“But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14).

I am overwhelmed by the commitment God has made to us to get us to heaven. He chose us to be saved. That doesn’t mean, of course, that He chooses others to perish. The Bible says “whosoever believes in Him will not perish” so we will know that Jesus died for all of us. “He chose you” simply means that when He reached out to us we responded in faith. Thankfully, He reaches out to everyone.

Not only does He choose us at the beginning of our spiritual journey, He sanctifies us through the Holy Spirit. That’s what too many people overlook. From choosing us to sanctifying us to enabling us to “share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ”—wow! God has taken responsibility for the entire process.

What does God expect me to do? He asks me to believe. That drives people crazy who want to take some responsibility for getting to heaven. Yet, that’s all God expects of me. Believing will change our lives. We do live differently when we believe because faith produces the fruit of a Christ-like life. When we believe in Jesus we are given a new nature. Yet, looking back we can see that God has done the hard part. Salvation comes by believing in Jesus and what He’s done for us.