The Book of Ephesians.
Chapter 1.
(Verse by verse
study.)
By Pastor Nick Bibile
Eph 1:5 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.
We are going to continue where we stopped in context. Last time we saw the true Christian was chosen by God before the foundation of the world and the result of true salvation is holiness; that we should be holy and blameless in love.
As we saw previously the Lord did the choosing and not us and in the same context we are going to see the word predestination. Many do not like the word predestination. They will avoid this word like the plague and many pastors and teachers do not want to touch on this subject as they think it is too controversial. Let me tell you why many do not want to touch this subject, some will give a very shallow meaning and some even will say it is controversial. My friend the word predestination is in the Bible and if it is controversial it is controversial to their opinions. Let the word of God be honored truthfully and not the opinions of men.
Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 8 and 9 and in Ephesians 1 teachers the doctrine of predestination. We saw last week as many define predestination with the foreknowledge of God, where God foresee who is going to respond to the offer of the gospel, depending on man’s response God has predestined them to eternal life. So it depends on man’s faith and obedience. Last week we saw that this doctrine is totally false as we took the word foreknowledge and saw what it really means is not the actions of the people in salvation but to the persons. It is individuals God is said to foreknow, not the actions of those persons. We saw the word foreknowledge means to know intimately. The Hebrew word yada and the Greek words ginoskein and proginoskein refers to foreknowledge and it means not to the action of the person but to the person. The elect are the subjects of predestination. Last week we saw this in scripture.
Predestination is in the Bible and what good does it do? The doctrine of predestination gives a full explanation on the doctrine of sin and magnifies the grace of God in salvation.
Our English word predestination comes from the Latin word praedestino. The word prae in Latin means before and the word destino in Latin means determine or destine. So it literally means to ordain before hand. The Greek word for predestination is the word proorizein and that is the word apostle Paul used here in Ephesians 1:5 the other word is poorismos. These words refer to absolute predestination. Which means predetermined or decided before hand. In the N. T. it means of God decreeing from eternity. To foreordain to appoint before hand. Having destined us before we were born. Now you may not like what Paul is saying here but that’s exactly the word predestination means.
The author of predestination is not man but God. It is no way depended on God’s foreknowledge of human actions but on his divine foreknowledge. The word predestination is not always used in the same sense. Sometimes it is used as a synonym of the generic word decree, other times it is used as the purpose of God and also we see it being used as the counsel of God. My purpose is to give you the basic understanding of the scripture and to go verse by verse study on the book of Ephesians. Let us see some scriptures.
Ac 4:28 For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.
God’s counsel determined before to be done: God's decrees are from eternity; there is nothing comes to pass in time but what he has beforetime determined should be done.
Ac 2:23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.
Ac 18:9 Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace:
10 For I am with
thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in
this city.
11
And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among
them.
Ac 13:44 And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God.
Ac 13:47 For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.
48 And when the
Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and
as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.
Some translations say as many as were pre-ordained to eternal life believed.
Here we see very clearly the commandment of the Lord is to preach the gospel to all ethnic groups, many came to hear the word of God almost the whole city but only the ones that were ordained to eternal life believed. Now we cannot twist the scriptures or play spiritual gymnastics here to put our opinion, we are declaring the word of God just as it says.
Ro 9:11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)
12 It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
One was chosen, and the other rejected before they were born, before they did anything good or evil which means he did not elect Jacob because he was good, he was a deceiver anyway. Good works are not the cause of election but the sovereign will and secret counsel of God.
My friends this is simple English but many have difficulty understanding simple English as it is contradicts the opinions of men and to the majority of the church. Many will not like it, when Jesus spoke of election many did not want to hear him and many left him.
Joh 6:65 And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.
66 From that time
many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?
68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.
Election is of Grace.
Ro 11:5 Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
6 And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.
Ro 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
In theology this is called the golden
chain of salvation. It originated in eternity as he chose us before the foundation
of the world. (Eph 1:4) He called us in our time those who were predestined.
Then he justified us and gloried. 'For'
indicates that verses 29-30 are the foundation for verse 28. They give reasons
why we can
KNOW all things will work together for those who are called according to God's
purpose.
In these few verses, we see the great
doctrines of election and predestination, effectual calling and justification
and glorification.
Why did God predestined us?
Unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ
to himself. This is an amazing sentence. It says that we are adopted. The word
adopt means to take into one’s family and treat as his own child. For us to
understand the significance of this we need to see the reality. The reality was
that we were totally sinful.
We were called the children of wrath.
Eph 2:3 Among whom also we all had our
conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of
the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as
others.
We were called the sons of disobedience.
Eph 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of
the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.
We were haters of God.
Ro 1:30 Backbiters, haters of God,
despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents.
Ro 3:10 As it is written, There is none
righteous, no, not one: 11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that
seeketh after God. 12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together
become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Yes, we were totally sinful against God. Yes
there were prostitutes, thieves, murderers, drug addicts, liars, back biters
and they were changed by the power of God and adopted us who were evil as his
own children. Adoption is an act of God where by he makes us members of his
family. Isn’t this amazing?
How is that that when we were enemies
of God, he adopted us?
It says adoption of children by Jesus Christ
to himself. Yes, my friend the Lord Jesus did it.
Ro 5:10 For if, when we were enemies, we
were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we
shall be saved by his life.
Jesus came to reconcile us to God. We were
enemies of God, our God was Satan as we followed the ways of evil.
