OVERVIEW:
The believer’s position in Christ (chapter 1); the believer’s salvation by grace through faith (chapter 2); the revelation of the mystery of the church (chapter 3); the believer’s walk in the world (chapters 4-6).
HIGHLIGHTS & INSIGHTS:
There are so many things that could and should be said about the book of Ephesians, but again, this is simply not the venue for exhaustive commentary. We will only be able to establish the “big picture” of the book at best. Perhaps the best way to see the big picture of this book, is by applying it to one of the most controversial passages, not only in this book, but in the entire Bible. That passage is found in chapter 1, verses 4 and 5, where Paul says: “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: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.”
Now, based on where you land on the interpretation of these verses (and verses such as these), you are labeled either a “Calvinist” or an “Arminian”. Several hundred years ago, one position was popularized by John Calvin, and the other, sometime later, by a man named Jacob Arminius. The basic Arminian position, when it is used today, is that in terms of salvation, “whosoever will may come.” (Revelation 22:17) The basic Calvinist position, as it is expressed today, is that only the quote-unquote “elect”, will be saved, meaning that the only ones who will actually come to Christ are those who, in eternity past, God chose, according to His sovereign grace, to be saved.
There are many others, however, who if were asked whether they were an Arminian or a Calvinist, would answer “yes”, meaning that they believe both. Their reasoning is that in their minds, there’s no doubt about it, the Bible teaches that “whosoever will may come.” Yet, they would also say that there’s no doubt about the fact that the Bible also teaches that believers were “chosen in him before the foundation of the world.” (Ephesians 1:4) When asked how they reconcile these two seemingly contradictory statements, they may answer, as did Charles Spurgeon, “Friends don’t need to be reconciled!” They believe God put both in the Bible, and conclude, therefore, that both must be equally true, and though they don’t come together in the human mind, they certainly must come together in the mind of God, so rather than force them to come together, let’s just allow God to be God, because after all, His ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are far above our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8–9), and the secret things belong to the Lord (Deuteronomy 29:29), so let’s just accept it, and go on! This reasoning is usually followed with the illustration that goes something like: as we approach the gates of heaven, there’s a sign over the gates that says, “Whosoever will my come.” As we walk through the gates on into heaven, and we look back above them, however, the sign says, “Chosen before the foundation of the world.” That “middle-of-the-road” approach is rather convincing, and sounds pretty SPIRITUAL, and even humble, but none of those things are the real issue! The issue is always the same: Is it BIBLICAL?
So, we come to verse 4 of Ephesians 1, and what does it say? It says, “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world.” Now, there are many people who will say to us, “C’mon! I mean, how clear can it be? My goodness, just let the Bible be the Bible!” Okay! Well, let’s do that!
First of all, let’s be sure that we recognize that if this verse is teaching that sometime before the foundation of the world, God had already chosen each of us who would be saved, then what the verse is teaching is that we we’re actually “IN CHRIST” before the foundation of the world, because the verse says, “According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world.” Now, if we were placed “IN HIM before the foundation of the world”, it obviously poses a huge problem! Because the Bible clearly states that prior to our salvation, we were:
- “IN Adam!” (1st Corinthians 15:22)
- “IN trespasses and sins!” (Ephesians 2:1)
- “IN the lusts of our flesh!” (Ephesians 2:3)
- “IN the world!” (Ephesians 2:12)
Are we to believe, then, that in eternity past (“before the foundation of the world”), God placed us “IN Christ”, and then, somehow, we got OUT of Christ, and were found “IN Adam, IN trespasses and sins, IN the lusts of our flesh, and IN the world”, only so that sometime later He could put us back “IN CHRIST” again? Wow! I can’t find a way for that to make any biblical sense!
The fact is, Ephesians 1:4–5 must be understood within the very first principle of Bible study: CONTEXT!
I would submit that most pastors, teachers, and commentators come to these verses without putting them into the context of the book of Ephesians, or even the chapter in which the verses are found. So, leaving the context, they read, “He hath chosen US in him,” and assume that the “US” means “INDIVIDUALS” God chose to salvation.
