Chosen With a Purpose in Mind
For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves Ephesians 1:3-6 (NIV)
‘For he chose us in him before the creation of the world’ (1:4). In a pre-creation eternity, God formed a purpose in His mind. This purpose concerned both Christ (His eternal Son) and us (whom He determined to make His adopted sons and daughters). God determined to make us (who did not exist yet) His own children through the redeeming work of Christ (which had not yet taken place). ‘Chose’ is aorist pointing to a definite decision. The paradox of election and free will is one the New Testament never tries to resolve. Paul emphasises both the sovereign purposes of God and our free will. He took the gospel of grace and offered it to all.
God chose us ‘to be holy and blameless in his sight’ (1:4). Election is to holiness of life. We were ‘predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son’ (Romans 8:29). The ideal and goal of the Christian life is perfect holiness (Matthew 5:48), positively expressed as the total dedication of our life (‘holy’) and negatively as freedom from all fault (‘blameless’). Behind this last word is the command that only a perfect animal could be offered to God (Leviticus 1:3,10). The Christian is to be ‘blameless,’ not only before the world but ‘in his sight’ (c.f. Romans 1:9; 2 Corinthians 4:2; Galatians 1:20).
‘In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ’ (1:4,5). The words ‘in love’ can be taken with what has just been said or what is about to be said. If ‘in love’ goes with what goes before (and this more than likely) then Paul is emphasising that holiness of life is only made perfect in and through love (1 Thessalonians 3:12,13). If it goes with what follows (as in the NIV), then our predestination to be God’s children came out of God’s boundless love.
‘Predestined’ means ‘marked out beforehand.’ God’s plan for His people is from eternity. Humanity was created for fellowship with God, as children with a father. By sin that privilege was forfeited but by grace, in and through Christ, restoration to sonship is made possible (John 1:12). This is adoption (Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:5). Adopted children have their position by grace and not by right and yet are brought into a family on the same footing as children by birth. Election is with a view to adoption.
What God has done was ‘in accordance with his pleasure and will’ (1:5). Both expressions speak of His purpose and sovereign love. ‘Pleasure’ has two meanings in Scripture. It is sometimes the good-will felt toward a person (Luke 2:14); but when there is no clear reference to a person receiving this good-will, it simply means ‘purpose.’ This is the context here.
The phrase ‘to the praise of his glorious grace’ (1:6) translates the word for ‘glorious’ as an adjective but it can equally be a noun (‘the glory of his grace’ A.V.). God’s glory implies His revelation of Himself. Paul may have had in mind God’s self-disclosure as a gracious God. As Israel was chosen to live to His praise (Isaiah 43:21), so Christians must show the Father’s nature of grace and so glorify Him (Matthew 5:45; Luke 6:35).
This ‘glorious grace’ is defined as the grace ‘which he has freely given us in the One he loves’ (1:6). This is God’s undeserved favour to us. The ‘One he loves,’ the beloved, was used as a name for Israel, and so came to be used as a title for Israel’s greatest representative, the Messiah. God’s grace has extended to His people and enfolded them. He has ‘be-graced’ them, Paul says, using a verb derived from the Greek word for ‘grace.’ But like every other phase of God’s dealing with them, this ‘be-gracing’ is received by them, not in their own right, but in Christ, ‘in the One he loves.’ Christ is the supreme object of God the Father’s love and we are in Him, in Christ.
And He chose us to be His very own, joining us to Himself even before He laid the foundation of the universe! Because of His great love, He ordained us as one with Christ from the beginning, so that we would be seen as holy in His eyes with an unstained innocence.5 For it was always in His perfect plan to adopt us as His delightful children, so that His tremendous grace that cascades over us would bring Him glory—for the same He love has for His beloved one, Jesus, He has for us! Ephesians 1:3-6 (Passion Translation)