Ephesians 1:3-10 The God Who Gives Unconditional Election

Intro

From eternity past, God sovereignly chose whom he would save to show his elect the glory of his grace.

The elect is the NT term for God’s church. They are the ones God has elected to salvation, the ones God chose to save before the foundation of the world by his sovereign will.

You might have also heard this called the doctrine of predestination.

That God determined in eternity past, before anything was ever made and before anyone was ever born who he would save in Christ and who he would pass over and condemn in their sins.

This doctrine, the doctrine of unconditional election is one of the most offensive doctrines of our faith because it says that mankind is so completely evil, so totally depraved, that we can’t even choose Christ if God had not been gracious enough to choose us first.

And because of that, many Christians struggle with this doctrine because the natural question is “How can that be fair? If no one can be saved without God choosing them, how is it right for God to choose to save some, but not others?”

And we will answer that question today, but the problem is most Christians get so distracted with arguing about the doctrine of election, that they miss the point of the doctrine entirely.

God did not reveal how he predestines believers for salvation to make us question his goodness. God predestined us so that we would know his goodness.

The doctrine of unconditional election, just like every other doctrine, is all about God’s glory.

Yes, I want to show you from Scripture why we believe this doctrine. But I don’t want to just focus on the arguments.

I want to focus on what the arguments should lead us do which is worshiping God for his glorious grace.

My hope today is that you would leave here in awe that God chose you. That God set his grace on you, when you deserved nothing but his wrath.

Understanding the doctrine of unconditional election is crucial for you to understand the magnitude and fullness of God’s grace towards you in Christ.

So I want you to look with me at Ephesians 1:3-10 to answer How does the doctrine of unconditional election magnify the grace of God?

What does this doctrine tell us about God’s amazing, unfathomable, undeserved grace towards us in Christ?

We will start with verses 3-4 where God tells us He...

I. God Elected Us to Forgive Our Sin

Ephesians 1:3-4 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, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.

So Paul starts by saying Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Immediately you see Paul’s aim in this passage is to worship God; magnify God; glorify God.

What Paul is about to say is driving at one single purpose: for God’s people to see God’s glory and worship him for his grace.

Continuing we see why Paul says God is to be blessed. He has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

When Paul says that God has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing, the word translated every means all, total, the fullest amount possible.

There is nothing lacking in God’s spiritual blessing.

Well what is that? Paul says it is the blessing God has given us in Christ. So its salvation. Its the fullness of forgiveness. It is the gift of God’s unmerited grace.

Peter says His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3).

So what Paul is saying is Praise God for blessing us in Christ with the fullness of salvation. Praise God that he forgave our sins in Christ.

And then Paul says that God gave us this blessing in the heavenly places. Now what in the world does that mean?

Paul uses that phrase 5 times in Ephesians, and each time Paul is talking about the unseen heavenly realm.

Its the same idea from Hebrews where Christ entered into the heavenly tabernacle to make full atonement for our sin.

And the point there was the same point here.

God did not bless us with every spiritual blessing in the temporal earthly realm where bulls and goats had to be offered repeatedly to forgive our sin.

God blessed us in the eternal heavenly realm with the once for all sacrifice of his Son.

So by saying that God has blessed us in Christ in the heavenly places, Paul’s point is that God has blessed us in Christ for all eternity.

It is not a temporary salvation God has given us. It is an eternal, everlasting salvation that will never be removed, lost, or taken away.

And the proof Paul gives to guarantee that God will save you, that you really do have an eternal salvation in Christ is because God chose you before the foundation of the world.

Verse 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.

The word translated even as in this verse carries the idea that what he is about to say is the cause or reason for what he just said.

So you can read it like this. God has saved us in Christ for eternity since or because he chose us in him before the foundation of the world.

So you are starting to see that the reason why we are saved, the reason why we are given every spiritual blessing in Christ for eternity is because God chose us.

This, in a nutshell, is the doctrine of election.

Before the foundation of the world, God chose who he would forgive.

That’s why Paul says He chose us that we should be holy and blameless before him.

The word translated before him, is always used in the NT to convey the idea of standing before God as the Judge.

So the idea is that God chose us in Christ, so that we would not stand before God on the day of judgment condemned in our sin.

So that we would not have to suffer God’s just and righteous wrath against us.

Instead, God chose us, and blessed us with the grace of forgiveness so that when we stand before God, we will stand before him holy and blameless.

There will be no sin to pay for because God has already paid for it in Christ.

So God’s election, God’s choice of who he would save is always connected to God’s choice of who he would forgive.

Who he would save from his wrath on the day of judgement.

And God chose everyone he would ever save before the foundation of the world.

Have you ever thought of that? Have you ever considered that before God had made anything, before the foundation of the world, God chose to forgive you.

Before you even existed God knew you and chose to set his love on you so that instead of suffering in hell for all eternity for your sin, you would be with him and enjoy eternal life.

Why would God choose us? I mean we are just as sinful as anyone else. Why would God give us grace and forgiveness when we really deserved justice and wrath?

That takes us right into the second point.

II. God Elected Us Solely Because of the Good Pleasure of His Will

Ephesians 1:4-5 In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will.

So again, God predestined us. He chose us. He determined before the foundation of the world, who he would save and who he would allow to suffer the consequences of their sin.

And those that God predestined for salvation, he predestined in love.

The only reason God chose to save anyone is because God is love.

In election, God chooses sinners and sets his love on them. Sinners who don’t deserve it. In fact, we deserve the exact opposite. We deserve God’s wrath and justice.

But in love God predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ.

So its simple really. Why did God choose you? Because God loved you. And because God loved you he determined, he predestined, to save you through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And then, at the end of verse 5, Paul tells us explicitly what the basis of God’s sovereign choice was. What made him choose one person to save while allowing the other to suffer the due penalty of their sin.

According to the purpose of his will.

The word translated as purpose could also be translated as good pleasure.

So Paul says the reason why God chose one person and not another person is on the basis of the good pleasure of his will.

In other words, salvation has nothing to do with us. The reason why God elects some to salvation and not others is the good pleasure of his own will.

It is God’s sovereign choice who he saves and who he allows to die in their sin.

This is why we believe God’s election is unconditional. God does not elect sinners to salvation on the basis of their works or anything in them.

He simply elects some sinners because it pleases him to do so.

And here is where we get into why this doctrine is so difficult for people, even Bible Believing Christians, to accept.

Why does it please God to save some, but not all? How is that possibly fair?

If God really is love, then it doesn’t seem very loving for God to only choose some people to be saved when everyone needs his grace.

The concern being that if God chooses some for salvation, then by definition, he doesn’t choose others. And if he doesn’t choose them, then they will suffer for eternity in hell.

How is unconditional election consistent with a loving God?

There are some that think it isn’t. Now you should know that this is an in house debate. Believers that do not hold to unconditional election are still believers.

They still love Jesus. We just disagree on the doctrine of predestination.

You might have heard this argument as Calvinists versus Arminians.

Even though Calvinism, named after the Reformation theologian John Calvin, is so much bigger than just the doctrine of unconditional election, this is typically what people think of when they think of Calvinism.

The other side of the coin is Arminianism, named after the theologian Jacob Arminius, and Arminians reject unconditional election.

Basically, the crux of the argument comes down do whose will is primary in salvation. Calvinists would say God’s will. That God chooses who he will save solely on the basis of the good pleasure of his will.

Arminians on the other hand would say man’s will, is primary. That God chooses who he will save based on who would choose him.

And the main passage they draw this idea from is Romans 8:29-30.

Romans 8:29-30 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Problem: Misunderstands foreknowledge

Problem: Misunderstands sinfullness

Paul in Rom 9

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III. God Elected Us to Praise His Glorious Grace

Conclusion

Let’s Pray

Scripture Reading