Chosen by God in ages past

Chosen by God in ages past,
  Our God will never let us go;
Salvation is assured fore’er;
  ’Tis such security we know.

“I give to them eternal life,
  They shall not perish,” is His word;
“No one shall snatch them from Our hands,”
  This is the promise of the Lord.

Yet there’s a word for God’s own sons,
  Which is a warning from the Lord:
For those not ready when He comes,
  “Worse punishment” and not “reward.”

Reward is not eternal life,
  It’s based on how we run the race;
It all depends on what we build,
  It’s not a matter, here, of grace.

’Tis for God’s kingdom we press on,
  Like Moses, we are for the Lord;
We suffer with God’s people here
  And look away to the reward.

Richer by far, reproach of Christ,
  Than Egypt’s treasures, which are sin;
By faith we leave Egyptian land,
  Avoiding next age discipline.

Our soul gained for the kingdom’s age—
  For this we lose our soul life here;
If we lay down our soul life now,
  We’ll save it for Christ’s kingdom there.

We all must learn to pay the price,
  Christ must be worked into our soul;
’Tis thus our soul is gained by Him,
  This is our aim and this our goal.