Many of us have experienced a time where we are left reaping the benefits of a bad decision that has caused us to lose a lot of money. In these instances, you tend to kick yourself quite hard and consider thoroughly what on earth you were thinking. Regretting a business venture or a transaction is nothing new. I purchased a vehicle that broke down after 9 months of ownership and continued to break down every few weeks thereafter. But sometimes financial woes come, not so much from a bad business decision or a regrettable purchase, but by going against the grain. This is especially true in our day. We are living in a time when your morals may get you fired or bankrupt your business. Unlike in the olden days (even 10 years ago), you may be forced to pick a side on the truth scale, and you may find yourself broke and living with mom & dad. More and more companies, educational establishments and even our government representatives are looking to impose their sense of morality upon our society. If you don’t conform to these standards well then you may need to be prepared to starve.
The old saying in Ecclesiastes is that there is nothing new under the sun and rest assured, there isn’t. In the 1st Century when the original followers of Jesus Christ entered the cities of Asia Minor, their exclusive message of the resurrection of the Messiah Jesus and the proclamation of Him as Lord over all wasn’t winning them any popularity contests. In fact, it lead to them being hung as candles and fed to lions. Those nice pagan idol salesmen, especially in Ephesus, weren’t going to tolerate losing a lot of money because these Jewish fanatics were preaching a monotheistic gospel. In those days, there were trade guilds that you were required to join, kind of like our unions today. To be a part of these guilds, you needed to participate in the worship to the God of your trade. To decline this false worship was to forfeit your career. These believers were faced with a tremendously tough decision to either go with the flow of participating in the worship or stay faithful to the message of the gospel. Those who are facing these choices in 2025 may be encouraged by the words of the apostles to these churches.
The Text
In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory. (Ephesians 1:11-14)
An Unbiased Richness
To encourage these believers to persevere, Paul emphasizes on the wealth that they received in Christ. He moves to a message on their inheritance and the outcome of their adoption as sons. The authenticity of a sonship by adoption generally came in the form of the individual’s right to claim the inheritance from their father. Christians are heirs to the promises of God and the sphere by which we receive this inheritance is in Him. We are the recipients of this inheritance not the initiators. We are not inheritors because of what we’ve done or do we have any claim to it because of a birth right. You’ll find that the term “obtained”, in most lexicons, is defined as to choose by lots or to cast lots. It has been linked with the term election so that in this context, it doesn’t mean so much that we have received an inheritance but that we are the inheritance. Some translate this “we were made a heritage” to convey this idea more clearly. This understanding does seem to fit with the rest of v.11 whereas this heritage is through divine predestination.
The Predestined Benefaction
In a previous post, we established that the term predestined (προορισας) refers to a decision made beforehand but should also be considered in terms of our destinies being established prior to the foundation of the world. The term is used exclusively of an act of God towards others (Romans 8:28-30; 1 Corinthians 2:7; Ephesians 1:11; Acts 4:28). This act of predestination wasn’t based upon some blind, random outcome but according to His purpose. God enacted the destiny of an individual with the intent upon a very specific outcome. The destiny that the believers in Asia Minor in the 1st century and those in the 21st Century are based upon the same principle. If you are a believer in Christ, stand firm in Him, you are rich, and your inheritance is assured because it was established by God before you were even born. Paul furthers this notion by describing God as one who works all things after the counsel of His will. Who can defeat the will of God!
To What End?
God’s choice was intended for His own glory. Much like we saw in a previous verse, God’s intention was to be lauded for His glorious acts. The first ones to hope in Christ were of Jewish descent chosen as a new Israel to exercise a heavenly worship on this earth for the blessings they’d received through His Son Jesus Christ.
