Ephesians 1:11-13 speaks of
discrete stages in time by which two different subgroups have entered the
larger unified predestined “in the Christ” group. Paul is saying that a group
of Jews (“we”) entered the Messiah historically first, and subsequently a group
of gentiles (“you”) did so. This group of gentiles is called “you,” which can
be singular or plural in English but in the original Greek of the New Testament
is explicitly plural—a group—more than one person.
This shows that the
predestination of each specific individual before time is an impossibly
unlikely construal of what Paul means by “in the Christ” throughout Ephesians
1:13-14. For Paul indicates that the first group came to be “in the Christ”
when they put their hope in the king. Subsequently a second group—a group
called “you” that included the Ephesians—was included “in the Christ” when they
heard the gospel and performed the pistis action in response to the
kind.
In other words, in Ephesians the
number of those who are predestined “in Christ” as elect or chosen before
creation is described as growing. We know this to be true because the number
of those who are said to be predestined in Christ in Ephesians 1:4-5 is
described in 1:11-14 as increasing over time as first one group enters, then
another. If individual election before creation happened to be true, then the
number of the elect can never shrink or grow, because each and every person was
individually chosen before time began, fixing the exact number of the elect. The
expanding number of the elect shows that predestining election does not pertain
to God’s choice in favor of specific individuals before time began.
We are weighing the actual point
of controversy in Ephesians 1:3-14: Granted that Scripture prefers group election
is individual election likely to also be in view within group election? Let me summarize
the result: it is weak constructive theology and poor exegesis to suggest that Paul
would use the same verb for “predestine” in 1:5 that he uses in 1:11 but
with vastly different intentions—first to refer to God’s choice of individuals
in eternity, but second to groups within time. If the predestination of
specific individuals “in the Christ” happened to be in view in 1:5, then the
exact number of individuals chosen would be fixed at a precise quantity before
the foundation of the world. It could not be expanding. But in 1:11-13 Paul
uses the same “predestination” language that he used in 1:5 to say that the number
of those who are “in the Christ” is expanding. This conclusion is secure
because Paul’s language describing the subgroup of gentiles—“you also were
included in the Christ, having heard the message of truth”—does not suggest
that individuals within this subgroup were in any sense “in the Christ” before
hearing the gospel. Paul indicates that it was at this time that they
were included “in the Christ.” They were included once they heard and responded
to the gospel—that is, after meeting a condition: first they had to perform
the loyalty action (pisteusantes) with respect to the king. Therefore,
Paul does not refer to the unconditional predestination of specific individuals
for salvation in either 1:5 or 1:11-13.
So Paul does not affirm that each
human is predestined to an eternal fate. What, then, is Paul’s positive
theological claim about predestination in Ephesians 1:3-14? Here’s a summary:
God predestined the king individually as a corporate representative. Hence, all
who past, present, or future happen to be within the king’s group can appropriately
be described as predestined too—but only if they enter and remain in that
group by allegiance. This is why Paul says God chose and predestined “us” but
immediately clarifies that this happens only “In him”—that is, in the Christ
(Eph. 1:4-5). Paul makes his view explicit subsequently when he uses the same
predestination language that he used in Ephesians 1:5 in 1:11-13 to show that a
future-oriented conditional response to the king creates and
defines the predestined group’s boundary. For Paul, the predestining election
of the church as a group is real but only “in the Christ,” and that group is
populated with members only within history. The Christ is predestined as the
elect one, a status he shares as a group benefit with anyone who responds to
the gospel as the Christ is revealed within unfolding history. For Paul’ God’s
predestining election is a future-conditional corporate benefit for all
those who are “in the Christ.” (Matthew W. Bates, Beyond the Salvation Wars:
Why Both Protestants and Catholics Must Reimagine How We Are Saved [Grand
Rapids, Mich.: Brazos Press, 2025], 149-51, emphasis in original)
