Paul uses the phrase, “The mystery of God’s will” in the letter to the Ephesians to tell us this mystery is now revealed through His Son, Jesus Christ. That is, about God’s predestined will for all men to be “holy and blameless in his sight”. The first Adam had lost this for us and now it is made possible by the second Adam. Thus the mystery of God’s will is about restoration to the original state God intended for us, to be holy and blameless in his sight. After his greetings in verses 1-3, Paul praises God for doing so even before the creation of the world in verse 4. The personal pronoun “us” in verse 4 is referring to the whole world and not just the Ephesians as indicated in the sentence. Thus “predestined” in verse 5 is not talking about how God saves us individually per se; but is referring to the original intent of God’s will for the entire world. This is substantiated by verse 10 where Paul says that God “purposed in Christ” to unite the whole creation under Him. This is consistent with what Paul says in Romans 10:11-13, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” And also consistent with what he says in Romans 8:22 about creation groaning to be freed from its bondage by sin. Therefore, Paul’s use of “predestined” in Ephesians 1:5 is in reference to God restoring us back to His original will through “adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ”. It is not about God predestining some to be saved and not others based on his foreknowledge of their response. “Holy and blameless in his sight” is not salvation; but man’s state before he sinned. God had predetermined this even before sin entered the world.

Sin turns us into “sons of Satan” while Christ’s atonement for our sin gets us “adopted” as “sons of God”. This is also how the Gentiles are included in God’s will. This is consistent with what Jesus said in John 3:17, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” If God predestined some to be saved and not others, it would make Jesus a liar and Himself to be unfair. The doctrine of predestination should not contradict God’s will, work and word. If it does, it is our problem, not God’s problem. For this is what we are doing with this doctrine, shifting the blame to God. The truth is that when the gospel is presented, there will be those who reject it.

In church history, there are three ways of looking at God’s will and predestination. The first says God singles out the saved because he foresaw their future response or merits. This contradicts salvation by grace and suggests it is by man’s effort, whether in choice or action. The second says from eternity God had determined the saved and the damned regardless of merit or lack of it. Though this is consistent to salvation by grace, it makes God unfair and guilty of playing favorites. The third says since salvation is the unmerited grace of God, thus we have predestination; but those who reject Christ it is due to their own unrepentant and sin. This is the most consistent as rejection of salvation is an individual’s response, and maintains the freedom of the will.

However, the question is, “Why do we need predestination when the law of repentant and unrepentant apply respectively to the choices we make?” These different ideas arise from man trying to use their speculative ideas to interpret scripture; rather than letting scripture speak for itself. Is Paul talking about how God saved us in Ephesians, or is he talking about God’s original will for all men to be “holy and blameless in his sight”? To say God saves some, not all, we are preaching “fate”, not “faith”!

What about Romans 8:29-30? “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” A careful reading finds Paul’s consistency in presenting predestination not as how God saves us; but it is “conforming (us) to the image of Christ” which is “holy and blameless in his sight”. This is what we are called to, justified and glorified by Christ’s blood.

Scripture must not contradict itself. If predestination means God saving because He foreknew our responses, why do we need to preach the gospel or make a decision? As Ephesians 1:13-14 say, “…when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption.” A good God would not select some even if He foreknew their choices. It raises questions about Him! Isn’t He powerful enough to change our hearts and minds? Why do we need His Spirit to convict us of sin or call us to repentance? For Him to write us off even before we reject Him makes Him evil. Is this the kind of God revealed in the Bible? Does the Bible teach God in His foreknowledge chose to save only some or is it His desire is that all men to be saved?

I once had an appointment to meet someone but we both ended up in the wrong restaurant although the name was the same. I had assumed it was the one near his home while he assumed it was the one near mine. Our different assumptions led to our different interpretations that brought us to a different conclusion. When we start with the wrong assumption, we will arrive at a different conclusion; the implications will be great because we will be heading in different directions that can also be detrimental for us.