Biblical Predestination
by Jim Nicolosi

Reformed Presbyterian churches place reliance on The Westminster Confession of Faith to provide the doctrines that are the foundational beliefs of those churches. These doctrines are based on the Bible as interpreted by the writers of the Confession. Chapter 10 of the Confession is entitled "Concerning Effectual Calling". The first sentence of that chapter states "At the right time, appointed by Him, God effectually calls all those and only those whom He has predestined to life". This is understood by the writer to mean that God has determined that some people will be granted eternal life and others will not. This doctrinal position relies on the Scriptures found in the books of Romans, Ephesians and others in the New Testament as interpreted by the Confession writers.

The purpose of this paper is to closely look at the first chapter in the book of Ephesians, related sections of the book of Romans and other relevant Scriptures (not meant to be exhaustive in nature) found in the Bible. It will examine this doctrine to identify who is predestined. This paper will also look at whether the term "predestination" has been properly applied by the Confession writers which, in the opinion of the writer, reflects something different than what the Bible is actually saying about the subject. It is acknowledged by the writer that the content of this paper will be highly challenged by those who have strong adherence to the doctrinal position of the Confession relative to predestination. However, the writer believes that biblical instruction takes precedence in evaluating any interpretational teaching as noted in Acts 17:10, "Now these (Bereans) were more noble minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily, to see whether these things were so”.

A reading of Ephesians 1:1-18 is provided below with pronouns and several other words/phrases in bold face print to provide emphasis and easy reference for the reader for the discussion topics that follow the listed verses. In the case of the pronouns, a reference in parenthesis will be used by the writer to identify the subject of each pronoun as a discussion aid. The parenthetical added (Jews) or (Gentiles) are the writer’s emphasis. The assignment of parenthetical references is based on the second chapter of Ephesians, where Paul more clearly designates those who are Jews and those are Gentiles. Those in disagreement with the parenthetical assignment by the writer are left with the task of defining who the “we”, “us” and “you” are who are being discussed in the referenced biblical texts if they believe it is not the Jews and Gentiles.

In the first chapter of Ephesians Paul, a Jew, is addressing the Ephesian believers who are both Jews and Gentiles. Paul writes:

Ephesians 1:1-18, (1) Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are at Ephesus and {who are} faithful in Christ Jesus: (2) Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (3) Blessed {be} the God and Father of our (both Jews and Gentiles) Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us (Jews) with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly {places} in Christ, (4) just as He chose us (Jews) in Him before the foundation of the world, that we (Jews) would be holy and blameless before Him. In love (5) He predestined us (Jews) to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the kind intention of His will, (6) to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us (Jews) in the Beloved. (7) In Him we (Jews) have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace (8) which He lavished on us (Jews). In all wisdom and insight (9) He made known tous (Jews) the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him (10) with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, {that is} the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him (11) also we (Jews) have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, (12) to the end that we (Jews) who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. (13) In Him, you also (Gentiles), after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, having also believed, you (Gentiles) were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, (14) who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of {God's own} possession, to the praise of His glory. (15) For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which {exists} among you (Gentiles) and your love for all the saints, (16) do not cease giving thanks for you (Gentiles), while making mention {of you} in my prayers; (17) that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you (Gentiles) a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. (18) {I pray that} the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you (Gentiles) will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,… (22) And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, (23) which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. (NAU)

In verses 3-12, Paul uses the pronouns "we" and "us" and then abruptly changes to "you" in verses 13-18. He emphasizes that change in verse 13 by writing "In Him you also". As indicated by Don K. Preston in his instructional teaching on "The Essence of the Kingdom" (see note at end), reading verses 3-18 from a modern perspective that "God chose me" or read in another context that "God chose other individuals to be lost" misses the point, in the writer's opinion, the apostle Paul is making. He is simply re-interating that “salvation is from the Jews” (John 4:22) and is “for the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16 ). In other words, the Jews were God’s chosen (predestinated) instrument through which He would bring salvation (redemption). In verse 4, Paul says "…just as He chose us (Jews) in Him before the foundation of the world". In verse 5, Paul writes "He predestined us (Jews) to adoption as sons…". Verse 11 says "…we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose…". In verse 12, Paul states "we (Jews) who were the first to hope in Christ…”. These verses speak very clearly to "we" and "us" being "predestined" and "adoption". Verse 13 is then both a pivotal and transitional statement that starts with "In Him, you (Gentiles) also…" and then goes on to state "you (Gentiles) were sealed in Him". "You" is continued to be the referenced pronoun in verses 14-18. The writer believes Paul is making a definite distinction between the Jews who were "predestined" and "adopted" and the Gentiles to whom our heavenly Father was graciously extending the benefits of that "inheritance". That the terms predestination and adoption may apply only to the Jews will be further examined in the subsequent portion of this paper.

