Ephesians -Life Together- Chosen By God Ephesians 1:3-6 REVIEW Great Themes Himself His Glory His Greatness His Sovereignty of God of God Who Makes up the Church of God? Set Apart for God & His Service Cleansed from my Sin & Guilt Believe in distinct teaching of the Bible Keep faith, loyal, dependable, ready to defend Those who are “in Christ” The Believer is Blessed by God (berakhah) Chosen by God Changed by God Adopted by God All for the Praise of God Verses 3–6a center on the Father, verses 6b–12 center on the Son, and verses 13–14 center on the Holy Spirit. You Were Made for Praise We were made to praise the Father, Son, Holy Spirit You Were Chosen by God Plan of God Responsibility of Man Sanctification Adoption Praise Many Christians continually ask God for what He has already given. Our resources in God are not simply promised; they are possessed. Predestination in the Bible has to do with what happens to an individual after he or she is saved. The Scriptures use the word “predestination” to refer to what God has predetermined to happen to an individual after he is saved. The Greek word which is translated "predestinate" is the word proorizo and is used a total of six times in the N.T. The word is a compound word made up of the verb horizon, which comes from the word horos, which means “boundary” or "to limit." Figuratively, it came to mean “to fix” or "to appoint." When the word is combined with the preposition pro, which means “before,” it means "to fix or to set the boundaries beforehand." Each of the six uses is given below. Read them and see if they do not speak of things God has fixed beforehand, or predetermined to happen to an individual after he is saved. Eph. 1:5 “Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.” The passage teaches that God has predestined those who trust in Christ to receive the blessing of adoption, which means that He will view and treat them as adult sons, but this is conditioned upon them first being saved. They are not predestined unto salvation, but those who are saved are predestined to be accepted into the family of God as adult sons, which is what "adoption" means. Rom. 8:29-30 “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate [to be] conformed to the image of his Son. 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.” Once again this passage does not teach predestination unto salvation. It teaches that God has foreordained those who He foreknew (to be saved), He predestined that they be constantly being molded into the image of His dear Son, Jesus Christ. One of the sure signs of being saved is that an individual is being molded and shaped to be more like Christ (progressive sanctification). If this is not happening, that individual simply did not get saved. Acts 4:28 “For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.” This passage has nothing to do with salvation. It does teach that those who were involved in the crucifixion of Jesus did what God had determined before to be done. Nobody denies that God can foreordain anything He desires, even a person's salvation. However, the tenor of the Scriptures is that God has sovereignly left the choice of salvation up to man. He is charged with the responsibility of making an accountable decision about Jesus. Eph. 1:11 “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.” Once again the passage does not teach or suggest predestination unto salvation. It only says that God predestines according to His own counsel or will. It makes no suggestion that arbitrary election is His purpose or will. The verse is an assertion of the absolute sovereignty of God, even in the matter of predestination. The next verse explains what the person spoken about in verse eleven is predestined to. It states that those who are saved are predestined to be to "the praise of His glory." I Cor. 2:7 “But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, [even] the hidden [wisdom], which God ordained before the world unto our glory.” Once again the reference is not to predestination unto salvation. It has to do with the hidden wisdom of God, which was ordained before the creation of the world. Rom. 8:29 makes it very clear that God based predestination upon His foreknowledge. The passage says, “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.” This must be tied in with I Pet. 1:2, which also links God's election with His foreknowledge. The passage says, "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied."