There is a point in any group athletic competition when teams are chosen. Sometimes they are chosen by tryouts where coaches make the final selection. In impromptu games, there are often more casual methods. Sometimes captains are selected, and they pick the teams. Other times random numbers are assigned or someone else picks the teams. After the selection, the players sometimes wonder why they were selected. For the people of God, the same question is a natural one.
In the Greek, Ephesians 3–14 comprise one sentence and encompass the past, present, and future of God’s eternal purpose for the church. It is Paul’s outline of God’s master plan for salvation. In 3–6a we are shown the past aspect, election; in 6b–11 we are shown the present aspect, redemption; and in 12–14 we are shown the future aspect, inheritance. As it is sometimes expressed, history is simply the outworking of “His story,” which has already been planned and prewritten in eternity.
Basic to any believers understanding of Salvation should be the understanding that they did not deserve eternal life. A rudimentary understanding of God's holiness and our innate sinfulness tells us this. In understanding how people are naturally dead in trespasses and sin (Eph. 2:1), this must lead a believer to realize that it required God to bring them to repent, and believe what He provided for eternal life. An understanding of this should not only motivate worship, but direct a life in humble service. Such a life would counteract the critique that Christians are arrogant and self-righteous.
The record of God’s redemptive history is that of His reaching down and drawing to Himself those whom He has chosen to save. In Ephesians 1:3-6a, the Apostle Paul gives us a glimpse of eternity past. He lets us eavesdrop as God planned to save us—not only long before we were born but long before the earth was born. He reveling God plan for the redeemed, he shows: 1) Why God Chooses (Ephesians 1:3), 2) When God Chooses (Ephesians 1:4), 3) For What did God Choose (Ephesians 1:5-6)
1) Why God Chooses (Ephesians 1:3)
Ephesians 1:3 [3]Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, (ESV)
The blessed redemption of people is introduced appropriately by praise to the One who has made such provision: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. From eulogeoô (blessed) we get eulogy, a message of praise and commendation, the declaration of a person’s goodness. Because no one is truly good but God (Matt. 19:17), our supreme eulogy, our supreme praise, is for Him alone. The whole paragraph, which is a paean of praise, is intended to instruct the readers and cause them in turn to respond by magnifying and glorifying God, who is worthy of their adoration. Paul’s eulogies do not express a wish; they describe a fact (‘Blessed is God’), as he proclaims that God is the source of blessing (O’Brien, P. T. (1999). The letter to the Ephesians (p. 94). Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.).
• When people consider their own lives, the impact of God bringing them to redemption often happens too late in consideration. Too many testimonies or descriptions of spiritual walk almost make God's actions an afterthought. Any consideration of eternal life and redemption, must start with the One who achieved it and brought it about: God.
Goodness is God’s nature. God the Father not only does good things, He is good in a way and to a degree that no human being except His own incarnate Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, can be. Consequently from Genesis to Revelation, godly people, recognizing the surpassing and humanly unattainable goodness of God, have proclaimed blessing upon Him. Melchizedek declared, “Blessed be God Most High” (Gen. 14:20). In the last days, “every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them” will be “heard saying, ‘To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever’ ” (Rev. 5:13). Doctrine, if it is rightly understood, leads to doxology. If we discover who God is and what he has done for us, we will praise him (Boice, J. M. (1988). Ephesians: an expositional commentary (p. 8). Grand Rapids, MI: Ministry Resources Library.).
• Nothing is more appropriate for God’s people than to bless Him for His great goodness. In all things—whether pain, struggle, trials, frustration, opposition, or adversity — we are to praise God, because He is good in the midst of it all.
Please turn to James 1 (p. 1011)
Consistent with His perfection and praiseworthiness, the One who is to be supremely blessed for His goodness is Himself the supreme Blesser who bestows goodness. It is He who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing. The us whom God has blessed refers to believers, “the saints … in Christ Jesus” Paul addresses in verse 1. In His wonderful grace, marvelous providence, and sovereign plan God has chosen to bless us. God has eternally ordained that “those who are of faith are blessed” (Gal. 3:9). Believers are not isolated entities; they share a common life through faith in Christ, and this common life is nothing other than his resurrection life. Elsewhere in the letter this is expressed in terms of their common membership in the body of Christ, as in v. 23. This is the setting in which God grants his people every spiritual blessing—from eternal election to eternal glory (Bruce, F. F. (1984). The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians (p. 254). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.)
