Elected by the Father (Ephesians 1:3-6)

Scripture

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.” (Ephesians 1:3-6)

Devotional Commentary

Dearly beloved, let us not resist this glorious truth. If you are a Christian, it is because the Father elected you before the foundation of the world. Many struggle with this truth because it seems contrary to what we experienced. We heard the Gospel, became convicted over our sin, repented, and cried out to God for mercy with the understanding that Jesus paid our sin-debt by HIs death on the cross, was buried and rose from the dead, and then ascended into heaven. This was a willful response.

While it is true that our will was involved in salvation, we must understand that our will was changed by the quickening, regenerative work of the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, we must understand that that transaction was predestined to occur in our lifetime before time existed, and not because of our will. “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:12-13) The Scriptures could not be any clearer on this.

Yet even with this clarity, many struggle to believe in predestination and election. Counterarguments vary, but generally they redefine the terms predestination and election. Citing the Book of Romans: “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:29). Ceasing on the word foreknew, they change its meaning to foreknowledge as being able to see into the future. That is, they believe God looked ahead to see who would receive Him and then chose them. 

Another error is to believe God’s predestination was based on some goodness God could see in us before the foundation of the world. The truth is, God foreknew us in love to the praise of the glory of His grace. “But 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 (by grace you have been saved).” “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;” (Ephesians 2:4-5, 8)

Don’t kick against the goads. Let us indeed give praise to the glory of God’s grace. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)