A NON-CALVINISTIC EXPOSITION OF EPHESIANS 1:1-6
By Jonathan Perreault
The epistle of Ephesians deals with the church as
God’s masterpiece. In verses 1-6, the apostle Paul expounds on the spiritual
blessings that the church has in Christ. The church’s standing is given in
verses 1-2. Verse 3 is probably the key verse of the whole section, declaring
the church’s position: “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.” Verses 4-6 expound on how the Father is involved in the church’s salvation:
He chose us.
Now let’s consider the text itself. Ephesians 1:1-2
says, “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: Grace to you and peace
from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Paul is said to be “an apostle”. An apostle is a
messenger or ambassador, one who is “sent forth”.1 Who was Paul sent to? The
text says, “to the saints who are at Ephesus” (Eph. 1:1). The Holy Spirit is
using the apostle to address the Ephesians, but more broadly, Paul is
addressing all church-age believers. This is all the more clearly seen when it
is remembered that the words “who are at Ephesus” are not found in the best
Greek manuscripts.2 It is believed that this epistle was intended to be a
circular letter, read in the Ephesian church and then passed on to be read by
other assemblies.3 Thus it is clear that this epistle has as much application
to believers today as it did to the Ephesians of Paul’s time.
Saints (or as the NIV translates it: “God’s holy
people”) are said to be “faithful in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 1:1b). This is a
reassuring text, for in actual condition, saints are not always faithful. But
God sees believers not in their condition, but in their position in the risen,
glorified, and faithful Son of God (see Gal. 2:20; Eph. 1:20, 2:6; Col. 3:1-3;
1 Jn. 1:9).
The text continues, “Grace to you and peace” (Eph.
1:2). Before people can experience the peace of God, they must receive His
grace. There can be no peace for those who must bear their sins for all
eternity in Hell. Christians, on the other hand, can have peace knowing that
Christ Himself bore their sins “in His body on the cross” (1 Pet. 2:24) and
paid the full penalty there (Jn. 19:30; Acts 13:38-39; Heb. 10:12; 1 Jn. 1:7).
This grace and
peace originate “from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:2b). It
is only by the second birth that believers can enter into this blessed
relationship where God is their “Father” (cf. Jn. 1:12; Rom. 8:15-17). Jesus
told Nicodemus that the second birth is a spiritual birth, entered into through
faith (Jn. 3:6-8, 3:14-16). Grace and peace are also said to be from the “Lord
Jesus Christ”.
The term “Lord” is the Greek word kurios, signifying
power or authority.4 This Greek word can either refer to Christ’s deity or to
His lordship (kurios would then be translated as “Master” or “Sir”).5
Jesus (or Joshua) was a common Hebrew name (Ex. 17:9;
Lk. 3:29; Col. 4:11). It underscores the real humanity of Christ and shows His
identification with His people. The name Jesus is a one-word summary of what He
came to do (Lk. 19:10), for it means “Jehovah is salvation”.6 Although the name
Jesus focuses on the humanity of Christ, it also portrays His deity, for Jesus
is said to be “God with us” (Matt. 1:23).
The title of Christ is the Greek word Christos,
meaning anointed one or Messiah.7 The term was applied to prophets, priests,
and kings because these offices were entered into through anointing. Christ is
called the Messiah because He is the ultimate Prophet (Deut. 18:15, 18:18; Acts
3:22), Priest (Psa. 110:4; Heb. 7:11-28), and King (2 Sam. 7:16; 1 Tim. 6:15;
Rev. 1:5, 17:14, 19:16) to which all three of the anointed offices pointed.
Grace and peace, then, are seen to be from God the Father and from the resurrected,
exalted Son, Jesus Christ.
In Ephesians 1:3, the apostle Paul goes on to say,
“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.” Pridham aptly
comments, “the Apostle, after his brief but emphatic salutation of his
fellow-saints, proceeds at once to open to them, as a helper of their joy, the
rich abundance of that treasure which had been committed to him as a steward of
the mysteries of God” (1 Cor. 4:1).8 The divine plan of salvation involves much
more than just the forgiveness of sins (Eph. 1:7), although that too is most
important. In God’s grace, He has blessed us “exceedingly abundantly beyond all
that we ask or think” (Eph. 3:20). Such blessings include being predestined to
be conformed to the image of Christ (Eph. 1:5, 1:11), obtaining an inheritance
(Eph. 1:11, 1:14), being made alive (Eph. 2:1, 2:5), saved by grace (Eph.
2:1-10), brought near by the blood of Christ (Eph. 2:13), made fellow heirs
(Eph. 3:6), made partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel (Eph. 3:6),
and made children of light (Eph. 5:8). “Contemplating what God has graciously
done for hell-deserving sinners ought to encourage and thrill the soul of every
blood-bought child of God!”9
Now let’s consider Ephesians 1:4, which says, “just as
He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy
and blameless before Him, in love”. Concerning this verse, Warren Wiersbe
writes, “This is the marvelous doctrine of election . . . That salvation begins
with God, and not with man, all Christians will agree.”10 Wiersbe immediately
goes on to quote John 15:16, “Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you.”11
It’s interesting that the Scripture reference Wiersbe
uses to support his statement is taken out of context. When John 15:16 is
interpreted in light of it’s context, it becomes clear that this verse does not
support the doctrine of unconditional election to salvation. In context, John
chapter 15 takes place in the upper room during the Last Supper (Jn. 13:1). In
John 15:16, Jesus is speaking to the eleven disciples (for Judas Iscariot had
gone out into the night, Jn. 13:30), not all believers.12 The context is
service, not salvation, for Jesus says, “I chose you, and appointed you, that
you should go and bear fruit” (Jn. 15:16).13 When Jesus says to the eleven (cf.
Jn. 13:5, 13:30), “I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear
fruit” (Jn. 15:16), He is referring to their previous appointment to the
apostolate (cf. Lk. 6:13).14 In the upper room, Jesus is no doubt preparing His
disciples for their apostolic ministry after He “returns to God” (Jn. 13:3,
14:1-3). This apostolic ministry is referred to in Acts 1:2 (“the apostles whom
He had chosen”) and Acts 1:24-26 (“show which one of these two Thou hast chosen
to occupy this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside”). It’s
clear that John 15:16 doesn’t support the idea of unconditional election to
salvation, but in fact argues strongly against it.
This is not to say that salvation begins with man.
Clearly salvation begins with God. For only through the universal convicting
work of the Holy Spirit are sinners able to see their true condition and need
for a Savior (Gen. 6:3; Jn. 1:7-9, 12:32, 16:8-9; Acts 7:51).15 The word
“convict” (Jn. 16:8) means to convict, confute, refute, or reprove.16 The Holy
Spirit convicts in three areas: sin, righteousness, and judgment (Jn. 16:8).
The Holy Spirit uses various means to convict the unsaved, such as: people (Lk.
3:19; Eph. 5:11; 1 Cor. 14:24), light (a synonym for truth, Jn. 1:5-7, 3:20;
Eph. 5:13), conscience (Jn. 8:9), the preaching of the Word (2 Tim. 2:4), and
sound doctrine (Titus 1:9).17 Conviction through the Holy Spirit can only occur
subsequent to knowledge of God’s truth, for the Holy Spirit uses God’s truth to
convict and convince. This is why Romans 10:14 and 10:17 say, “How then shall
they call upon Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe
in Him whom they have not heard? So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by
the word of Christ.” Similarly, Ephesians 1:13 states, “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.” Sinners must
first hear God’s Word before they will ever be convicted and trust Christ.
God’s gracious work of salvation is universal in scope
and not limited to a select few (Jn. 1:7, 3:16, 5:40; Acts 10:43, 17:30; 1 Tim.
2:1, 2:4-6, 4:10; Titus 2:11; Heb. 2:9).18 Salvation available only to some and
not the entire world (Greek kosmos, Jn. 3:16) would contradict the whole
teaching of Scripture that God is not “wishing that any should perish but for
all to come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9). Why is God not wishing that any should
perish? The reason is clearly because God loves the whole world (Jn. 3:16) and
salvation is available to all who believe (“whosoever,” Jn. 3:16; “everyone,”
Acts 10:43, “to the ends of the earth,” Acts 13:47, “all everywhere,” Acts
17:30, and “whosoever will,” Rev. 22:17). Christ is the propitiation
(satisfactory payment) for the sins “of the whole world” (1 Jn. 2:2), having
actively laid on Christ “the iniquity of us all” (Isa. 53:6). The only reason
the wicked are damned is because they choose to be, not because God
foreordained them to damnation: “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His
kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God
leads you to repentance? But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart
you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the
righteous judgment of God” (Rom. 2:4-5, emphasis added).
It is clear from the text what election is not, what
then is election? Simply stated, election is God’s sovereign decree to choose
those who choose to believe. God chooses to save those who choose to believe.
God’s plan obviously precedes human action but God has chosen to incorporate
human action into His plan.19 This is clear all throughout the New Testament.
Jesus Himself said, “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who
beholds the Son and believes in Him, may have eternal life” (Jn. 6:40). Salvation
is through simple faith in the person and work of Christ. Just as “Jesus knew
from the beginning who they were who did not believe” (Jn. 6:64), He also knew
from the beginning who would believe (Rom. 8:29, 11:2, 11:5; 1 Pet. 1:1-2). The
word “foreknow” (Rom. 8:29, 11:2) is the Greek word proginosko, which simply
means, “to know before” (pro meaning “before,” ginosko meaning “to know”). The
English Bible scholar and theologian W. E. Vine states that foreknowledge means
“to know before” (as the etymology of the term indicates).20 Vine also says,
concerning believers, that “the foreknowledge of God is the basis of His
foreordaining counsels”.21 God’s foreknowledge is the basis of His election, as
the Bible declares in 1 Peter 1:1-2, Romans 8:29, and other passages. Vine’s
definition of the word foreknow is in harmony with the Scriptures. The term
“foreknowledge” (1 Pet. 1:2) is the Greek word prognosis, which means “a
foreknowledge”.22 Concerning this, Vine states, “Foreknowledge is one aspect of
omniscience; it is implied in God’s warnings, promises and predictions. See
Acts 15:18. God’s foreknowledge involves His electing grace, but this does not
preclude human will. He foreknows the exercise of faith which brings
salvation”.23 Because of His foreknowledge, omniscience, and stated purpose
(Jn. 6:40), God chooses to save those who choose to believe.
Now that we have seen what God’s choosing is, who does
God choose? Ephesians 1:4 says God “chose us in Him”. Remember that the letter
to the Ephesians concerns the corporate church and Ephesians chapter 1 portrays
the church as Christ’s body: “And He [God the Father, Eph. 1:17] put all things
in subjection under His [Christ’s] feet, and gave Him as head over all things
to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all”
(Eph. 1:22-23, emphasis added). To be true to the text we must interpret the
“us” in Ephesians 1:4 to mean “the church, which is His body” (Eph. 1:22-23).24
God’s choosing here in Ephesians 1:4 is seen to be corporate, not individual.
God chose the church in Christ.25 How do individuals (here in Ephesians 1:1 and
1:15 they are referred to as “saints” because they had at some point previously
entered into the corporate church through faith, Eph. 1:13, 1:15) become part
of that corporate entity, the church? Acts 2:47b says, “And the Lord added to
the church daily such as should be saved” (KJV, emphasis added). Individuals
become part of “the church in Christ” (Eph. 1:4) by coming to Christ for
salvation.26 Individuals enter into the church through salvation. How are
people saved? People are saved through faith.27 Faith is the noun form of the
verb believe. Every time the word believe is used in the context of salvation,
it is always in the Greek active voice. This means that the subject does the
acting. The subject produces the action. If belief were a gift bestowed upon people
by God as some suppose, the word believe would be in the Greek passive voice
(meaning that the person receives the action or is acted upon); however, this
is never the case. Sinners convicted by the Holy Spirit (Jn. 16:8-9) through
the Word of God (which may occur using any number of means or methods) must
actively rely upon the person and work of Christ for salvation. Once
individuals become saved, they are placed into the body of Christ (1 Cor.
12:13), thereby becoming part of the corporate church, “chosen in Him before
the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4).
Now let’s consider the time of God’s choosing. This
will be brief, for we have already touched on this point. The psalmist
declares: “Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth” (Psa. 103:25) –
but it was even before this that God chose the church. Ephesians 1:4 says that
the corporate church was chosen “before the foundation of the world”.
For what purpose did God choose the church? The
apostle Paul says: “that we should be holy and blameless before Him” (Eph.
