Questions from Ephesians 1:1-3:21
- If God chose me before the foundation of the world? Do I really have “free will”?
Yes. But the real question is this: “Is your free will limited to your spiritual condition?” In the second sermon of our Ephesian series, I preached an entire sermon on the infamous Ephesians 1:4-6, and in that sermon, I answered what it meant to be chosen by God, here is what I said: “To be chosen means that God predestined you to something. Predestination means, “to determine something ahead of time before its occurrence.”[1] So, according to these verses, before God invented dirt, He planned for your adoption as a son or daughter through all that Jesus would do on your account for your sin on a cross that we all deserved.”
It is very difficult, within the context of Ephesians to explain Ephesians 1:4-6 any other way than to take at face value the clear and direct language he used in these verses; Paul could not have been any clearer: “He chose us in Him [Jesus] before the foundation of the world… He predestined us to adoption as sons and daughters through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will…”. So, where is our free will in these verses? I will tell you where it is; your free will is somewhere between Ephesians 1:4 and 2:10.
We are chosen before the foundation of the world according to Ephesians 1:4, we were dead in our offenses and sins according to Ephesians 2:1, and it is, “by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God…” according to Ephesians 2:8. The in-between in these verses is that you were born and lived before Jesus in your spiritual deadness, and your will was only free to operate within the nature of your spiritual deadness, until Ephesians 2:4-5 happened to you, which was this: “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our wrongdoings, made us alive together with Christ…”.
So, here is how your free will expressed itself while you were dead in your offenses and sins: “…you previously walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all previously lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the rest” (vv. 2-3). In Ephesians 2:2-3 we are given a list of how our free will expressed itself:
- We followed the prince of the power of the air (the devil).
- We were disobedient.
- We lived in the lusts of our flesh.
- We indulged the desire of our flesh and mind.
- We were children of wrath.
I don’t know any other way to understand Ephesians 1:4-6 and 2:1-3 than to read 1:4 at face value: “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world…”. There was no other way for God to save us than to do what we are told that He did in Ephesians 2:4-5, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our wrongdoings, made us alive together with Christ.”
Now listen to me: God made us alive, but He did not believe for us! What this means is that your will was once limited to your spiritual deadness until God made you alive in Christ. The thing that God did for you in Ephesians 2:5-6, enabled you to experience and participate in what Paul describes in 2:8, which states: “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.”
- If God chooses who will be saved before the foundation of the world, why did He command His disciples: “Go and make disciples of all nations…” and to, “teach them to follow all that I commanded…” (Matt. 28:19-20)?
The reason why Jesus has commanded His disciples to make disciples of all nations and the reason that it is a sin not to do so, is because the way He has chosen to make the spiritually dead, alive in Christ is through His Word proclaimed through your mouth and your actions. The means by which God has chosen to create something out of nothing and to raise the dead has always been through the authority of His Word proclaimed and the power of His Spirit. Permit me to show you from the Bible how and why this is so:
In the first two verses of the Bible, we read in Genesis: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was a formless and desolate emptiness, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. Then God said, ‘Let there be light’ and there was light” (Gen. 1:1–2). Psalm 33:6 describes what happened in Genesis 1:1-3 this way: “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their lights.” God spoke (proclaimed) as the Holy Spirit (i.e. “The Spirit of God”) was hovering over the surface of the waters and created everything out of nothing!
In Romans 10, we are given the means by which God will make the spiritual dead alive:
“But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be Put to shame.” (Rom. 10:8–11)
You cannot believe unless you hear the Word of God, and you will not believe unless the Spirit of God exercises the same power that created the galaxies and raised Jesus from the grave! What other possible thing could Paul have meant when he wrote in Romans 10:14, “How then are they to call on Him in whom they have not believed? How are they to believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher?” This is why Jesus commanded His people: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:19–20).
- How can I know for sure that I am a Christian?
Listen carefully to Ephesians 1:7-8 again: “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our wrongdoings, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us.” There is only one who is able to provide redemption and forgiveness of our sins, and it is Jesus Christ alone. There is no other way! In Ephesians 2:12, it says: “…remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the people of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world.” In other words, apart from Christ there is no hope, and you are without God. A positive way of spinning this verse is this way: If your hope is in the Jesus who died for your redemption and the forgiveness of your sins, then you have hope and you have God.
You can know for sure that you are a Christian if you are sure that the only hope you have for the forgiveness of your sins is faith in the Jesus who was born of a virgin, lived the perfect and sinless life you could not live, died a death for sins you are guilty of, and rose from the grave on the third day. Listen to what Jesus said to someone who was very religious but not yet a Christian: “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes will have eternal life in Him. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life’” (John 3:14–16). To add to this, we are told in 1 John 2:23, “Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.”
The evidence that you truly have embraced Jesus as your redeemer and savior includes faith in all that He is, but also a love for God, His Word, and a desire to live a life that pleases Him.
