Chosen Before Time Began

Passage: Ephesians 1:4

4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,

The next phrase speaks of the timing of God’s choosing.  It is a clear statement that God chose in eternity past, before there was anything else, or anyone else to influence that choosing.

“Before” is the Greek work “pro” which is a preposition and when used of time or a place is a temporal reference referring to the time before such an event, etc.  The word “foundation” is katabolh which refers to the beginning or the start of a thing and frequently refers to the time of creation itself.  “World” is “kosmos”, a noun that refers to mankind as a unit, or to the world as whole, especially to the unsaved or unregenerate world viewed as a single entity.

“World” is the key to understanding the phrase.  If we view it rightly, as referring to the world as a whole, and referring to all of mankind in general, as seems to be the desire of the writer here, then we have the general context set for us.  Foundation would then refer to the original creation of that world.   More specifically, it would refer to the mass of humanity in particular, as opposed to the created physical universe, as seems to be the general intent of the word kosmos.  Coupled with “pro”, then, we would understand this phrase to be saying that God did his choosing before the creation of mankind.

This can be nothing less than a reference to the truth that God’s choosing was independent of the whim and influence of the actions of that created order, the kosmos.  God did His choosing before there ever was a human civilization to base His choices upon. 

Now, many would have us believe that God looked down through the corridors of time, saw what men would do, and then chose based on what He saw them choose to do.  For them, this upholds man’s free will, and doesn’t reduce man to a robot-like state where he is not in control of his actions or choices.  This is a legitimate concern.  However, it is not needful to do violence to God’s will and to His place in creation and in the universe to do so.  We need not re-imagine these clear passages to assign man responsibility for His actions.  What we need to do is recognize that god’s election has to do with getting man out of his sinful predicament, not with getting him into it.  Man is condemned precisely because he has violated God’s character of his own choice, of the exercise of his nature.  Election has to do with god’s choice to remove some from that lost condition, not with getting anyone into that lost condition.

This passage underscores this truth.  God, before there ever was a creation, before men ever walked the face of the earth, chose some for salvation.  He chose some to enjoy His blessed presence and chose to allow others to go ahead and make their choice to rebel and wallow in their sin and wickedness.  That is far and away the better understanding of this phrase.

You and I, as children of God, were in His mind before He ever set about creating the world.  Before He ever did anything that impacted this creation, He had determined to save His people from their sins.  That is grace!