Ephesians 1:11-14 - Listen Up

Chad Werkhoven
Sep 24
4 min read

Both your salvation and your ability to fulfill your purpose depend on your ears.

Close-up of an ear on a brown-skinned person with text from Ephesians 1:13 about hearing and inclusion in Christ, set on a light background. — Photo: Dylan Hendricks, via Unsplash

Ephesians 1:11–14 (NIV)

¹¹ In Christ we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, ¹² in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. ¹³ And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴ who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

Canons of Dordt

Point 1 - God's Unconditional Election

Point 2 - Limited Atonement

Point 3 - Total Depravity

Point 4 - Irresistible Grace

Article 17: God’s Use of Means in Regeneration

Just as the almighty work by which God brings forth and sustains our natural life
1. does not rule out
2. but requires the use
  1. of means,
  2. by which God, according to his infinite wisdom and goodness, has wished to exercise that divine power,
3. so also the aforementioned supernatural work by which God regenerates us
  1. in no way rules out or cancels the use of the gospel,
  2. which God in great wisdom has appointed to be
    1. the seed of regeneration
    2. and the food of the soul.
For this reason, the apostles and the teachers who followed them taught the people in a godly manner about this grace of God,
1. to give God the glory and to humble all pride,
2. and yet did not neglect meanwhile to keep the people,
  1. by means of the holy admonitions of the gospel,
  2. under the administration of the Word, the sacraments, and discipline.
3. So even today it is out of the question that the teachers or those taught in the church
  1. should presume to test God by separating what God in his good pleasure has wished to be closely joined together.
  2. For grace is bestowed through admonitions,
    1. and the more readily we perform our duty,
    2. the more lustrous the benefit of God working in us usually is,
    3. and the better that work advances.
To God alone,
1. both for the means and for their saving fruit and effectiveness,
2. all glory is owed forever. Amen.

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Summary

It's hard to believe, but so far in our year of studying the Doctrines of Grace as they're articulated in the Canons of Dordt, this is the first time we've turned to the first chapter of Ephesians! This chapter of the Bible could function as the seminal proof text for nearly everything we've covered so far. But by design it's been set aside so that we can see that it's not the only proof text for God's sovereignty in our salvation, and that the whole of scripture proclaims these truths as well.

But as we begin this final season of 2025, we'll be certainly coming back to this chapter often. This middle section of the Ephesians 1 begins with one of the Bible's clearest descriptions of how you were saved: you were chosen in Christ, having been predestined according to His plan.

This ought to give you tremendous confidence! The world wants you to think that you're just a product of a random collision of time and matter. So it makes sense to them that each one of us who've evolved from this randomness need to individually define our reality as it makes sense to us. But you know that nothing is random; rather the truth is that everything is being worked out in conformity with the purpose of His will.

Not only does this passage help you understand how you've been saved, but it tells you why. It gives you purpose. You were predestined to salvation in order that you might be for the praise of His glory. That makes the phrase Soli Deo Gloria - Glory to God Alone - more than just a meaningless motto, it's your purpose and reason for living.

Dig Deeper

Ironically this wonderful reminder of our Unconditional Election isn't why we turned to this beautiful chapter of the Bible today. Our particular interest at this juncture isn't the theoretical how or why of your salvation, as important as those things are. Our focus this week is on the practical means of your salvation - the particular process that God sovereignly used to include you in Christ.

All of this happened when you heard the message of truth. Isn't it amazing that God, who sovereignly chose and predestined you before the creation of the world (v4), also designed this to come to fruition indirectly. In other words, God used an intermediary - a tool.

As the Canons put it, the almighty work by which God brings forth and sustains our natural life does not rule out, but requires the use of, means. You weren't born innately knowing of your chosen status, you needed to be told. You needed to hear the gospel [good news] of your salvation.

And this requirement for you to listen extends beyond your initial acceptance of the truth of the gospel. Preaching is not just the seed of regeneration, it's the ongoing food of the soul. So both your initial inclusion in Christ and your ongoing ability to grow in it to the praise of God's glory depends on your continual listening to the message of truth.

AAA Prayer (About)

ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God for having this message of truth proclaimed to you, and pray for on ongoing hunger to continue hear it preached;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: