Bible Strands
Ephesians 1:5
He predestined us for adoption as His sons through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will,
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Paul, writing to the church at Ephesus, in the middle of a doxological prayer (vv. 3–14) that traces God's work in Christ from election to praise.
The words — υἱοθεσίαν (huiothesian) is a legal term for formal adoption, not natural sonship; it marks a status conferred by divine act rather than inherited by blood.
The thread — Galatians 4:5 speaks of receiving "adoption as sons" as the result of redemption; Romans 8:29 pairs predestination with conformity to the Son's image; Ephesians 1:11 restates the same predestining within God's overarching plan.
Why it lands — The verse places the believer's standing entirely on God's prior decision, not on any human qualification; it asks the reader to receive sonship as a gift already secured, not a goal to be earned.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
Cross-references
- Romans 8:29 For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers.
- Ephesians 1:11 In Him we were also chosen as God’s own, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything by the counsel of His will,
- Galatians 4:5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive our adoption as sons.
- John 1:12 But to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God—
- 1 John 3:1 Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.
- Romans 8:14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
- Galatians 3:26 You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
- Romans 8:23 Not only that, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
- 2 Corinthians 6:18 And: “I will be a Father to you, and you will be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”
- Hosea 1:10 Yet the number of the Israelites will be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or counted. And it will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’