Holy, Blameless, and Adopted

Ephesians 1:4–6

As we continue in our Bible study in Ephesians, let us take a look at what Paul wrote about the believer’s identity in chapter 1:4–6,

Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.

God has chosen us to be holy and blameless! These truths are so radical that people are reluctant to believe them. As flawed human beings, we can scarcely believe these truths apply to us. I think the reason we find it so hard to believe is that our understanding of the word holiness is often distorted. We tend to think that holiness is similar to acting sanctimoniously, which usually implies a sense of appearing superior to others.

The truth is holiness relates to the word “wholeness” and has to do with being set apart for a purpose. It has to do with restoration and returning to our originally created function. Spiritual wholeness happens when we operate as God designed us to, which can only happen when we accept Yeshua (Jesus) as our Savior and Lord. Therefore, when we are spiritually whole, we are also holy.

So then, what does it mean to be blameless before God? It certainly does not mean sinless, as the Bible in Romans 3:23 says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” But though we are sinners, in God’s eyes, we are blameless when we accept the righteousness of Jesus and the forgiveness of God for all the sins we have ever committed. Through what Jesus has done, God has lifted the shame and blame of sin off us, and, therefore, in God’s eyes, we have become fully blameless.

Ephesians 1:5 records how God accomplishes this change in us by means of a new family relationship, “He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will.” God predestined us to be sons and daughters, to be adopted as His own children. Adoption means leaving one family and joining another. The family we are leaving is the family of Adam, and now we belong to the new family of Yeshua, (Jesus) our Messiah. That certainly does not mean we are no longer human, but rather, we are no longer identified with Adam’s sinfulness. We have been adopted into a new family and have received a new identity. 

As adopted children of the living God, we have our Messiah as our forerunner and example. We learn how to live from Him, and we seek to copy His life. We are to develop our way of life from Jesus in the same way that Jesus derived His life from God the Father. God the Father was His resource, His wisdom, and ultimately His strength and power. In a similar way, we are to derive our life from the Messiah to become a channel through which God can work.

As adopted children of the Father, we share in the life of our Messiah. The rest of verse 5 through verse 6 tell us why the infinite God of the universe should choose weak, failure-prone, sin-ridden creatures like us as part of His ultimate plan: “According to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.” Paul makes it clear that we have no reason to boast in ourselves because we have been chosen by God to be holy, blameless, and adopted. Rather, we should be humbled by this truth. There is not anything in us that God needs to fulfill His plan. Ultimately, His choice to adopt us is not based on our merit, but on the kind of gracious God that He is. For that, we should praise Him!