In the CONTEXT of the book of Ephesians, and even more specifically in chapter 1, however, Paul is introducing to us something that no believer in Christ had actually understood prior to the writing of the book of Ephesians; “the mystery of the church”. Or, in other words, the fact that the church, spiritually, is as much the “body of Christ” as was the physical body that Christ lived in during His 33 years on this planet! Listen, that’s the “US” to whom Paul is referring in Ephesians 1:4! It is “the church”, in a collective sense, which chapter 1 and verse 23 goes on to reveal “is His BODY”! Again, that’s what the whole book of Ephesians is about and why God placed it in His Bible! To teach “US” (as in, all of “US” who have called upon His name!) that “WE”, collectively, are the body of Christ!
Notice, that Paul says in chapter 1 and verse 10: “That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things IN CHRIST.” To what time period is that referring? The “CHURCH” Age, right?
So, it goes like this…
Yes, Ephesians 1:4 clearly teaches that God made a very definite DECISION “before the foundation of the world”. But what was it that He was actually “CHOOSING”? Does the verse actually say that He was choosing INDIVIDUALS to salvation? Absolutely not! What the verse says is that before the foundation of the world, God chose that the “CHURCH”, the body of Christ (all of “US” who exercise our will, and by faith, call upon Him to save “US!”) would be different than any people who have ever lived! God CHOSE before the foundation of the world that our salvation would place us “IN CHRIST”! HOW did God make that CHOICE? The end of the very next verse (verse 5) says that the choice was made “according to the good pleasure of His will”! In other words, He did it because He is God, and that’s what He sovereignly chose to do! WHY did God the Father CHOOSE to give us that standing? Verse 4 goes on to tell us! It was so we could constantly, regardless of our attitude, our disposition, our sin, or anything we DO or DO NOT DO, “be holy and without blame before Him in love”! The only way that could ever possibly be a reality is for God to have chosen to place us “in Christ”, so that when He looks at us, He sees His Son, who has always, even before the foundation of the world, constantly been “holy and without blame before Him in love”! Do you realize that the only people who have ever possessed the spiritual position of being “IN CHRIST”, are the people who are saved in the Church Age?
Do you realize that as wonderful as God thought Noah, Daniel, and Job were (Ezekiel 14:20), they were never “IN CHRIST” a day in their lives?! That exclusive standing was something God decreed before the foundation of the world that would be totally unique to believers when God was carrying out His plan on the earth through this extraordinary thing called the “CHURCH”! Read carefully in Ephesians 3:1–12, and you will see that “the eternal purpose which he purposed IN CHRIST Jesus our Lord” (3:11), was that it would be the “CHURCH” that would know “the manifold wisdom of God”, having been placed “IN CHRIST”!
Again, make sure you understand that what God is actually communicating in and through the book of Ephesians is that those of “US” who are believers in the Church Age are the only ones who have ever had the distinct privilege of being “holy and without blame before him in love”! (1:4) Do we have that standing before Him because we’re just so much more “holy and blameless and lovable” than all of the Old Testament saints? A thousand times, “No!” It’s simply because of this supremely wonderful CHOICE that God made in eternity past, to immediately place those of us who exercise our will in the Church Age by calling upon the name of His Son to save us “IN Christ”! Then, to secure that position, “SEAL US in Him, until the day of redemption”, or in other words, until the day we receive a glorified body that is incapable of sinning! (Ephesians 1:12–14; 4:30; Philippians 3:21) All I can say to that is, HALLELUJAH!”
Moving further into Ephesians 1:5, do you realize that the only ones who have been “predestinated unto the adoption of children” (1:5), are those of “US” who are believers in the Church Age? Again, notice that God wasn’t predestinating WHO WOULD BE SAVED, but rather, the fact that those of us who ARE SAVED in the Church Age, would have the glorious privilege as a benefit of our salvation, to be ADOPTED as God’s CHILDREN! Yeah, let’s just let the Bible be the Bible! Let’s hear what these verses are saying in their CONTEXT, without reading something into them that just isn’t there!
Do you now see why it is that believers in the Church Age are eternally secure, why that was not true for Old Testament saints, and will not be true for Tribulation saints? (Matthew 24:13) It’s because we are the only ones who have ever been or will ever be placed “IN Christ”! We are the only people who have ever or will ever have their righteousness and acceptance with God, not based on WHO WE ARE or WHAT WE DO, but based on WHO CHRIST IS, and WHAT HE HAS DONE! (2nd Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 1:6)
This really isn’t hard; in fact, it’s really very simple when we simply place the verses in their context, and stop reading into them things that aren’t there! Let’s agree with Paul, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ!” (Ephesians 1:3)