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In view of what has been said in the previous posts, I do still believe that every individual is responsible for trusting in Jesus to save them. We do make real choices and we are responsible for those choices – the Bible clearly teaches that. While I do not understand the interplay between Divine sovereignty and human responsibility in matters of choice I do believe that God sovereignly determines everything that happens and that we will be justly held responsible for our actions (see Romans 9).

I also believe that we must evangelize, we must preach the gospel or else people will not be saved (Romans 10:13-15). Believing that God has chosen to save certain people encourages me to evangelize. Why? Because I know that I am totally incapable of persuading someone of the truth of the gospel, I simply cannot do that. But I can go out and preach the gospel in confidence, knowing that it is God who brings about the salvation of the hearers. Furthermore, knowing that God has other people all throughout the world that He has chosen to save who are not yet saved encourages me to go out to preach the gospel to those people so that they will be saved. God has chosen to use the preaching of the gospel as the means by which He saves people, so I gladly join in His work of saving lost people by preaching the gospel.

Up to this point I have not presented you with my understanding of the 5 points of Calvinism. The reason I have yet to do so is because I wanted to demonstrate that I desire to follow the teaching of the Bible. I like John Calvin – he was a brilliant guy who spent a lot of time in the Bible (as is evidenced by his 22 volume (!) commentary on the entire Bible); and I’ll agree with him insofar as his teaching lines up with my understanding of Scripture. That being said, I think that the teachings of this passage can be systematized into the 5 points of Calvinism (well, actually, I only see this passage as demonstrating 4 of those points, so we’ll leave the 5^th alone).

The 5 points of Calvinism form the acronym TULIP (my favorite flower!).

T

We can summarize Ephesians 2:1-3 by saying that all people are born with an evil and corrupt nature which causes them to hate God and love sin. This is the first point of Calvinism “T,” Total Depravity.

U

Ephesians 1:5 says that God has “predestined us for adoption in Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will.” Ephesians 2:4 says that God made us alive in Christ “because of the great love with which he loved us,” and this He did while we were “dead in our trespasses” and following Satan. From that, I gather that God saved us because He wanted to, not because of anything we have done. He did not save us based on His foreseeing our faith in Him; His choosing of us caused us to have faith in Him. This is the “U,” which stands for Unconditional Election.

L

In the 5 points of Calvinism “L” stands for Limited Atonement, which means that Jesus’ death is sufficient to cover the sins of the whole world; but even more than that, that His death effectively purchased the salvation of those who God had chosen to save. I don’t see this passage teaching this (okay, well, I might, I’m not sure yet, I’m still thinking through the implications of the word “with” in 2:5 and its relation to 1:15-22. But that could take a while!), and so I’m not going to argue for the truth of this point, since the verses we looked at don’t explicitly mention this.

[Also, as somewhat of a tangent, the term “limited” really turns me off. Furthermore, it is important to note that you are always in some way going to be “limiting” the extent of Jesus’ atonement. Arminians will generally say that Jesus died for everyone, but that His death did not effectively save anyone (and thus His atonement is “limited” in the sense that it does not effectively save anyone). Calvinists will generally say that Jesus died for everyone and that His death effectively saved those whom God wanted to save (and thus, His atonement is “limited” in that it does not effectively save everyone). For more on this point of Calvinism, John Piper has a lecture that was really helpful in explaining both sides of the issue, you can watch, read or listen to that lecture here: http://bit.ly/4UYhaP.]

I

Ephesians 1:5 says that God “predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ,” that He determined our destiny before we existed (that’s what the word “predestined” means) and God always accomplishes His will (see Job 42:2; Psalm 33:8-11, 115:3, and 135:6; Daniel 4:34-35…) so, if God wants to save someone, He can and will overcome that persons resistance (because we frequently resist God’s work, see Acts 7:51). From that I gather that, when He wants it to be, God’s grace is irresistible, that’s what the “I” stands for, Irresistible Grace.

P

Ephesians 1:13-14 says that we have been “sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,” and that the Holy Spirit is the “guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it.” Ephesians 2:4-7 says that God “made us alive together with Christ… and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places,” note that Paul talks about our being seated with Christ in the heavenly places in the past tense, as if it had already happened. I believe Paul does that because he is sure that God will keep us saved. Furthermore, in this passage, the whole purpose of God making us alive together with Christ is so that “in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus” (emphasis mine). God always accomplishes his purposes (see references in the first sentence of the paragraph on Ephesians 1:5). In view of this, I believe that once God has saved someone, God will make sure that that person will not fall away from Christ (in the ultimate sense, they may fall away for a time, but God will then bring them back). We are responsible for continuing to trust in Christ’s death to make us right with God and God will ensure that we continue in our faith. This is what the “P” stands for, Perseverance of the Saints (or Preservation of the Saints).

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” – Ephesians 2:4-10

But God, – Paul spent the first 3 verses of chapter 2 telling us about our nature, now we turn to look at God and His nature.

