Here is Pt3 of my study in Ephesians. This study deals with Eph. 1:4-6.




I hope you enjoy. God Bless.




Now it is convenient to divide verses 4 – 14 into three sections: from v 4 – 6 we are told what the Father has done; from v 7 – 12 we are told what the Son has done; and in verses 13 and 14 we have the work of the Holy Spirit.




Verse 4 - 6


( verse 3: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ………”)




“…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, (5) having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself according to the good pleasure of His will, (6) to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.”




We have seen from our study of verse three that we are to praise and worship and be thankful to God because He has “blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the Heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” So now the Apostle continues by saying “….just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world…..” Here we have a marvellous and wonderful mystery! What is it that accounts for someone who was not a Christian and now is enjoying these amazing blessings? What is it that leads to someone becoming a Christian and enjoying the riches of God’s Grace? Lots of people would say that a Christian is someone who has been blessed by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. But that is not what Paul begins by saying here! He is not saying that we enjoy these blessing because we have believed in Jesus, or made a decision for Him, or accepted Him as our personal Saviour. Of course that is involved, but Paul does not begin with that. Paul does not even begin with the redemptive work of the Lord Himself. Many would say that all this has become possible because of what Jesus did for us by his life, death and resurrection, and what He is still doing. But Paul does not even put that first. He goes right back into eternity and starts with that which God the Father has done “before the foundation of the World.”




Paul’s teaching is that those who enjoy “these spiritual blessing in the Heavenly places in Christ” do so because they have been chosen by God to do so. It is “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world.” This is the explanation of everything, so Paul starts with that. All the blessing that we enjoy spring from this source. Man by nature rebels against God. This is due to the fall. Having listened to the devil and having fallen away from God, he is under the “wrath of God.” How is it then that any individual can escape from this prison of sin? The answer very simply is that God has chosen such a person to be delivered from it to salvation. This is Paul’s categorical statement!




In the final analysis there are only two possible explanations for such a staggering statement.




1) The first is to believe that we are chosen by God simply as a result of His good pleasure, or as the bible puts it - according to the good pleasure of His will - and entirely apart from anything we have ever done or said or thought.




2) The alternative is that Paul is saying that Christians - those who enjoy these spiritual blessing in the Heavenly places in Christ - were chosen by God before the foundation of the world because God, with His perfect foreknowledge saw that they would exercise faith. In other words God chooses those who have of themselves already chosen to be Christians, those who have decided to believe in Jesus and sought salvation. There is no other possibility.




Now if we say that God does not have perfect foreknowledge then we deny one of His attributes - that of Omniscience - that He knows the end from the beginning.




If we say that God cannot chose someone according to the good pleasure of His will then we deny His Sovereignty.




This is hard Doctrine, but we cannot avoid it. We cannot just ignore it. If we are to accept that the Scripture is the Word of God, then we must accept that this also is the Word of God.




I have pondered on many occasions, as I have sat quietly before God, the mystery of why I am a Christian and others are not. In my own family I have a brother who is not saved, why then am I? What is it that makes me different to him? I pray constantly that he will in time receive Christ as his saviour and come to enjoy the spiritual blessings that are in Christ, but I have to accept that it is God who chooses and there is nothing that I can do other than share the Gospel with him.




Now we are told that we are chosen in Christ that we should be “Holy and without blame before Him in love.” This is the purpose of the Father’s choosing us. Here Paul uses two words to describe the same thing – our Sanctification. “Holy and without blame.” He does so I believe to bring out this doctrine in its fullness. In Ephesians 5:27 he uses the term “Holy and without blemish,” in reference to the church. The difference between the two can be seen in this way – “Holiness” denotes a state of inward or internal purity – “without blame” means an outward or external condition of purity. Holiness is the stronger term because it deals with the inward condition, but the outward condition is also so important. It could be put another way – Holiness is “positive” and without blame is “negative.” You are “positively holy,” and that means “negatively” there is an “absence of blame.”




Holiness is an essential attribute of God. God Himself tells us, “be ye Holy as I am Holy.” We cannot conceive of that, but we are also told that “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.” (1John 1:5) God is absolutely pure and the astonishing thing here is that we are told that God has chosen us in Christ to be like Him. That is His plan and purpose for us – that is our destiny – is to be like God, “Holy.”




In verse 5 we come again to a passage that must be treated with great care. You may think that Paul, by using the word “predestinated,” is re-stating his earlier point that it is God who does the choosing apart from any action on our part. In the previous verse Paul said “…just as He has chosen us,” now he writes about God “having predestinated us.” There is an important difference between “chosen” and “predestinated.” To “predestinate means to “determine before hand.” By this the Apostle means that this was God’s ultimate plan; it refers to the plan itself. “Chosen” on the other hand emphasizes the method or the means by which the plan has been put into operation and has been accomplished. It could be said this way – “before the foundation of the world” it was God’s plan and purpose that certain members of the fallen race of Adam – who had fallen right away from Him and were under His wrath and deserved nothing but perdition – should become His Sons. This is God’s original purpose and plan in redemption.




“Having predestinated us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.” When someone adopts a child, the child in question becomes “legally” the child of that family. They have the same rights in law as the natural offspring. I am reminded of the story of the family who could not have children of their own so they decided to adopted a little boy. They were successful in this and eventually they brought their new son home. Everyone was very excited and happy for them. About a year later a miracle happened in the family and they found out that the lady was pregnant. She duly gave birth to a son, so they now had two sons and the family was delighted. Some years later their parents were in conversation with friends and the question was asked which of the two boys was the adopted son? The mother thought for a moment then replied – “I can’t remember.”






This is God’s plan for us. We have been adopted into His family, by the redemptive


work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are legally His, and because of this we have the same standing as Jesus with the Father. “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. And if we are children, then we are heirs; heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ…”(Rom 8:16-17) Adoption, as Election is a huge subject and cannot be properly discussed in such a short study, but this should give us all a taster of the staggering lengths that our Father God went to, to save for Himself a people from amongst a world so full of rebellion and sin.




God has done all that we have been considering “according to the good pleasure of His will” (v 5). He has not been moved to do this by anything in us whatsoever it is entirely of Himself. Man by nature, and in sin, does not seek or desire salvation. Salvation is not a response on God’s part to anything in man it is entirely of God. He was moved by His own grace, mercy and compassion. The ultimate motive of it all is, “to the praise of the glory of His grace” (v 6). It is all for the Glory of God!




If you have any comments on these studies please let me know by posting a reply or e-mail me.