Climbing the Mountaintops of Ephesians

Before you start todays devotional, ask the Lord to use it to grow you up in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Many people run for cover when they hear the word predestination. The natural man hates this word, and the average believer finds it difficult to accept at face value.

Predestination says that before the foundation of the world, God selected us for Himself in Christ. He wanted us to be set apart for Him and blameless in His sight. He chose us because He loves us, not because we were good or would do some good. He’s always done the saving; we’ve always done the sinning. God does it all. Our salvation is completely from Him and not about us.

God gives you these spiritual blessings for His own purposes. He wants you to open your gift, be overjoyed at what God has done for you, and then move out confidently in faith and live the life God has intended for you.

Perhaps you’ve also heard the word “election.” This means God chose us to be in Christ. People are not spiritually lost because they have not been elected. They are lost because they are sinners, which is how they want it. God doesn’t violate our free will; we make our own choice to accept or reject God’s remedy. It’s like a doctor offering a dying man the cure, but the man says, “I don’t believe you,” and dies. God provides a remedy for the lost to be saved, but we determine our own choice in our free will.

But to the lost sinner, God wants to extend His mercy.

God will save you when your heart is willing to turn to Him and away from your sin. He’s planned salvation to go like this so that He could bring you to heaven someday.

This whole glorious process shines a light on God’s grace. He sees the believer in Christ and accepts them just as He does His own Son. We are accepted in the Beloved. God loves you just as He loves Christ because you are in Christ.

God the Father does three things for us. He chooses us in Christ. He predestinates us to the place of His child. He accepts us in the Beloved. It is all to the praise of the glory of His grace.

Think of it this way: From our side, over the door to heaven, it reads, “Jesus said, I am the door. Everyone is welcome to come in through Me and find life.” Someday in heaven, you look on the other side of that door, and it says, “Chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world.”

God has planned the church. This is His universe, and the church is His church. What is His plan? “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.”

1. What does it tell us about God that He isn’t passive, that He pursues us for salvation?

2. God chose believers before they were ever born, and not because they would do anything to deserve it. How does it make you feel about yourself to know that God doesn’t make mistakes in His choices?

3.God did not elect us merely for us to occupy space; His purpose in electing us revolved around changing us, making us holy and blameless. But those things require our effort and cooperation. In what ways are you cooperating, or failing to cooperate, with the Spirit in those areas?

Additional Resources

Listen to Dr. J. Vernon McGee's complete audio teachings of Ephesians 1:3, 4 and Ephesians 1:5, 6.