RESOURCES — SHORT ARTICLES

 

SHORT ARTICLES BY TOM ELSEROAD
	2021-04-19	What Does God 'Chose Us in Him Before The Foundation of the World' Mean? (Ep.1:4)
		Eph 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, Eph 1:4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, Eph 1:5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, Eph 1:6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. Paul's letters follow a pattern of doctrine followed by application. In chapters 1-3 Paul helps them understand who they are in Christ. In Chapters 4-6 he tells them how they should walk as a result. In chapter 1 Paul teaches how God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit work together for the salvation of the believer. Paul explains that believers are blessed with “with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (v.3). He wants them to understand how God accomplishes this blessing for those who believe in Christ. Paul opens by stating that God chose us before the foundation of the world (v.4). To further expand that thought, he continues that in love we have been predestined for adoption to sonship through Jesus (v.5). And this is in accordance with his pleasure and will (v.5). While the ideas of election (choosing) and predestination can be confusing, they are unmistakably taught by Paul. Believers are chosen or CAUSED to be chosen (Greek: middle voice of the aorist verb) before the foundation of the world. This determination of God took place before the world had even been created. Paul is asserting that this new and blessed position of the believer is not of one's own doing. It began with God’s choice, and it shows that God is the basis of the believer’s blessing, not one’s own merits. Historically, there have been two major interpretations of the concept of God’s choosing us. Position 1 teaches that God's choosing means the believer has nothing to do with his salvation. Even the faith of the believer is a gift of God (Ep.2:8-9). Position 2 teaches that the believer’s choice was based on God’s knowledge of what the believer would choose. Paul asserts that God chose us before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4), and he does not even discuss God’s foreknowledge in Ephesians 1. Paul does reference God’s foreknowledge in Romans 8:29 as preceding predestination, but he does not discuss choosing (or election) in the Romans 8 context. God's choice is “according to the good pleasure of His will” (v.5), and that His purpose is according to His choice (Ro.9:11), not based on what we might do. Yet we know we have been saved by grace through faith (Ep.2:8), and the faith is necessary. Jesus’ focus of salvation makes it conditional only upon belief in Him (Jo.3:15–16; 6:47), and He puts the responsibility on the one who is to believe. God has expressed His sovereignty—He chose us before the foundation of the world (Ep.1:4). And He places the responsibility of faith upon the individual (Ep.2:8). Both the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of humanity are evident in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians and in his explanation of how we came to be so greatly blessed. Pastor Tom Elseroad

 

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