Introduction
When studying the doctrine of election, I believe the starting point must be Ephesians 1:4. The reason I say that is because, number one, it’s so plainly stated. There’s no other passage in the Bible quite like it, especially within the context that it’s written. But also, after considering all other interpretations, there’s only one conclusion about it that we can come to, which guides us through the rest of the New Testament about this doctrine. I aim to demonstrate that what Paul reveals in this passage is unconditional Sovereign election.
First, we’re going to examine all other possible options. What you’re going to find out is that these interpretations simply don’t add up. None of them make sense when considered with an honest, unbiased lens. Once we’ve done that, we’ll then look at the final option. What we’re going to find out is that it’s the only one that makes sense.
Below is our passage, and I’ll include the context of verses 3-6 to give us a broader view of verse 4.
(Ephesians 1:3-6 – BSB) — [3]Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms. [4] For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His presence. In love [5] He predestined us for adoption as His sons through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will, [6] to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the Beloved One.
Option One: There’s a popular non-Calvinist (Arminian, Provisionist) interpretation I want to address first. It’s called Corporate Election. It’s the idea that God chose His Son as both Savior and corporate Head of His elect Church, and that those who receive Him as Savior become elect at that time—that we enter into His election, as the “Chosen One” (Lu 9:35; Matt 12:18). In other words, we are elect by virtue of our union with Christ, which occurs the moment we believe. There are two things wrong with that.
First, we can’t enter into Christ’s election, because He was chosen to be our Savior, while we were chosen to be saved. His election is not the same as ours. His election is unique to Him. Our election is unique to us. Therefore, it’s not possible to enter into His election. Jesus has His election, and we have ours.
Second, that’s not what Paul says here in this verse (vs. 4). To say we become elect upon our faith in Christ, is not what Paul says. That’s making Paul say something he didn’t say. What does he actually say? He says that “He chose us in Him.” God chose us! He doesn’t say that God chose Jesus here. He says that God chose us in Him. In other words, He chose each and every believer for salvation, which can only be in Christ. There is no salvation apart from Christ. He is our salvation. Therefore, when God chose us, He had to choose us in His Son. He couldn’t choose us for salvation via any other way, or via any other person. It’s only in Christ that we have our election and our salvation. That’s the way we’re to understand what Paul says.
I taught the non-Calvinist version of corporate election for several years, so I know exactly how it’s described, how it’s interpreted. And I can tell you now, it doesn’t make sense when everything is taken into account. It doesn’t add up. I wrote a four-part series on Corporate Election, comparing the Calvinist understanding with the non-Calvinist understanding. You may read about it here, beginning with the introduction. However, it’s a very long read, so what I say about it here suffices. But if you really want to do a deep dive into the comparison and the theology behind the Calvinist understanding of corporate election, this four-part series is here for you to read.
Continuing the discussion about the non-Calvinist version of corporation election, God didn’t choose a mere idea or concept for salvation. He chose actual people. We could interpret “He chose us in Him” to mean that God chose all of us together, collectively—as the complete Church. Yes, we could. In fact, that’s exactly the way we should interpret it. However, if God chose the complete Church, which is what we see in Revelation 5:9 and Revelation 7:9, that means He also chose each member who makes up the Church. To choose the Church is to choose each member. To choose each member is to choose the whole Church. The two cannot be separated—because God didn’t choose an empty building—in a manner of speaking. That wouldn’t make any sense. To choose the Church without any members is to choose an empty shell, a mere concept, where there are no people, where no one is actually chosen. That’s actually the picture we have with the non-Calvinist version of corporate election. It’s the choosing of an empty shell that’s only filled as sinners believe in Christ. They would reply by saying, it’s never an empty shell, because Jesus Himself is the group itself, and we enter this group (the Church) by virtue of our union with Him, entering into His election. But as I already explained, that’s not possible. Thus, the non-Calvinist version of corporate election truly is the choosing of an empty Church, that’s only filled with people as they believe in Christ and become elect at that point in time.
