4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

The previous study in this series was largely occupied with one verse (1:3) wherein is recorded the word of praise to the Father for His measureless spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus to all who believe. The section which follows and which is now to be considered (1:4-6) is the beginning of an enumeration and amplification of the heavenly positions which together constitute the present spiritual blessings mentioned in verse 3.

Attention has been called to the spiritual insight which characterized the Ephesian believers, and at no point in this Epistle is the fact of their understanding of the deep things of God more demonstrated than that this portion now to be considered was addressed to them. So deeply theological is this section of the Epistle that no little strain is placed upon the expositor whose ideal is a degree of simplicity of expression suited to the understanding of the average Christian. The enumeration of these heavenly positions presents a series of fundamental doctrines -- doctrines which have engaged the greatest minds in all ages -- and, though presenting certain facts regarding the believer's position in Christ, this Scripture does not set forth an exhaustive list of all these positions, nor will a complete list be found at any one place in the New Testament.

Only the briefest consideration can be given here to the positions that are mentioned in this section of the Epistle.

"Chosen in Him Before the Foundation of the World."

What could be more orderly than that the contemplation of the divine dealing with man should begin with a declaration of God's sovereignty in election? Whatever God bestows upon His creatures must, of necessity, be absolute in its nature. He here discovers nothing in fallen man other than an object of His super-abounding grace. The first man, Adam, stood before God on the ground of a natural perfection, being the true representation of God's creative purpose; but Adam fell from the estate of natural perfection and from that time, both for Adam and his posterity, only regenerative grace could commend any human being to God. No obligation rests upon God in the exercise of His grace. He may, and does, choose whom He will. He neither sees, nor foresees, any good in man which might form a basis of His blessings.

Whatever good is found in redeemed man is wrought in him by divine grace. God does design for those whom He chooses that they shall be "holy and without blame before him"; but this is the result which is wrought by God in grace, and is never wrought by man. Certainly man has not chosen God. Christ emphasized this when He said, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you." Even the first man when unfallen and wholly free to choose did not choose God; how much more is it certain that fallen man will not of himself choose God! Therefore the provision of the ground of redemption is not enough in itself; the perverted will of man must be divinely moved. The unregenerate heart must be rendered willing as well as transformed in its essential character. All this God undertakes and accomplishes in sovereign grace. He elects, He calls, He inclines the heart, He redeems, He regenerates, He preserves, and He presents faultless before His glory those who are the objects of His sovereign grace.

On the other hand, He employs means to the accomplishment of His purpose. On the divine side, the awful demands of sin must be met by the sacrifice of His only begotten Son. It is not enough that sin shall be declared to be sinful; it is required that its curse shall be borne by the Lamb of God, the will of man must be moved, regeneration must be wrought by the Spirit, and every spiritual and heavenly blessing must be secured by the setting up of an actual union with Christ. On the human side, when man's opposition to God is divinely broken down, he then believes to the saving of his soul. So demanding and real are all the divine means employed for the saving of the lost, that it is as much required of man that he believe and thus elect to be saved by the divine grace as that actual redemption shall be wrought for him on Calvary's cross. In the realm of human experience man is conscious only of his power to choose, or reject, the salvation that is in Christ; and, because of the reality of this human choice, he is saved or lost according to his belief, or disbelief, in Christ as his Savior.

While there is very much in the doctrine of divine election which transcends the limitations of the finite understanding, it is true that man originates nothing -- not even sin, since sin began with the angels of God. It is God who has chosen His elect, and while this selection is both sovereign and final, nevertheless, not one human being who desires to be saved and who complies with the necessary terms of the gospel will ever be lost.

