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Okay – so we talked about the five points of Calvinism last week as an overview to our verse by verse today.
Let’s re-read our text from Ephesians 1:4-11
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.
7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
8 Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
Ephesians 1.1-12
Part II
August 11th 2019
MILK
What is the big connection between Calvinism and the passages we just read?
Calvinists insist that Ephesians 1:1-11 clearly establishes the idea that God is absolutely a God of total sovereignty so much so that right here in the text we see that he “unconditionally predestined His elect to salvation – meaning he chose who would be His before the foundation of the world and after so doing set His will in motion making it so that none would or could come to Him and be saved who are not on the list.
Admittedly the text we just read outside of the context of the rest of the Bible could be readily interpreted to mean this. And if this is the implication, then the sad fact remains – the Sovereign God has ALSO, by electing some to be Saved, tacitly elected most to suffer in hell eternally – and there is no changing this.
So is this a fair, contextually honest interpretation of Ephesians 1:1-11?
It’s obvious that Ephesians 1 puts considerable emphasis on God’s “purposed will”, or on what God “desires and decides to do.”
Verse 5 says,
“He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention [eudokia] of His will [thelema].”
Verse 9 says, “He made known to us the mystery of His will [thelema], according to His kind intention [eudokia] which He purposed [protithemi] in Him.”
And verse 11 says that
“we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will.”
In this last verse we find three words—”prothesis, boule, and thelema” – which are all bound together to stress the idea of that God’s has eternal purposes and that they would be expressed.
I cannot disagree with this idea in the least. The question remains, however, is whether His will and purposes as described here in Ephesians are directed at each individual whom He has elected (as the Reformers would like to suggest) or is Paul talking about something else here?
The last verse I just read says that God works “all things” after the counsel of His will and in the face of this verse Determinists (remember, that is what Reformed theology amounts to – sheer determinism on the part of God as Humans have no input or freewill in their plan) speak of God’s eternal decrees which are all-inclusive and universal – and in the face of this phrase, “all things” it appears that this is what Paul IS saying.
But those who take this in an absolute sense have ignored the immediate context and the main theme of Ephesians as a whole.
AGAIN
those who take this in an absolute sense have ignored the immediate context and the main theme of Ephesians as a whole.
I would strongly suggest that when Paul writes all things here, (Greek Panta) that is does not necessarily HAVE to be absolute and when we consider the context of the Epistle that we can certainly say that it is not.
Let me give you an example on how context determines usage. In 1st Corinthians 12:6, we read:
“And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.”
This language – down to the Greek verbs – is exactly the same language that Paul uses here in Ephesians 1 –
But the context of 1 Corinthians 12 clearly limits the use of “all things” to spiritual gifts from the Holy Spirit as verse 11 in that chapter says:
“But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.”
So in a similar way, the context of Ephesians 1:11 does not allow us to think of the “all things” in an absolutely inclusive sense as relating to every person elected but instead shows us the view Paul had in mind with God and His specific focus.
So, what is this focus that Paul is speaking to? We might begin by asking what Paul means when he writes in verse 9:
9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
Let’s ask ourselves, what is the mystery of which Paul speaks here? We get some insight by looking to chapter 3 here in Ephesians, where Paul marvels that he (in particular) was given the privilege of knowing this mystery. He says that “by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ” (3:3-4).
“To me,” he exclaims in verses 8-9, “the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God.”
Here in chapter three (at verse 6) Paul specifically identifies this mystery in no uncertain terms, saying,
“that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.”
This is the great mystery and he adds (Listen to verse 5) “which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit”
Remember this! That here in this very Epistle Paul explains what the mystery is that he mentions in the first chapter at verse 9
Reading this it seems that the Apostle Paul, who was appointed to be the Apostle to the Gentiles, was simply overwhelmed by this fact and insight.
LISTEN – nobody on earth was more committed to Jewish exclusiveness than Saul of Tarsus – that is why he went forward and felt justified putting Christians to death!
It stands to reason that no one would be more amazed at the fact that God was now, in Christ, abandoning that exclusiveness and uniting the Gentiles (the filthy unclean Gentiles!) with the Jews into a new kind of body called the church (which is why Ephesians 3:6-7 reads:
Ephesians 3:6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: 7 Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.