Joh 20:17 Jesus saith unto her, Touch me
not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say
unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your
God.
In adoption we become the children of God.
Joh 1:12 But as many as received him, to
them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his
name:
13
Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of
man, but of God.
Those who do not believe in Christ, who have
not received him are the children of wrath as the wrath of God is waiting upon
them. But to those who truly believe and follow him will have a relationship
with him. In adoption you are partakers of God’s family. You are related to all
Christians through the blood of Jesus and you have a relationship with the
Father through Jesus.
This relationship is not by words but by
action. Loving God and following him. You love God that his word becomes your
daily food, you hunger and thirst after him. You have a communication through
prayer, you tell God all your secrets ask him to guide you. You love him so
much that you love all your brothers and sisters in Christ. If we have a
relationship with God we have no fear anymore.
Ro 8:15 For ye have not received the spirit
of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby
we cry, Abba, Father.
Ga 4:6 And because ye are sons, God hath
sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
Do you see in both of these scriptures any
significance? In both of these scriptures the word crying is used.
Ro 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our
infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the
Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be
uttered.
This is very sweet
cry as this cry is literally the cry of Jesus as God sent the Spirit of his Son
into our hearts and that Spirit cries in us exactly like the cry of Jesus.
Mr 14:36 And he said, Abba, Father, all
things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not
what I will, but what thou wilt.
Why the word Abba is used instead of Father?
Note the word Abba is Hebrew and the word
Father (pates) is Greek. Abba was the native language of Jesus. My wife is from
the Philippines and when she pray, she will pray in English and suddenly she will
pray in her language. If your mother language is different than English you may
generally pray in English but when you truly cry to God in fervent prayer, pray
in agony you will use your own tongue. No wonder when we truly cry to God it is
the Spirit crying through us for the will of God to be done. The word Abba
shows how we are so near to God and dear to God, it is a blessed affectionate
cry.
On what basis did God predestine us
and adopt us?
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.
The sovereignty of God is his absolute,
independent right of disposing of all creatures according to his own pleasure.
The will of God is called his mere pleasure. A servant may fulfill his master's
commands, and may do it willingly, and cheerfully, and may delight to do his
master's will; yet when he does so, he does not do it of his own mere pleasure.
He who acts from his own mere pleasure, is at full liberty.
Who gets the glory in predestination and
adoption?
To the praise of the glory of his grace,
wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
Predestination exalt the grace of God.
When man sinned God was not under any
obligation to save any of us. The fair thing to do is to punish all, God is
infinitely holy then the punishment is infinite. Our earthly judges who are
limited gives a lawbreaker a limited punishment but God’s punishment is
unlimited that sinners will be separated from God for eternity in hell. How
ever God elected some to be save according to his sovereign will. And this
magnifies his grace.
He accepted us in the beloved. He accepted
us in Christ Jesus. Christ was the object of predestination.
1Pe 1:20 Who verily was foreordained before
the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.
Jesus was the object of God’s pleasure.
Mt 3:17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
That we who are predestinated will be conformed to his Son.
Ro 8:29 For whom he
did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son,
that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
God accepted us not
because of our good works not because of our merit but in the person of Jesus
Christ. Christ was the beloved of God and in Christ we become God’s beloved.
This magnifies the grace of God and how unworthy creatures like us be adopted
and accepted to a heavenly Kingdom.
Re 4:11 Thou art
worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created
all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
Now some will oppose to this doctrine and say God is not fair for some to be predestined and to leave others.
Let me tell you what Spurgeon said on this subject.
But
there are some who say, "It is hard for God to choose some and leave
others." Now, I will ask you one question. Is there any of you here this
morning who wishes to be holy, who wishes to be regenerate, to leave off sin
and walk in holiness? "Yes, there is," says some one, "I do."
Then God has elected you. But another says, "No; I don't want to be holy;
I don't want to give up my lusts and my sins."
Why should you
grumble, then, that God has not elected you to it? For if you were elected you
would not like it, according to your own confession. If God this morning had chosen you to
holiness, you say you would not care for it. Do you not acknowledge that you
prefer drunkenness to sobriety, dishonesty to honesty? You love this world's
pleasures better than religion; then why should you grumble that God has not
chosen you to religion? If you love religion, he has chosen you to it.
If you desire it, he has chosen you to it. If you do not, what right have you
to say that God ought to have given you what you do not wish for? According to your
own confession, many of you do not want religion, do not want a new heart and a
right spirit, do not want the forgiveness of sins, do not want sanctification;
you do not want to be elected to these things: then why should you grumble? You
count these things but as husks, and why should you complain of God who has
given them to those whom he has chosen? If you believe them to be good and
desire them, they are there for thee. God gives liberally to all those who
desire; and first of all, he makes them desire, otherwise they never would. If
you love these things, he has elected you to them, and you may have them; but
if you do not, who are you that you should find fault with God, when it is your
own desperate will that keeps you from loving these things—your own simple self
that makes you hate them. You do not like holiness, you do not like
righteousness; if God has elected me to these things, has he hurt you by it?
"Ah! but," say some, "I thought it meant that God elected some
to heaven and some to hell." That is a very different matter from the
gospel doctrine. He has elected men to holiness and to righteousness and
through that to heaven. You must not say that he has elected them simply to
heaven, and others only to hell. He has elected you to holiness, if you love
holiness. If any of you love to be saved by Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ elected
you to be saved. If any of you desire to have salvation, you are elected to
have it, if you desire it sincerely and earnestly.