This theme usage of "we/us" and "you" is continued on in Ephesians 2:10-22:

(10) For we (Jews) are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. (11) Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called "Uncircumcision" by the so-called "Circumcision," {which is} performed in the flesh by human hands--(12) {remember} that you (Gentiles) were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. (13)But now in Christ Jesus you (Gentiles) who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. (14) For He Himself is our (both Jews and Gentiles) peace, who made both {groups into} one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, (15) by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, {which is} the Law of commandments {contained} in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, {thus} establishing peace, (16) and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. (17) AND HE CAME AND PREACHED PEACE TO YOU (the Gentiles) WHO WERE FAR AWAY, AND PEACE TO THOSE (the Jews) WHO WERE NEAR; (18) for through Him we both (Jews and Gentiles) have our access in one Spirit to the Father. (19) So then you (Gentiles) are no longer strangers and aliens, but you (Gentiles)are fellow citizens with the saints (believing Jews), and are of God's household, (20) having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner {stone} (21) in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, (22) in whom you also (the Gentiles) are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. (NAU)

It should be very evident from Ephesians 2:11 that the “you” being referred applies only to the Gentiles. Of that there can be no mistake. This, the writer believes is key to the identify of the “you” in Chapter 1.

Paul strongly identifies himself as an Israelite in the Scriptures and establishes the fact that the Israelites were “forekown” before the foundation of the world as illustrated by the following verses from the Bible:

2 Cor 11:12-13, 22-23: (12) But what I am doing I will continue to do, so that I may cut off opportunity from those (Jews) who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the matter about which they are boasting. (13) For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. … (22) Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. (23) Are they servants of Christ?-- I speak as if insane-- I more so…". (NAU) (Please note that Paul identifies his fellow Jews as false apostles, deceitful workers who disguise themselves as apostles)

Phil 3:3-5: (3) for we (Jews) are the {true} circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh, (4) although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: (5) circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee… (NAU)

Rom 11:1-2, 5-6: (1) I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. (2) God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew… (5) In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a (Jewish) remnant according to {God's} gracious choice. (6) But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace. (NAU) (Note that verse 2 establishes whom God foreknew in this instance…that is the Israelites.)

Paul thus emphasizes his Jewish heritage and writes about God's sovereignty and His work both in and through Israel. God, in His sovereignty, "chose" and "predestinated" Israel. Israel alone, was chosen to the adoption as Paul writes in Romans 9:4, "who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons of glory…". Israel, "His people whom he foreknew" had the promise of the adoption. Modern day teachers who teach other than this do a great disservice to believers and non-believers alike. They interpret this to mean God created certain men (and women) who are predestined and adopted (and conversely those who are not) to apply to any man, be he Jew or Gentile, in any generation, for all of time. The Scripture simply does not support this interpretation viewpoint.

The eager longing and expectation by Israel for their adoption can be further understood by looking backward into the Book of Isaiah. The Jews were looking for their Redeemer and Messiah and the New Covenant world as promised by God in the Scriptures. Paul expressed this desire when he wrote in Romans 8:22-23:

,Ul>(22) For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. (23) And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for {our} adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. (NAU)

The keys in this Scripture are "creation", "also we (we also)", and "{our} adoption". Better insight is gained into what Paul is alluding to by reading from the book of Isaiah 26:17-18:

(17) As the pregnant woman approaches {the time} to give birth, she writhes {and} cries out in her labor pains, thus were we before you, O LORD. (18) We were pregnant, we writhed {in labor} we gave birth, as it seems, {only} to wind. We could not accomplish deliverance for the earth, nor were inhabitants of the world born. (NAU)