Being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – When we were dead in our sins, disobeying God, and following our own carnal desires, God made us alive; that is, God saved us. Why did he save us? “God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,” decided to save us. The reason God chose to save us is because He loves us, and He loves us because He has chosen to. See Deuteronomy 7:6-11 where God says He chose Israel because He loves them and is keeping the promises He gave to their fathers; also, Titus 3:5 (Titus 3:3-8 is very similar to Ephesians 2:1-10). Because our salvation is based solely on God’s sovereign choice it can truly be said,

By grace you have been saved – We have not brought about our own salvation, we did not initiate our salvation, God did (John 1:12-13, 15:16; Matthew 11:27). It is all owing to the sovereign grace He has chosen to show (Romans 9:16-18).

And raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. – More blessings of our salvation!!!

For by grace you have been saved through faith. – God’s grace has saved us through the faith we continually exercise in Him.

And this is not your own doing; – That whole equation that equals our salvation, namely, being saved “by grace” and “through faith” is not something we can do – it is not our own doing. We are not able to bring it about.

It is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. – God is the one who brings about our salvation. God has chosen to show His grace to us by giving us faith to exercise in Him. He has not shown us this grace based on anything in us – God did not save us because He knew we would believe in Him, instead, our belief in God is a result of Him saving us. This means we cannot boast; the only thing we have contributed to our salvation is our sin, the faith we exercise in God is a gift from God.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, – God made us, He owns us, and he has created us anew in Christ Jesus so that we would do good works.

Which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. – The good works that we will do have already been “prepared” by God for us to do, so that He gets all the glory.

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” – Ephesians 2:1-3

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, – Here Paul says that the Ephesian believers (and, by implication, you and I) were once dead in our sins.

Following the course of this world, – Being dead to God we were following the “course of this world.”

Following the prince of the power of the air, – Being dead to God we were gladly following Satan.

The spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience – This provides a further description of Satan and his work.

Among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, – We lived among and were at one point “sons of disobedience.” Being sons of disobedience we made our choices based on “the passions of our flesh.”

Carrying out the desires of the body and the mind – Again, as sons of disobedience we lived in the sinful desires of our body and our mind (for more on the state of our sinful mind see Romans 8:7-8).

And were by nature children of wrath, – We are born enemies of God (Romans 5:10, 8:7-8). We naturally abide under God’s wrath, making us “children of wrath.” In our natural state we joyfully disobey God (Genesis 6:4) and are subject to the whole of His just and loving wrath.

Like the rest of mankind. – This is the state everyone on the planet is born into – enemies of God, hating God (Romans 3:9-20, 23). Everyone, by nature, makes their choice based on their sinful desires.

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.”  Note, the Ephesians who believed in Jesus and were “sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of [their] inheritance.” That is to say, God has saved them and given them the Holy Spirit, who acts as a sort of “down-payment,” a means by which God demonstrates to the Ephesian believers that they will finally be saved, they will not ultimately fall away from Jesus. It works the same for us; God has given us the Holy Spirit as a means of guaranteeing our salvation.

“For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.” – Ephesians 1:7-23

“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.” – Ephesians 1:1-6

The first 2 verses are Paul’s greeting to the church at Ephesus. Verse 3 then begins:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, – Paul is exhorting us to bless God. Why?

Who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, – We are to bless God (with our worship, praise, adoration, and enjoyment) because he has blessed us. We are blessed with every spiritual blessing through Christ. It is because we are “in Christ” that we have “every spiritual blessing.”

Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, – In the same way we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ, God the Father has chosen us in Christ “before the foundation of the world.” What has He chosen us for?

That we should be holy and blameless before him. – God has chosen us in Christ to be holy and blameless before Him. Next Paul explains what is involved in God choosing us in Christ to be holy and blameless. We may ask, “how has God chosen us in Christ, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before him?” Paul answers this question in the next part of the verse.

In love he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, – God has lovingly predestined us to be Jesus’ brothers and sisters – to be God’s children (Hebrews 2:10-18; Romans 8:14-17). The word predestined means precisely what you would think it means; Strong’s Exhaustive concordance defines the word like this: “to predetermine, decide beforehand” (see Strong’s note G4309; or this link http://bit.ly/6Jmy7C). God determined to arrange our destiny so that we would be his children. Before we existed, God determined to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ (that is, through Christ’s saving death on the cross). Why did God do this?

According to the purpose of his will – God did it because He wanted to. He did it “according to the purpose of His will.” He did not predestine us to be His children on the basis of something we did, He predestined us to be His children “according to the purpose of his will.” See 2 Timothy 1:8-9.

To the praise of his glorious grace – We’ve been predestined to be God’s children according to His will “to the praise of his glorious grace.” God’s grace is put on display by predestining people to be His children. He has made this display of His grace so that we would praise Him in how He has graciously dealt with us.

With which he has blessed us in the Beloved. – God’s grace is given to us through Jesus.