Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, (4) just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, (5) having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, (6) to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. (7) In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace (8) which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, (9) having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which he purposed in Himself (10) that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are in earth – in Him. (11) In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, (12) that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. (13) In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, (14) who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

The letter to the Ephesians was written by the apostle Paul. The theme of our verses today is the election of the faithful in Christ and praise to God for His unmerited grace. God chose believers – predestined us to these blessings – and in His sovereignty is our salvation. Predestination does not imply impersonal fate but the means to decide beforehand. Gods plan was before He created the universe. There are two sentiments here: the sense of the absolute supremacy of God with the corresponding sense of dependence of man and the conviction of the entirely gratuitous nature of the benefits of redemption. This salvation is neither by chance nor by our efforts but brought about by the purpose of God. All these blessings have their source in the electing love of God. He chose us – the believers – and the key here is we are chosen in Christ. It is the purpose of God to bring His people to holiness, sonship and eternal glory. As revealed in Scripture, God intended this through a Redeemer. We were chosen in Christ. This election is from eternity – before time – therefore everything is certain. There is no possibility of failure or any change of purpose in the sovereignty of God. According to His mercy He has saved us.
This election produces confidence but also humility. In Christ we are chosen to be holy – not just externally consecrated to God. Individuals are objects of election and holiness in no form can be grounds of election; if men are chosen to be holy they cannot be chosen because they are holy. Redemption is not in ourselves – we are not self redeemed – by grace we have been saved apart from any personal merit. As sinners we had no inclination or ability to choose Christ or believe in Him.
The blessing of salvation is part of God’s eternal plan to glorify Himself. Our verses restate Paul’s teaching that salvation is the accomplishment of divine purpose and choice. In Christ there are all pervading elements of salvation and eternal divine purpose to save. Salvation is done according to the kind intention of God’s will and good pleasure apart from any personal merit but as God’s choice and will.