Historic Baptists believe that God’s election of individual human beings to salvation is eternal, absolute, and unconditional rather than temporal, relative, and conditional. This truth is made evident in Ephesians 1:4 alone, not to mention the rest of God’s Word.

I. The Who of Election

A. “God has chosen . . . ”

B. The word God refers to “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,” who is mentioned in verse three.

C. The word chosen means “selected or picked out.”It is in the aorist tense, which means “God has chosen in the past as a definitive act”; it is in the middle voice, which means “God has chosen for Himself in the past as a definitive act.”

II. The What (or Whom) of Election

A. “God has chosen us . . . ”

B. The word us refers to the “saints” mentioned in verse one, who have been “blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” (v. 3).

C. They were not chosen because they were saints, but so that they might become saints.

III. The Where of Election

A. “God has chosen us in Him . . . ”

B. The word Him refers to “our Lord Jesus Christ,” who is mentioned in verse three.

C. The saints were chosen in Christ in the sense that they were elected based upon the Person and Work of Christ, not based upon themselves in any way. In the mind and plan of God, they were already in Christ in eternity past.

IV. The When of Election

A. “God has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world . . . ”

B. The expression before the foundation of the world means “before creation, before time began, in eternity past.”

C. The saints were not chosen in time upon their repentance and faith, but in eternity past before they actually existed.

V. The Why of Election

A. “God has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.”

B. The word holy means “separated from sin and consecrated to God.”

C. The expression without blame means “without blemish or fault in character and conduct.”

D. God the Father has elected the saints for the purpose of making them holy and blameless when they enter into His immediate presence in Heaven.

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