1:4). Here in Ephesians 1:4, the text is not teaching that God chose us
(meaning the church, Eph. 1:22-23) for salvation.28 Instead, the text is
teaching that God chose the church to be “holy and blameless in His sight”
(Eph. 1:4, NIV). In Colossians 3:12 Paul says, “And so, as those who have been
chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness,
humility, gentleness and patience”. Individuals in the corporate church are
seen by God as “holy and beloved” (Col. 3:12) because they are united to
Christ, their Head. God sees not their sins and shortcomings; they are washed
away in the blood of the Lamb, in whom they have trusted. He has taken their
punishment and borne the penalty of their sins on the cross. In the book of
Isaiah it is written: “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He
carried . . . He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for
our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His
scourging we are healed” (Isa. 53:4, 5). Similarly, 1 Peter 2:24 says, “and He
Himself bore our sins in His own body on the cross, that we might die to sin
and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.” Salvation is the
Great Transaction. Through faith, Christ takes our sins and we take His
righteousness. Because of Calvary, God is free to “justify the ungodly” (Rom.
4:5). God sees believers in Christ as “holy and beloved” (Col. 3:12) but also
knows our true condition and therefore calls us to be “holy and blameless”
(Eph. 1:4).
In Ephesians 1:5, Paul goes on to say: “He predestined
us”. Our English word predestine (or predestinate) is the Greek word proorizo.
W. E. Vine says that proorizo “denotes to mark out beforehand, to determine
beforehand, foreordain.”29 Vine also states this concerning proorizo: “This
verb is to be distinguished from proginosko, to foreknow; the latter has
special reference to the persons foreknown by God; proorizo has special
reference to that to which the subjects of His foreknowledge are predestinated.30
What did the Father foreordain us to? Paul says, “to
adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself” (Eph. 1:5). The term adoption
is the Greek word huiothesia (from huios, a son, and thesis, a placing).
Adoption “signifies the place and condition of a son given to one to whom it
does not naturally belong.”31 Biblically, adoption is not how individuals enter
into the family of God. People are born into the family of God through
regeneration, not adoption. W. E. Vine affirms, “God does not adopt believers as
children; they are begotten as such by His Holy Spirit through faith. Adoption
is a term involving the dignity of the relationship of believers as sons; it is
not a putting into the family by spiritual birth, but a putting into the
positions of sons.”32 From what we know of predestination and adoption then,
Ephesians 1:5 can be translated, “He foreordained the church (of whom Paul and
the Ephesians are a part of through personal faith in Christ) to the position
of sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His
will.” The King James Version translates “kind intention” as “good pleasure”.
The Father determined that through Christ the church would be placed into the
privileged position of sons, and this was according to the good pleasure of His
will.
Ephesians 1:6 reads, “to the praise of the glory of
His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.” The goal of the
church’s election is said to be “to the praise of the glory of His grace.” Paul
makes a similar statement in Ephesians 2:6-7 when he says that God “raised us
up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, in
order that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace
in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” Paul says that God freely bestowed His
grace upon us in the Beloved. The “Beloved” (Eph. 1:6) no doubt refers to
Christ who is said to be God’s “beloved Son” in Colossians 1:13 (cf. Matt.
3:17).
Paul, in Ephesians 1:6, gives his audience a hint of
the blessings that are bestowed on them as members of Christ’s body, the
church. In Christ, the church is seen to be faithful (Eph. 1:1), blessed with
every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (Eph. 1:3), chosen before the
foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4), predestined to adoption as sons (Eph. 1:5),
and the recipient of divine grace (Eph. 1:6).
The promises of Ephesians 1:1-6 are addressed to all
church-age saints (Eph. 1:1). As members of Christ’s body the church, this
includes all Christians! During times of discouragement and spiritual famine,
let us remember that we are in Christ, seated far above all rule and authority
and power and dominion, and every name that is named, and every circumstance
that is imaginable, not only in this age, but also in the age to come (Eph.
1:21)!
ENDNOTES:
1 W. E. Vine, Vine’s Expository Dictionary, p. 55.
2 See Arno C. Gaebelein, God’s Masterpiece, p. 18, and
John Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck, The Bible Knowledge Commentary, 2 Volumes, Vol.
2., p. 615. Kenneth Wuest explains, “The words ‘in Ephesus’ are within brackets
in the Nestle and the Westcott and Hort texts. Tradition has it that this
letter was sent to the local church in that city. But certain considerations
have led recent expositors to believe that it was not sent to that church
alone, but that it was an encyclical letter, sent to all the churches in Asia
Minor. The oldest and best manuscripts, Aleph and B, do not contain the words
‘in Ephesus.’ Origen did not have them in his copy. Marcion called it the
Epistle to the Laodiceans. Paul in Colossians 4:16 alludes to the letter from
Laodicea. Marcion was familiar with the copy in Laodicea. Basil in the fourth
century mentions some manuscripts with no name in the address. Paul was
intimately acquainted with the members of the Ephesian church, but he makes no
personal reference to any of them in the letter, nor does he send any word of
greeting to any of them, as is his habit in other letters. From the above, it
has been concluded that this letter was a general epistle to be circulated
among the churches of the Roman province of Asia, and it is supposed that the
name of the church was inserted in the space provided in each instance.”
