Anakalypsis / Unveiling the Word

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:

KJV

ἐν ᾧ καὶ ἐκληρώθημεν προορισθέντες κατὰ πρόθεσιν τοῦ τὰ πάντα ἐνεργοῦντος κατὰ τὴν βουλὴν τοῦ θελήματος αὐτοῦ,

Greek NT

in quo etiam et nos sorte vocati sumus prædestinati secundum propositum ejus qui operatur omnia secundum consilium voluntatis suæ :

Vulgate

in whom also we were made a heritage, having been foreordained according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his will;

ASV

In whom we also are called by lot, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things according to the counsel of his will.

Douay-Rheims

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In the original Greek

13 distinct Greek words appear in this verse.

αὐτός
autos
pronoun · 5564×
βουλή
boule
noun · 12×
θέλημα
thelema
noun · 62×
καί
kai
conjunction · 8973×
κατά
kata
preposition · 470×
κληρόω
kleroo
verb · 1×
προορίζω
proorizo
verb · 6×
πρόθεσις
prothesis
noun · 12×
πᾶς
pas
adjective · 1226×
ἐν
en
preposition · 2743×
ἐνεργέω
energeo
verb · 21×
ὁ
o
article · 19778×
ὅς
os
relative_pronoun · 1404×

Themes

Historic Christian voices

17 passages from patristic writers, Reformers, and church catechisms citing this verse.

§2627TWO fundamental forms express this movement: our prayer ascends in the Holy Spirit through Christ to the Father - we bless him for having blessed us;97 it implores the grace of the Holy Spirit that descends through Christ from the Father - he blesses us.98
§2641"[Address] one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart."124 Like the inspired writers of the New Testament, the first Christian communities read the Book of Psalms in a new way, singing in it the mystery of Christ. In the newness of the Spirit, they also composed hymns and canticles in the light of the unheard -…
§2823"He has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ . . . to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will."98 We ask insistently for this …
God from all eternity did by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass; yet so as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures, nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established.
God foreknows nothing contingently, but He foresees, purposes, and does all things according to His own immutable, eternal and infallible will. This thunderbolt throws free will flat, and utterly shatters it. Those who want to assert free will must either deny this thunderbolt, or pretend not to notice it, or find some other way of dodging it.
Summa Theologica · 2 passages
Is there will in God? Does God will things apart from Himself? Does God necessarily will whatever He wills? Is the will of God the cause of things? Can any cause be assigned to the divine will? Is the divine will always fulfilled? Is the will of God mutable? Does the will of God impose necessity on the things willed? Is there in God the will of evil? Does God have free will? Is…
Is providence suitably assigned to God? Does everything come under divine providence? Is divine providence immediately concerned with all things? Does divine providence impose any necessity upon things foreseen? Article 1. Whether providence can suitably be attributed to God? Objection 1. It seems that providence is not becoming to God. For providence, according to Tully (De In…
God is by nature good, and from His goodness springs all that is good. He is the cause of all things, the ruler of all things, the provider of all things. His providence extends to the least creature. What we call secondary causes are but instruments of divine agency. Nothing falls outside His governance.
The Arminian notion of liberty — that the will must be self-determined, or able to determine itself without any prior cause — involves an infinite regress. For if the first act of choice must itself be chosen by a prior act, then that prior act must also be chosen, and so on to infinity. This is absurd. The truth is that the will is determined by the motives which God's provide…
Q. What do you believe concerning the holy catholic church? A. I believe that the Son of God through his Spirit and Word, out of the entire human race, from the beginning of the world to its end, gathers, protects, and preserves for himself a community chosen for eternal life and united in true faith. And of this community I am and always will be a living member.
The fact that some receive from God the gift of faith within time, and that others do not, stems from his eternal decree. "Known to God from eternity are all his works" (Acts 15:18). "He who works out everything according to the counsel of his will" (Eph. 1:11). In accordance with this decree God graciously softens the hearts, however hard, of the elect and inclines them to bel…
We believe that this good God, after creating all things, did not abandon them to chance or fortune but leads and governs them according to his holy will, in such a way that nothing happens in this world without God's orderly arrangement. Yet God is not the author of, and cannot be charged with, the sin that occurs. For God's power and goodness are so great and incomprehensible…
God has decreed in Himself from all eternity, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely and unchangeably, all things whatsoever come to pass. By the decree of God, for the manifestation of His glory, some men and angels are predestinated or foreordained to eternal life through Jesus Christ, to the praise of His glorious grace; others being left to act in their s…
Those whom God has predestinated to life, He is pleased, in His appointed and accepted time, effectually to call by His Word and Spirit out of that state of sin and death in which they are by nature, to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ.

Cross-references

  • 1Pet 1:4 — To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
  • 1Pet 1:4 — To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
  • 1Pet 3:9 — Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.
  • 2Tim 1:9 — Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
  • Acts 2:23 — Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:
  • Acts 4:28 — For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.
  • Acts 15:18 — Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.
  • Acts 20:27 — For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.
  • Acts 20:32 — And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.
  • Acts 26:18 — To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith t
  • Acts 26:18 — To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith t
  • Col 1:12 — Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
  • Col 1:12 — Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
  • Col 3:24 — Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.
  • Dan 4:35 — And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto h
  • Deut 4:20 — But the LORD hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day.
  • Eccl 7:13 — Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked?
  • Eccl 9:11 — I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skil
  • Eph 1:5 — Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
  • Eph 1:5 — Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
  • Eph 1:9 — Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
  • Eph 1:14 — Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
  • Eph 1:18 — The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
  • Eph 3:11 — According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
  • Eph 3:11 — According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
  • Gal 1:4 — Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:
  • Gal 3:18 — For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.
  • Heb 6:17 — Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath:
  • Isa 5:19 — That say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it!
  • Isa 25:1 — O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.
  • Isa 28:29 — This also cometh forth from the LORD of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working.
  • Isa 40:13 — Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him?
  • Isa 40:13 — Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him?
  • Isa 43:13 — Yea, before the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let it?
  • Isa 46:10 — Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:
  • Isa 46:11 — Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.
  • Jas 2:5 — Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?
  • Jer 23:18 — For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it?
  • Jer 32:19 — Great in counsel, and mighty in work: for thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings:
  • Jer 32:19 — Great in counsel, and mighty in work: for thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings: