Chosen “In Him” – In Christ Alone
Passage: Ephesians 1:4
4just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,
One of the central ideas that came out of the Reformation was the principle of “Solus Christus” or Christ alone. It built upon two other concepts: Sola Scriptura and Sola Fide; The Scriptures Alone and Faith Alone. The Reformers were concerned that we get our doctrine from the Scriptures themselves, and by themselves. This was to counteract the subtle, but pervasive influence of human reasoning and thought, as well as human tradition that had invaded the church, especially during the last few centuries before the reformation’s foundational time in the 14th and 15th centuries. We can all appreciate the value and importance of seeing to it that we get our doctrine from God’s mouth, and not from the mouths of men.
They were also concerned that we see that the salvation of God is dependent only upon the exercise of faith, and not upon any human mechanism, particularly the mechanism of indulgences, which was a primary issue at the time. Men are wont to add human mechanisms to the Gospel. We seem to have the natural tendency, I suspect built into us as a result of the fall, to want a part of our salvation to be dependent upon our work, our effort, or our perception and consent. The Reformers saw that this was a horrible thing. It was terribly dangerous in that it “short-circuited” the way in which salvation could occur and prevented it from ever truly taking root and blossoming and bringing forth the fruit of repentance.
They were further, and logically, very concerned that the church recover the doctrine that all of salvation, every bit of it, rests in the work of Jesus Christ alone, and not at all on the work of the individual sinner, or in the ministrations of the church as organization. Salvation does not come by our effort or our initiative. Nor is it applied by means of the church’s authority or mediation. Salvation comes solely at the hand of a gracious and merciful God’s intervention in the life of the sinner; and by mans only of the mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is critical that we see this and embrace it completely and heartily.
Paul expresses the same concern here that the Reformers would echo 14-15 centuries later. He is concerned that his readers, the Ephesians, see that salvation is by means of the hand of God alone, because of Christ alone. At its root, human beings have nothing to do with the effectual basis and application of salvation. What I mean is that we have nothing to say about why Salvation is effective, nor how it is effective. That is god’s domain and his alone.
Paul tells us that God chose us “In Christ”. That is, that god chose us for salvation, and that salvation occurs entirely and completely by means of the work of Christ. We stand before God, as redeemed people, solely standing on the merit of Jesus Christ and that merit, applied by imputation of God, alone. There is no other footing that will stand the scrutiny of a holy and absolutely just God Who will apply the unbending standard of His righteous character to the sinner in judgment. Any failure to measure up to that harsh and inflexible standard results in condemnation. It is only “In Christ” that there is safety, because only Christ could completely measure up to that rigorous measure. His righteousness is applied to us by grace through faith when we believe.
Christians are “In Christ” in that God places us there, forensically, judicially, and counts all of the work, the active obedience of Christ, to our account and recons us righteous as if we had done it all ourselves. Coupled with the cleansing that His shed blood effects for us, this renders us clean and acceptable to Him and He accepts us, in the beloved, into His family. What greater cause for rejoicing could there be?