(Wuest, Ephesians and Colossians in the Greek New Testament, p. 18.)
3 Ibid.
4 See W. E. Vine, Vine’s Expository Dictionary, p.
688.
5 Ibid., also see Spiros Zodhiates, “kurios . . .
might, power. Lord, master, owner. Also the NT Gr. equivalent for the OT Hebr.
Jehovah.” (Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary, p. 900.)
6 W. E. Vine, Vine’s Expository Dictionary, p. 604.
7 Ibid.
8 Arthur Pridham, Notes and Reflections on the Epistle
to the Ephesians, p. 4.
9 George Zeller, The Riches Of His Grace, p. 1.
10 Warren Wiersbe, Be Rich, p. 18.
11 Ibid.
12 All disciples are believers, but not all believers
are disciples. The Scriptures give ample evidence of this truth. For example: A
truly saved person is one who believes the gospel (Rom. 1:16, 6:17). A true
disciple is one who continues in Christ’s Word (Jn. 8:31). In order to be a
believer, a person must come to Christ crucified and claim the mercy of God
(Lk. 18:13). To be a disciple, a person must sit at the feet of Christ and hear
His Word with a meek and teachable heart (Lk. 10:39). Every saved person is a
believer (1 Jn. 5:1), whereas only learners are disciples (the word “disciple”
means “a learner, student, pupil, adherent”). A believer possesses Christ (1
Jn. 5:12), while a disciple forsakes possessions (Lk. 14:33). Being saved
involves trusting (Eph. 1:13), being a disciple involves training (Matt.
28:19-20). Every believer measures up to the full demands of God’s
righteousness in Christ (2 Cor. 5:21), but believers often do not measure up to
the full demands of discipleship (Lk. 14:25-33). A saved person is a saint (1
Cor. 1:2), a disciple is a student (Matt. 11:29). These are only a few of the
many differences between salvation and discipleship, between a believer and a
disciple. Although at times there are slight overlaps, it is clear that the two
are different and should not be equated by those seeking to be true to the
Scriptures.
13 If it is true, as some Calvinists teach, that the
choosing in John 15:16 refers to salvation, then to stay consistent with their
theology, Judas Iscariot must have been saved – for Luke 6:13 states, “And when
day came, He [Jesus] called His disciples to Him; and chose twelve of them,
whom He also named as apostles” – one of the twelve was Judas Iscariot (Lk.
6:16; Jn. 13:18). However, the Bible clearly asserts that Judas Iscariot was
never saved (see Jn. 6:64, 6:71, 13:10-11, 13:18, 17:12, 18:1-9).
14 The “you” in John 15:16 obviously refers to the
eleven disciples/apostles that are present with Jesus at the Last Supper (Jn.
13:5, 13:30).
15 Notice John 16:8-9 states, “And He, when He comes,
will convict the world concerning sin . . . concerning sin, because they do not
believe in Me” (emphasis added).
16 W. E. Vine, Vine’s Expository Dictionary, p. 231.
17 Notice that after the Holy Spirit has convicted the
heart, it is the unbeliever who “hates the light and does not come to the
light” (Jn. 3:20). It is the sinner who walks away from Jesus (Jn. 8:9). God
the Father is willing to save all who believe in His Son (Jn. 6:40), but there
are many who love the darkness more than the light and so they remain unsaved,
having never believed. God judges men not because they are sinners per se, but
because they are sinners who have rejected the light (Jn. 3:19, 16:9). This
light, used by the Holy Spirit to “expose” (Jn. 3:20) or convict sinners, is
sufficient to save. John 1:7 says that John the Baptist “came for a witness,
that he might bear witness of the light, that all might believe through him
[referring to Jesus, Jn. 1:29-34].” The text goes on to say that whoever
receives the Light (Jn. 1:9, 1:11), whoever believes in His name (Jn. 1:12),
become children of God (Jn. 1:12).
18 Concerning John 3:16 and Acts 10:43, Richard Baxter
once said, in substance, something like this: “If the Bible would say Richard
Baxter should have everlasting life by believing in Jesus, I could not be
certain that I was meant, since there might be others named Richard Baxter, but
it declares ‘whosoever,’ and I know that means me!”
19 Does incorporating human freewill into His plan
make God less sovereign? No, it actually makes God more sovereign, for He is
great enough, omniscient enough, and sovereign enough to incorporate the
freewill of man in the outworking of His purposes. His sovereign decree to
allow His creatures freedom of choice will not be His downfall, will it? By no
means! Some will say, then, that God’s plan is conditioned upon men. This must
be answered in the negative, for God’s ultimate decrees will come to pass. He does,
however, incorporate the free will of His creatures into His plan while still
arriving at His desired outcome. He can do this because He is omniscient. If
Satan chooses to rebel, God allows it. If people choose to reject Him, God
allows it. The choices of His creatures don’t take God by surprise. He is all
knowing and all-powerful and can easily accomplish His purposes while at the
same time allowing men to exercise their freewill.
20 W. E. Vine, Vine’s Expository Dictionary, p. 449.
21 Ibid.
22 Ibid.
23 Ibid. That God foreknows a person’s faith more than
the person himself is easily seen. Romans 11:5 declares that “there has also
come to be at the present time a remnant according to God’s gracious choice”.
How did God “graciously choose” a remnant? The answer is in Romans 11:2 which
says, “God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew.” God’s choice was
according to His foreknowledge. Notice God chose the Israelite faithful remnant
of Paul’s day in the same way (Rom. 11:5) as the 7,000 faithful prophets in
Elijah’s time. How did God choose the 7,000 prophets in Elijah’s day? God chose
them according to His foreknowledge (“God has not rejected His people whom He
foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah?”
Rom. 11:2), knowing what they would do before they did it, knowing that they
would be true to Him and not worship Baal. As has been previously shown, God’s
choosing based upon His foreknowledge is attested to elsewhere in Scriptures (1
Pet. 1:1-2, etc.). Notice that although Romans 11:4 mentions “men” (“I have
kept for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal”), the
people are not the main focus of God’s foreknowledge, their actions are the
focus. This is seen even ore clearly when the original account is read from 1
Kings 19:18. Here the text reads, “Yet I will leave 7,000 in Israel, all the
knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him.”
Notice in this sentence there is no mention of the subject – the person, only
the verb – the action. What makes these men special is not who they are, but
what they did. It is what they did that made them the object of God’s grace and
the reason He chose them according to His foreknowledge (“whom He foreknew”).
The critic will inevitably point out that the text does say, as I have quoted,
“whom He foreknew” meaning that God does foreknow the person. I do not dispute
this. In order for an action to be taken, a person must act. Action is
impossible without someone there to do it. My point though is that the person
is not the point, but the person’s action is. As seen from the text, what makes
these people special is not who they are (they are all Israelites – that
doesn’t make the faithful any different from the unfaithful) but what they did
– that’s what makes them different (they trusted God)!
24 This is consistent with the Scriptures, for 1
Corinthians 12:27 says, “Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of
it” (cf. Romans 12:4-5 and Ephesians 4:12-13 which equates “the body of Christ”
with “we,” referring obviously to “saints,” Eph. 1:1).
25 Oliver B. Green states, “The church as a body, a
complete body without spot or wrinkle, was chosen by God in Christ before God
created Adam.” (Green, The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Ephesians, p.
32.).
26 Ibid., p. 32. Green comments, “Individuals receive
or reject Jesus according to their own free will. God did not create man as a
puppet or as a mechanical thing . . . an electronic brain that operates when
God pushes the switch. Man is created in the image of God. Man is created with
a will to choose or to reject the way of righteousness.”
27 Faith is not “the gift of God” as some advocate. It
is true that salvation is a gift of God, but faith is not. Those who teach that
faith is the gift of God confuse the gift with the reception of the gift.
Salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received by personal
faith in Christ. George Zeller correctly states, “If faith in Christ is itself
God’s gift, then how do I receive this faith? Instead of asking, ‘What must I
do to be saved?’, I must now focus on the question ‘What must I do to believe?’
If faith is God’s gift, then how do I get this gift? Do I pray to God and ask
for the gift of faith? Do I sit back and do nothing and hope that I am one of
the chosen ones who will be given this gift? How do I get the gift of saving
faith? It is all very confusing and it takes away from where the focus of the
sinner ought to be, which is upon Jesus Christ and Him crucified”. (Zeller,
What is the “Gift of God”?, p. 4.) Ephesians 2:8 (“For by grace you have been
saved through faith; and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God”) is a
major proof text for those who would say faith is the gift of God. Some argue
that the pronoun “this” (“and this not of yourselves”) refers to “faith”.
However, the correct rule that Greek grammar demands to be followed is this:
PRONOUNS AGREE WITH THEIR ANTECEDENT IN GENDER AND NUMBER. THEIR CASE IS
DETERMINED BY THEIR USE IN THEIR OWN CLAUSE. Zeller comments, “This rule argues
forcefully against the identification of ‘faith’ as the antecedent because
‘faith’ does not agree with the pronoun in gender. The pronoun ‘this’ (verse 8)
is NEUTER, and the noun 'faith" (verse 8) is FEMININE. If Paul wanted his
readers to understand the pronoun as referring to ‘faith,’ then there is no
reason why he could not have used the feminine form of the pronoun . . . This
would have settled it. If Paul had used the feminine pronoun then it would be
very clear and obvious that FAITH is the gift of God. Paul did not use the
feminine pronoun”. (Ibid., p. 5.) Instead of referring to “faith”, the neuter
antecedent “this” refers to the idea contained in the main verb “saved;” the
idea of salvation. Zeller quotes D. L. Moody: “Some say that faith is the gift
of God. So is the air, but you have to breathe it; so is bread, but you have to
eat it; so is water, but you have to drink it. Some are wanting some miraculous
kind of feeling. That is not faith. ‘Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the
Word of God.’ It is not for me to sit down and wait for faith to come stealing
over me . . . it is for me to take God at His Word”. (Ibid., p. 13.) The
Scriptures are clear, God must do the saving, man must do the believing. Zeller
quotes William Hendriksen (who believes that faith is the gift of God in
Ephesians 2:8), who affirms that “both the responsibility of believing and also
its activity are ours, for God does not believe for us”. (Ibid., p. 12.) An
illustration of this is found in the Bible in the book of Numbers, chapter 21.
Here it can be seen that indeed Israel played a part in their deliverance from
the deadly snakes. Their part was to look; God’s part was to heal. The apostle
John uses this passage as an illustration of our own salvation when he says,
“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of
Man be lifted up; that whoever believes may in Him have eternal life” (Jn.
3:14-15). As Zeller so aptly states, “SALVATION IS WHOLLY THE WORK OF GOD;
FAITH IS WHOLLY THE RESPONSIBILITY OF MAN”. (Ibid., p. 12.)
28 The corporate church doesn’t need salvation;
salvation is how individuals enter into the corporate church (Acts 2:47),
thereby becoming chosen because they have entered into the chosen entity of the
church, Christ’s body (1 Cor. 12:13). Entering into, or being spiritually
baptized into Christ’s body (1 Cor. 12:13) is synonymous with being baptized
into Christ. This occurs at salvation (Rom. 8:9; Gal. 3:27).
29 W. E. Vine, Vine’s Expository Dictionary, p. 297.
30 Ibid., p. 897.
31 Ibid., p. 24.
32 Ibid., p. 24.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Baker, Charles F. A Dispensational Theology. Grand
Rapids: Grace Bible College Publications, 1971.
Greene, Oliver B. The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to
the Ephesians. Greenville: The Gospel Hour, Inc., 1973.
McGee, J. Vernon. Ephesians. Nashville: Thomas Nelson
Publishers, 1991.
Pridham, Arthur. Notes and Reflections on the Epistle
To The Ephesians. London: William Yapp.
Vine, W. E. Vine’s Expository Dictionary. Nashville:
Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1997.
Walvoord, John F. and Roy B. Zuck. The Bible Knowledge
Commentary on the New Testament. Ontario: Chariot Victor Publishing, 1983.
Wiersbe Warren W. Be Rich. Wheaton: Victor Books,
1984.
Wuest, Kenneth S. Ephesians And Colossians in the
Greek New Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1953.
Zeller, George. What is the “Gift of God”?.
Middletown: The Middletown Bible Church, 1998.
Zodhiates, Spiros. The Complete Word Study Dictionary.
Chattanooga: AMG Publishers, 1992.
