PREDESTINED US / ACCEPTED IN THE BELOVED (Ephesians 1:5-6)

PREDESTINED US / ACCEPTED IN THE BELOVED (Ephesians 1:5-6)

Having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. (Ephesians 1:5-6)

Verse 5: Having predestined us to adoption as sons - Human parents can bestow their love, resources, and inheritance on an adopted child, but not their own distinct characteristics. But God miraculously gives His own nature to those whom He has elected and who have trusted in Christ. He makes them His children in the image of His divine Son, giving them not just Christ’s riches and blessings but also His very nature (John 15:15; Romans 8:15).

Verse 6: To the praise of the glory of His grace - The ultimate purpose of election to salvation is the glory of God (Ephesians 1:12, 14; Philippians 2:13; 2 Thessalonians 1:11, 12).

 Which He made us accepted in the Beloved - “Which” refers to the divine grace (undeserved love and favor) that has made it possible for sinners to be accepted by God through the substitutionary death and imputed righteousness provided by Jesus Christ (“the Beloved,” Matthew 3:17; Colossians 1:13). Because believers are accepted in Him, then they, like Him, are beloved of God.