Ephesians
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All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.
God has now revealed to us his mysterious will regarding Christ—which is to fulfill his own good plan. And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth.
These are powerful statements. We are truly blessed and part of the big picture that God has for this planet. In fact God predestines us, he adopts us as sons and daughters. Jews and Gentiles are co-sharers of the glorious inheritance.
We need to praise and worship our God as He is the one who blesses us and we bless Him by praising Him. Every spiritual blessing are ours in the the heavenly rhelm.
The blessings of CHristianity are spiritual dealing with nonmaterial, invisible and imperishable things. These are wonderful blessings that were unknown in the Old Testament. This all available to us though Christ Jesus our Lord.
Believer’s Bible Commentary B. Paul’s Praise to God for the Blessings of Grace (1:3–14)
“To be in Christ, which is the portion of all who are saved, is to partake of all that Christ has done, all that He is, and all that He ever will be.”
We need to distinguish our position in CHrist rather than in Adam. All still in Adam are condemned through their sins. We are accepted not in ourselves but rather our faith in CHrist. Thankfully, we are in CHrist but our practice is imperfect in contrast to our position.
Interesting, the first three chapters gives us much to think about doctrinely.
SO what should we learn from election. Was it not that God chose us or did we choose GOd? Were we really in Him before the foundation of the world? We need to be holy and without blame in Him in love.
Divine election is hard to comprehend. In 2 Thess 2:13 and 1 Pet 1:2 it states that God does choose men to salvation, making us part of the elect according to the foreknowledge of God.
As for us, we can’t help but thank God for you, dear brothers and sisters loved by the Lord. We are always thankful that God chose you to be among the first to experience salvation—a salvation that came through the Spirit who makes you holy and through your belief in the truth.
God the Father knew you and chose you long ago, and his Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed him and have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ.
May God give you more and more grace and peace.
In 1 Thess 1:4-7, this teaches us that we can prove our election by the response we have to the gospel. Esentially it states that those that hear and believe are elect.
Let us have a look at this scripture:
We know, dear brothers and sisters, that God loves you and has chosen you to be his own people. For when we brought you the Good News, it was not only with words but also with power, for the Holy Spirit gave you full assurance that what we said was true. And you know of our concern for you from the way we lived when we were with you. So you received the message with joy from the Holy Spirit in spite of the severe suffering it brought you. In this way, you imitated both us and the Lord. As a result, you have become an example to all the believers in Greece—throughout both Macedonia and Achaia.
It is interesting though that God never chooses men to be lost. It in inferred by the scriptures that yes God chooses some to be saved but not that He arbitrarily condemns the rest. Noone deserves to be saved but GOd does save some that ought to be condemned.
We need to allow GOd to be God. These truths are difficult to comprehend as Christians. DOes not God have a right to be sovereign and do as He pleases? DOes GOd have the right to show mercy to some if He chooses?
There are two sides of the story here. One is on sovereign election but with that goes with human responsibility.
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
And anyone who believes in God’s Son has eternal life. Anyone who doesn’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God’s angry judgment.”
If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
SO if a person becomes lost it is because he chooses to be not because God desires it.
Both election and free salvation are taught in the Bible.
The following verse implies it.
However, those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them.
The ones the Father gave to CHrist is by God’s sovereign choice however the ones that come to CHrist has to do with the offer of mercy to all. However, how do we reconcile between these truths? Is it not a mystery to us but to God this mystery is well understood.
Think about God being the potter and us being the clay. Hasn’t the creator got the right to mould the clay as he seems fit? We really need to merge the truth between election and man’s free will.
W.G Blaikie says it like this:
Believer’s Bible Commentary Divine Election
Divine sovereignty, human responsibility and the free and universal offer of mercy are all found in Scripture, and though we are unable to harmonize them by our logic, they all ought to have a place in our minds.
Predestination is part of God’s blessing. This is related to election but not the same. This implies that God determined ahead of time all that would be adopted into the family of God as sons and daughters.
When we are adopted into the Kingdom of God, we place a believer into an adult sonship with all the implied privileges and responsibilities. Therefore, we call God as Father.
But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.
We have come out of slavery from the law witht he Father adopting us as His very own children. It gave God great pleasure in bringing us into the Kingdom of God and we will be with Him and lke Him forever. We need to be conformed to the image of His only begotten Son.
We are also freely accepted in the Beloved to the praise of the glory of His grace. THrough this grace, GOd first elected us then predestined us to be His sons.
Believer’s Bible Commentary Divine Election
Let us praise Him for His glorious grace
Then there is that familiar plan of redemption. Therefore we are freed from the bondage and guilt of sin and given a life of liberty. Who is the Redeemer - God is and He lives. His blood is the ransom price as nothing less would do.
Following redemption, there needs to be forgiveness of sins. This should be fruit of redemption. We forgive according to the riches of His grace. If we measure how fully He has forgiven us, we understand His wonderful grace, which is infinite.
Predestination and redemption comes through God’s grace. That grace also brings prudence and wisdom. He graciously shares His plans and purposes to us.
We need intelligence and insight. Christ makes known to us the mystery of His will and the glorious truth concerning Christ and the Church. These secrets previously were unknown but now revealed to the saints. The mysteries concern the sovereign will of God - according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Himself.
