Why preach on the doctrine of predestination and election? The short answer is because it is in the Bible! Twice in Ephesians 1 , the word “predestined” appears (vs. 5, 11). Paul is not ashamed of the doctrine; quite the contrary, he praises God for this “glorious grace” (vs. 6).

In Paul’s farewell discourse to the Ephesians elders, he defended his apostolic ministry with these words: “For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27).

The whole counsel of God. Including doctrines that make you bend the knee before the Lord even if it means it breaks your brain. Some ignore the doctrine. Some “yeah but” the doctrine to death. Yet, at the end of the day, you have to actually interpret Ephesians 1.

Here is my (somewhat expanded) sermon entitled “The Father’s Purpose” from Ephesians 1:4-6.

I begin by answering FOUR COMMON OBJECTIONS to the doctrine of predestination & election before delving into the main text of the sermon.

When you open the apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, gone is the hard-driving contentiousness of Galatians or the myriad of sticky holiness issues of 2nd Corinthians. In Ephesians, the vision is grand, the theology is stirring, and the prayers are beautiful. Ephesians is like theology set to a majestic score of music: gospel truth that sings and praises and prays.

Ephesians is theology on bended knee with practical implications for living.

Paul’s letters typically begin with greetings and blessings, followed by with prayers of thanksgiving and intercession, before delving into the main teaching part of the letter.  Ephesians is different. Paul’s theological ideas (1:3-3:21) are woven into the very fabric of prayer:

• The initial benediction (1:3-14) reflects upon the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit’s purposes in the lives of believers.

• The prayer of thanksgiving and intercession (1:15-23) highlights gospel truths of our glorious inheritance and Christ’s exaltation as the Lord and Head of the Church, then Paul reminds us of the benefits of grace (2:1-10) and of both Jew and Gentile living together as united and reconciled people (2:11-22).

• At 3:1, Paul resumes his prayer but suddenly interrupts himself again (you aren’t the only one!) to revel in the mystery of the gospel which calls forth the church and his own role in God’s plan (3:2-13).

• Paul finally closes his prayer (3:14-19) with intercession for believers to experience the breadth and length and height and depth of Christ’s unsurpassed love before closing with a memorable doxology (3:20-21). And that’s only the first three chapters!

As the desert monk Evagrius said, “The one who prays is a theologian; the one who is a theologian, prays.” Paul would have agreed!  

EPHESIANS at a GLANCE:

Ephesians can be laid out simply:

The Wealth (chapters 1-3)

The Walk (chapters 4-5)

The Warfare (chapter 6:10ff)

PRISON EPISTLE

Ephesians is one of the four “Prison Epistles” of Paul (along with Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon):

“For this reason, I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles” (3:1).

  “I therefore, a prison for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called” (4:1).

“For which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it [the gospel] boldly, as I ought to speak” (6:20).

Paul wrote Ephesians (probably in 62 AD) from a Roman jail, often reminding his readers of his predicament.  

Paul in Ephesus in the Book of Acts

Paul spent two occasions in the city of Ephesus in the book of Acts. His first stint (52 AD) was brief (Acts 18:18-21). Paul’s second stay in Ephesus (53-56 AD) saw him engaging in highly fruitful ministry (Acts 19:1-41; Acts 20:17-38) for over two years:

“And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and evil spirits came out of them” (Acts 19:11-12). Extraordinary indeed!

The ministry was so fruitful that people broke in mass with the Ephesian obsession with magic and the occult. New believers brought their magic books to be burned in the public square. Luke records that the early church counted the price of books: 50,000 pieces of silver (Acts 19:19), equivalent to 50,000 days of wages! A massive movement to Christ was taking place that challenged the prevailing cultural truths of the day.

The sales of silver dropped dramatically! Sales of little dolls of Artemis plummeted in the city. One silversmith by the name of Demetrius was so incensed that he stirred up a riot and the whole city was thrown into confusion and chanted “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” (Acts 19:23-34) The gospel always confronts the harmful, hurtful, and untruthful ideologies of man.

In Acts 20:17, Paul stopped at Miletus (30 miles to the north of Ephesus) and bid farewell to the Ephesian elders for the final time in a moving and heartfelt speech warning the church of “fierce wolves” (Acts 20:29) but also reminding the elders that he did not “shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27).

As a personal note, my own mentor, Rev. David Bridgman, on his death bed in a hospital in Orlando a few years ago, read this verse over my own life moments before his death: “And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified” (Acts 20:32). Like the Ephesian elders, it was a moment I will never forget.

