“Predestined” (Ephesians 1:5) and the NLT
Ephesians 1:4-5 (ESV)
even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,
Now read Ephesians 1:4-5 in the NLT:
Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.
What I like is that by reading the NLT rather than the ESV (not to pick on the ESV because the NRSV, NKJV, NASB, etc. read similarly) is that the “theological baggage” of predestination is removed. When I don’t read the word “predestined,” I am able to clearly see what Paul was describing. Before the world was made, God chose to adopt people into his family. This adoption process would happen through Jesus Christ and this decision was God’s eternal plan and pleasure.
Sometimes removing “biblish” can bring clarity to a text that had been previously muddled by scholars, commentators, and theologians.
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1 Comment so farOne Response to ““Predestined” (Ephesians 1:5) and the NLT”
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Wayne Leman
September 17, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Sometimes removing “biblish” can bring clarity to a text that had been previously muddled by scholars, commentators, and theologians.
Amen! Preach it!! If only we could get that message out far and wide, and if only more people would believe it, we would have more people truly understanding what the Bible is saying. I think that the NLT does a good job of translating the meaning of the biblical text to standard English without making the language too simple.