Favorite anchors of Calvinism... another view.

One of the most often quoted Bible passages of Calvinism is the one in Ephesians, chapter one, which speaks of predestination. By using the following passage, John Calvin (and many since his time) have taught that only those chosen and predestined are going to heaven, and all others will haplessly go to hell.

Here is that passage, from the NIV:

³Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. ⁴For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love ⁵he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— ⁶to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. ⁷In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace ⁸that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. ⁹And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, ¹⁰to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.

¹¹In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, ¹²in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. ¹³And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory.

Now... if you examine the initial verses of Colossians, Romans, and 2 Corinthians, you find that Paul uses persuasive language intended to show the reader what his credentials are--in other words, "this is why you should believe us." Read especially 2 Corinthians 1 to really see this trait of Paul's letters.

Further, you see Paul use the "us and we" and then transition to the "you" elsewhere in his letters. Here are the first six verses of 1 Thessalonians 2:

1 For yourselves, brethren, know our entrance in unto you, that it was not in vain: 2 But even after that we had suffered before, and were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention. 3 For our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile: 4 But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts. 5 For neither at any time used we flattering words, as ye know, nor a cloke of covetousness; God is witness: 6 Nor of men sought we glory, neither of you, nor yet of others, when we might have been ^F2 burdensome, as the apostles of Christ.

So now, let's look afresh at the same passage of Ephesians shown earlier, but I am going to insert in parenthesis "the apostles" where it seems obvious that Paul is indeed speaking of the apostles. I will also color ORANGE some parts of the passage that really need to be considered and understood...

³Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us (the apostles) in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. ⁴For he chose us (the apostles) in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love ⁵he predestined us (the apostles) to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— ⁶to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us (the apostles) in the One he loves. ⁷In him we (the apostles) have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace ⁸that he lavished on us (the apostles) with all wisdom and understanding. ⁹And he made known to us (the apostles) the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, ¹⁰to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.

¹¹In him we (the apostles) were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, ¹²in order that we (the apostles), who were the first to hope in Christ (are we among the first to hope in Christ, living in the year of our Lord 2011?), might be for the praise of his glory. ¹³And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory.

It should seem obvious now that Paul is initially speaking of the apostles (the first to hope in Christ, vs 12), and it is the apostles who are the ones who were chosen and predestined, and this for the benefit of all of us who could not have heard the gospel unless God had provided some specially selected people to share that gospel. By the way, "chosen" with reference to the apostles does not mean "invited," it's a different Greek word and it means hand picked, selected... so the apostles were hand picked according to God's good pleasure, and the majority of the church are those who have accepted an invitation from the Holy Spirit to be saved. Accepting that invitation means that God the Father will draw you to Jesus Christ, His Son.

In verse 13 of Ephesians 1 the focus shifts to the believers in the Ephesian church (and to all other believers, of course), when Paul says, "you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth." So it's pretty clear... the apostles were chosen... they were predestined for a mission... hand picked by God to spread the Gospel...

And when were all others included in Christ? When they heard the word of truth... and believed.

To interpret the verses preceding verse 13 as referring to all Christians, for all time, we have to satisfactorily explain two key issues: First, why would Paul refer to all believers for all time as "the first hope in Christ," and secondly, why the change from "us" and "we" to the pronoun "you?" (verse 13).

It would not seem wrong to say that God may effect the conversion of apostles differently than with the rest of the church. Even today, we see the phenomena of Muslims being visited in visions and dreams by Christ Himself, and they come away with a true conversion. Then they go about spreading the gospel--usually at great risk--in their communities.

Most Christians come to the faith after being persuaded... Paul "reasoned" in the synagogues. God says "Come let us reason together."

I believe it is of vital importance to understand at what points in Paul's letters the focus shifts from the church (usually addressed as "you"), to the apostles themselves, referred to as "us." Granted, there are passages that apply both to the apostles and also the church as a whole where Paul writes "us", so we need to really observe the surrounding text to know for sure exactly who is being referred to.

Dan Newberry