In chapter two Paul will comment on the fact that Jesus broke down the barrier that divided Jews and Gentiles and thus made the two groups into one new man, reconciling them both in one body to God through the cross (that’s Ephesians 2:11-16).
And then even his reference to marriage and the mystery of ”the two shall become one flesh”(which we discover in chapter 5) is yet another internal reminder of what this great mystery is in Paul’s mind – that that the two groups (first and foremost Jews and the Gentiles added later) have become one body in Christ and his church.
Let me bring it all together now – this is the same mystery that Paul introduces to us in the first chapter of this epistle. Keeping this in mind Paul is telling us that, “Yes, God certainly works all things after “the counsel of His will,” but what specific counsel of His will does Paul have in mind here? The plan to unite the Jews and Gentiles in one body called the church (3:10) which will be to “the praise of His glory.”
NOW LISTEN – STAY WITH ME – This specific purpose is seen in the verses that immediately follow 1:11 as Paul says:
“. . . to the end that we . . . (we who) we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.”
Who was “the FIRST to hope in Christ?” that Paul speaks of here? The Jews, that’s who! They were the first to hope in Christ and the Gentile nations were the ones to come along later and join together WITH THE FIRST to make one Church (or one bride!)
This was the great mystery and the predestination spoken of here by Paul is speaking directly AND ONLY to the Jews whom God predestined to do what they would do for the salvation, reconciliation and unity of the world with them into one.
So now we read these verses (4-11) and discover that the terms “we” and “us” and the terms “you” refer respectively to the Jews (we and us) and then to the Gentiles (whom Paul calls you).
Here in this first chapter of Ephesians Paul identifies himself with the Jews, whom he calls “the first to hope in Christ.” And in the previous verses he dwells on God’s purpose for the Jews as a nation: how God chose them (whom Paul calls “us”) before the foundation of the world, how he predestined them to adoption as sons, how he offered them the gospel of grace first (which is concurrent with Romans 1:16; 2:8-9).
And in this we realize that in context all the references to predestination in Ephesians 1 are strictly speaking of the predestination of the nation of Israel by God to bring about the mystery and not the predestination of individual believers.
Paul alludes to the foreknowledge God had of the Nation of Israel when he wrote in Romans 11:1-2
I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew . . .
So, again, from verses 1-12 Paul’s main emphasis is on God’s predestinational purposes for the Jews (whom Paul calls “us”). But then in the next verses he begins speaking in the second person, (whom Paul calls “you,”) meaning the Gentiles.
Read verses 1-12 again, keeping this perspective in mind as everytime Paul uses the terms us or we he is speaking of the members of the House of Israel:
Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
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.
7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
8 Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
10 That (in other words here is where Paul explains the reason God has done all of this in and through the Nation of Israel) THAT in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
Now read verse 13 with me where Paul deliberately shifts from talking all about and describing a we and us group to describing another group identified as the Ye or you group. So he now says:
3 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
In verses 3-12 Paul is speaking of one group, a special group, one identified as being predestined from the foundation of the world. It is clear through his use of we and us in the verses.
But at verse 13 the man CLEARLY shifts to another group outside of the first group, Gentiles, as he differentiates between them, saying:
In whom ye (not we or us but you) also trusted (in addition to those who first trusted in the we/us group), after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
And this theme Paul continues to develop in the chapters to follow – especially chapters two and three.
Note that when Paul shifts to the Gentiles who God did not predestine and who are not included in with the we/us group, that his description of them coming to the faith is absent predestinational rhetoric but is pretty much a passage that speaks to free will as Paul writes:
In whom ye (not we or us but you) also trusted (in addition to those who first trusted in the we/us group), after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
From all of this we can safetly say that when Paul says, “all things” in Ephesians 1:11 he does not have a universal reference in mind but a specific reference to the Nation of Israel.
Okay, let’s go back and work through the verses (verse by verse) now that the elephant is out of the room.
