August 02, 2022 – Tuesday
Ephesians 1:5-7 NIV
In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship 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. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace
Ephesians 1:5-7 NASB 1995
In love 5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace
Comments
Two versions as the one major complaint I have against the NIV is it does not capitalize direct references to God the Father or the Son as He or Him or His. The NASB does not have this defect as shown above.
Today I will first focus on predestination and then on grace as mentioned in the verses above. Before continuing I want to give credit to Soteriology 101 which directly addresses predestination in the first fourteen verses of Ephesians 1 in the same way I have interpreted them in the past.
A close reading of the verses above tells us He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself which raises the question who are the us in this verse? The us is none other than believers, those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ Himself. Once you wrap your mind around that, then it becomes painfully obvious that believers, us, are predestined to adoption as sons, but only through Jesus Christ. Thus, per Soteriology’s comments, This passage is not about God predetermining which individuals will be in Christ and which ones won’t. It is about God predetermining what will become of those who are in Christ through faith. The DESTINATION of those IN HIM is set beforehand. I have said much the same thing in the past but much more awkwardly.
I am grateful for an analogy from them that provides even more clarity. An airline determines the future destination of an aircraft, but only those with a ticket for that airline for that destination are permitted on board for that flight. Jesus is our incredible aircraft with a destination of heaven and eternity with Him. But you must have a ticket to get on board His flight. How do we get this ticket? We must admit we are sinners, believe Christ died for our sins and rose on the third day and call upon Him as our Lord and Savior. In doing so we are acknowledging 1 John 1:14 where Jesus says, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
We gain our ticket by accepting God’s free gift of grace, where in verse six above we read, it is to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One he loves. And then in verse seven, In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace. It is only through His grace that we become destined to have eternal life in Heaven.
Bottom Line: Accept the wonderful gift of His grace and know you have a future home in Heaven.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, Thank You for predestining us, the believers in Your Son and His grace, to heaven. – In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
RileyD, nwJ
Riley D. Driver – Pastor
Calvary Chapel of Dayton
in Beavercreek