What does it mean that we are predestinated according to the purpose of Him who works all things after the counsel of His own will?
Scripture teaches that being predestinated according to His purpose means God predetermined everything by His own will and counsel. This counsel is a determinate meeting of the minds within the Trinity. It is the same language used of Jesus being delivered by God’s determinate counsel and foreknowledge.
Les explains Ephesians 1:11 in light of Acts 2:23. In Ephesians, believers have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who works all things after the counsel of His own will. Les says this means God has predetermined everything. The same kind of language appears in Acts 2:23, where Jesus of Nazareth was delivered up to be crucified by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. The word “counsel” means a meeting of the minds, and it is plural. Les asks who had a determinate meeting of the minds, and answers: the Trinity. So the purpose and counsel behind predestination are God’s own predetermined will, not something outside Him. This also connects to the earlier point that believers are joint heirs forever because Christ never dies and passes off the scene.
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:
More Questions
According to what purpose does God predestine and work all things?
Predestination is according to the purpose of the One who works all things after the counsel of His own will, so everything comes together according to His design.