Though the doctrine of divine election presents difficulties which are insolvable by the finite mind, the fact of divine selection is not limited to God's choice of some out of the many for eternal glory; it is observable anywhere in the universe. There is a variety in all God's creation. There are classifications among the angels. One star is said to differ from another star in glory. Men are not born of the same race with the same advantages, nor with the same native abilities. These variations in the estates of men cannot be accounted for on the basis of the efficacy of the free will of man. Men do not choose their race, their life conditions (whether it be in civilization or in heathendom), nor do they choose their natural gifts. On the other hand, it is as clearly disclosed to those who will receive the revelation, that God's attitude toward the entire human family is one of infinite compassion and boundless sacrificial love.

Though the two revealed facts -- divine election and the universality of divine love -- cannot be reconciled within the sphere of human understanding, here, as elsewhere, we may honor God by believing and by resting in Him. Therefore, to God be all the glory!

And to Him be given the first consideration! Those systems of religious thought which required that the doctrine of God shall conform to the doctrine of the supremacy of man, which begin with man, defend man, and glorify man, are fundamentally wrong and therefore are productive of God-dishonoring error. The order of truth is established forever by the first phrase of the Bible, "In the beginning God." He it is Who planned, He executes, and He it is Who will realize to an infinite degree all that He has purposed. He will never be defeated nor disappointed. The true system of religious thought begins with God, defends God, and glorifies God; and the creature is conformed to the plan and purpose of the Creator. The fall of man alone can account for the wickedness of heart which resists the divine supremacy.

The divine selection of some for eternal glory was made before all time. The phrase, "before the foundation of the world," occurs also in Joh 17:24 and 1Pe 1:20. In these passages the eternal feature is obvious. While there is a similar phrase, "from the foundation of the world" (Luk 11:50; Heb 4:3; Heb 9:26), meaning since the beginning of time, the phrase "before the foundation of the world" refers specifically to the eternity past (cf. 1Co 2:7; 2Ti 1:9; Tit 1:2; Rom 16:25). The eternal feature of God's elective choice is of measureless importance as a factor in the recognition of divine sovereignty. At a time and under conditions where there was none other than His Triune Self to determine and none other to satisfy or glorify, He determined the objects of His grace and decreed all the means necessary to the realization of His purpose. Deep indeed are the mysteries of the eternal counsels of God, yet it is to these mysteries that the Apostle refers at the opening of this letter, and upon these as a basis he proceeds with his exalted message addressed, as it is, to all the children of God.

"Having Predestinated Us."

Election and predestination do not indicate the same thing. Election is God's selection of individuals, while predestination is His plan and purpose for those whom He selects. It is also to be observed that He predestinates nothing for those whom He does not elect for His eternal glory; but He does predestinate the destiny of those whom He chooses. The Apostle has already anticipated the fact of predestination in the preceding verse wherein the eternal purpose is said to be "that we should be holy and without blame before him." This utterance might refer to the state of those who are redeemed and who by divine grace are finally perfected into the image of Christ (1Jn 3:3), or it might refer to the standing of the believer in Christ, in which union all the perfections of Christ are imputed to the believer for all eternity to come. The theme as introduced in verse 3 would favor the latter interpretation; for it is the heavenly, spiritual blessings in Christ which are in view. However, it is provided, and most engaging is the contemplation, that in his destiny and as a realization of divine election rather than by human attainment, the believer will be perfected in his state as he is now and forever perfected in his standing (cf. Rom 8:29 with Heb 10:14).

It is true that, in the execution of His purpose, God will both incline and draw those whom He chooses and provide for them the redemption by which alone they can be the objects of His blessing. But the earthly aspects of His purpose are not at this point in view; He is rather relating the past eternity with that eternity which is to come. Before the foundation of the world He made sovereign choice of those who in the eternity to come would be holy and without blame before Him. A similar passage occurs in Rom 8:30 Rom 8:30, "Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified."

