Ephesians 1:5, commentary and pictures

God purposed from eternity that sinful human beings should become His own children by adoption through Jesus Christ, according to His own loving will. Before the earth was laid this covenant was made and provision was prepared, that all who through the grace provided become holy and blameless in love should be received as His sons and daughters rather than perish in disobedience. This predestination is not to a favored few but to everyone who will come, for the elect are those who accept Christ as personal Saviour, return to loyalty and full obedience, and surrender all to Him. Adoption rests wholly on God's grace and Christ's redeeming blood and suffering, not on human merit, works, or feeling, and is received by faith by those who come for pardon. Those so adopted are accepted as Christ is accepted, made one with Christ as He is one with the Father, blessed with every spiritual blessing, given redemption, forgiveness, and an inheritance, and called to live as one holy family in humble obedience.

Wording and Context

God purposed beforehand that people should become His children by adoption through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, and thus belong to Him. This foreordination makes believers His sons, connected with His work and standing as adopted sons in His churches and institutions, seeking Him with the whole heart as a present help in every time of need. The adoption belongs to the plan of redemption and to grace freely offered to fallen humanity, giving those who receive it privilege, hope, and confidence.

Paul received many revelations, and his judgment formed under the teaching of the Holy Spirit is reliable, while the knowledge he imparts is pure, elevating, and ennobling. The whole first chapter of Ephesians contains precious instruction for every soul, setting forth blessing with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, choosing in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and without blame before Him in love, predestination to adoption as children by Jesus Christ to Himself according to the good pleasure of His will, acceptance in the Beloved to the praise of the glory of His grace, redemption through His blood and forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace abounding in all wisdom and prudence, the making known of the mystery of His will to gather together in one all things in Christ, and the obtaining of an inheritance.

The verse states one of the privileges of the Christian. It is full of assurance to those striving for the eternal kingdom, holding a personal message and divine promise to be studied and claimed in all its depth and fullness by the truly converted through faith in God's power, rather than by leaning on the arm of the law and trusting worldly powers. It belongs to a chapter to be studied to understand believers' place in God's purpose and their responsibility as His workmanship.

The verse is part of the order of the Lord for His work. That order requires zeal, fervor, and energy in saving souls ready to perish, but forbids consuming all time and means in one line of work while the work for God's vineyard as a whole is neglected. Faithful work keeps proportion and avoids disproportion and wrong lines.

Eternal Covenant Plan

Before the foundations of the earth were laid a covenant was made that all who are obedient should be adopted as children of God by Jesus Christ. Predestination means that God purposed from eternity that all who through the abundant grace provided become holy in character and without blame before Him in love, by appropriating that grace, should be His children according to the good pleasure of His will. The covenant thus promised adoption to those who obey and, by accepting God's abundant grace, become holy and blameless in character.

This covenant made from eternity was given to Abraham nineteen hundred years before Christ came, while those who hold it as hundreds of years before Christ came place it in the same eternal frame. Christ in humanity studied the human race with interest and intensity to see if they would avail themselves of the provision offered.

The provision was made in heaven so that transgressors could, through faith in Christ as their substitute and surety, become God's adopted children rather than perish in disobedience. Through Christ's suffering people may become children of God by adoption.

Election and Its Conditions

Predestination to adoption as children through Jesus Christ is not limited to a few but extends to all who will come to the heavenly banquet prepared by sending the Son to die in their behalf. No walls are built to keep any living soul from salvation, and wonderful possibilities are provided for everyone who has faith in Christ, through which faith they become one with God. The praise and glory of His grace, power, and wisdom is seen in this effectual salvation of a peculiar people chosen from among men.

The predestined are the obedient, predestined from the foundation of the world. The predestination spoken of includes all who will accept Christ as a personal Saviour, who will return to loyalty and to perfect obedience to all God's commandments. All who are willing to be saved by Christ are the elect of God.

Election is in Christ, and the elect are those who respond to Christ's drawing by God's mercy. Anyone who humbly receives and obeys God's word with childlike simplicity belongs among His obedient children. God planned beforehand to receive those who love Jesus as His own, loving them and pitying every weakness, and He will strengthen and bless those who trust Him. Adoption is connected with receiving Christ and believing in His name, to display the glory of His grace in acceptance in Christ with redemption and forgiveness through His blood. Through faith the repenting soul is lifted to share the adoption of God's children. Adoption into the family of God comes to those who receive the truth and surrender to Christ all that they have and are, because Christ can unite only with those who will unite with Him.

God wills the salvation of all and has provided a ransom through His Son, with provision made in heaven so that transgressors through faith in Christ as substitute and surety may become adopted children rather than perish in disobedience. Those who perish do so by refusing adoption through Christ. Human pride can keep people from accepting salvation. Human merit, works, and emotional experiences or strong feelings cannot make anyone acceptable to God or prove that they are chosen. Acceptance comes through Christ's imparted grace received by faith, for God chooses people in Christ, and adoption is not earned by human worth or prior love for God or by a righteousness people make for themselves but rests on God's gift and free grace.

God wants every child of tender age to be His child by adoption into His family. Even the very young may be members of the household of faith with a most precious experience. Their tender hearts are ready to receive lasting impressions, and their hearts are drawn out in confidence and love for Jesus, living for the Saviour.

Grace Through Christ

Adoption as children through Jesus Christ rests wholly on God's grace and Christ's redemption, not on human merit or any righteousness people make for themselves, and it belongs to the plan of redemption and the riches of grace freely offered to fallen humanity. It is received through Christ's merits by those who come to Him for pardon and accept God's grace, with grace to help human weakness. This election is in Christ, for those who respond to His drawing and humbly receive and obey God's word become His obedient children, and through Christ believers receive the privileges, hope, and confidence God provides. It is not earned by human worth or prior love for God, but belongs to the gift of grace made possible by Christ.