Verse 3 (which we already covered last week) reads
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
(verse 4)
4 According as he hath chosen us (the Jews, The Nation of Israel) in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
(by the way, as an aside, when Paul writes here that Israel would be without blame before Him in LOVE it is speaking of the LOVE the Lord God had for Israel and not the Love Israel had for the Lord God.)
I want to say that when Paul is writing of those whom God had chosen before the foundation of the world, that they should be holy and without blame before Him in love he is speaking of those who of the House of Israel were TRUE.
Not that all who were of Abraham were truly Israel but all who were truly Israel that Paul speaks about here were of Abraham.
That these were elected and chosen by God before the foundation of the world is reiterated all throughout scripture, including:
Deuteronomy 7:6-8
“For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. “The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because the LORD loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the LORD brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
Deuteronomy 14:2
“For you are a holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
2 Samuel 7:23-24
“And what one nation on the earth is like Your people Israel, whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people and to make a name for Himself, and to do a great thing for You and awesome things for Your land, before Your people whom You have redeemed for Yourself from Egypt, from nations and their gods? “For You have established for Yourself Your people Israel as Your own people forever, and You, O LORD, have become their God.
1 Kings 8:53
“For You have separated them from all the peoples of the earth as Your inheritance, as You spoke through Moses Your servant, when You brought our fathers forth from Egypt, O Lord GOD.”
1 Kings 10:9
“Blessed be the LORD your God who delighted in you to set you on the throne of Israel; because the LORD loved Israel forever, therefore He made you king, to do justice and righteousness.”
1 Chronicles 17:20-21
“O LORD, there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears. “And what one nation in the earth is like Your people Israel, whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people, to make You a name by great and terrible things, in driving out nations from before Your people, whom You redeemed out of Egypt?
Psalm 135:4
For the LORD has chosen Jacob for Himself, Israel for His own possession.
Isaiah 43:1-3
But now, thus says the LORD, your Creator, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine! “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you. “For I am the LORD your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I have given Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in your place.
Jeremiah 31:1-4
The LORD appeared to him from afar, saying, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness.
Amos 3:1-2
Hear this word which the LORD has spoken against you, sons of Israel, against the entire family which He brought up from the land of Egypt: “You only have I chosen among all the families of the earth; Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.”
Here in Ephesians, Paul is speaking of the elect from the house of Israel whom God predestined to do what they did and then he speaks of the great mystery in which God will include all Gentiles who are true Israel – meaning those who are joined in the family of God that are genuinely His and therefore genuinely Israel.
This is why we read in Hebrews 8:8-13
The following:
“For finding fault with them (the former nation), He (God) says, “BEHOLD, DAYS ARE COMING, SAYS THE LORD, WHEN I WILL EFFECT A NEW COVENANT WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND WITH THE HOUSE OF JUDAH; NOT LIKE THE COVENANT WHICH I MADE WITH THEIR FATHERS ON THE DAY WHEN I TOOK THEM BY THE HAND TO LEAD THEM OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT; FOR THEY DID NOT CONTINUE IN MY COVENANT, AND I DID NOT CARE FOR THEM, SAYS THE LORD. “FOR THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS INTO THEIR MINDS, AND I WILL WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS. AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.
So, again, speaking of God Paul writes at verse 4
4 According as he hath chosen us (the Jews, The Nation of Israel – as supported by the Old Testament passages we just considered) He has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.
Now, because of the word us here many Reformed teachers suggest that this is OBVIOUSLY referring to individuals being chosen from before the foundation of the world and they add that “Paul is obviously including himself in this mix of individuals pulled from the Jews and then Gentiles.
I would suggest that this is faulty by the fact that Paul will, at verse 13 shift to YOU and YE and further reiterate that the US here is speaking of the Nation of Israel.
The general meaning here is also that God had laid out “according as he has chosen in HIM” this plan from the foundation of the world. In other words, God established in Himself prior to the existence of anyone, what he would do in and through the Nation to reconcile the world to Himself and bring to himself, for His glory, true Israel as a result.
The word translated here “hath chosen” – is “exelexato” and it means, “to lay out together,” “to choose out, to select.”
It has the idea of making a choice or selection among different objects or things.
The word is used to describe Mary when Mary and Martha were in their house and Mary chose to sit and listen to the Lord whereas Martha was encumbered about by many things.
In Luke 10:42 Jesus says of her:
“Mary hath chosen that good part;”–she has made a choice, or selection of it, or has shown a preference for it.
We also read in 1st Corinthians 1:27:
“God hath chosen the foolish things of the world” which means he has selected or preferred to make use of the foolish things of the world “to confound the wise.”
Because there is the factor of God electing or choosing from among things from before the foundation of the world albeit IN HIMSELF, I see this as merely saying that God planned, and that it does NOT reference a pre-existent election from an assortment of souls already created.
The fact that Paul adds that God did this choosing, “in Him” or “in himself” makes this more apparent.
This then helps us understand Paul’s words in Acts 13:17 where he plainly states:
“The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers.”
Does God choose and elect even individuals, from the foundation of the world, to do things? Apparently so – or it certainly seems that an all knowing God would, prior to creating all things, know who He was going to use to bring about His overall end-game will.
But because he elected the Nation, and because he elected some individuals does not automatically mean all of his children (those whom he has saved) have been predestined to this state by Him outside the confines of freewill.
That is the fatal leap of Calvinism.
The whole point is that God certainly, in relation to the Nation of Israel from before the foundation of the world, made a distinction between them and the rest of the world cultures and people.
And I think it is safe to say that he made other distinctions was well with some others. This was His prerogative, His choice and it was all done in Him according to His will.
If we can accept that God gave Barbara Steisand great pipes and did not bequeath them on everyone else, I see no reason to believe that God could not select some to do certain things on this earth and not others.
We also note that in the context of this passage is in reference to Christ.
That is why Paul writes in full:
4 (God) According as he hath chosen us (the Jews, The Nation of Israel) 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.
In other words, the choosing or electing of God of the Nation was always in relation to His Son, and in direct reference to His redemptive work – from the foundation of the world.
And because it was from “before the foundation of the world,” we know that it was not an afterthought and that it was in accordance with God and His specific purposes.
And heres the deal – if God had these things established and chosen before the foundation of creation or the world then the plan is unmovable, and irrefutable, and will not fail.
The question remains: “If God established things, elected things and choose certain nations and/or people from the foundation of the world, can there be free will?
Let’s wrap our time up establishing what the scripture has to say about the foundation of the world.
First, we know from Jesus mouth that some things have been kept secret from the foundation of the world. I suggest that one of these mysteries or secrets was how God would unite the Nation and the Gentile world in Him through His Son, which is what Paul calls a mystery.
In any case, Jesus says in Matthew 13:35
“That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.”
We also know that God, from the foundation of the world, prepared a Kingdom as Jesus suggested in Matthew 25:34 regarding the Kingdom
“Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”
Scripture suggests that the prophets put to death was from the foundation of the world as Luke 11:50 reads:
“That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation.”
We know that God the Father loved His Son from the foundation of the world as Jesus himself prayed in John 17:24
“Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.”
Then we have Paul saying here in Ephesians 1:4
“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:”
Which has caused our Reformed friends to suggest that all who are His have been elected and predestined as such – and the rest can just forgetaboutit.
Then the writer of Hebrews (4:3) wrote suggesting that the whole plan was worked out from the foundation of the world, saying:
“For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
And then added
Hebrews 9:26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
This passage makes me wonder if the foundations we are talking about were the foundations laid for the world of the Nation of Israel because by the Law was the knowledge of sin and therefore the Law of that world would, once instituted, caused him to suffer.
Then Peter wrote, speaking of Jesus
1Pe 1:20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
And finally, we read about the foundation of the world in two places in in Revelation.
First, Revelation 13:8 says:
And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
So again, we read that the lamb was slain from the foundation of the world, and then lastly, Revelation 17:8 says:
The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
Which tells us that the names of many were either written or not in the book of life from the foundation of the world.
Again, leaving me to wonder if this phrase, from the foundation of the world, is actually referring to the foundation of the Jewish world, which began really with the establishment of the Law, or if it literally means from before the creation of all things.
(beat)
More on that . . . next week.
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