Released by Choice

and as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him Ephesians 1:4

Blameless – If only we realized the power of this verse! If only we could see the compassion of God gushing into the hearts of men. If only we recognized the liberty He has given.

But our spiritual eyes are darkened. We don’t see it and as a result we live under the curse of perfection, trying to meet a standard of righteousness that can only condemn us. We cannot be holy and blameless, can we? Every time we overcome some character defect, we discover another layer deeper in the heart. We are desperate for righteousness but we cannot grasp it.

Paul writes to the believers at Ephesus. He wants them to know a great mystery; a mystery that will free them from perfection’s prison. He wants them to see why they are blameless. The word he chooses is amomous. It is a negative term. It describes something that is not present. What is not present is unworthiness and condemnation. What is present is purity and acceptance.

But it didn’t come from us. I know without any qualification that I am not worthy; that I deserve condemnation. As soon as I realize the depth of my unworthiness, I am lost. I can never recover. I can’t repair, redo or restore. I need mercy, not improvement. And that’s when Paul’s words speak compassion to my soul. God chose me to be blameless! It isn’t up to me. I am not pushed out of the nest and told to make it on my own. The world is wrong – dead wrong. God never asks, “What have you done for me lately?”

Only God can liberate me from the perfection curse. And when I finally understand what He did when He chose me, I will fall on my face in tears of thanksgiving. I was lost until He found me. My life was doomed to torment, set on a course of destruction, imprisoned by failure. I was the “no exit” man – until God chose to call me amomos.

My days of guilty penance are over. Are yours?