Summary
Predestined in the Promise — Ephesians 1
Few words in Scripture stir more anxiety than predestined, destined, and chosen. Some Christian traditions, uncertain what to make of them, quietly pass them by. Others press them into a doctrine of "double predestination," teaching that if God actively elects some to eternal life, He must also actively decree others to damnation. Both responses miss the comfort God intends. The Greek word behind "predestined" in Ephesians 1:5 and Ephesians 1:11 is proorizō — to determine, decide, or appoint beforehand. The word is there in the text. It cannot be ignored. But it must be heard rightly.
Double predestination, taken to its logical end, breeds either pride or despair. The prideful Christian reasons, "I am elect; therefore my life, my prayers, my repentance, even God's word and sacraments, are unnecessary." The despairing Christian reasons the opposite: "I know my weakness — I wouldn't choose me, so why would God?" Even the gentlest of souls can be undone here. On his deathbed, Fred Rogers — an ordained pastor who spent his life proclaiming the love of neighbor — asked his wife, "Do you think I'm a sheep?" He was thinking of Matthew 25:31-33, and he was without assurance. God did not give His word to leave His people in that condition. As 2 Timothy 3:16-17 and Romans 15:4 testify, Scripture instructs, corrects, and trains — but also gives hope.
Paul's prayer in Ephesians 1:3-14 is the antidote. The Father "chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ." To be chosen is, like Israel before us (see Deuteronomy 7:6), to be a people God cares for, to whom He reveals His will and word. But the gospel goes further: we are not merely chosen as worshipers — we are adopted as sons and daughters, invited to call God our Father. This adoption rests on no merit of ours. "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace" Ephesians 1:7. Our election is grounded entirely in the merit of Christ and the will of the Father — never in our piety or virtue.
Notice the direction of God's purpose. "God has destined us not for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ" 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10. Jesus Himself says, "This is the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day" John 6:40. Predestination, biblically understood, is not a sword hung over the believer's head; it is the Father's eternal yes in Christ.
How then can you know you are chosen? Ephesians 1:13 gives the answer: "In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit." Faith comes by hearing the word of Christ Romans 10:17. That God has drawn you to hear the gospel at all is itself the evidence of His choosing. Jesus says, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day" John 6:44, and again, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me… no one will snatch them out of my hand" John 10:27-28. Look not inward to your worthiness, but outward to the Word that has reached your ears and the Spirit who has worked faith in your heart.
When the question comes — Why me, and not my neighbor, my uncle, my child? — stop before you start. As Predestined in the Promise Eph. 1:3-4 reminds us, we are not invited to separate the sheep from the goats; we are not God. Romans 11:33 confesses, "O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!" When we wander beyond what God has revealed, we lose sight of His mercy, and so of Christ Himself. What He has revealed is sufficient and certain: the Father chose you in Christ before the foundation of the world; the Son redeemed you by His blood; the Holy Spirit worked faith in you when you heard the word of truth. He chose you. Be secure in that. Find comfort in that. Do not stray from it.
Video citations
- Predestined in the Promise Eph. 1:3-4 — Do we all know who Mr. Rogers is? Mr. Rogers' neighborhood, snapping new day, right? We know who Mr. Rogers is. I watched his documentary, or the documentary made about Mr. Rogers a couple of weeks…