Ephesians 1:4
According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Study Note
Study Note
Paul's declaration that believers were 'chosen in him before the foundation of the world' grounds election not in temporal decision but in the eternal character of God's purpose. The phrase 'before the foundation of the world' (pro katabolēs kosmou) appears in John 17:24 and 1 Peter 1:20, anchoring both love for believers and the Lamb's foreordination in pretemporal divine intention. The telos of election is not privilege but holiness — 'that we should be holy and blameless before him' — correcting any reading that separates predestination from moral transformation. Reformed and Arminian traditions have debated this verse intensely, but both agree it anchors the believer's security in divine initiative rather than human merit.
Other Translations
even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before him in love:
according as He did choose us in him before the foundation of the world, for our being holy and unblemished before Him, in love,
Even as he made selection of us in him from the first, so that we might be holy and free from all evil before him in love:
Cross References
For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be …
The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any …
For the Lord hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel for his peculiar treasure.
But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.
Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and …
Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: …
Thus saith the Lord, As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not; for …
And Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor a place for the herds to lie …
At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast …
Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight.