Ephesians 1:4

God chose believers in Christ before creation so that they would be holy and blameless before him. It roots salvation in God's eternal, loving purpose.

Cross-references · 40

• 2 Tim 1:9He has saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but by His own purpose and by the grace He granted us in Christ Jesus before time began.
• Rom 8:28–30And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.
• Eph 2:10For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.
• Matt 25:34Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
• 1 Pet 2:9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
• Jas 2:5Listen, my beloved brothers: Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him?
• John 15:16You did not choose Me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will remain—so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you.
• 1 Pet 1:20He was known before the foundation of the world, but was revealed in the last times for your sake.
• Rev 13:8And all who dwell on the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written from the foundation of the world in the Book of Life belonging to the Lamb who was slain.
• 1 Pet 1:2according to the foreknowledge of God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by His blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.
• Col 3:12Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with hearts of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
• Titus 1:1–2Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness,
• 2 Th 2:13–14But we should always thank God for you, brothers who are loved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning to be saved by the sanctification of the Spirit and by faith in the truth.
• Eph 5:27and to present her to Himself as a glorious church, without stain or wrinkle or any such blemish, but holy and blameless.
• Col 1:22But now He has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy, unblemished, and blameless in His presence—
• John 17:24Father, I want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am, that they may see the glory You gave Me because You loved Me before the foundation of the world.
• Rev 17:8The beast that you saw—it was, and now is no more, but is about to come up out of the Abyss and go to its destruction. And those who dwell on the earth whose names were not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world will marvel when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet will be.
• Acts 13:48When the Gentiles heard this, they rejoiced and glorified the word of the Lord, and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.
• Deut 7:6–7For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all peoples on the face of the earth.
• 1 Th 4:7For God has not called us to impurity, but to holiness.
• Rom 9:23–24What if He did this to make the riches of His glory known to the vessels of His mercy, whom He prepared in advance for glory—
• Isa 42:1“Here is My Servant, whom I uphold, My Chosen One, in whom My soul delights. I will put My Spirit on Him, and He will bring justice to the nations.
• 2 Tim 2:19Nevertheless, God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord must turn away from iniquity.”
• Isa 41:8–9“But you, O Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, descendant of Abraham My friend—
• Phil 2:15so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine as lights in the world
• Acts 18:10For I am with you and no one will lay a hand on you, because I have many people in this city.”
• John 10:16I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them in as well, and they will listen to My voice. Then there will be one flock and one shepherd.
• Luke 1:74–75deliverance from hostile hands, that we may serve Him without fear,
• Ps 135:4For the LORD has chosen Jacob as His own, Israel as His treasured possession.
• 1 Cor 1:8He will sustain you to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
• Eph 4:2with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,
• Matt 24:31And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
• Matt 24:22If those days had not been cut short, nobody would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short.
• 2 Tim 2:10For this reason I endure all things for the sake of the elect, so that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.
• Matt 11:25–26At that time Jesus declared, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.
• Eph 4:15–16Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ Himself, who is the head.
• Eph 5:2and walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant sacrificial offering to God.
• Gal 5:22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
• Rom 8:33Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.
• Titus 2:11–12For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to everyone.

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.