Here, again, the connection is set up between the predestination which characterized the eternity past, and the glory that will characterize the eternity to come. However, it is indicated here that to realize this end He both calls and justifies, and there is no failure or loss of one. All whom He predestinates He calls, all whom He calls He justifies, and all whom He justifies He glorifies. Let it be stated again, that this is truth on the highest conceivable plane where the sovereign election of God is alone presented with its certainty of fruition. Its realization called for the creation of worlds, the creation of man, the permission of evil, the fall, the ages of human history, redemption at infinite cost, and the calling and justifying of His elect; but the end is sure. It will be in the end precisely what He decreed it to be in the beginning. Later in this Epistle it will be seen (Eph 2:7) that this purpose is not for the display of His holy judgments in the retribution of those who do not believe, though that retribution is unavoidable, but it is for the manifestation of His grace in those who do believe. Thus His love is the dominating motive in all that He does. For this reason it is probably correct to relate the phrase "in love" which occurs at the end of verse 4 with the beginning of verse 5. It is in love that He predestinated us.

Love is one of the attributes of God. "God is love," which means that He has never acquired love, He does not maintain it by any effort whatsoever, nor does His love depend upon conditions; for He is the Author of all conditions. God loved before any being was created, and at a time -- if time it be -- when there was no other than His own Triune Being. He loved Himself supremely, but upon a plane far above that of mere self-complacency. His love is as eternal and unchangeable as His own existence, and it was in that incomprehensible past that He also loved the beings He would yet create. Though expressed supremely by the death of Christ at a moment in time, and though seen in the preservation of, and providence over, His redeemed, His is a love of the dateless past and its continuation is as immutable as the predestination it devises. Yes, predestination is, so far from being a hard and awful predetermination of God, in reality, the supreme undertaking and satisfaction of His infinite compassion.

Only one aspect of His predetermining purpose is mentioned in this passage: it is, "unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will," and thus adoption is exalted to a place among the heavenly, spiritual blessings in Christ. Two features of filial relation to God the Father through Christ should be distinguished: there is, first, that aspect of relationship which results from regeneration and involves the change of estate and nature and provides a right and title to all riches of divine favor; and there is, second, that aspect of position which has to do with privilege.

In human life, relationship with all its realities is accorded the child from his birth to the day he reaches his majority. After that, though relationship is unchanged, he enters a sphere of freedom, responsibility and prerogative. So, in like manner, the believer is constituted a legitimate child of God by spiritual birth with all its attending relationships, but he is also, at the moment of that birth, advanced to maturity of position, being constituted an adult son by virtue of that legal placing which in the Scriptures is termed adoption. Being free from the law, the child of God is no longer "under tutors and governors" as was Israel (Gal 4:1-3), but is rather called to the liberty and freedom which is in Christ Jesus (Gal 5:1). There is therefore no childhood period in the sphere of the Christian's responsibility. Whatever appeal as to a holy walk and service God addresses to one He addresses to all regardless of the length of time they may have been saved.

"Made accepted in the Beloved."

"The Beloved" is none other than Christ, Who is so named because He is beloved of His Father, and, while He is beloved of the Father, He is, at the same time, despised and rejected by the world. The child of God will therefore contemplate his hope, not as related to this world, but as related to Christ in the heavenly realms. Thus, also, the Christian need anticipate no more from the world than is accorded Christ. "If they have hated me, they will hate you" and, "Ye are not of the world even as I am not of the world." But the present theme is not of that rejection which for a little time is promised here; it is rather of that acceptance forever which is even now the believer's position in heaven.

Precious indeed is the fact that the child of God is made accepted; the implication being, according to truth, that redeeming grace has so answered every judgment because of demerit, and so provided every essential quality through the merit of Another, that the Father sees the saved one in the standing of His Son and loves him as He loves His Son (Joh 17:23). All this is possible because divine grace and power have so wrought that the believer is made accepted in the Beloved.

Such a measureless accomplishment will not only serve the desirable purpose of a soul being perfectly saved for all eternity, but it will redound "to the praise of the glory of his grace." Again and again the Apostle returns to this final objective of salvation: it is that the glory of His grace may be praised. How high, then, is the calling which is ours. In the sovereign choice of God, we shall be employed as the instrumentality whereby He will disclose the eternal riches of His favor!