The writer believes that in verse 17 that the Bible writer is using the "pregnant woman" as an image of Old Covenant Judaism. In verse 18, the writer uses "we" to discuss how the Old Covenant Jews experience of trying to obtain righteousness under the Old Testament Law paralleled that of the pain of child birth and yet "could not accomplish deliverance" because their outward acts only "gave birth… to wind". Under the Old Covenant there was never to be any redemption through acts of the flesh, the practice of the Law. Not so with New Covenant, where by grace and faith, redemption was forthcoming. This gives meaning to Paul's writing in Romans 8:22-23 when he said "the whole creation groans and suffers the pain of childbirth…until now". Israel was seeking deliverance it did not have and could not have under the Old Covenant Law. The seeds of the new church had been planted by Jesus, who is the second Adam. Paul says they (Jewish believers) had the " first fruits" of the Spirit. Paul goes on in verse 23 saying that Jewish believers in Christ identify with the groaning described in Isaiah saying "we groan" and are "waiting eagerly for {our} adoption as sons, the redemption of our body". Paul and the Jewish believers were the first fruits of that new labor whose goal and purpose was "adoption" as sons, as children, "the redemption of our body". Recall in Romans 9:4 that the "adoption" belonged to Israel.

Note: Though not intended to be part of this study, the writer would like to point out that the NIV version of the end of Romans 8:23is translated "redemption of our bodies". Some teach that this refers to the redemption of our physical bodies at the resurrection. The KJV, NASB, and NAU all translate this in the singular to be the "redemption of our body". Paul, in previous sections of Romans refers to the "mortal body" to help us understand what kind of body he is talking about, which is in those cases appear to be the physical body of a man. Paul is not doing that here. In Ephesians 1:14, Paul writes about the "redemption of {God's own} possession". In verse 22, Paul defines that "possession" as being "the church, which is His body". Physical bodies are not the object of the redemption spoken of in Romans 8:23. It should be noted that the literal interpretation of the Greek in this verse is "the redemption of the body of us".

The concept of predestination in Ephesians 1 is continued in Romans 8:29-30:

(29) For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined {to become} conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; (30) and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. (NAU)

Romans 11:1-2 defines "whom He foreknew":

(1)I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be!… (2) God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. (NAU).

The writer suggests that the above Scripture in Romans 8:22-23 again applies to the Jews only. A careful reading of Romans 8:3 should convince the reader. It says "For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh (Old Covenant practices), God did…". The Law had been given by God to the Jews only, not the Gentiles. The Gentiles had no knowledge of the Law. Therefore Paul is discussing God's foreknowledge of the people He predestined, the people He foreknew, that is, Israel. Paul says as much in Romans 11:1-2:

(1) I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. (2) God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. (NAU).

Paul again reinitiates this same theme in Galatians 4:4-5:

(4) But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, (5) so that He might redeem those who were under the Law (Jews), that we (Jews) might receive the adoption as sons. (NAU)

The first chapter of Ephesians is often used to look down through time to say that some of all mankind is saved and some are predestined to be lost based on God's choice. The writer contends fortunately that is not the case. That concept has nothing to do with the text matter in Ephesians 1. Paul is speaking of God's purpose in Israel in choosing Israel to be His elect through which He will be a light to the Gentiles. Paul emphasizes this in verse 12 of that chapter by writing "we (Jews) who were the first to hope in Christ". The reader should ask himself or herself the question "Who first trusted in Christ?" The Scripture abounds with the answer. As an example, in Acts 3:26:

(26) "For you (Jews) first, God raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one {of you} from your wicked ways." (NAU)

Paul again echoes this theme in Romans 15:8:

For I say that Christ has become a servant to the circumcision on behalf of the truth of God to confirm the promises {given} to the fathers, … (NAU).

He continues in Acts 13:46:

And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, and said, "It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you (Jews) first: since you repudiate it, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. (NASB)

These support the transitional statement Paul makes in Ephesians 1:13 when he wrote "In Him, you (Gentiles) also…". Paul is addressing a different audience, which are the Ephesian Gentiles.

Paul is clearly saying God predestined Israel as the instrument through which He would call all men to Himself. Isaiah 49:6 bears this out:

He says, "It is too small a thing that you should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make you a light of the nations so that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth." (NAU)

In conclusion, Israel was the elect vessel through whom Jesus would come to offer salvation to every single person. This is a great difference between the traditional teaching on election (some saved by God, some damned never to have a choice). God's grace is more merciful than man's teachings on this subject. That is the essence of the Kingdom. God's grace through Jesus was ordained before the foundation of the world as stated in 1 Peter 1:17-21:

(17) If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay {on earth;} (18) knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, (19) but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, {the blood} of Christ. (20) For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you (21) who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. (NAU)

Note: A tape on Predestination in Ephesians 1 is available from Don K. Preston, 615 3rd N.W., Ardmore, OK 73401. Please contact him for the price of the tape.


Jim Nicolosi © Copyright 2003-