having marked off our bounds unto the placement of sons through Jesus Christ unto Himself, according to the good pleasure of His desirous will (Ephesians 1:5).
The English word “horizon” is rooted in the Greek word often rendered “predestine” in many English Bibles. However, the concept expressed by horizon does not relate to determining the outcome; rather, it marks off the bounds.
God determined before He created the world that a group of believers would be holy and blameless before Him by marking them off to a specific position in Christ (Ephesians 1:4). This type of marking off also describes the times and borders of all the nations of men (Acts 17:26). God marked off Christ to be the judge of the living and the dead (Acts 10:42). By the inherent ability of the Holy Spirit, Jesus was marked off the Son of God (Romans 1:4).
Those who are in Christ are marked off for the position of sons. The common rendering of “adoption as sons,” as found in the KJV, does not properly convey the Greek word. A person cannot be adopted as a son. Sonship is a position that is held by a legitimate child of the master of the house when the child has been sufficiently trained to know how to run the household and its affairs properly. He knows the difference between what is proper and what is wrong regarding his conduct (Galatians 4:1–2).
Since Christians are sons, they are not under governors and tutors to dictate how they act. Rather, they are responsible for using what God has given them in salvation to exercise their senses to determine what is proper and what is wrong so that they are doing the will of God in all things (Hebrews 5:14). One who is marked off as a son is not under law (Galatians 4:5). Thus, the Christian’s standard is based upon who he is in Christ, not what laws he keeps (Romans 6:14).
Sonship has nothing to do with a person’s sex. We are not placed as sons and daughters. Everyone who is immersed into the body of the Christ is placed as a son. This means both males and females can spiritually mature, understand God’s will, and are thus responsible for training their senses to discern what is proper for them in daily conduct. Because they are both sons, neither sex receives a spirit of bondage, which relates to the law (Romans 8:15).
Before the foundations of the world, God marked out the bounds of those in Christ as sons. Therefore, those in Christ live out from faith by grace, not out from law. Grace is God’s attitude whereby He gives a benefit without consideration of merit. This enables the Christian, when he feels at ease in Christ, to walk in newness of life, and thereby live out the righteousness he now possesses in Christ (1 Corinthians 1:30).
Christ’s death and resurrection are imputed to those in the Christ, the new creation (Romans 6:4–5). Because the believer has died to the sin nature in Christ, he is not to live according to the desires from the flesh anymore (Romans 6:1). Since he has died to sin, how can he live any longer in it (Romans 6:2)? Grace is the freedom to live a righteous life apart from Law. As long as a Christian governs his life out from faith, he will never violate any aspect of the Law (Galatians 5:22–23). “Thou shalt not” does not work for the Christian life, because the one who is in the Christ lives out the life he has in Christ and thus will not violate any aspect of the law.