Ephesus, the Great City

Ephesus lay 4 km inland from the Aegean Sea on the west coast of modern Turkey. Outside of Rome and Athens, Ephesus was the 3rd most important city in the Roman Empire, boasting a population of 250,000 and sitting along the largest trading route uniting the Eastern and Western parts of the Roman Empire. Ephesus boasted the largest building in the known world, the famous temple of Artemis, which was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The Temple of Artemis (the goddess of sexual fertility) was four-times as big as the Parthenon in Athens and bigger than any modern-day football field, which is one reason why Paul probably used a temple-analogy to describe the church:

“…Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord” (2:20).

Ephesus was also obsessed with magic, the occult, and demons, which is why Paul spoke about cosmic principalities and powers and Christ’s lordship over them (“for we do not wrestle with flesh and blood, but…against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” 6:12). Paul was adamant: Christ is the exalted Lord seated at the right hand of God “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion” (1:21).

Themes of the Letter

• Our Identity “in Christ”. Paul uses the words “in Christ” or its equivalent 36 times in the letter. Believers are united to the exalted Lord who is the Christ. The precisely grammarly construction “in the heavenly places” is not found elsewhere in Paul but in Ephesians occurs five times (1:3; 20; 2:6; 3:10; 6:12). Believers have been blessed in Christ “with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (1:3) and are seated with Christ “in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (2:6) where Christ reigns triumphant over all earthly powers. Our identity is united to a powerful and exalted Christ! In addition, pay close attention to the Pauline phrase “all things” (1:10, 11, 23; 3:9; 4:10, 15; 5:13). Whether Christ’s rule extends over creation, salvation, or the coming consummation, Christ’s dominion extends over “all things” in the cosmos.  

• The Unity in the Gospel for the People of God. A spiritual fellowship unites believers to one another. The word ekklesia (the church) occurs nine times in Ephesians (1:22, 3:10, 21; 5:23, 24, 25, 27, 29, 32); Paul’s favorite images of the church include “the body of Christ” (1:22-23; cf. 2:16; 4:4, 12, 16; 5:23, 30), “the holy temple” (2:22; cf. 1 Cor. 3:16-17), and the “bride of Christ” (5:21-33) – all images which connect the body intimately and spiritually to its head who is Christ.

  As I never tire of saying: “Christ is the Head of the Christ”. Therefore, “All ministry is Christ’s ministry” -- Christ always gets all the glory in His church (“to the praise of His glory”, 1:12, 14, cf. 1:6).

Other themes include: Putting on the new self in Christ in thoughts, motivations, words, and deeds while putting off sinful habits; engaging in a spiritual battle in our pilgrim calling; walking in manner worthy of our identity in holiness and love.

In short, Ephesians is filled with gospel truths for gospel living!

1.     Having “The Talk” about the Birds & the Bees with Teenagers?

Tim Keller’s The Meaning of Marriage has an excellent chapter on “Sex & Marriage”. For Christian parents, “The Birds & the Bees” talk is more than simple biology; there is a theological and biblical aspect to passing down the Christian sexual ethic which doesn’t simplistically stigmatize sex as “dirty & bad” but rather beautifully acknowledges the “goodness & glory” of sex within the framework of the covenantal relationship of marriage between one man and one woman.

You can download that chapter here.

2.     What about married couples struggling with sex?

For many Christians, sex is an aspect of our humanity that needs redemption: past sexual abuse, rape, pornography, adultery, shame, and unrequited love (just to name a few) complicate the beauty and goodness of sex for many. Some Christians raised in a legalistic church have a difficult time celebrating the beauty and passion of sex with disastrous results for their marriage.

Mike Mason’s The Mystery of Marriage is a delightfully profound and moving book on marriage. I highly recommend it!

His chapter on sex is a beautiful treatment of sex because sex represents not simply a physical union of two bodies but also reveals deep spiritual truths -- sex is sacred ground.

You can download that chapter here.

3.     What about homosexuality?

Kevin DeYoung’s What Does the Bible Really Teach about Homosexuality? is a simple and short read about an important topic for Christians in the 21st century. At less than 150 pages, you will discover what the Bible says about homosexuality from the Old Testament into the New Testament.

DeYoung also anticipates several objections that Christians will hear in today’s world in holding to a biblical worldview and the historic, orthodox view on human sexuality.

You can buy the book on amazon. 

4.     What about Biblical Masculinity & Biblical Femininity?

Most Christian books on masculinity and femininity only delve into “roles in the church”. Larry Crabb’s Fully Alive: A Biblical Vision of Gender that Frees Men and Women to Live Beyond Stereotypes is a lonely exception to that general rule.