Non-Calvinist corporate election doesn’t hold up, not only for the reasons given here, but also because that’s not what Paul says. It’s a huge stretch to interpret Paul in the way they do. One can only do so with a biased mindset, with a position on the doctrine of election that’s already in place. What Paul says is that God “chose us in Him.” Again, we can rightly understand Paul as saying, God “chose the complete Church in Him” (Rev 5:9; 7:9). Us is the Church. Us is each member of the Church. Paul confirms this in the same book in Ephesians 5:2,23,25, as well as Acts 20:28. It shows that this is what he had in mind in Ephesians 1:4.
Option Two: There’s the idea that God chose those whom He knew would believe. This has God looking down the corridors of time and seeing who says yes to Jesus, and those are the ones God chose. But that makes absolutely no sense. Because in such a scenario, it has the individuals choosing Christ instead of God choosing them. It merely has God agreeing with their choice to receive Christ as Savior. This amounts to an inauthentic, non-actual form of election on God’s part. But that’s not what Paul says here in Ephesians. He plainly says that God chose us! He didn’t merely put His stamp of approval on our choice to accept Christ. In such a case, we’re making Paul say something he didn’t say.
Therefore, what Paul reveals in this passage is that God chose actual people for salvation “before the foundation of the world.” In fact, He chose specific people, the same people who comprise the complete Church—as we see in Revelation 5:9 and Revelation 7:9. When Jesus was hanging on the cross, I believe it was with every person in the complete Church that He had in mind, and who He was actually dying for. The blood He shed had an actual target, and we know this target to be the elect of people of God, chosen “before the foundation of the world.”
Option Three: Then there’s the idea that God chose anyone (“whosoever” – Jn 3:16) who would believe in his Son—those who believed before the cross, and those who would believe after the cross. But the problem with that idea is that it has God only choosing to save those who believe. And of course, that is how we get saved. But that’s not what Paul is dealing with here. He’s not talking about the means of salvation. He’s not talking about God choosing to save people who believe. He’s talking about choosing the people themselves—for salvation. Such an understanding is backwards to what Paul is saying. It has God choosing to save those who believe. But that’s not what Paul says. He says that God chose us! Chose us for what? The next statement he makes answers that question: “to be holy and blameless in His presence.” This refers to our sinless position in Christ, which is what our salvation does for us. Therefore, rather than the idea that God chooses to save those who believe, Paul is saying that He has chosen us to believe (unto salvation), which makes us “holy and blameless in His presence.”
Yes, God has chosen to save everyone who places their faith in His Son. But Paul is not dealing with the means of salvation, which is by faith. He’s dealing with the subject of election. The two doctrines are connected, but they are not the same. What Paul actually says is that God chose His people before the foundation of the world, before He even created us. He chose us for salvation—not that He chose salvation for those who believe. That’s what Paul is addressing here. To understand Paul to mean that He chose to save those who believe is not only what he does not say, but that’s not the topic of discussion. Those who present such a view have it entirely backwards.
Option Four: Another idea has God choosing those who are humble in heart, who respond to the gospel in the humility of faith. But this is just a rearrangement of the one above, where God chooses to save those who believe, who respond to the gospel in faith—which requires humility. But again, that’s not what Paul is saying. It’s not the means of salvation that Paul is talking about (which is via faith), but about the doctrine of election, which refers to those whom God has chosen for salvation. Faith is the result of our election. Election is not the result of our faith. So again, such an idea is backwards to what Paul says in this verse.
Option Five: Finally, an interpretation that is not very popular, but one held by some, is that God chose every single person who comes into the world throughout history. In other words, everyone gets saved. This is known as universal salvation. But this clearly is not what the Bible teaches. This view is barely even worth mentioning, but I do so because it’s a possible way of interpreting Ephesians 1:4.