James reminds us:
James 1:12-18 [12]Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. [13]Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God," for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. [14]But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. [15]Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. [16]Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. [17]Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. [18]Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. (ESV)
• God is completely good and everything good that we have and enjoy comes from Him. Salvation itself is the epitomy of goodness that He brings forth by the word of truth. The result is blessedness that should result in our giving thanks and blessing God.
• When we bless God we speak good of Him. When God blesses us, He communicates good to us. We bless Him with words; He blesses us with deeds. All we can do is to speak well of Him because in ourselves we have nothing good to give, and in Himself He lacks no goodness. But when He blesses us the situation is reversed. He cannot bless us for our goodness, because we have none. Rather, He blesses us with goodness. Our heavenly Father lavishes us with every goodness, every good gift, every blessing. That is His nature, and that is our need.
Our heavenly Father blesses us with every spiritual blessing. In the New Testament pneumatikos (spiritual) is always used in relation to the work of the Holy Spirit. Therefore it does not here refer to immaterial blessings as opposed to material ones but to the divine origin of the blessings—whether they help us in our spirits, our minds, our bodies, our daily living, or however else. Spiritual refers to the source, not the extent, of blessing. God’s “divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence” (2 Pet. 1:3). It is not that God will give us but that He has already given us “everything pertaining to life and godliness.” He has blessed us already with every spiritual blessing. We are complete “in Him” (Col. 2:10). Because by faith we are under Christ’s lordship, we have “every spiritual blessing”—that is, every benefit of knowing God and everything we need to grow spiritually. These are spiritual blessings, not material ones. Because God has already blessed believers, we need not ask for these blessings but simply accept them and apply them to our lives. Because we have an intimate relationship with Christ, we can enjoy these blessings now and will enjoy them for eternity (Barton, B. B., & Comfort, P. W. (1996). Ephesians (p. 7). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.).
• While it is true that material blessings are also from God (Deut 28:1–14; James 1:17), his spiritual blessings are more to be desired. These blessings are “spiritual” because they are received by our spiritual nature. It may be a good index of our own spirituality to consider for which kind of blessings we are more likely to cry out, “Praise the Lord!”( Boles, K. L. (1993). Galatians & Ephesians (Eph 1:3). Joplin, MO: College Press.)
All that the Lord has, those in Christ have. Christ’s riches are our riches, His resources are our resources, His righteousness is our righteousness, and His power is our power. His position is our position: where He is, we are. His privilege is our privilege: what He is we are. His possession is our possession: what He has, we have. His practice is our practice: what He does, we do. (cf. Rom. 8:16-17)
These abundant, unlimited blessings from God are in the heavenly places. More than heaven itself is included. The heavenly places (cf. 1:20; 2:6; 3:10) encompass the entire supernatural realm of God, His complete domain, the full extent of His divine operation. The blessings can be said to be in the heavenly realms, yet they are not viewed as treasure stored up for future appropriation, but as benefits belonging to believers now. In Ephesians, through what God has done in Christ, the benefits of the age to come have become a present heavenly reality for believers....( Lincoln, A. T. (1990). Ephesians (Vol. 42, p. 21). Dallas: Word, Incorporated.)
Application: We are presently trapped in the tension between the earthly and the heavenly. Paul reflected that tension when he said, “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed (2 Cor. 4:8–9; 6:3-10).
• Many Christians continually ask God for what He has already given. They pray for Him to give them more love, although they should know that “the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Rom. 5:5). They pray for peace, although Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you” (John 14:27). They pray for happiness and joy, although Jesus said, “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full” (John 15:11). They ask God for strength, although His Word tells them that they “can do all things through Him who strengthens” them (Phil. 4:13).
• Our resources in God are not simply promised; they are possessed. Every Christian has what Paul calls “the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:19). God cannot give us more than He has already given us in His Son. There is nothing more to receive. The believer’s need, therefore, is not to receive something more but to do something more with what he has.
2) When God Chooses (Ephesians 1:4)
Ephesians 1:4 [4]even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love (ESV)
From all eternity, before the foundation of the world, completely apart from any merit or deserving that any person could have, God chose us in Him, “in Christ” (v. 3). By God’s sovereign election, those who are saved were placed in eternal union with Christ before creation even took place.
Please turn to Deuteronomy 7 (p.152)
Eklegô (chose) is here in the aorist tense and the middle voice, indicating God’s totally independent choice. Because the verb is reflexive it signifies that God not only chose by Himself but for Himself. His primary purpose in election was the praise of His own glory (vv. 6, 12, 14). Believers were chosen for the Lord’s glory before they were chosen for their own good. Paul never thought of himself as having chosen God—it was the other way: God had chosen him. This was Jesus’ moving word to the disciples: “You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you” (John 15:16)
• Now everybody finds the doctrine of election difficult. ‘Didn’t I choose God?’ somebody asks indignantly; to which we must answer ‘Yes, indeed you did, and freely, but only because in eternity God had first chosen you.’ ‘Didn’t I decide for Christ?’ asks somebody else; to which we must reply ‘Yes, indeed you did, and freely, but only because in eternity God had first decided for you.’(Stott, J. R. W. (1979). God’s new society: the message of Ephesians (p. 37). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.)
• How we perceive ourselves, who we think ourselves to be, determines the direction of our lives and shapes our relationships. To accept at the depth of our being that we are chosen by God is the antidote for our insecurity, our neurotic fears, our striving to be accepted, and our self-depreciation. (Dunnam, M. D., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1982). Galatians / Ephesians / Philippians / Colossians / Philemon (Vol. 31, p. 146). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.)
Israel was God’s elect, His “chosen one” (Isa. 45:4; cf. 65:9, 22). But she was told:
Deuteronomy 7:7-8 [7]It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, [8]but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. (ESV)
• God chose the Jews simply out of His sovereign love. It is not that God’s sovereign election, or predestination, eliminates humanity’s choice in faith. Divine sovereignty and human response are integral and inseparable parts of salvation—though exactly how they operate together only the infinite mind of God knows.
The object of election is us, not everyone, but only those whom God chose, the saints and “faithful in Christ Jesus” (v. 1). Those whom God elects are those whom He has declared holy before the foundation of the world and who have identified with His Son Jesus Christ by faith. Being a Christian is having been chosen by God to be His child and to inherit all things through and with Jesus Christ. Because in God’s plan Christ was crucified for us “before the foundation of the world” (1 Pet. 1:20), we were designated for salvation by that same plan at that same time. It was then that our inheritance in God’s kingdom was determined (Matt. 25:34). We belonged to God before time began, and we will be His after time has long run its course. Our names as believers were “written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain” (Rev. 13:8; cf. 17:8). To say that election took place before creation indicates that God’s choice was due to his own free decision and love, which were not dependent on temporal circumstances or human merit. The reasons for his election were rooted in the depths of his gracious, sovereign nature (O’Brien, P. T. (1999). The letter to the Ephesians (p. 100). Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.)
God chose us in order that we might be holy and blameless. Holy” in Greek always had in it the idea of difference and separation. The Christian is to be distinctly different—set apart by God for His purposes. The separation is not from the world, but a difference expressed in the world.( Dunnam, M. D., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1982). Galatians / Ephesians / Philippians / Colossians / Philemon (Vol. 31, p. 147). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.)
Amômos (blameless) literally means without blemish, or spotless. Because we are chosen in Him we are holy and blameless before Him. Because Jesus Christ gave Himself for us as “a lamb unblemished and spotless” (1 Pet. 1:19), believers have been given His own unblemished and spotless nature. The unworthy have been declared worthy, the unrighteous declared holy. It is Christ’s eternal and foreordained plan to “present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless” (Eph. 5:27).
We know that in our living we can be far from the holy standard and far from being blameless. Yet “in Him:” Paul said in another place, we “have been made complete” (Col. 2:10). All that God is, we become in Jesus Christ. That is why salvation is secure. We have Christ’s perfect righteousness. Our practice can and does fall short, but our position can never fall short, because it is exactly the same holy and blameless position before God that Christ has. We are as secure as our Savior, because we are in Him, waiting for the full redemption and glorious holiness that awaits us in His presence. Because God declares us and leads us to be holy and blameless, we should strive to live lives now that reflect the holiness and blamelessness that are our destiny. The reason why he chose was in himself (love), not in the recipient (merit) (Stott, J. R. W. (1979). God’s new society: the message of Ephesians (p. 39). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.).
If the phrase “in love” is attached to what precedes, then it adds a specific quality to holiness and blamelessness: the consummation of holiness is perfect love. The preposition is best understood as having “comitative” force: the purpose of God is that his people should be marked by holiness and blamelessness, coupled with love (Bruce, F. F. (1984). The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians (p. 256). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.).
Illustration: Election 375
There was a boy who did not have much athletic ability. Every time he and his friends would play some game he was always the last to be chosen. One day two new fellows came to play with them and were allowed to be team captains because they were older. The first team captain chose the boy who had always been chosen last before. Why? Because they were brothers, and he loved his brother. So it is with God. He chose us not because of our abilities, but because he loves us. (Michael P. Green. (2000). 1500 illustrations for biblical preaching (p. 115). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.)
3) For What did God Choose (Ephesians 1:5-6a)
Ephesians 1:5-6a [5]he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, [6]to the praise of his glorious grace, (with which he has blessed us in the Beloved).
God elects those who are saved because of His love. In love [5] He predestined us to adoption as sons. Just as He chose Israel to be His special people only because of His love (Deut. 7:8), so He also chose the church, the family of the redeemed. Biblical agapç love is not an emotion but a disposition of the heart to seek the welfare and meet the needs of others. “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends,” Jesus said (John 15:13). And that is exactly what Jesus Himself did on behalf of those God has chosen to be saved. In the ultimate divine act of love, God determined before the foundation of the earth that He would give His only Son to save us. “God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ” (Eph. 2:4–5). He loved us, and will eternally continue to love us, according to the purpose/kind intention of His will. The purpose/kind intention signifies not simply the purpose of God but also the delight that he takes in his plans. It has warm and personal connotations, and draws attention to God’s willingness and joy to do good. Will signifies that which is purposed, or intended, and stresses his active resolve, his redemptive purpose (cf. the proximity of the terms in 1:9). The preposition ‘according to’ (kata) indicates the norm or standard, showing that his choosing many to come into a special relationship with himself was in keeping with what he delighted to do and with his saving plan. ‘He enjoys imparting his riches to many children’. (O’Brien, P. T. (1999). The letter to the Ephesians (p. 103). Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.)
Please turn to Romans 8 (p.944)
The result of God’s election is our adoption as sons. In Christ we become subjects of His kingdom, and because He is our Lord we are His servants He even calls us friends because, He says, “All things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you” (John 15:15). But in His great love He makes us more than citizens and servant, and even more than friends. He makes us children. God lovingly draws redeemed sinners into the intimacy of His own family. Under Roman law, adopted children had the same rights and privileges as biological children. Even if they had been slaves, adopted children became full heirs in their new family (Barton, B. B., & Comfort, P. W. (1996). Ephesians (p. 15). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.).
When we become Christians we become children of God:
Romans 8:1-15 [8:1]There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. [2]For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. [3]For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, [4]in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. [5]For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. [6]For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. [7]For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. [8]Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. [9]You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. [10]But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. [11]If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. [12]So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. [13]For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. [14]For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. [15]For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!" (ESV)
• Those who are led by the Spirit of God, those who yield to the Spirit; (cf. Gal. 5:16; 5:17; 5:18) are those who are God’s sons, i.e., they truly belong to his family. Christians are no longer slaves to sin but are adopted as sons into God’s family, as evidenced by the Spirit that cries out within them that God is their father. (Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 2170). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.).
Human parents can adopt children and come to love them every bit as much as they love their natural children. They can give an adopted child complete equality in the family life, resources, and inheritance. But no human parent can impart his own distinct nature to an adopted child. Yet that is what God miraculously does to every person whom He has elected and who has trusted in Christ. He makes them sons just like His divine Son. Christians not only have all of the Son’s riches and blessings but all of the Son’s nature.
Why did God do all of that for us? Why did He want us to be His sons? We are saved and made sons as the beginning of verse 6 states: to the praise of the glory of His grace. Above all rise, He elects and saves us for His own glory. The apostle Paul interceded for the Thessalonians, praying “that our God may count you worthy of your calling … in order that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in Him” (2 Thess. 1:11–12). God chose and preordained the Body before the foundation of the world in order that no human being could boast or take glory for himself, but that all the glory might be His. Salvation is not partly of God and partly of man, but entirely of God. To guarantee that, every provision and every detail of salvation was accomplished before any human being was ever born or before a planet was formed on which he could be born. The ultimate reason for everything that exists is the glory of His grace. That is why as God’s children, Christians should do everything they do—even such mundane things as eating and drinking—to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31). Although the chosen are blessed by God’s benevolence, God himself is the ultimate beneficiary of this relationship. Sons and daughters are adopted for himself...to the praise of the glory of His grace (Neufeld, T. R. Y. (2001). Ephesians (p. 46). Scottdale, PA: Herald Press.).
(Format note: some base commentary from MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1986). Ephesians (pp. 5–16). Chicago: Moody Press.)