Dr. Crabb delves into the relationality of biblical masculinity and biblical femininity in ways that are deeply penetrating for relating as gendered image bearers to the glory of God. Prepare to be changed!

You can buy the book on amazon. 

In Case You Missed it….

5.     This Cultural Moment: A Sermon

How did Jesus engage the various political parties of his day? How does the “Genesis Blueprint” of God creating male and female in his image (Gen. 1:26-28) speak to our cultural moment where transgenderism is being celebrated? 

In the first sermon in the series “God’s Design, Our Bodies, and This Cultural Moment”, I give a few opening thoughts on gender in today’s world while clearing the necessary “space” to have the conversation in the first place.

You can download the written sermon here.

6.     How Did We Get to the Point in our Society where Transgenderism is Being Celebrated?

That is the question Carl Trueman sets out to answer in the form of an intellectual history in his book The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution.

“The Triumph of the T” can be summarized in three movements:

i.  Psychologize the Self: “I am what I feel.”

ii. Sexualize the Psychology: “I am what I feel sexually.”

iii. Politicize the Sexuality: “I will cancel you if you don’t celebrate my sexualized identity.”

You can download the 5-Session Discussion Guide here: “God’s Design, Our Bodies, and this Cultural Moment”.

We are living in a cultural moment where “everything is political” and where “sex has become politicized”. How do Christians respond? In this sermon, I propose a framework for a winsome and wise cultural engagement that goes beyond modern divisive politics.

How did Jesus engage the various political parties of his day? How does the “Genesis Blueprint” of God creating male and female in his image (Gen. 1:26-28) speak to our cultural moment where transgenderism is being celebrated?

What were the unique identifying features of the Early Church that wooed and wowed the entire Mediterranean world for the Cause of Christ? Considering that the Roman Empire was hostile to Christianity and propagated moral and sexual ethics that were vastly different than the church, the Early Church’s countercultural stance was nonetheless attractive to the masses.

Moderns tend to think that relevance makes Christianity attractive. What the Early Church experienced was that being counter-cultural, especially over and against a culture that was deeply flawed and deeply fallen, was itself supremely attractive.

There is always an offense to the gospel. To a fallen world, the ethics downstream from the cross is always offensive.

To read the sermon in its entirety, click here: THIS CULTURAL MOMENT.

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Suffice it to say, Most of my sermons are not heavily footnoted. Yet, because of the complex nature of the discussion, I happily leaned on several scholars. I not only cite those in the footnotes out of customary acknowledgement of the source but also to give you a chance to follow up and do your own reading, if so desired.

How did the sentence "I am a woman trapped in a man's body" become such an integral part of the social fabric and cultural vernacular of the 21st century so that the sentence makes perfect sense to ordinary people in the Western world?

Carl Trueman's The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution has been called the best cultural analysis from a Protestant in 50 years.

I put together a 5-Session Discussion guide on Carl Trueman's book entitled "God’s Design, Our Bodies, and this Cultural Moment”. (Sessions #3 & #4 can be combined in one group discussion.)

If you don't have time to read Trueman (400+ pages), the 5-Session Discussion Guide will give you a good idea of some of the key components (Freudian Marxism, Emotivism, Death Works, Critical Theory) and my own thoughts on a winsome cultural engagement with transgenderism.

How did we arrive at this cultural moment where biology can be viewed as a form of tyranny to one’s psychologized identity? The intellectual trajectory which allowed our culture to arrive at “The Triumph of the T” can be summarized thus:

1. Psychologize the Self: "I am what I feel."

2. Sexualize the Psychology: "I am what I feel sexually."

3. Politicize the Sexuality: "I will cancel you if you don't celebrate my sexualized identity."

Download the 5-Session Discussion Guide here: "God’s Design, Our Bodies, and this Cultural Moment”.

9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed[a] thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:9-14)

Food for Thought:

One common misunderstanding of this very familiar parable is that Jesus is primarily talking about prayer. After all, Jesus simply describes two men and their prayers!  Yet, it is interesting to notice what Jesus does not say after the Tax Collector’s prayer. Jesus does not say, “I tell you the truth, this man went home, rather than the other, with his prayer answered.”

Rather, Jesus says, “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other.” (vs. 14a). This is a parable of salvation. Luke gives you the clue right off the bat: Jesus told the parable because some “trusted in themselves that they were righteous” (vs. 9). The language of justification and righteousness means that Jesus’ parable is playing ball in the proverbial ballfield of Salvation Park.

What does Jesus want to say about salvation? 

