‘Chosen’ – the use of that word is not just an accident. The word is used three times in two verses.
What a shame it was in the 19th century that the churches said to themselves, ‘We need an educated ministry. A lot of people are converted and they go out to preach but some of them preach with a cockney accent, and some with a northern accent, some with a Scottish accent, or a Welsh accent: regional accents, and even working-class accents. Terrible! We must have an educated ministry. Well, up to a point, that is right. Teach the young men, instruct them. When Spurgeon started his college for the instruction of young pastors, they included general education as well as the deep things of God in their theological studies, because many of them had very little education. But you can take it much too far, and in the 19th century the churches were tempted to take it too far. ‘We want seminaries and colleges that can rival the best in the world. We want people to come out of them with glowing PhDs and all the rest of it. We must aspire, aspire and impress the community.’ And what they got was liberalism, theological liberalism and doubt and apostasy, because the way of God is: yes, have your general education; yes, learn as much as you can; yes, be as worthy as you can to bear the banner of Christ, but no, fantastic accomplishments are not God's way, because he uses the lowly to convert everybody, even those who are called among the noble and the great. That is his way, so that the glory will be his.