Paul’s letter to the Ephesians has always been my “doctrinal go to,” when faced with the great issues of the faith. Somehow I’ve found what I was looking for time and time again. On the one hand, the issue of predestination and God’s sovereignty hits you square in the face. On the other hand, there’s a clear gospel presentation that possesses all the key elements of the choice all of us need to make to cross the threshold into his eternal presence. About these things we can’t take too long to long to ponder or our heads will explode, with subject matter so far above our respective pay grades that we don’t really get it after many reads. Suffice it to say, the Holy Spirit needs to work overtime leading us into all truth.
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 1:1–2)
It all starts with our prime example, Paul, who tells us that he’s an apostle of Christ by and through “the will of God.” If you know anything about Paul’s previous occupation of tracking down Christians for incarceration and even death, the concept of God’s sovereign control over an otherwise free-wheeling life is introduced. This man was stopped dead in his tracks in route to cause mayhem and destruction. Who changed his station, purpose, and direction in life, on a dime I might add, other than Almighty God? Who could crack that thick skull of his?
3 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, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love 5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. (Ephesians 1:3–6)
When you are shown a winning hand in poker, the player will undoubtedly say on cue, “read ‘em and weep.” This is as close as you’ll get to a “royal flush” in the Word, yet there is still debate. These words should resolve all questions, but there’s still the little matter of the sovereignty of God, and many have been taught to recoil from the idea rather than to embrace it. Rather than accept these phrases at face value, “he has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3), “he chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him” (Ephesians 1:4), and “he predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will” (Ephesians 1:5), many stubbornly introduce the other side of the coin, if there is one, as if we can resist his blessings, refuse his choice of me, or revise his eternal plan.
13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory. (Ephesians 1:13–14)
Lest we get carried away with our divine selection, here is the prerequisite earthly transaction between God and man in verses 13-14. While Paul was whisked out of his former wayward fire breathing lifestyle in dramatic fashion, from his own words there must be some kind of event in our lives regardless of our miraculous standing whereby we are faced with a choice. There is 1) the message of truth, 2) the gospel of our salvation, 3) belief, and consequently 4) our sealing in him in accordance with the Holy Spirit, which is issued to us as irrefutable evidence of our inheritance and redemption.
So, both sides of the coin need to be addressed, leaving ones’s feet firmly planted in the midair, right where they should be, “to the praise of His glory.”
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