In all of these cases where Christians try to get around the idea that God chose certain people for salvation, while not choosing the rest, they all fall short, where it has Paul saying something he didn’t say, and where it doesn’t make any sense. That’s what happens when we fight against Scripture. We try so hard to make it say what we want it to say that we get ourselves tied up in knots. We must allow the truth of Scripture to flow in the direction it’s actually flowing. If we don’t, we force truth to flow upstream—which isn’t possible.
Finally: The idea that we can be chosen in Christ and somehow end up NOT in Christ, makes no sense whatsoever. On the contrary, to be chosen in Christ ensures that those chosen will be in Christ. That’s exactly what Paul is telling us. How could it mean anything else? Every non-Calvinist option is out of harmony with this.
The Only Sensible Option: The only sensible and honest way to interpret what Paul says in this passage is to accept it the way he has plainly stated it—that God chose us believers for salvation before He even created the human race. Picture the Apostle Paul in a room filled with believers, telling them that God “chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world.” He then points to every person in the room and says, that means you, you, you and on down the line, and then points to himself. He tells them that God chose each and every one of us for salvation. He tells them, “it was an actual choosing of certain individuals, and those individuals was “us,” you and me.” When Paul words it that way, and we’re in the room with him, there’s absolutely no way of misinterpreting what he’s telling us. To interpret Paul according to any of those other options, would be a severe and obvious misunderstanding of what he was saying. There’s no way we would understand Paul any other way. Paul makes it entirely personal, and that’s the way we would understand him. It’s only in our modern setting of biased beliefs and in the multitude of interpretations, that we would get it wrong.
Associated with the doctrine of election is the atonement of Christ. The two work together in God’s plan of redemption. Here’s a list passages that confirm who Jesus actually died for:
(Acts 20:28 – BSB) – Keep watch over yourselves and the entire flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood.
(Ephesians 5:2 – BSB) – and walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant sacrificial offering to God.
(Ephesians 5:23 – BSB) – For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, His body, of which He is the Savior.
(Ephesians 5:25 – BSB) – [25] Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her [26] to sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, [27] and to present her to Himself as a glorious church, without stain or wrinkle or any such blemish, but holy and blameless.
(John 10:11 – NET) – I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
(John 10:14-16 – NET) – [14] I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me— [15] just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. [16] I have other sheep that do not come from this sheepfold. I must bring them too, and they will listen to my voice, so that there will be one flock and one shepherd.
(John 10:26-28 – NET) – [26] But you refuse to believe because you are not my sheep. [27] My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. [28] I give them eternal life, and they will never perish; no one will snatch them from my hand.
These passages are sufficient to show us who Jesus died for. God most certainly did choose specific people for salvation—“before the foundation of the world” (Eph 1:4). This is our starting point. These passages make it clear that He chose both the corporate body (the Church), as well as the individuals who make up the body, referred to as “sheep” by the Lord Jesus. We see the complete Church in Rev 5:9-10 and Rev 7:9. I believe those were the ones Jesus shed His blood for. I believe those were the ones He was thinking of when He was hanging on the cross. I believe the blood of Christ is applied to these elect individuals, where the atonement has specific people in view. Not one drop was wasted on people who die in their sins—which is a non-Calvinist position that I see no biblical basis for. When we try to force a passage into our doctrinal position, it can only lead to an erroneous understanding.
If we’re not going to be honest about what Scripture says, then what’s the point in studying it? If all we’re going to do is make it say what we want it to say, then that defeats the whole purpose of it. In such a case, we don’t really want to know the truth; we only want to know it the way we want it to be. Believe me, I’ve been there. I’ve done it myself. The old Arminian in me has had me trying to work around this for years, but I always end up in the same place—and that’s in the room with Paul where he’s giving us this wonderful news that God actually chose certain people for salvation, and that I’m one of them! His choosing of us makes our salvation certain. Not only does it guarantee that we will come to faith in Christ, but it guarantees that we can never lose what God has chosen us for.
