Calvinism

Most people reading Ephesians 2:3 don’t slow down at the phrase “by nature.” They don’t need to because it seems obvious enough.

We are, the thinking goes, born corrupt and sinful. It’s in our DNA, inherited from Adam, baked into us before we take our first breath. The phrase “by nature children of wrath” gets read as Paul’s confirmation of what Augustine called original sin: a corrupted human nature passed down through the generations like a genetic defect.

There’s just one problem. That’s not what Paul meant.

Ephesians 1:11 sits in a rich section of Paul’s letter, where he praises God for the blessings believers have in Christ. Many read this verse as a statement about God predestining everything that happens—including who will believe. But that interpretation stretches Paul’s meaning beyond the context. Verse 11 actually restates and builds on what Paul already said in verse 5. Far from supporting determinism, this passage highlights God’s loving plan for those who choose Christ. Paul affirms God’s sovereignty without suggesting that anyone is irresistibly forced into salvation.

The last few articles focused on what Ephesians 1:3-5 does not mean about predestination. To embrace biblical truth, we must first unlearn errors. Erroneous teachings cloud our understanding, and we must replace them with Scripture. Surprisingly, many errors in Western churches trace back to the Protestant Reformation. This quote of NT Wright’s hits the nail on the head:

“For too long, we have read scripture with nineteenth-century eyes and sixteenth-century questions. It’s time to get back to reading with first-century eyes and twenty-first-century questions.”¹