Who hath predestinated us unto the adoption of children through Jesus Christ unto himself: according to the purpose of his will:

“For we believe that, together with the Son, who was made man for our sakes, according to the good pleasure of His will, was also present the Father, who is inseparable from Him as to His divine nature, and also the Spirit, who is of one and the same essence with Him. For, as says Paul, the interpreter of the divine oracle, "God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them." He thus shows that the Father was in the Son, because that one and the same will worked in them.”

“Having thus spoken of the good works of these, he again recurs to His grace. "In love," saith he, "having predestinated us." Because this comes not of any pains, nor of any good works of ours, but of love; and yet not of love alone, but of our virtue also. For if indeed of love alone, it would follow that all must be saved; whereas again were it the result of our virtue alone, then were His coming needless, and the whole dispensation. But it is the result neither of His love alone, nor yet of our virtue, but of both. "He chose us," saith the Apostle; and He that chooseth, knoweth what it is that He chooseth. "In love," he adds, "having foreordained us;" for virtue would never have saved any one, had there not been love. For tell me, what would Paul have profited, how would he have exhibited what he has exhibited, if God had not both called him from the beginning, and, in that He loved him, drawn him to Himself? But besides, His vouchsafing us so great privileges, was the effect of His love, not of our virtue. Because our being rendered virtuous, and believing, and coming nigh unto Him, even this again was the work of Him that called us Himself, and yet, notwithstanding, it is ours also. But that on our coming nigh unto Him, He should vouchsafe us so high privileges, as to bring us at once from a state of enmity, to the adoption of children, this is indeed the work of a really transcendent love. Do you observe how that nothing is done without Christ? Nothing without the Father? The one hath predestinated, the other hath brought us near. And these words he adds by way of heightening the things which have been done, in the same way as he says also elsewhere, "And not only so, but we also rejoice in God, through our Lord Jesus Christ." For great indeed are the blessings bestowed, yet are they made far greater in being bestowed through Christ; because He sent not any servant, though it was to servants He sent, but the Only-begotten Son Himself.”

“The apostle writes this epistle to the Ephesians. The Ephesians are Asians, from Asia Minor, which is a part of Greece. These were not founded in the faith by the apostle Paul, but confirmed in it. For already, before he came to them, they had been converted, as can be gathered from Acts 19:1: "it came to pass, while Apollo was at Corinth," etc. But after their conversion and the apostle's confirmation, they persevered in the faith, and did not receive false apostles. Therefore they were worthy not of reproof, but of consolation. Hence Paul writes to them not a reproachful, but a consoling, epistle. Now he writes to them from the city of Rome, through Tychicus the deacon. His intention is to confirm them in the goods they already have, and to call them on to higher things. The manner of proceeding is evident in the division of the epistle. First, then, he sets down the salutation, in which he shows his affection toward them; second, the narration, in which he confirms them in the goods they have, at "Blessed be God," etc., up to chapter 4; third, the exhortation, in which he calls them on to further goods, from chapter 4 up to that passage in chapter 6, "For the rest, brethren, be strengthened in the Lord," etc.; fourth, the conclusion of the epistle, in which he strengthens them for the spiritual struggle, from that passage "for the rest" to the end. In the salutation, first is set down the person who greets; second, the persons greeted, at "to all the saints," etc.; third, the form of the salutation, at "grace to you," etc. In the first, he first names the person, at "Paul"; second, the authority of the person, at "apostle of Christ"; third, the giver of that authority, at "through the will of God." He says therefore: "Paul, apostle." "Paul" is a name of humility, but "apostle" is a name of dignity, because "he who humbles himself shall be exalted," Luke 14:11 and 18:14. "Apostle," I say, "of Jesus," not of Satan, as are the false apostles. V. 11: "It is therefore no great thing if his ministers," namely Satan's, "are transfigured as ministers of righteousness," etc. "Apostle," I say, and this not by my own merits, but "through the will of God." The contrary is the case in many. Hosea 8:4: "They have reigned, and not by me," etc. "To all the saints," namely who are at Ephesus, "and to the faithful" — supply "he writes." Or: I, Paul, write to the saints by reason of the exercise of the virtues, as pertains to conduct; to the faithful, by reason of rectitude of knowledge, as pertains to faith. Or: "to the saints," that is, to the greater and the perfect; "to the faithful," that is, to the lesser and the imperfect. And "to the faithful," I say, "in Christ," not in their own deeds. "Grace to you and peace," etc. Here is added the form of the salutation, in which three things are implied, each of which makes a gift gracious: the sufficiency of the gift, at "grace to you and peace"; the power of the giver, at "from God the Father"; the excellence of the mediator, at "and the Lord Jesus Christ." For a gift is then pleasing: when what is given is sufficient; when it is