according as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, for us to be holy and without blemish before Him in love, (Ephesians 1:4 LITV)I want to look at foreknowledge and election for a brief moment. We see in Ephesians 1:4 that God choose (which are the elect) us in Him (which is Christ) before creation. This verse is very clear when it comes to the subject of election. God is the one who is doing the choosing. God is the subject and He is doing the action of the verb, choosing His elected people in Christ Jesus before creation.
Many Christians believe that God's foreknowledge is God knowing future decisions for Christ (looking down the corridors of time) and based on their decision, they are elected! Think about what this means! God tries to persuade man to come to repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and does all He can to persuade them, but there is only so much He can do, because the freewill of man cannot be violated, and ultimately God has to rely on man to achieve His purpose, and save a people for Himself! Think about this too, if a person's salvation is dependant on a decision they will eventually make, and God elects them because He looked down the corridors of time and sees them make the right choice someday, then man determines the future before they are even born. There is a problem with this and the problem is it is nowhere to be found in the Bible!!!
We are not to forget that God does foreknow those who will be saved by His grace through faith in the Lord Jesus, but He does not foreknow because He looks down the corridors of time and sees them receiving Christ and elects them, but He foreknows because He chose them (elected them) to be saved, and for that reason will come to the Lord Jesus, otherwise they would never desire to come to the Lord Jesus, and continue to reject Him and have pleasure in unrighteousness. A person comes to Christ because the Eternal God chose them unto salvation! Election is in God's Hands!
The Eternal God chose His people in an intimate way, choosing each one by name, not by a future decision he or she makes before he or she is born, but God chose them by name before they were born, knowing He would create them and call them and save them and be called His sons and daughters, and have a home with Him.