The parable hinges on highlighting an enormous contrast. In the first century religious world, it would be hard for a Jewish person to imagine a bigger contrast religiously than between a Pharisee and a Tax Collector. A Pharisee was the first century religious equivalent of Superman – able to leap religious buildings in a single bound. Nobody would have doubted the Pharisee’s words. Everyone would have nodded their heads in agreement: “Of course, he fasts twice a week. Of course, he gives the tithe. Of course, he’s not like all other men and the rest of us sinners. He’s God’s favorite. Just look at his life!”

And yet, the contrast is a big part of the entire point of the parable: the nature of God’s salvation is that everyone is included. Even the Tax Collector. Even the person (seemingly) furthest from the Kingdom of God is graciously invited in. That’s the nature of salvation that Jesus brings, and that’s incredibly good news to everyone who can’t possibly trust in their own righteousness or have given up (a long time ago) ever trying to be a Religious Superhero because they can point to all kinds of failures and flaws. Even the Tax Collector can go home justified.  That’s gloriously good news for broken sinners. Even the Tax Collector.

The Tax Collector prays simply. In fact, his prayer is one of the shortest prayers in the entire Bible. The entire prayer is a mere 6 words in the Greek, and 7 words in most English translations: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” Simple yet Profound. The Tax Collector stands in a long-line of biblical characters who recognize two great truths: the holiness of God and the sinfulness of man.

• Isaiah responds to the vision of God’s holiness thus: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” (Isaiah 6:5)

• Job responds to a vision of Yahweh by uttering “Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:6).

• Simon Peter falls at Jesus’ feet: “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” (Luke 5:8)

• John’s heavenly vision makes him tremble: “I fell at his feet as though dead.” (Rev. 1:17).

So too the Tax Collector.  James Montgomery Boice notices that “the Pharisees began his prayer with ‘God’. But he was not praying to God because he did not see himself as a sinner.” You can never really pray without knowing yourself to be a sinner. And that’s what Jesus wanted to say about salvation, too. You can never be saved until you recognize some really bad news: I am a sinner in need of a Savior.

Thus, the beginning and end of the Tax Collector’s prayer is instructive: the Tax Collector recognizes who he is (“a sinner”) and he recognizes who God is (“standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven”).

Yet the meat of his prayer is equally profound and magnificent: “be merciful to me”. The word translated “be merciful” is the Greek word hilastheti which is the verb form of “mercy seat” on the ark of the covenant in the Jewish temple (hilsterion) which occurs only in two places in the entire New Testament:

• Romans 3:25: whom God put forward as a propitiation (hilsterion) by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. (1 John 2:2, 4:10 use a closely related word.)

• Hebrews 9:5: Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat (hilsterion). Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

Modern English versions of the Bible would never translate the metaphor so literally because it would butcher the English language, but the tax collector’s prayer could awkwardly be translated, “be mercy-seated towards me” or “treat me as one who comes on the basis of the blood shed on the mercy seat as an offering for my sins”.[1] James Boice explains the significance:

“The ark of the covenant was a wooden box about a yard long, covered with gold, and containing the stone tablets of the law of Moses. The lid of that box was the mercy seat, constructed of pure gold and having on each end of it angels whose outstretched wings went backward and upward, almost meeting over the center of the mercy seat. Between those outstretched wings God was imagined to dwell symbolically. As it stands, the ark is a picture of judgment intended to produce dread in the worshipper through a knowledge of his or her sin. For what does God see as He looks down from between the wings of the angels? He sees the law of Moses that we have broken. He sees that he must act toward us as Judge.

But here is where the mercy seat comes in, and here is why it is called the mercy seat. Upon that covering of the ark, once a year on the Day of Atonement the high priest sprinkled blood from an animal that had been killed moments before in the courtyard of the temple. That animal was a substitute. It was an innocent victim dying in the place of the sinful people who deserved to die. Now, when God looks down from between the outstretched wings of the angels, He sees, not the law of Moses that we have broken, but the blood of the innocent victim. He sees that punishment has been meted out. Now His loves goes out in mercy to save the one who comes to Him through faith in that sacrifice.

…Not only did [the tax collector’s prayer] embody his faith in the way of salvation by sacrifice, it actually expressed the idea by its form.” 

The tax collector understood that between “God” and “me, a sinner” comes the mercy seat! Salvation always rests on God’s grace to “be mercy-seated” towards sinners. Only the mercy seat of God can atone for my sin. The apostle Paul tells you that God put forward Christ as your mercy seat which alone atones for your sins by his blood (Rom. 3:25).

What a great parable, and what an even better salvation!

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[1] Shout out to James Mongomery Boice.