EPHESIANS ( Epistle to the Church at Large)
Since there are no specific problems addressed, this
letter is considered to have been written to the church
at large. It was widely circulated at the time. As you
read the first two chapters, you find a clear, concise
treatise on Grace, God's unmerited favor, as opposed
to law to be the Scriptural answer to that "discussion."
I do not know if there are longer sentences in God’s
Word and found it difficult to make comment using the
modern “shorter sentence” styling used today in most
writing. However; the message is critical to an under-
standing of the way God deals with His own, reaches
out to those who are Spiritually dead and is the very
basis for our (mine and your) Salvation.
Ephesians 1: 3 - 9
“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.
Just as he chose us in Him before the founda-
tion of the world, that we should be holy and
without blame before Him in love, having pre-
destined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ
to Himself, according to the good pleasure of
His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace,
by which He made us accepted in the beloved.
In Him we have redemption through His blood,
the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of
His grace which he made to abound toward us in
all wisdom and prudence. Having made known
to us the mystery of His will, according to his
good pleasure which He purposed in Himself.
The more I read the Scripture and compare Scripture
with Scripture, the more interest I have in the doctrine of
Predestination. Having been a conservative Baptist all
of my life, this came late in life to me. The question has
been in the back of my mind to the point that we had a
Presbyterian Minister, known to me to be strong in this
doctrine, to address a Bible study we were leading. He
made no attempt to persuade or change our minds, but
clearly laid our his understanding of Predestination to us.
There is no way to address this doctrine without far more
knowledge and understanding than is within me. So, we
will continue with the clear message from this epistle.
(I will, however, ask this friend to post his understanding
on this site and let you know if he agrees.)
The passage under consideration must be considered to
be strong, viable underpinning of our belief in efficacy of
the blood of Jesus Christ, our security in Him and the prin-
ciples we hold dear. Early on, verses 4-5, we are chosen
“….in Him before the foundation of the world… adoption as
sons by Jesus Christ to Himself according to the good plea-
sure of His will…”
I see little room for our “choice” to be exercised at
this point in the epistle. Do you not love the phrase:
“according to the good pleasure of His will..?"
Now, let's consider the permanence or security of this
gift to us. Ephesians 1: 13-14:
"In Him you also trusted, after your heard the word
of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also,
having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit
of promise. Who is the guarantee of our inheritance
until the redemption of the purchased possession, to
the praise of His glory."
When we come to the passage above, there is confir-
mation that our God, in His Son, has provided an eternal
salvation to us based on the virtue, or qualifications of
the benefactor and not the recipient of that "gift." Since
we cannot earn the gift, it's evident that our future action
will never deprive us of the gift. We are sealed (by the
Holy Spirit, God) and keeping the gift is no more incum-
bent upon us than our qualifying for it in the first place.
Our confession of faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and
Lord was and is our part. He works it out "in us." It is
His responsibility. Again, We are recipients of a free gift'
Calling attnetion to one or more verses from Chapter one,
"...which He worked in Christ when He raised him from
the dead and seated Him at His right hand, "..in heavenly
places." Keep this in mind and read chapter 2: verse 6
"...and raised us up together, and made us sit together in
in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus." Could a greater
honor be bestowed on anyone, who in no way qualifies
for such a position, for eternity?
In Christ, we have inherited a position, with Him, for
which we could never qualify or earn. Thanks for looking.
I pray the Lord God bless your efforts to comprehend for
yourself, the blessings available through an in depth and
consistent study of His Word, Holy Scripture.
donporter 1.04.14
The link that follows is from a Presbyterian Teaching
Elder and friend who has also served as pastor of a
local Baptist assembly.
http://biblicalclarity-don.blogspot.com/2014/02/election-free-will-predestination.html
http://biblicalclarity-don.blogspot.com/2014/01/hate-is-not-christian-value.html
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