The following was a public post on facebook from Dr. Robert Gagnon:
The blessing or thanksgiving for God's work "in Christ" in Ephesians 1:3-14 is a much misunderstood text as regards the issue of election or the status of being chosen. The passage does not affirm that a few select specific individuals are chosen "before the foundation of the world."
Rather, Christ, whose "body" became a corporate entity through the gift of his Spirit, is elected or chosen before the foundation of the world, and thus "us in him" when we respond to the gospel in faith, receive the gift of Christ's Spirit, and thereby become part of this "body of Christ." The concept of the corporate "body of Christ" is an especially prominent theme in Ephesians: 1:23; 2:16; 4:12, 16; 5:23, 30), as is "the church" (1:22-23; 3:10, 21; 5:23-29, 32).*
Ephesians 1:3-14 discloses God's "mystery" or "secret," God's plan from "before the foundation of the world," which is "to head up all things in Christ, things upon the heavens and things upon the earth in him." It is "in Christ" (i.e., union with him by being under the controlling influence of Christ's Spirit) that God, the "Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" has "blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places."
Being "in Christ" is depicted as attainable through "believing" in "the gospel of (about) your salvation," and "hoping beforehand in Christ" (i.e., before Christ's return). It is accomplished by being "sealed with the Holy Spirit," and so marking believers as belonging to God, God's possession.
Without having the Spirit of Christ, one cannot be "in Christ," and thus chosen or elect. Without being "in Christ" one would not have one's life atoned for ("redemption through his blood"), receive "the forgiveness of our trespasses," or receive "adoption" into God's family. It is the Spirit that makes all these things possible, and the Spirit in turn is given as a result of our response of faith to God's gracious work in Christ.
Nor without the Spirit would one be "allotted" the full inheritance in the future (the Spirit as "a down payment of our inheritance"), viewed as God's "redemption of his possession," presumably when we receive the resurrection of our bodies and material creation is likewise renewed (4:30; Rom 8:23).
Thus, we receive "chosen" or "elect" status, by virtue of coming to be "in Christ," the Chosen and Predestined One, in whom the corporate church is "predestined" "before the foundation of the world." But for any given individual, that elect or chosen status occurs only when one becomes part of the body of Christ at the moment of believing in Christ and receiving Christ's Spirit. It is really Christ whom the Father has chosen from "before the foundation of the world," and we only "in him" when we come to faith and receive his Spirit.
What is the grand purpose of God "heading up all things in Christ"? It is that we should be "for the praise of the glory of his (God's) grace" and, again twice more, "to the praise of his glory" (including the very last phrase of the blessing). God acts with the ultimate goal of directing all glory to himself. His vision is theocentric, self-centric as the Creator and Redeemer of all.
God wants especially to receive the praise of his glory from the redeemed, by word and deed, giving thanks to God for his wondrous grace and endeavoring to "be holy and without blemish before him (by acting) in love," to be set apart from sin and reserved for God's exclusive use, manifesting the love for others that God manifested to us "in Christ."
All these things result from God's deliberate and careful planning, his will, and his "work in all things" to bring about this convergence of "all things in Christ." This is God's "administration (or management) of the fulness of the times" (the time when God's before-time plan comes to fruition at long last). It is "in accordance with the favorable thinking of his will," "in all wisdom and prudence," and "in accordance with the purpose of the One who is at work in all things in accordance with the determination of his will." In short, God, through Christ and in Christ, is very much in charge of salvation history, the final outcome of which cannot be thwarted by evil.
*Christ the head over all things “for the church”; and the church is Christ’s "body" and "fullness." Through it the wisdom of God is made known to the rulers in the heavenly places, who are put on notice that their rule is coming to an end. The uniting of Jew and Gentile in it is the first and decisive step in God’s grand cosmic plan to sum up everything in Christ.
