Hello everybody, it's me, Mr. Hall 23, back in our video. This is another video on
commonly misunderstood, twisted, misinterpreted, and misused verses in the
Bible. Today I'm going to be talking about Ephesians chapter 1 verse 4 which
says, according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. Now this verse is
incorrectly used by Calvinists in order to teach the doctrine of predestination.
The claim is that because the verse says that God has chosen us before the
foundation of the world, that somehow proves unconditional election or the
doctrine that God chose whoever is saved to be saved and that accepting the
gospel is not by our own free will. But is this what the verse is saying? No. Okay,
read it again. It says, he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the
world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. And then moving
on to verse 5 and 6 it says, having predestinated us unto the adoption of
children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his
will, to the praise of the glory of his grace wherein he hath made us
accepted in thee beloved. So what is the scripture saying? Is it saying that God
chose us to be saved before the foundation of the world? No, it's not. It's
saying that God chose those who are saved, that would be us, that they should
be holy and blameless and adopted as the children of God. That's the predestination
that's going on here. And in addition, the Bible teaches that predestination of
God is by foreknowledge. It says in Romans chapter 8 verse 29, for whom he
did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son,
that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Once again, this verse has
nothing to do with salvation, but rather our perfection as already saved
believers. Okay, God knew who was going to be saved and who wasn't going to be
saved, so therefore he destined those who would accept the gospel to be conformed
to the image of his son, or as it teaches in Ephesians chapter 1 verse 4,
that they should be the holy children of God. The Bible says in Philippians
chapter 1 verse 6, being confident of this very thing, that he which hath
begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. So is
there is there a predestination taught in the Bible? Yes. But is it that God
chooses who is saved and who isn't going to be saved? No, it's not. Okay, the Bible
says in 1st Timothy chapter 2 verse 4, for this is good and acceptable in the
sight of God our Savior, who will have all men to be saved and to come unto the
knowledge of the truth. And then in 2nd Peter chapter 3 verse 9 says, the Lord is
not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but as long
suffering to us were not willing that any should perish, but that all should
come to repentance. Okay, so if it was all based on God's will and what God chose,
then everybody would be saved. The Bible says that Jesus is the Savior of all men
especially of those that believe. The Bible says in Revelation chapter 22
verse 17, and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. So it's our
will to accept salvation, to accept the gospel. It's not by God predestinating
who's going to be saved and who's going to be damned. We can either believe or
not believe. It's our choice. We just have to make that decision.
Predestination of the Bible has nothing to do with our salvation. It has to do with
our perfection as already saved believers. So that's what Ephesians 4 or
1-4 is really teaching. So thank you everybody for watching and goodbye.