A Sidetrack on Pronouns
Now, I’m going to apologize because I need to take a rabbit trail into some intricacies, and I hope not to confuse you too much. The careful reader will notice that there is a switch here in the pronoun “we” (1st pers plural) to the latter “You” (2nd pers plural) in v. 13 from the pronoun “us” (3rd pers plural). The whole point in mentioning this is that some have argued that there is no need to see a variation in recipient of blessing here. The “us”, “we” and “you” are taken for all believers. Yet others see Paul’s switch in pronouns as focusing firstly on the remnant Jewish believers and then in v.14 and following he directs his attention upon the Gentile believers. I would exercise caution in attempting to divide what Paul will argue later as having been united (2:11-22). We shouldn’t think in terms that those of Jewish descent are predestined and elected while those of Gentile roots are not. Both are said to be an inheritance (v.11 & v14) and in return are recipients of all these blessings.
What was predestined in v.5 was our adoption as sons but in this instance, the predestination has as its purpose that Paul’s countrymen who were chosen (Romans 1:16; 2:10) would be to the praise of His glory. We shouldn’t limit this to Jews only. Whether you are a man, woman, of whatever ethnicity and whatever your occupation, if you are in Christ, then you are predestined as a son.
Hearing & Believing
The believing Jews and Gentiles in Asia Minor received a most marvellous heavenly blessing that as Christians today we can experience. To receive that blessing begins with hearing the message of truth and then believing it. This word of truth is elsewhere identified as the gospel (Colossians 1:5). But prior to believing the good news, there needed to be a hearing of the great message of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ conveyed (Romans 10:14-17). In other instances, the message of truth is referred to as “the word of God” (Acts 13:7,44; 1 Thessalonians 2:13) and the word of the Lord (Acts 19:10; 1 Thessalonians 1:8; 2 Thessalonians 3:1). The message of truth here is defined as the gospel of your salvation. Not only did they need to hear it in an audible sense, but they were required to believe it spiritually, and they did! The focal message of the New Testament is this gospel and for someone to obtain the benefits of redemption and the forgiveness of sins, this message needs to be received. Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6) and Gentiles may do the same by believing in the Son. The faith that is foundational to our salvation comes to us by God as a gift (Ephesians 2:8-9) that ultimately was granted to us (Philippians 1:29), a faith that is allocated to those who were appointed to eternal life (Acts 13:48). This faith is to be exercised and results in eternal life (John 3:16; 3:36) and the faith that we hold fast (1 Corinthians 15:3).
The Guarantee in the Seal
But how can I know it’s all worth it? What’s the guarantee that these things will come about and that my taking a stand is not in vain? To answer these questions, we must look at the result of the hearing and believing. Paul uses the expression sealed referring to the sealing with the Holy Spirit of promise. The promised Holy Spirit was a blessing of Abraham that was to come to the Gentiles through faith (Galatians 3:24). A seal was a mark that conveyed ownership of that which bore the mark. The Holy Spirit was the identifying factor that they were children of Abraham and in return the true children of God. This was the promise of Ezekiel that this spirit would be poured out and would grow into a flourished garden (Ezekiel 47:1-12; John 7:37-39) which was poured out for Jew and Gentile (Isaiah 44:3; 1 Corinthians 12:13).
Valued Above All Else
Remaining faithful in a society or an industry that has forsaken God and His people is never without its challenges and anxieties. It creates uncertainty of status and especially financial ambiguity. This is precisely why we as believers need to make sure we place our heart upon the valuation of our faith and the blessings and riches that God has provided. To continue being loyal to God, we need to both see His value as our God, and also the nature of the riches which He’s bestowed upon us. If your paycheque becomes more valuable than Jesus, then you will serve mammon, not Yahweh. We must remind ourselves often that if you have heard the gospel and believed it, we are marked with this spirit and in return you can be sure that you are a son. It is like your birth certificate that you take with you to open your father’s will. This is your destiny, and no one can take this hope away from you. Walk in this world as a son of the most high and as an inheritor of the promises. Share this hope with others and stand firm for all that is righteous. There will come a day when you see with your own eyes just how worth it this stance was.
The Moncton Herald 