Christ gave Himself to redeem people from sin, providing redemption through His blood, forgiveness of sins according to the riches of grace, and the promise of eternal life. He came to save sinners from their sins, not to leave them in them, so that those who come for pardon are saved from sin and their obedience as God's children follows from the grace and ransom provided. This adoption belongs together with God's purpose to make them holy and blameless, and with the grace by which they are accepted in Christ.

Adoption was ordained by grace in the covenant, according to God's will, and grace through the Saviour brings redemption and regeneration and makes the adopted children heirs with Christ, heirs with Jesus Christ.

Adoption is an expression of immense love, for God planned beforehand to receive those who love Jesus as His own, giving believers who believe in Jesus not a lesser place but the standing of God's own sons and daughters. He loves them and pities every weakness, and He will certainly strengthen and bless them if they will only trust Him. It would not satisfy the heart of the infinite God to give those who love His Son any less blessing than He gives His Son, but they are accepted in Christ and included in the spiritual blessings, redemption, and forgiveness surrounding this purpose.

Privileges of Adopted Children

Through Jesus Christ those who believe are accepted as God's own children, and the voice that spoke to Jesus at the Jordan, declaring divine love and delight, assures every believer of the same love and acceptance. Jesus stands as the representative of humanity, so His glory before the Father is the pledge of God's love toward those adopted in Him. This adoption belongs together with being blessed with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ, being chosen in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and without blame before Him in love, and being made accepted in the Beloved to the praise of the glory of His grace. It belongs together with having redemption through His blood and forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace, having the mystery of His will made known according to His good pleasure to gather all things in Christ, and obtaining an inheritance.

Adoption is part of God's gracious purpose to make believers holy and blameless, to accept them in Christ, and to bring praise to His glorious grace. It expresses His immense love, for those who believe in Jesus are given no lesser place but the full standing of sons and daughters, included in the spiritual blessings, redemption, and forgiveness set forth around it. It is a divine promise and assurance to be studied and claimed in all its depth and fullness by the truly converted through faith in God's power, rather than by leaning on the arm of the law or trusting worldly powers. Because God thus predestined men and women to adoption by Jesus Christ to Himself according to the good pleasure of His will, every human being is of consequence with God.

The verse opens a wonderful possibility of fullness for every follower of Christ, nothing less than receiving the very character Christ revealed, as Christ asks the Father to bestow it on those who believe in Him. It is God's will that believers be so thoroughly identified with His Son by faith that they are one with Christ as Christ is one with the Father, with entire soul, body, and spirit bound up with Christ in God. By accepting Christ as personal Saviour a person is brought into the same close relation to God and enjoys the same special favor and love with which Christ Himself is loved by the Father. Such a one is honored and glorified and intimately associated with God, with life hid with Christ in God, and shares Christ's glory, which is Christ's character, including His peace and joy.

Grasping this great gospel blessing of a place as children in God's family, with all spiritual blessings in Christ, holiness without blame in love, acceptance in the Beloved, and redemption and forgiveness, calls for dying to self, living to God, and following in the footsteps of Christ. Its truth is to work in the heart as a reforming power in keeping with God's gracious purpose. Those thus chosen to be His children belong to Him because bought at an infinite price, and therefore should trust the assurances of Jesus Christ rather than give priority to the enemy's suggestions.

Living as Family Members

Adoption through Jesus Christ is received through His merits by those who come to Him for pardon and accept grace, and those who so receive it are saved from their sins rather than left to remain in them, with their obedience as children following from the grace and ransom provided. Those who receive this standing are marked by humble, willing obedience, by separation from worldly affections and lust, and by holy character, and mere profession does not identify anyone as a child of God.

This adoption establishes divine kinship in which God is Father and His people are brothers and sisters, binding them to God and to one another as one family without walls of separation, and those who share it are to honor their Father and treat one another with tenderness and respect. Those who believe join themselves to Christ and become members of His body in the heavenly family, working with Christ and owned and accepted by Him, and as His servants they are to wear His badge by letting His tender love be seen in helpful lives instead of criticizing or hindering fellow believers. Those who introduce strife and dissension into the church must answer to Christ for the evil results of their course. Through this adoption men and women are given every advantage of the Saviour's power and redeeming love and are made one family bound up with Christ in God, and true, sanctified philosophy makes all human elements in Christ Jesus one and builds no wall between a person and his fellow man, in contrast to false philosophy that is proud, partial, and exclusive, favoring only a few, awakening little sympathy for the lowly, and having no power or disposition to uplift them.

This standing as adopted sons is to be the condition of men placed in churches and institutions, who are to seek God with the whole heart, and He will be to them a present help in every time of need. This gift of grace through Christ's suffering, by which people may become children by adoption, is worth more than wealth or fine clothing and calls for God, not self, to be the object of supreme regard. God desires every child of tender age to be His child by adoption, and even the young may be members of the household of faith with a precious experience, tender hearts ready to receive lasting impressions, and hearts drawn in confidence and love for Jesus. Small as well as older children are benefited by simplifying the plan of salvation, the Holy Spirit impresses the lessons upon receptive minds so they grasp Bible truth in its simplicity, the Lord gives them an experience in missionary lines and suggests to them lines of thought their teachers did not have, Christ makes them little missionaries, and the whole current of their thoughts may be changed so that sin appears not as a thing to be enjoyed but to be hated and shunned.