Bible Studies
Part 2 begins where Part 1 ended.
I'll quote part of what Ralph P. Martin said under Eph. 1:3-6 ("Broadman Bible Commentary," Vol. 11 [Broadman Press, 1971], page 135). "Here we confront the mystery of divine election which runs through much of the New Testament. Some guidelines of interpretation may be helpful. The New Testament writers proclaim God's electing mercy not as a conundrum [puzzling question] to tease our minds but as a wonder to call forth our praise. They offer this teaching not as an element in God's character to be minimized but as an assurance that our lives are in his powerful hands rather than in the grip of capricious fate, which was a fear first-century man knew well. And the doctrine is never stated as an excuse for carelessness in spiritual matters, but always as a reminder that Christians have a moral responsibility 'to confirm [their] call and election' (2 Peter 1:10) by following the highest ethical standards. We are chosen that we should be holy and blameless."
I'll quote part of what John MacArthur said under Eph. 1:4-6a ("Ephesians" [Moody Bible Institute, 1986]). "God's sovereign election and man's exercise of responsibility in choosing Jesus Christ seem opposite and irreconcilable truths - and from our limited perspective they are opposite and irreconcilable. That is why so many earnest, well-meaning Christians throughout the history of the church have floundered trying to reconcile them. Since the problem cannot be resolved by our finite minds, the result is always to compromise one truth in favor of the other or to weaken both by trying to take a position somewhere between them.
We should let the antimony [a contradiction or inconsistency between two apparently reasonable principles or laws, or between conclusions drawn from them] remain, believing both truths completely and leaving the harmonizing of them to God" (page 11).
"It is not that God's sovereign election, or predestination, eliminates man's choice in faith. Divine sovereignty and human response are integral and inseparable parts of salvation - though exactly how they operate together only the infinite mind of God knows" (page 13). On page 33 MacArthur said, "Faith is man's response to God's elective purpose. God's choice of man is election; men's choice is faith. In election God gives His promises, and by faith men receive them."
After I quoted what I did from MacArthur here, I became aware that, under Eph. 2:8 of this same commentary, he said that the apostle Paul teaches (in Eph. 2:8) that faith is the gift of God. I am quite sure that MacArthur is misunderstanding what Paul said in Eph. 2:8. I discussed the idea that saving faith is a gift of God (an idea that I rather strongly disagree with) in some detail in my "A Paper on Faith," including a discussion of Eph. 2:8-10.
I'll quote part of what Klyne Snodgrass said under Eph. 1:4-6 ("Ephesians" [Zondervan, 1996], pages 49, 50). "Election does indeed bring privilege, but not so that people can bask in privilege or disdain others. Election always brings responsibility; God has chosen us to do something - namely, to live holy and blameless lives before him (1:4; cf. 5:27). Other biblical texts on election have the same understanding, whether they refer to Israel, the remnant, or an individual like Paul or Jeremiah. God's choosing enlists people in his work and gives them responsibility." I'll also quote a few sentences from his page 66, "Christians are to live in a holy and blameless manner before God (Eph. 1:4). This is not an oppressive weight, but as much privilege as it is responsibility. We are called to live in keeping with God's intent for us."
Lastly, I'll quote part of what D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones said under Eph. 1:4 ("God's Ultimate Purpose: An Exposition of Ephesians Chapter 1" [Baker, 1978], page 102). "So we must always start with holiness, as the Scripture does; and therefore the preaching of holiness is an essential part of evangelism. I stress this matter because there are certain quite different ideas about evangelism, some indeed that say the exact opposite. They maintain that in evangelism the preacher does not deal with holiness. The one aim is 'to get people saved,' then later you can lead them on to holiness. But what is salvation? To be saved is to be rightly related to God, and that is holiness. The whole purpose of evangelism is primarily to tell men what sin has done to them, to tell them why they are what they are, namely, separated from God. It is to tell them what they need above everything else is not to be made to feel happy, but to be brought back into a right relationship with the God who is 'light and in him is no darkness at all.' But that means preaching holiness. To separate these two things, it seems to me, is to deny essential biblical teaching. We must start with holiness, and continue with it; because it is the end for which we are chosen and delivered."]] (5) He predestined [[As the margin of the NASB shows, "having predestined" is a more literal translation. Predestine means decide beforehand/mark out beforehand/lay out the path beforehand. This Greek verb ("proorizo") is used five other times in the New Testament: Eph. 1:11; Rom. 8:29, 30; Acts 4:28; and 1 Cor. 2:7. This verb emphasizes God's role in our salvation, but, as I discussed in "Once Saved, Always Saved?" and "A Paper on Faith," when it comes to the salvation of individuals, everything isn't just predetermined in such a way that man doesn't have a necessary role to fulfill. God doesn't make people repent or give them faith; He doesn't make them holy (while they are passive), or keep them holy; nor does He compel them to continue on in faith to the end of the race. For a start, see under Acts 13:48 on page 43 of "A Paper on Faith."]] us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself [On the "adoption as sons," see Gal. 4:4-7; Rom. 8:14-17. We "receive the adoption as sons" (Gal. 4:5) when we become united with Jesus Christ by faith and are born again by the Holy Spirit. We have been adopted into the family of God, but the Bible also shows that some key aspects of our adoption/salvation are yet future (cf. Rom. 8:23).], according to the kind intention [good pleasure] of His will [cf. Eph. 1:9; Phil. 2:13], (6) to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed [The Greek verb "charitoo," which was translated "He freely bestowed" by the NASB here, was derived from the Greek noun "charis", which was translated "grace" earlier in this verse (and often in the New Testament). Grace is emphasized in this verse (as it is throughout the New Testament), and the concept of God's freely bestowed salvation permeates this entire sentence (Eph. 1:3-14). On grace compare John 1:16, 17.] on us in the Beloved [cf. Matt. 3:17; 17:5; and Col. 1:13]. [Everything we have "in the Beloved [Christ]" came from the Father's "good pleasure
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