Ephesians 1:3-10 - Predestined Doxology
- Chad Werkhoven
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
You were chosen before time began and given a supreme purpose in life.
Ephesians 1:3–10 (NIV)
CONTEXT: For this final week in our year long study of the Canons of Dordt, we will be reading some of the Bible's greatest doxologies - words of praise & glory given to our Sovereign God.
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 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 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 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.
Canons of Dordt
Point 5 - Perseverance of the Saints
Article 15: Contrasting Reactions to the Teaching of Perseverance
This teaching
about the perseverance of true believers and saints,
and about their assurance of it—
a teaching which God has very richly revealed in his Word
for the glory of his name
and for the comfort of the godly
and which he impresses on the hearts of believers—
is something which
the flesh does not understand,
Satan hates,
the world ridicules,
the ignorant and the hypocrites abuse,
and the spirits of error attack.
The bride of Christ, on the other hand, has always
loved this teaching very tenderly
and defended it steadfastly as a priceless treasure;
and God,
against whom no plan can avail and no strength can prevail,
will ensure that she will continue to do this.
To this God alone,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
be honor and glory forever. Amen.
Summary
This might be hard to believe, but on this first day of this 52nd week of the year, we are coming to these magnificent words in Ephesians for the first time in our study of these doctrines of grace. The wait has been very intentional. We could have found every single one of our proof texts for all five points in the Canons from these first two chapters of Ephesians alone!
Part of the idea for holding this passage back (and only sort of dipping our toes in a few passages from Ephesians and Romans along the way) was to demonstrate that it's not just these Pauline books of the Bible that tell us that God's grace is stronger than we are; every bit of scripture - both the Old and New Testaments - testify to this wonder!
But here we are - finally! - so let's jump right in! Notice that from the get-go, Paul presents God's sovereign grace doxologically; in other words, these doctrines drive us to praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Why do we praise Him? Because He has blessed us not just with material needs like food, housing and friends, but even more so with every spiritual blessing in Christ. In theology, we often call these spiritual blessings regeneration.
This means that the fact that you can even praise God for His glorious grace is only because He has lavished us with all wisdom and understanding and has made known to us the mystery of His will. Had God not given us these spiritual blessings, we would heartily reject the redemption we now have through the blood of Christ and never would experience the forgiveness of sins.
We would remain so stuck in our sin that we would never reach up to God with the praise He deserves. Rather than proclaim doxologies, we would, as the Canons put it, hate, ridicule, abuse and attack this teaching which God has very richly revealed in his Word for the glory of his name and for the comfort of the godly.
 Dig Deeper Â
Ephesians 1:4 is one of the Bible's most amazing and profound statements, and it forms the very basis for these doctrines of grace we've learned together this year:
4Â For God chose us in Christ before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.
God chose you... You are not just a random collection of atoms that happened to biologically bond after billions of years of evolution. Nor are you just randomly cast into this world to fend for yourself. Rather, God in His grace unconditionally elected you to belong to Him!
... in Christ... Your only comfort in life and in death is that you are not your own, but belong, body and soul, in life and in death, to your faithful Savior Jesus Christ (Heidelberg Catechism QA 1).
... before the creation of the world... God knew you before He created anything! Before He spoke those mighty words, Let there be light!, God knew you, chose you to be His own, and gave you purpose:
... to be holy and blameless in His sight. You were born in sin, unable to fulfill the very purpose for which you were ordained. But this is the gospel: your sins have been forgiven in accordance with the riches of God's grace! You've been adopted to sonship through Jesus Christ, and in Him God sees you as He always intended you to be: holy and blameless, able to - right here and now - live to the praise of His glorious grace!
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that your words, actions and decisions will reflect the purpose God chose you for before the creation of the world: to be holy and blameless;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Revelation 21
