Are believers chosen by God?

Are believer’s chosen by God?

 

 

 

 

Ephesians is written by Paul and is generally considered to be a letter to the church of Ephesus but it isn’t really known who the letter was written to. The church of Ephesus was one of the recipients but there were most likely other churches that received this letter. It may have been a circular letter sent to multiple churches.

                Many of the original Greek manuscripts actually have a blank where the King James Version and the New International Version of the Bible have the words ‘at Ephesus’.

                Colossians 4:16 refers to a letter written to Laodiceans. That letter is presumed by many to be lost. Many Bible scholars think that letter may be the epistle to Ephesus.

                Whoever the letter was originally sent to it has a theme that is unlike any of Paul’s other letters. This one is written to the true church, the body of Christ. It gives standards for living but also goes into detail on who the body of Christ is. A careful reading of Chapter one tells us who they are, or rather, how they came to be.

 

                Ephesians 1:4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love

                -cross reference Romans 8:29-30

                For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called, those he called, he also justified, he also glorified.

Ephesians 1:11 In him we are chosen having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will. NIV

The Greek word for chosen is foreknown.

 

¹¹ In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. KJV

 

-Cross reference Romans 8:29-30 (see above)

2 Timothy 1:9 Who has saved us and called us to a holy life- not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time.

 

All of these verses lead us to the same conclusion. God has called (chosen, predestined) his believers since before the creation of the world (v.11, Romans 8:29). They were chosen by grace since before the foundation of the world. His plan to save lost sinners was made in eternity past. (1 Peter 1:20. Revelation 13:8 (All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.⁾ although not written from the same side of things alludes to it by simply looking at the verse in opposite. If their name’s weren’t written in the book of life at the time of creation, the believers names were.

If believers, or the true body of Christ, were chosen at the beginning of time. What of the one’s that weren’t chosen? Were they predestined to not be believer’s? If we believe, as the scriptures above state, that God chose the body of Christ before the beginning of time then what are we to believe for all the others? Can we believe that there are those that are called, chosen, predestined, foreordained ( 1 Peter 1:20 KJV) and not believe that there are those that are not allowed to be a part of the true body of Christ?

This is a short study I wrote not long after I realized what I was seeing in Scripture. I wrote it in response to a question that was asked during a Bible study group I attended on two occasions. There's more on this topic that I could cover now but I felt I should share this as it is.