Ephesians 2:10; 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14)

Election's targets: the helpless
Though Genesis 18:19 is the first mention of the word "chosen", it most certainly is not the first time we run across the teaching or idea of God's Sovereign choice.  As you go back through the proceeding chapters of Genesis, you discover God has chosen Shem and his bloodline to be the bloodline of redemption following the flood. In Genesis 10 we see ten generations stretching from Shem to Abram, indicating God's Sovereign choice.  Were those men and that bloodline composed of people who could save themselves? No! In fact the theme of death runs through the genaeologies of both Adam to Noah in Genesis 5 and Shem to Abraham in Genesis 10.  All men were born sinners.  Helpless, blind, incapable of saving themselves.  Furthermore, in Genesis 12 we see God choosing and calling Abraham himself out of paganism and into His redemptive promises. (Joshua 24:1-3; Acts 7:1-8).  Abram was 75 years old when he heeded God's call.  If God had not intervened, he would had remained in darkness.  To compound the helplessness of his condition, his wife Sarai was barren and incapable of having children. (Genesis 11:30) Scripture is quick to remind us that whenever Abraham heard the call of grace, in faith he trusted God and began looking for a city whose builder and maker is God. (Hebrews 11:8-19)  Election and human responsibility are complementary truths that we believe because they are taught in scripture.  Consistently through the Biblical record, God's Sovereign choice explains why a person believes while asserting that a person must believe in order to be saved.  So from Moses' writings we have learned so far that election's purpose is godliness and God's Sovereignly elects helpless people.  However there is another important consideration of Sovereign election we learn from Moses: namely the motive of God's elective purpose.  

Election's motives: God's love
As you move past Abraham's life, you discover God's elective purpose continuing to work.  We see that Isaac was chosen to be the son of promise, not Ishmael (Genesis 17:18-19) and that God loved Jacob but hated Esau. (Malachi 1:2-3) In all of the people God chose unto salvation, the end result was godliness and it is clear that each one God chose was helpless to save themselves.  So what is God's motive in election? Whether speaking of individual, corporate, Christ's election or election unto vocation, the motive is singular: God's love.  Moses writes these words in Deuteronomy 7:6-8 "For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 7 “The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but because the Lord loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the Lord brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt." 

Now notice how Moses under Divine inspiration brings together the three of the four headings of God's elective purpose.  First, he states in Deuteronomy 7:6 that God wanted a holy and Godly people - hence election's purpose.  Next in Deuteronomy 7:7 we see that Israel was a helpless targeted people, the weakest and the smallest among the nations.  Thirdly, we see in Deuteronomy 7:8 the motive for why God chose Israel: love.  God did not choose Israel because of His foreseeing her faith.  If anything, a summary of Israel's history will reveal repeated failure and apostasy and the ultimate treachery, the crucifixion of His Son along with the Romans. God chose to love Israel in order to bring about His glorious purposes.  Moses repeats this singular motive for God's elective purpose, both individually and corporately in passages such as Deuteronomy 10:15 and 14:2. The New Testament affirms this singular motive for Sovereign election in passages such as Ephesians 1:4 and 1 John 4:19.  So Moses' writings teaches us that election's purpose is Godliness, it's targets are helpless apart from grace and it's motive is love.  From the final book of Moses, Deuteronomy, we pick up on one more truth concerning election....

