Eph. 1:4 and a note by Ben Witherington III

[Troy]

When it comes to the concept of election, Ephesians 1:4 is a passage that first comes to mind (among other passages). Some consider it to be one of the clearer passages in the New Testament speaking about election that exists during the the New Covenant age. Consequently, when discussing this biblical doctrine, Ephesians 1:4 will always be one of the first Scriptures to be discussed.

Ephesians 1:3-4
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessings in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.

Having recently checked out a book from the library by Ben Witherington (III) called The Problem With Evangelical Theology: Testing the Exegetical Foundations of Calvinism, Dispensationalism and Weslyanism, I discovered a very insightful comment by BW3 in one of his footnotes. On page 83 in the fourth chapter (Awaiting the Election Results), he notes that:

• Beginning at Ephesians 1:4, Paul talks about the concept of election. The key phrase to understanding what he means by this concept is in Him or in Christ.

In a footnote to this [53], he says:

• See the summary of usage in H. Hoehner, Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2003), 173-74. He rightly concludes that we do have the local sense here. The problem with his treatment is that he tries to impose grammatical precision on an epideitic sermon which involves the language of the heart in long, effusive sentences. This is like trying to impose mathematical precision on the meter of a poem or song. Hoehner is trying to argue that the text must mean God chose "us" before the world began because the grammatical diagram of the sentence suggests such a conclusion. As Hoehner admits, however, even Calvin seems to have agreed that God's choosing "us in Christ" means Christ is the Elect One chosen before the world began and believers are "in Him." Barth's view is of the same ilk as Calvin's.

Now there though this is only about thirty five percent of the whole note, it is nevertheless a very important observation worthy of being mentioned. Though I haven't read H. Hoehner's commentary on Ephesians, it does appear to be the same reasoning James White presented in his debate with Steve on Ephesians 1:4. In fact, John Piper also says the very same type of thing in a footnote on Ephesians 1:4 in his book The Pleasures of God. This leads me to believe that such reasoning is the best that Calvinists can come up with in using this verse to support their understanding of election. Hence, this is why Witherington's note is worth noticing, for it rightly shows the hermeneutical error in the Calvinist's interpretation of this verse.

Be sure and pick up the book brothers and sisters-- I suspect that many of you will thoroughly enjoy it.

[RickC]

Troy,

Off-topic, sorry...
Your post brings up some interesting stuff, though.
{I'm just not into "Calv/Arm" stuff these days}.
I PMd you & didn't know if you get PM notifications.
Is all I really wanted to say...Take Care,

[Jim]

From what I understand of the long sentence, which actually starts on vs 3 and goes through 14, is actually speaking of the Son who is elect. The US isn't individuals, but the community e.g. the church. The church is predestined from the foundation, not the individuals within the church.

[Troy]

Jim,

Even if Ephesians 1:4 is not about us being elect, there are plenty of other Scriptures that declare this glorious truth. We are elect though, and Ephesians 1:4 clearly says this. The question is, however, what must take place to be elect? Calvinists proclaim that it is God's choice [alone] of particular people out of the mass of fallen sinners irrespective of any thing in man, whether this be faith, humility, or works of any kind. Arminians and Open Theists see all fallen sinners as potentially elect, with faith being they key to enter into the elected realm, which is located in Christ. Everyone in Christ is elect, because Christ is Elect. Before the foundation of the world, God ordained Christ to be Savior of all sinners who believe in the Son. Biblical election is explicitly Christocentric, which is what Calvinists seem to miss. This is because the phrase "in Him" seems to have little relevance to their understanding of Ephesians 1:4. In fact, their interpretation of the verse would most likely remain the same whether "in Him" was written or not, and this is why their understanding of the verse is problematic.

It is true, as you say, "the us isn't individuals, but the community e.g. the church. The church is predestined from the foundation, not the individuals within the church." Nevertheless, some clarification is in order. The truth is, you cannot separate individuals from the group, (community or church). The individuals make up the group (community or church). The thing is, God did and does want a people (church or community), and sees them all as one-- one corporate entity. This accounts for corporate election, which is primarily what Paul is talking about in Ephesians. From this, we can make a secondary application, and rightly so: individual election. Corporate election is unconditional, and is grounded in God's persistence and patience to acquire a church. Individual election is conditional, and that upon an individual's faith in Christ.