Hi Dragonfly,
Thanks for your thoughts here. I would like to attempt to clear up any confusion. The inheritance in Ephesians 1:11 is different than the one in verse 14. In verse 11 I believe Paul is referring to the land that was given to children of Israel when they entered the promised land. In verse 11 Paul speaks of the inheritance in the past tense and the Jews did receive an inheritance in the land, yet in verse 14 he speaks of a future inheritance which include the Gentiles. I think this help explain how in verse 3-12 Paul is talking about what God has done for the Jews.
28 `But command Joshua, and encourage him and strengthen him; for he shall go over before this people, and
he shall cause them to inherit the land which you will see.' (Deu 3:28 NKJ)
I also believe the context of that passage excludes the Gentiles at Ephesus. Paul said,
7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace
8 which
He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, (Eph 1:7-8 NKJ)
yet he says he prays for this very thing for his readers a few verses later.
15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints
16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers:
17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you
the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,
18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.
(Eph 1:15-18 NKJ)
It makes no sense for Paul be praying this if it was these he was referring to in verse 7 and 8. If they had already received it why would he be praying that they would receive it?
Also, in verse 12 Paul says "we who first trusted in Christ" or before hoped in the Christ. It was the Jews who had previously hole in the Christ.
Tertullian quotes this passage and says that Paul is making a distinction between himself as Jew and the Gentiles
There is also other evidence. In the opening of the epistle he says to the "saints" at Ephesus. Many take this to mean believers and it could. However, look at Paul usage of the very same word in this same epistle. In contrasting the Jew and the Gentile Paul says,
11 Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh-- who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands--
12 that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,
15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity,
that is, the law of commandments
contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man
from the two,
thus making peace,
16 and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.
17 And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near.
18 For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.
19 Now, therefore,
you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but
fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,
20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief
cornerstone,
21 in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,
22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
(Eph 2:11-1 NKJ)
He keep saying how the gentiles have been included in the promises to Israel and then tells them they are no longer strangers but fellow citizens with the saints. I think this is really strong evidence to suggest that the saint's in this instance is a reference to the Jews. In the opening of the epistle he addresses two groups, the saints at Ephesus and the faithful in Jesus Christ.
Here is a link to a paper on this same subject that goes into more detail than I did and it addresses it from the Greek Texts rather than the English. I think it will answer your questions.
PFRS Ephesians 1:3-14
Two last points. One, regarding the church fathers, I should be more specific. I am speaking of the Ante-Nicene Fathers. This is the period from the end of the apostle until about 325 A.D. I don't use the writers after this much. I also believe one of the big reasons the early church writers are questioned is because much of their writing refute many modern doctrines. It's easier to say the Church Fathers were wrong than to admit we are.
Secondly, to answer your question.
In the way Paul used it, yes as he used it in the past tense. However, this would include proselytes. However, in the sense of being the children of Abraham would Christians also be in the beloved, yes.
I hope that isn't more confusing.
This way of looking at predestination is new to many, however, it fit nicely with the Scriptures. It also alleviates the problems that the modern understand has in trying to reconcile different passages of Scripture. I've found that doctrines of the Ante-Nicene writers are well grounded in the Scriptures and that they don't struggle as the modern doctrines do to accommodate the totality of Scripture. That suggests to me that they are correct.