God certainly must have chosen me before I came into the world — because He never would have done so afterwards. That's C.H. Spurgeon, tongue-in-cheek, on one of the most staggering doctrines in Scripture: election.

In this message from our series "Fullness," Pastor Ron opens Ephesians 1:4–6 and walks through four doctrinal truths surrounding our salvation — election, predestination, adoption, and acceptance — all of them grounded in God's sovereign love and none of them leaving room for human boasting.

Election: God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, knowing every sin we would ever commit — and set His love on us anyway. Your self-worth doesn't need a life coach; it's right here.

Predestination: God doesn't just choose us and leave us to figure it out — He foreordains a specific purpose for every believer. Predestination is always about what God plans for His people, never a decree of condemnation for anyone.

Adoption: God could have made us servants or friends. Instead He made us sons and daughters — heirs of everything Christ has. Born into the family by the Spirit, and adopted as full heirs by grace.

Acceptance: It's all to the praise of the glory of His grace. He has made us accepted in the beloved — not because of what we brought, but entirely because of what He did. Grace that has conditions isn't grace at all.