given by one who is powerful, as when it is given by a king or a prince; when it is given through a solemn messenger, as through a son. He says therefore: "grace," namely of justification from guilt, "and peace," that is, tranquility of mind, or reconciliation to God, as regards liberation from the punishment owed for offense. "To you" — supply "be" — from this source, namely "from God our Father," from whom all good things proceed. James 1:17: "Every best gift," etc. "And the Lord Jesus Christ," without whom no goods are given; therefore almost all prayers are concluded: "through our Lord Jesus Christ." He does not name the Holy Spirit, because, since the Spirit is the bond of the Father and the Son, he is understood as included in the extremes; or he is understood in the gifts appropriated to him, which are grace and peace. Then, when he says "Blessed be God," etc., here, by giving thanks, he confirms them in good, and this in three ways. First, by an argument taken from the side of Christ, from whom they have obtained many goods — in this chapter; second, by an argument taken from their own side, who were transferred from a past evil state to a present good — chapter 2, at "and you, when you were dead," etc.; third, by an argument taken from the side of the apostle, by whose ministry and diligence, having been placed in a good state, they were confirmed — chapter 3, at "for this cause," etc. Again, the first of these is divided into three: first, by giving thanks, he touches on the benefits in general; second, the benefits shown specially to the apostles themselves, at "which he made to abound in us," etc.; third, the benefits shown specially to the Ephesians themselves, at "in whom you also, when you had heard," etc. Now the benefits shown generally to the human race he touches on, six in number. The first, of blessing, in the certainty of future beatitude, at "blessed," etc. The second, of election, in the pre-ordained separation from the mass of perdition, at "as he chose us in him," etc. The third, of predestination, in the pre-ordained association with the good, namely with the sons of adoption, at "who predestined us," etc. The fourth, of gracing, in the conferring of grace, at "in whom he has graced us," etc. The fifth, of redemption, in liberation from punishment, that is, from the servitude of the Devil, at "in whom we have redemption," etc. The sixth, of remission, in the blotting out of guilt, at "the remission of sins," etc. Concerning the benefit of blessing, he touches on two things: first, the proclamation of praise which ought to be rendered, at "Blessed be God," etc.; second, the benefit on account of which it ought to be rendered, at "who has blessed us," etc. He says therefore "blessed" — namely by me, by you, and by others, that is, in heart, and mouth, and deed, in other words, "praised" — "God and Father," that is, he who is God through the essence of divinity, and Father on account of the property of generation. Now the conjunction "and" occurs here not by reason of the supposit, since the supposit is the same, but by reason of signification, essentially and relatively. "Father," I say, "of our Lord Jesus Christ," that is, of the Son, who is "our Lord" according to divinity, "Jesus Christ" according to humanity. "Who," namely God, "has blessed us" in hope in the present, but in the future he will bless in reality. He puts the past tense in place of the future on account of certainty. "He has blessed," I say, "us," although accursed by our own merits, "with every spiritual blessing," namely as regards the soul, and as regards the body — for then the body will be spiritual. 1 Corinthians 15:44: "it is sown a natural body, it shall rise a spiritual body." "Blessing," I say, possessed, "in the heavenly places," that is, in heaven; and this, "in Christ," that is, through Christ, or in Christ working. For he it is "who will reform the body of our lowliness," etc., Philippians 3:21. This blessing is greatly to be desired: by reason of the efficient cause, because God is this blessing; by reason of the matter, because he has blessed us; by reason of the form, because he blesses with every spiritual blessing; and by reason of the end, because he blesses in the heavenly places. Psalm 127:4: "Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord." Then, when he says "as he chose us," etc., the benefit of election is touched upon, where this election is commended: because it is free, at "as he chose us in him"; because it is eternal, at "before the foundation of the world"; because it is fruitful, at "that we should be," etc.; because it is gratuitous, at "in charity." He says therefore: thus he will bless us, not by our merits, but by the grace of Christ, "as he chose us," and freely, separating us from the mass of perdition, he pre-ordained us "in him," that is, through Christ. John 15:16: "You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you," etc. And this "before the foundation of the world," that is, from eternity, before we came to be. Romans 9:11: "when they were not yet born," etc. "He chose," I say, not because we were holy — since we were not — but he chose us to this end, "that we should be holy," by virtues, "and immaculate," free of vices; for election accomplishes both, according to the two parts of justice. Psalm 33:15: "Turn away from evil, and do good." "Holy," I say, "in his sight," that is, inwardly in the heart, where he alone beholds. 1 Kings 16:7: "But God looks upon the heart." Or "in his sight," that is, so that we may behold him, since the vision is the whole reward, according to Augustine. And he did this, not by our merits, but "in his charity" — or ours — by which he formally sanctifies us. Then, when he says "who predestined," etc., he adds the third benefit, namely of predestination, in the pre-ordained association with the good. Here, concerning predestination, he implies six things: first, the eternal act, at "predestined"; second, the temporal object, at "us"; third, the present benefit, at "unto the adoption," etc.; fourth, the future fruit, at "unto the same"; fifth, the gratuitous manner, at "according to the purpose"; sixth, the owed effect, at "unto the praise of the glory," etc. He says therefore: "who," namely God, "predestined us," that is, by grace alone he chose beforehand, "unto the adoption of sons," that is, that we should be associated with the other sons of adoption in the goods which they are to have; therefore he says "unto the adoption of sons." Romans 8:15: "For you have not received the spirit of bondage again in fear, but you have received the spirit of the adoption of sons"; and below: "awaiting the adoption of sons." But because that which is to become fiery must become so through fire — since nothing attains participation in something except through that which is such of its own nature — therefore the adoption of sons must come about through the natural Son. And therefore the apostle adds "through Jesus Christ." And this is the third thing touched upon in this benefit, namely the alluring mediator. Galatians 4:4-5: "God sent his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, that he might redeem those who were under the law; that we might receive the adoption of sons." And this "unto himself," that is, insofar as we are conformed to him, and serve in the spirit. 1 John 3:1: "Behold what manner of charity God has given us, that we should be called, and should be, the sons of God." And there follows in the same place: "and we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like to him." Here it must be noted that the likeness of the predestined to the Son of God is twofold: one imperfect, which is through grace. And it is called imperfect, first, because it is only according to the reformation of the soul, concerning which Colossians 3: "be reformed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man," etc.; second, because even according to the soul it has a certain imperfection, for "we know in part," as it is said in 1 Corinthians 13:9. The other likeness, however, will be perfect, and it will be in glory: as regards the body, Philippians 3:21: "he will reform the body of our lowliness, configured," etc.; and as regards the soul, because "when that which is perfect has come, that which is in part shall be done away," 1 Corinthians 13:10. What the apostle says, then — that he predestined us unto the adoption of sons — can be referred to the imperfect assimilation to the Son of God, which is had in this life through grace; but it is better that it be referred to the perfect assimilation to the Son of God, which will be in our homeland, concerning which adoption it is said, Romans 8:23: "we groan, awaiting the adoption of the sons of God." The cause of divine predestination is not necessity on the part of God, nor a debt on the part of the predestined, but rather it is "according to the purpose of his will." In this, fourthly, the benefit is commended, because it proceeds from pure love, since predestination, according to reason, presupposes election, and election presupposes love. Nevertheless, a twofold cause of this immense benefit is here assigned. One is the efficient cause, which is the simple will of God, at "according to the purpose of his will." Romans 9:18: "he has mercy on whom he will, and whom he will he hardens." James 1:18: "For of his own will he begot us by the word of truth." The other cause, however, is the final cause, which is that we should praise and know the goodness of God — which is noted at "unto the praise of the glory of his grace." And this again is that from which this excellent benefit is commended, namely the fitting service owed to it. For the cause of divine predestination is the pure will of God, but its end is the knowledge of his goodness. Whence it must be noted that the will of God in no way has a cause, but is the first cause of all things. Nevertheless, some reason can be assigned to it in two ways: namely, either on the part of the one willing — and thus a certain reason of the divine will is his own goodness, which is the object of the divine will, and moves it. Whence the reason of all the things that God wills is the divine goodness. Proverbs 16:4: "God has made all things for himself." But on the part of the thing willed, the reason of the divine will can be some created being, as when he wills to crown Peter because he has striven lawfully; but this is not the cause of his willing, but is the cause that it should so come about. It must be known, however, that effects are the reason of the divine will on the part of the thing willed, in such a way, namely, that a prior effect is the reason of a further one; yet nevertheless, when one comes to the first effect, no further reason of that effect can be assigned except the divine will. For instance: God wills man to have a hand, that it may serve reason; and man to have reason, because he willed him to be a man; and he willed him to be a man on account of the perfection of the universe. And because this is the first effect in the creature, no reason of the universe can be assigned on the part of the creature, but only on the part of the Creator, which is the divine will. Therefore, according to this manner, neither can any reason of predestination be assigned on the part of the creature, but only on the part of God. For the effects of predestination are two, namely grace and glory. Now of the effects that are ordered to glory, a reason can indeed be assigned on the part of the thing willed, namely grace: for instance, he crowned Peter because he strove lawfully, and this because he was confirmed in grace. But of grace, which is the first effect, no reason can be assigned on the part of man that would be the reason of predestination; for this would be to posit that the beginning of a good work is in man of himself and not through grace — which is the Pelagian heresy, which says that the beginning of a good work is on our part. Thus, therefore, it is evident that the reason of predestination is the simple will of God; on account of which the apostle says "according to the purpose of his will." But as to how it is to be understood that God does and wills all things on account of his own goodness, it must be known that to work certain things for an end can be understood in two ways: either on account of attaining the end, as a sick man takes medicine for the sake of health; or on account of the love of diffusing the end, as a physician works in order to communicate health to another. Now God needs no good exterior to himself, according to that word of Psalm 15:2: "you have no need of my goods." And therefore, when it is said that God wills and does all things on account of his own goodness, it is not understood that he does something in order for goodness to be communicated to himself, but in order for goodness to be diffused into others. Now the divine goodness is communicated to the rational creature properly, so that the rational creature itself may know it. And thus all the things that God does in rational creatures, he creates unto his own praise and glory, according to that word of Isaiah 43:7: "every one that calls upon my name, I have created him for my glory" — namely, that he may know his goodness, and, in knowing it, may praise it. And therefore the apostle adds "unto the praise of the glory of his grace," that is, that he may know how much God is to be praised and glorified. He does not, however, say "unto the praise of justice"; for justice has place there where a debt is found, or is also repaid; but that one is predestined to eternal life is not a debt, as has been said, but grace purely and freely given. Nor does he say only "of glory," but he adds "of grace," as it were "of glorious grace" — that is, a grace in which the magnitude of grace is shown, which consists also in the magnitude of the glory, and in the manner of its giving, since he gives it with no preceding merits, but while we still exist as undeserving. Whence Romans 5:8ff.: "But God commends his charity in us, because if, while we were yet sinners, according to the appointed time, Christ died for us," etc., and shortly after, "when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God." It is evident, therefore, that of divine predestination there is no other cause, nor can there be, than the simple will of God. Whence it is also evident that of the predestining divine will there is no other reason than the divine goodness that is to be communicated to his sons.”

“Having predestinated us,.... Predestination, taken in a large sense, includes both election and reprobation, and even reaches to all affairs and occurrences in the world; to the persons, lives, and circumstances of men; to all mercies, temporal or spiritual; and to all afflictions, whether in love or in wrath: and indeed providence, or the dispensations of providence, are no other than the execution of divine predestination; but here it is the same with election, and is concerned with the same persons, and has regard to a special blessing, the elect are appointed to, as follows; unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ unto himself; by which is meant, either the grace of adoption, which is an act of the Father's love, a blessing provided and secured in the covenant of grace; and is of persons to an inheritance, to which they have no legal right; and is entirely free, there being no need on the adopter's part, and no worth on the part of the adopted: or rather the inheritance they are adopted to; which exceeds all others, is incorruptible, undefiled, and fades not away; and lies among the saints in light, and belongs to all the children of God: and this they are predestinated unto by God the Father, who takes them into his family, puts them among the children, and gives them a goodly heritage: and that "by Jesus Christ"; or through him; for both the grace of adoption, and the kingdom and glory they are adopted to, come by and through him as Mediator; through his espousing their persons, assuming their nature, and redeeming them from under the law and its curses; through his giving them a power and privilege openly to be the sons of God; and through faith in him, whereby they are manifestly such: the phrase "unto himself", either refers to God the Father, who has chosen, set apart, formed and reserved his people and children for himself, for his peculiar treasure, and for his own glory; or to Jesus Christ, that he might have some brethren, and they be conformed to him, and he be the firstborn among them, and in all things have the pre-eminence; and that they might be with him, and behold his glory, and he be glorified in them: and this act of divine predestination was according to the good pleasure of his will: the will of God is the rule of all his actions, and of all his acts of grace and goodness; and the good pleasure of it appears in the predestination of men to grace and glory: and from hence it is manifest, that foreseen faith, holiness, and good works, are excluded from being the moving cases of predestinating grace; and that it is wholly to be resolved into the good will and pleasure of God; the view in it being entirely as follows,”

“Having predestinated us - Προορισας. As the doctrine of eternal predestination has produced much controversy in the Christian world, it may be necessary to examine the meaning of the term, that those who do use it may employ it according to the sense it has in the oracles of God. The verb προοριζω, from προ, before, and ὁριζω, I define, finish, bound, or terminate, whence ὁρος, a boundary or limit, signifies to define beforehand, and circumscribe by certain bounds or limits; and is originally a geographical term, but applied also to any thing concluded, or determined, or demonstrated. Here the word is used to point out God's fixed purpose or predetermination to bestow on the Gentiles the blessing of the adoption of sons by Jesus Christ, which adoption had been before granted to the Jewish people; and without circumcision, or any other Mosaic rite, to admit the Gentiles to all the privileges of his Church and people. And the apostle marks that all this was fore-determined by God, as he had fore-determined the bounds and precincts of the land which he gave them according to the promise made to their fathers; that the Jews had no reason to complain, for God had formed this purpose before he had given the law, or called them out of Egypt; (for it was before the foundation of the world, Eph 1:4); and that, therefore, the conduct of God in calling the Gentiles now - bringing them into his Church, and conferring on them the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit, was in pursuance of his original design; and, if he did not do so, his eternal purposes could not be fulfilled; and that, as the Jews were taken to be his peculiar people, not because they had any goodness or merit in themselves; so the Gentiles were called, not for any merit they had, but according to the good pleasure of his will; that is, according to his eternal benevolence, showing mercy and conferring privileges in this new creation, as he had done in the original creation; for as, in creating man, he drew every consideration from his own innate eternal benevolence, so now, in redeeming man, and sending the glad tidings of salvation both to the Jews and the Gentiles, be acted on the same principles, deriving all the reasons of his conduct from his own infinite goodness. This argument was exceedingly conclusive, and must silence the Jews on the ground of their original, primitive, and exclusive rights, which they were ever ready to plead against all pretensions of the Gentiles. If therefore God, before the foundation of the Jewish economy, had determined that the Gentiles, in the fullness of time, should be called to and admitted into all the privileges of the Messiah's kingdom, then the exclusive salvation of the Jews was chimerical; and what God was doing now, by the preaching of the apostles in the Gentile world, was in pursuance of his original design. This same argument St. Paul repeatedly produces in his Epistle to the Romans; and a proper consideration of it unlocks many difficulties in that epistle. See the notes on Rom 8:29, Rom 8:30 (note); and elsewhere, in the course of that epistle, where this subject is handled. But why is the word προορισας, fore-determined, limited, or circumscribed, used here? Merely in reference to the settlement of the Israelites in the promised land. God assigned to them the portions which they were to inherit; and these portions were described, and their bearings, boundaries, vicinities to other portions, extent and length, as exactly ascertained as they could be by the most correct geographical map. As God, therefore, had dealt with the Jews in making them his peculiar people, and when he divided the earth among the sons of Noah reserved to himself the twelve portions which he afterwards gave to the twelve tribes; (see on Deu 32:8 (note)); and as his dealings with them were typical of what he intended to do in the calling and salvation of the Gentiles; so he uses the terms by which their allotment and settlement were pointed out to show that, what he had thus designed and typified, he had now fulfilled according to the original predetermination; the Gentiles having now the spiritual inheritance which God had pointed out by the grant made of the promised land to the children of Israel. This is the grand key by which this predestination business is unlocked. See on Eph 1:11 (note).”

“predestinated--more special in respect to the end and precise means, than "chosen" or elected. We are "chosen" out of the rest of the world; "predestinated" to all things that secure the inheritance for us (Eph 1:11; Rom 8:29). "Foreordained." by Jesus--Greek, "through Jesus." to himself--the Father (Col 1:20). ALFORD explains, "adoption . . . into Himself," that is, so that we should be partakers of the divine nature (Pe2 1:4). LACHMANN reads, "unto Him." The context favors the explanation of CALVIN: God has regard to Himself and the glory of His grace (Eph 1:6, Eph 1:12, Eph 1:14) as His ultimate end. He had one only-begotten Son, and He was pleased for His own glory, to choose out of a lost world many to become His adopted sons. Translate, "unto Himself." the good pleasure of his will--So the Greek (Mat 11:26; Luk 10:21). We cannot go beyond "the good pleasure of His will" in searching into the causes of our salvation, or of any of His works (Eph 1:9). (Job 33:13.) Why needest thou philosophize about an imaginary world of optimism? Thy concern is to take heed that thou be not bad. There was nothing in us which deserved His love (Eph 1:1, Eph 1:9, Eph 1:11) [BENGEL].”