What does Ephesians 1:11 mean when it says we are predestinated according to the counsel of His own will?

Ephesians 1:11 teaches that believers obtain an inheritance by being predestinated according to God's purpose, who works all things after the counsel of His own will. This means God has predetermined everything, and the counsel refers to the Trinity's determinate meeting of minds.

Les explains that Ephesians 1:11 parallels Acts 2:23, where Jesus was delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. The term 'counsel' means a meeting of the minds, and because it is plural, it refers to the Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—having a determinate meeting of minds. Thus, being predestinated according to the counsel of His own will means God predetermined everything, and this eternal purpose was settled by the Trinity's own counsel, not by human will or effort.

Ephesians 1:11

In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

What does being predestinated according to God's purpose and the counsel of His will mean?

Being predestinated according to God’s purpose and the counsel of His will means God has predetermined everything. “Counsel” denotes a determinate meeting of minds—the Trinity—so the inheritance is secured by God’s own predetermined plan, not human decision. This is the same language used of Jesus’ delivery by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God.