Election's beginning: Eternity
Deuteronomy 32:8 states - “When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, 
When He separated the sons of man,
He set the boundaries of the peoples
According to the number of the sons of Israel." To what event is Moses speaking about in this text? For one thing we know that when Jacob, Abram's grandson, went down to Egypt with his family to live in time of famine in Genesis 46:27, there was a total of 70 persons.  According to Genesis 10, the so-called "table of the nations" that lists all of the descendants of Shem, Ham and Japheth numbers a total of 70 persons from whence all of the nations and peoples in the Bible would derive.  How could God set the boundaries of each nation and the number of each nation unless He had already chosen Israel before any of her forefathers were born? As faintly as the Old Testament can trace it, we can say that in the Old Testament revelation, a clue is given for the first time that God's elective person did not begin the moment someone chose Him or even right before their birth, but happened outside of history. 
Conclusion
As we have discovered in our survey of Moses' writings, God's elective purpose aims at the goal of making Godly people, has targeted individuals who are otherwise helpless, is rooted in the motive of God's unending love and fourthly, is a choice God made outside of history (or what the New Testament brings out most clearly as being before time began).

More tomorrow.... 

A Summary of Christian Apologetics

1 Peter 3:15 "but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence."

Defining the term "apologetics"
In the opening text of today's post we see the mandate given by the Apostle Peter to defend the Christian's hope.  In fact the word translated "defense" is the Greek word "apologia" (a-po-lo-gee-a), from whence we derive the name of the branch of Christian theology called "apologetics".  When a Christian engages in apologetics, they are not saying they are "sorry" for being a Christian, rather they are given reasons to skeptical onlookers as to why they are so full of hope in an otherwise hopeless world.  Dr. R.C Sproul in a sermon entitled "apologetics" gives this definition of apologetics: "A well reasoned defense of the truth claims of the Christian faith." Any well rounded Christian should not only know "what they believe" but also "why they believe". 

Various methods for doing apologetics
With the mandate to defend the faith being clear from scripture and the meaning of apologetics being briefly defined, the next important area has to do with how to go about doing apologetics.  Several methods of defending the Christian faith have been proposed through the more than 2,000 year history of the Christian church.  

a. Classical Apologetics
Ed Hindson and Ergun Caner of Liberty University of the following description of classical apologetics:"the unbeliever is offered
evidence of the existence of God, and the supposition is that the unbeliever can reasonably ascertain that this hypothesis is rational and cohesive". 1  Hindson and Caner then explain further the second area general covered by classical apologetics, namely: "The classical apologist further argues for the reliability of the special revelation (The Bible) as a reliable and authoritative word from God."2  Author Doug Powell has this to say about the classical method: "The emphasis of classical apologetics is on reason. Christianity's logical soundness and internal coherence is exploited in this method. As a result, tests are developed and proofs are given that demonstrate the truthfulness of Christianity and the irrationality of competing worldviews."  Powell later adds: "The classical method is so called because it traces its roots back to the second century and the earliest apologists."3

When defending the Christian faith through the method of classical apologetics, at least two and sometimes three steps are followed in the course of the presentation. 

1. First, reasonable arguments are given to show the reasonability of the Christian faith. Such arguments as showing God's existence from observations in the universe and science (i.e the cosmological argument); the existence of objective moral values (i.e the moral argument); how God is necessary for anything to exist (i.e the ontological argument) and then the evidence for design in the universe (also called the telelogical argument). 

2. The next phase will usually entail demonstrating the reliability of the Bible from the transmission of its words through the thousands of existing manuscripts to the archaeological evidence supporting the accounts we read in the Bible.

3. Usually the final phase will then be showing how the God of the Bible exists due to the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Some classical apologists will combine this step and the defense of the scriptures, whereas others may only focus on either one. 

b. Presuppositionalist apologetics
Classical apologetics states the the proper starting point for defending the Christian faith is reason to scripture. However other apologists believe that the proper starting point for defending the Christian faith is by pre-supposing God Himself.  Christian scholar Norman Geisler notes: Presuppositional apologetics is the apologetical system that defends Christianity from the departure point of certain basic presuppositions. The apologist presupposes the truth of Christianity and then reasons from that point.4 With the presuppositionalist approach, the emphasis is almost opposite, namely you presuppose God's existence and aim to prove why Christianity alone is most reasonable and possess the greatest justification for believing.  Douglas Powell notes the following about presuppositionalism: "Thus, presuppositionalists are more concerned with what makes evidence evidential and what makes reason reasonable. Because the God of the Bible is the Creator of all things, we know that He is not just the source of all physical things, but all laws whether they be scientific laws, moral laws or logical laws.5

The presuppositionalist contends that since all human beings have the knowledge about God in their hearts, the purpose of apologetics then is to expose the fallacies of their worldview and get them to admit what they have been supressing. A typical presuppositionalist approach would be that without God, we could not use reason in our discussions, since reason itself requires the existence of God to operate. The existence of objective moral values and the underlying laws of such fields as math and even science require the existence of God. Even though presuppositionalism is the minority method in apologetics today, it can be very effective when dealing with such worldviews as Atheism.

c. Evidential Apologetics
In the evidentialist approach, evidence from the world of the sciences, history and observation functions to provide the necessary ammunition for the Christian apologist. Doug Powell notes: Evidentialism's value as a substantial tool to defend the faith rose in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as archaeology in particular developed as a science and turned its attention to the Mediterranean world and the Middle East. The findings of ancient manuscripts contributed immensely to our ability to know the original text of the Bible."6
Hindson and Caner give this insight about the evidentialist approach: "the method is the same: arguing the preponderance of the data."7

In the evidentialists mind, if enough evidence is brought forth to the unbeliever, the unbeliever will be backed into a corner, admitting that their evidence cannot compare to the evidence for the God of the Bible. In using events such as the World-wide flood of Genesis 6-9, evidentialists will appeal to virtually every branch of science to support the historical reality of the flood. In showing the flood to had been a real event, the logical follows then that the Bible is realiable enough to be trusted in other areas and ultimately salvation. 

d. Fideism or arguing that the best defense of the Christian faith is the Christian faith itself
Doug Powell observes the following about this fourth major approach: "In sharp contrast to these three methods, fideism rejects reason, evidence, and transcendental arguments as sufficient ways to justify the Christian faith (fide is Latin for faith). Faith and faith alone is the only proper way to understand the truth of Christianity."8  For the fideist, the task of the apologist is to proclaim the truth of the Gospel in the special revelation of the Bible, since the warped human nature necessarily rejects the testimony of God in the general revelation of creation and the conscience. As Hindson and Caner note about this approach: "A fideist, therefore, is one who holds the view that one comes to belief in God on the basis of faith alone, in the absence of or contrary to reason.9 Unlike the other three viewpoints above, the value of evidence and rational arguments is placed in doubt under the method of fideism. 

Conclusion
We have explored the meaning of apologetics and four main methods for defending the Christian faith: classical, presuppositionalism, evidentialism and fideism. May you and I dear reader know that not only must the Christian hope be defended, but that there are some marvelous ways in which we can go about presenting Christ to a lost a dying world.  

Endnotes:
1. Ed Hindson and Ergun Caner. The Popular Encyclopedia of Apologetics. Harvest House Publishers 2008. Page 64.

2. Ed Hindson and Ergun Caner. The Popular Encyclopedia of Apologetics. Harvest House Publishers 2008. Page 65.

3. Doug Powell. Holman Quicksource Guide to Christian Apologetics. Holman Publishers. 2006. Page 356. 

4. Norman Geisler, General Editor. Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics. Baker. 1999. Page 606

5. Doug Powell. Holman Quicksource Guide to Christian Apologetics. Holman Publishers. 2006. Page 360.

6. Doug Powell. Holman Quicksource Guide to Christian Apologetics. Holman Publishers. 2006. Page 359.

7. Ed Hindson and Ergun Caner. The Popular Encyclopedia of Apologetics. Harvest House Publishers 2008. Page 65.

8. Doug Powell. Holman Quicksource Guide to Christian Apologetics. Holman Publishers. 2006. Page 363.

9. Ed Hindson and Ergun Caner. The Popular Encyclopedia of Apologetics. Harvest House Publishers 2008. Page 224.

God's loving choice of helpless people - 1 Peter 1:1-2

1 Peter 1:1 "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen."

Introduction The Apostle Peter was one of the original twelve chosen and called by Jesus to come and follow Him. (Mark 1:17-18, John 15:16) From the beginning of Peter's walk with Christ, the call of the Master on His life transformed him from a diamond in the rough to a precious jewel in Christ's crown.  35 years would pass before Peter composed his first letter under Divine inspiration.  Peter wrote to a group of Jewish believers who were scattered over a 30,000 square mile area of Asia and other regions that were in need of encouragement in their faith.  Where did Peter begin? He began by diving into the deep end of God's pool of revelation, namely the doctrine of election.  In today's post we want to understand why election is central to the Christian's identity and understanding of the Christian life, since Peter used it to begin his epistle of encouragement to stand firm in the faith. (compare 1 Peter 1:1, 2:9, 5:12-13)

Election's targets: Helpless people. 1 Peter 1:1
When you look at the region Peter is writing to, the middle three areas (Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia) had already been blanketed with the Gospel by the Apostle Paul. The people of Pontus and Cappadocia had been present at Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2:9.  So why would God be targeting this area again? Because in the words of Acts 18:10, God had many people in that region.  The Jews to whom Peter wrote were "the dispersed", meaning they were scattered throughout the Roman world.  Peter was writing to those believers to stand firm in their faith (1 Peter 5:13) and bear witness to those around them. Unless God Sovereignly intervenes in the lives of the many people scattered throughout those regions, none would be able to save themselves.  

Mankind is helpless.  1 Corinthians 1:27 notes: "but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong."  Peter is viewing these people from an earthward perspective - namely as strangers and pilgrims in a foreign land.  There were more people whom God had set His mind upon to save.   As Romans 3:10-12 states - as it is written,“There is none righteous, not even one;11 There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; 12  All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.”

Peter's words at the end of 1 Peter 1:1 identifies the Christians to whom he writes as those "who are chosen". In most English translations the phrase "the chosen" appears at the end of verse 1, however in the Greek, the phrase appears near the beginning.  This is an important point, being that Peter is trying to get his readers to understand themselves not from how men view them, but rather how God regards them as His loved, chosen people. Election is God's Sovereign lens that gives insight into how He reaches out to specific people and calls them from where they are to where He is.  God is on a search and rescue mission.  Election's emphasis should be thought of as God specifically aiming to save as many individuals as possible.1 As one Southern Baptist Seminary notes on their website regarding the Biblical doctrine of election: "Draw" is God's initiative. "Come" is man's response. Two truths, therefore, must be recognized in regard to election: God's sovereignty and man's free will. Both are abundantly taught in the Bible."2 God's elective purpose of grace targets helpless people in a two-fold manner:

a. God positions people to be met by Him. 
Acts 10:34-35 states: "Opening his mouth, Peter said: “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, 35 but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him." Sovereign election entails all of the events and people God uses to orchestrate the appointed time and place He engages those whom He intends to convict unto salvation. Acts 17:24-27 reminds us that God ordains the times and places where men dwell so that they may somehow seek Him.  Undoubtedly God had a strategic people in mind when He prompted Peter to write these words.  

b. God prescribes people to bring the Gospel. 
Sovereign election includes the means as well as the ends.  The end is that God will have with Him in eternity all those whom by His elective purpose of grace believed on Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 2:13) The means God ordains in election is described by the Baptist Faith & Message 2000:  "It is consistent with the free agency of man, and comprehends all the means in connection with the end."  God chooses, however He also has ordained the proclamation of the Gospel to be brought to unbelievers indiscriminately. Peter himself states in Acts 10:40-41 "God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He become visible, 41 not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead."  Just as God ordains the salvation of those who have it in themselves by Grace to believe (Acts 13:47-48), God ordains and chooses the people He intends to bring forth the Gospel.  Unless the word of God is proclaimed, no one will get saved, for faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. (Romans 10:17) Election explains why anyone gets saved, however in order for people to receive such salvation, they must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ in order to be saved. (Acts 16:31)  

Peter's usage of election here is to remind his readers of the helpless estate of people around them.  God wanted to reach out to people around them and desires the same today, just as He had done so with them.  Election does not negate the need for evangelism, but rather demands that we go forth and do evangelism.

Elections's Motive: God's love. 1 Peter 1:2a 
God's foreknowledge = God's fore-loving
Peter writes on with this opening phrase in 1 Peter 1:2 - "according to the foreknowledge of God the Father....".  Peter keeps diving deeper for the pearls of wisdom he is writing.  What is foreknowledge? The word foreknowledge in the original Greek is the word we derive our English term "prognosis". The word within "prognosis" is the word "gnosis" and is used to describe Adam "knowing his wife Eve" in Genesis 4:1 and God having "known" only Israel among the families of the earth in Amos 3:2.  The way the Bible uses the term "known" in these verses does not mean God had restricted knowledge, rather the term refers to God's special love for Israel, just as Adam "knew" or "loved" his wife as only a husband could. Deuteronomy 7:7-8a states -  “The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but because the Lord loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers...". 

Why does God choose anyone? Love!
So why did God choose Israel? Why did He choose the individuals to whom Peter wrote? How about people who get saved to today or who have yet to believe the Gospel? One reason - love! Election is not based upon God seeing what people will do or not do with the Gospel.  If anything, all mankind does apart from grace is reject the gospel.  Does that mean that God does not know who will believe? Of course not! Rather the basis for God's elective purpose of grace is simply His loving choice of them.  In examining the over 100 verses on election in the Bible, not once is God's elective purpose ever based upon foreseeing what man would do or not do.  However there are scriptures that thankfully give one reason behind the otherwise inscrutable act of God's election of the saints: love.  The New Testament equates God's foreknowledge and love of believers in two remarkable passages.  1 Corinthians 8:3 states - "but if anyone loves God, he is known by Him." Then 1 John 4:19 tells us - "We love, because He first loved us."  God's foreknowledge is simply another way of saying God's "foreloving".  Romans 8:29 places God's foreknowledge prior to God's election of the believer in Romans 8:30.  God's eternal love for those whom He sees in Christ is what prompts Him to choose them. Ephesians 1:4 notes - "just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love".   

Conclusion
Therefore Peter reminds his readers they are chosen because of God's foreknowledge or fore-loving of them.  No matter what happens or what persecutions they may be enduring, God's love will see them through to the end.  All believers readily recognize how helpless they would be without God's grace, and how much they are ever in need of the Father's love.  What being "chosen" people emphasizes then is that God targets helpless people, and that He does so only because of His unending love. 

Endnotes:
1. On the website of South Western Baptist Theological Seminary we see the following statement concerning God's grace in election:

 "Also, election should not be regarded as God's purpose to save as few as possible rather than as many as possible. The tenor of the Bible is that God loves all men and wishes to save as many as possible. Again, it should not be viewed as relating to the saving of certain individuals to the neglect of all others. Such a position negates the abundant teachings of the Bible to the contrary. The pitfall resulting from these others is fatalism. If some are saved and others lost regardless of what they do or do not do, what incentive is there to seek the Lord or to preach the gospel? But the facts of Scripture are that man is not a puppet on a string. Election never appears in the Bible as mechanical or as blind destiny. It has to do with a God of love and with man who is morally responsible. Election never appears as a violation of the human will (Matt. 23:37-38). Note John 6:4, "No man can come to me, except the Father . . . draw him." "Draw" is God's initiative. "Come" is man's response. Two truths, therefore, must be recognized in regard to election: God's sovereignty and man's free will. Both are abundantly taught in the Bible."

2. South Western Baptist Theological Seminary