[sunday meditations]

Ephesians 1.3-6

"Paul’s introduction to this letter reminds the Christian church of the importance of rejoicing in God’s grace in Christ. Though 'predestination' often evokes annoyed looks of frustration and memories of overly-enthusiastic young men talking endlessly about it, verses four to six celebrate this blessing. It’s the source of our salvation. We were chosen from eternity in Christ, which means that God is eternally acting for our salvation. Though our will is not on par with God’s, election doesn’t nullify our will—we’ve been chosen to be conformed to Christ’s image, which requires holy thoughts, words, and deeds. The ultimate purpose of learning of God’s electing grace is that we might bring Him glory. God did not choose us due to anything He foresaw within us. It was according to His own good pleasure, which means that He alone receives our thanks and praise."

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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, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the beloved. 

[Ephesians 1.3-6]

In Ephesians 1.3-14, Paul articulates the gospel so that the Ephesians will rejoice in the gospel. This rejoicing looks backwards (to their election in eternity past) and forwards (to their inheritance in Christ). There's lots of disagreement among Christians on the mechanics of election, but that's no reason to avoid the subject altogether. The history of Christendom has been filled with disagreements on nearly every aspect of Christian doctrine; if we were to ignore or bypass those things that are contemporarily controversial, we wouldn't be able to speak on a single thing. In this sermon, the pastor focused on election from a Reformed perspective.

We are chosen FROM ETERNITY. God chose His people in Christ before creation, even before Space & Time and modern physics. The motivation of His choosing is love. He is the initiator, and we are the recipients. God's purpose and plan has always been to rescue a people for Himself: the catholic, or universal, church. Salvation in Christ isn't a backup plan: even before the Fall, God had chosen a people for Himself to be redeemed from the curse of the Fall. Our eternal security comes from eternity past. We are chosen according to the purpose of His will; our chosenness originates with God, and we are chosen for His reasons and pleasure, and not because of anything we've done.

We are chosen FOR CONFORMITY. We are chosen so that we will be holy and blameless before God. There is an active purpose in election, which encourages belief and good works. Predestination isn't opposed to our will; rather, it places our will in the context of God's sovereign choice. God's will is transcendent to ours; He is sovereign. As creatures, our will isn't on par with His will, and our will with true choices isn't sovereign. Coming to terms with this is the equivalent of a Copernican Revolution: our will revolves around God's will and can only operate under the governance of His will (and, yes, even Arminians believe this!).

We are chosen FOR HIS GLORY. Western Christian culture is therapeutic in nature: it's all about you, about your happiness, your self-esteem, your flourishing. Three times in Ephesians 1.3-14, Paul makes it clear that salvation is all about God's glory, not ours. Here too is a Copernican Revolution: we orbit around God, not the other way around. Our election by love and all that flows from it is for His glory. Our purpose in being chosen is to bring Him praise.