Love for God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: “If anyone does not love the Lord, he is to be accursed” (1 Cor. 16:22).
Love for the Word of God: “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15). Here is another passage to consider: “The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever follows His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says that he remains in Him ought, himself also, walk just as He walked.” (1 John 2:4–6, NASB 2020)
A Desire to Live a Life that Pleases God: Here are three passages that need little explaining:
“My sheep listen to My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give them eternal life, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” (John 10:27–29)
“In the same way, faith also, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”” (James 2:17–18)
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” (Gal. 5:22–23)
Think about what is said in Ephesians 2:1-5. The difference between the dead and the living is evidenced by the posturing and behavior of the creature. The evidence between who is dead and who is alive is seen in how the dead and the living walk. Is this not the point of Ephesians 2:10? You were chosen, you who were once dead have now been made alive with Christ: “…we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand SO THAT WE WOULD WALK IN THEM.” We just sang that same glorious truth:
I was breathing but not alive
All my failures I tried to hide
It was my tomb 'til I met You
('Cause when) You called my name (and)
I ran out of that grave
Out of the darkness into Your glorious day
You called my name (and) I ran out of that grave!
- Ephesians teaches us that we were saved to become “holy and blameless” (1:4) and “…created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them” (2:10). How do I become holy and blameless and what are the “good works” I am supposed do?
We were saved to be “holy” and “blameless.” This does not mean that we still do not struggle with sin, for we are told in the Bible, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us” (1 John 1:9-10).
However, as I said the last two Sundays, your process and progress of living a life that develops and grows towards holiness and blamelessness must include an increasing dependence upon a bowing in surrender before God the Father (3:14), an abiding in God the Son (3:17-19), and a reliance upon the power of God the Spirit (3:16). The only way that will continue to happen is when you continually lay down your pride before the Father, a hunger and thirst of Jesus as your righteousness, and walk in step with the things of the Holy Spirit. Permit me to give you some ways you can do this:
- The God who is able has spoken and has given us His word. If you want to know His thoughts, then you have got to listen to His word (the Bible). The more you read the Bible, the deeper your understanding of God will become. And the deeper your understanding of God develops, the more childlike your faith will become. Here are some ways you can begin to listen to God.
- Pick a book in the Bible (i.e. the gospel of Mark) and read it. Then after you have read it, read it again more thoughtfully. After you have read it more thoughtfully, read it again. You will be amazed by what you will see in God’s word and how it will speak to you by doing this practice.
- Make the Sunday morning gathering a priority. God has ordained the preaching of His word to build and encourage His people. Sitting at home with a steady diet of YouTube channels and people you always agree with will starve your soul. You need to be with God’s people who may not see things the way you do and to sit under the preaching of God’s word from a pastor you may not always agree with.
- Join a Life Group. You need a community of friends who love God and His word that love you that you can have speak into your life.
- The Jesus who lived the life you could never live and died the death you absolutely deserved… has commanded you to follow Him. Think carefully about what Jesus said: “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:27). Clearly Jesus does not want you to hate your family, but what He does want is your allegiance above anyone and everything else. But to follow Him, you have to pursue Him. Pursuing Jesus requires you to hear, obey, and practice His ways.
Let me show you something that may help you understand Ephesians 2:10 better; I want you to see what Jesus commanded us in Matthew 28:19-20 against the backdrop of what Paul wrote concerning the good works that, “God prepared beforehand that we would walk in them.”
What Paul wrote: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” (Eph. 2:10)
What Jesus commanded: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matt. 28:19–20)
The good works that God wants you to walk in is the mission Christ has commanded us to be engaged in. The word “Go” can be translated: “as you are going…” make disciples. As you live in your neighborhood, as you are at work, as you are in the Starbucks line waiting to get your coffee, as you are living in your little world as one who was once dead, but is now alive with Jesus… make disciples.
- I promise that if you listen to God’s word and yield your heart and life to it, and if you seek to follow Jesus, you will increasingly become aware of your limitations and God’s power available to you through His Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will never contradict the Word of God and He will never minimize the call to follow Jesus.
I want to do something in conclusion that I think will help tie together everything I have said this morning, and I would like to do it in the form of responsive reading. I am going to read some passages in the Bible, and after each passage, I will have you read in response Ephesians 3:20-21.
Responsive Reading
Pastor Keith:
“You were dead in your offenses and sins, in which you previously walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all previously lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our wrongdoings, made us alive together with Christ.” (Ephesians 2:1–5)
Congregation:
“Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20–21)
Pastor Keith:
“You are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:19–22)
Congregation:
“Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20–21)
Pastor Keith:
“For this reason I bend my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner self, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:14–19)
Congregation:
“Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20–21)
Pastor Keith:
“Therefore, walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, being diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you also were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:1–6)
Congregation:
“Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20–21)
[1] From Lexham Research Lexham Research Lexicon of the Greek New Testament.
