Paul’s letter to the believers in Ephesus is like a theological lake that is so full of deep, spiritual riches that even the most skilled Bible student will never find the bottom.
Despite it containing only six chapters that can be read aloud in 20 or 30 minutes, each phrase (and sometimes word) within a verse within each chapter is packed with meaning.
In contrast to some of Paul’s other letters, such as 1 and 2 Corinthians, Ephesians was not written to address any moral or behavioral issues in the church. Nor was this letter written to train or encourage a church leader, such as the letters to Timothy and Titus.
Instead of being corrective or even instructive, it is more reflective. It first shows us how Christ has first reconciled all of creation to God and each other, and secondly, it shows us how we can live in light of that reconciliation.
The first chapter of Ephesians is especially important because it sets the tone for the rest of the book in a profound way out of the gate. One of the main doctrines that Ephesians 1 teaches is the doctrine of election or predestination.
“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 to himself 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, ESV).
This idea of election has been widely discussed and debated by Bible students, teachers, and pastors because some people prefer to emphasize God’s sovereignty in their own salvation while others emphasize mankind’s responsibility. Charles Spurgeon once called these two ideas “friends.”
And while there are different, valid viewpoints based on different understandings of Scripture, God’s sovereign election of his children is undeniable in Scripture… but so is faith and belief by us! It is a “holy mystery” that we must learn to live with the tension of instead of trying to figure out the mind of God.
For Christians, the reality that we have been chosen by God (and did not choose or save ourselves) results in some wonderful responses from us back to God. Here are five of them:
1. Confidence
When we join with the Apostle Paul and have a high view of God, his power, and his plan for us, then it will result in us having great confidence in him to be able to care for us.
As Paul wrote, “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” (Ephesians 1:3). This confidence that we have in God then turns into less hindered and less hesitant worship.
This also gives me great confidence to simply be able to come to God in prayer. Because not only is God the Creator of the Universe, but he is also my Father, who has adopted me into his family!
The writer of Hebrews put it like this: “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16, ESV).
2. Assurance
I heard one pastor say recently that God is “more committed to my salvation than I am.” It is a wonderful thought that the forgiveness of my sins, the salvation of my soul, and the future resting place of my spirit in heaven in a glorified body is set and “sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it” (Ephesians 1: 13-14, ESV).
I think of it like this: if God is the one that chose me and drew me — if God is the one that saved me, and if God is the one that holds my salvation for me (I do not even hold onto it myself), then there is no way that I can “lose” it or walk away from it.
That gives me wonderful, assurance of my salvation! This idea of the Father choosing who is saved, the Son being the mediator through which we are saved, and the Holy Spirit sealing and guaranteeing salvation is one of many pictures that we get in Scripture of the distinct, yet unified role of the Trinity.
3. Hope
The beautiful, yet mysterious doctrine of election teaches us that God chose us even before time began. That means that not only does God work outside of time (the same kind of time that we are constrained by here on earth), but it also means that God is in complete control of the past as well as the future.
This gives me great hope that no matter what has happened in my life, what is happening right now, and whatever happens in my future, I can have great hope for the ultimate destination for my soul because God is already there and has sovereign control over it.
This means that when I read that God has “a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth” (Ephesians 1:10, ESV), I cling to those words in hope and faith and not fear or worry.
4. Boldness
Similar to the confidence I can have in my worship of God, I can also have boldness in the life that I live for God.
If God has chosen me and adopted me, then I do not have to worry about whether or not I am worthy enough (because I am not) or what will happen if I do not hold up my end of the bargain (which I will not).
I can live my life in honor of God, obeying his word, fellowshipping with other believers, and communicating the gospel to the lost world in boldness because I know who I am and what is expected.
The problem for some people when it comes to the doctrine of election is that they think something along the lines of: “If God has already chosen who will be saved, then I do not need to witness.”
But that is not only a misunderstanding of the doctrine of election, but it is also disobedient to God’s Word, which clearly tells us to “go make disciples”!
Instead, the fact that God has chosen some to be saved when understood correctly gives me more boldness to witness because that means that someone I am sharing the gospel with is not hopeless.
Because the reality is that none of us deserve or can merit salvation. So, apart from the initiative of God, there is no way that I or anyone else would ever be able to respond to God’s grace in faith.
That is why Paul says that some (the Jewish people) were the “first to hope in Christ… to the praise of his glory” in the same way that others (Gentiles or the rest of the world) who “heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed… to the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:12-14, ESV).
5. Humility
After studying the Book of Ephesians, I discovered that the main idea that Paul is conveying is that the only appropriate condition of our hearts in our worship and obedience to God is humility. There was nothing attractive about me for God to choose me for salvation — he chose me because he loved me.
There is nothing deserving of his grace — he “lavished” it out onto me because he loved me. There is nothing holy enough about me other than Jesus Christ’s blood that gives God reason enough to give me justification — it is because he loves me.
And I am able-bodied or faithful enough to even keep my own salvation to the end — God keeps it for me because he loves me. All of these truths point me back to humility.
As Paul said in Ephesians 2:8, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God” (ESV).
To be clear, Paul still reminds us that I must “believe in him” after I “hear the word of truth, the gospel of… salvation” (Ephesians 1:13, ESV), but that response of belief and faith is not any kind of work that I can muster up on my own — God had to give me that capacity in the first place.
In contrast to anything or anyone else that we could ever put on the throne of our hearts, the One True God is sovereign enough, wise enough, and powerful enough to reach through the corridors of time (in all directions) and choose his children to be adopted as sons and daughters of God. How great is our God!
For further reading:
How Do We Receive Adoption to Sonship Through Christ?
What Is the Beautiful Picture of Adoption in the Bible?
What Does it Mean to Be in the Family of God?
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