Unto the praise of the glory of his grace, in which he hath graced us in his beloved son.

“That the glory of His grace may be displayed, he saith, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. Now then if for this He hath shown grace to us, to the praise of the glory of His grace, and that He may display His grace, let us abide therein. "To the praise of His glory." What is this? that who should praise Him? that who should glorify Him? that we, that Angels, that Archangels, yea, or the whole creation? And what were that? Nothing. The Divine nature knoweth no want. And wherefore then would He have us praise and glorify Him? It is that our love towards Him may be kindled more fervently within us. He desireth nothing we can render; not our service, not our praise, nor any thing else, nothing but our salvation; this is His object in every thing He does. And he who praises and marvels at the grace displayed towards himself will thus be more devoted and more earnest. "Which He freely bestowed on us," he saith. He does not say, "Which He hath graciously given us," but, "wherein He hath shown grace to us." That is to say, He hath not only released us from our sins, but hath also made us meet objects of His love. It is as though one were to take a leper, wasted by distemper, and disease, by age, and poverty, and famine, and were to turn him all at once into a graceful youth, surpassing all mankind in beauty, shedding a bright lustre from his cheeks, and eclipsing the sun-beams with the glances of his eyes; and then were to set him in the very flower of his age, and after that array him in purple and a diadem and all the attire of royalty. It is thus that God hath arrayed and adorned this soul of ours, and clothed it with beauty, and rendered it an object of His delight and love. Such a soul Angels desire to look into, yea, Archangels, and all the holy ones. Such grace hath He shed over us, so dear hath He rendered us to Himself. "The King," saith the Psalmist, "shall greatly desire thy beauty." Think what injurious words we uttered heretofore, and look, what gracious words we utter now. Wealth has no longer charms for us, nor the things that are here below, but only heavenly things, the things that are in the heavens. When a child has outward beauty, and has besides a pervading grace in all its sayings, do we not call it a beautiful child? Such as this are the faithful. Look, what words the initiated utter! What can be more beautiful than that mouth that breathes those wondrous words, and with a pure heart and pure lips, and beaming with cheerful confidence, partaketh of such a mystical table? What more beautiful than the words, with which we renounce the service of the Devil, and enlist in the service of Christ? than both that confession which is before the Baptismal laver, and that which is after it? Let us reflect as many of us as have defiled our Baptism, and weep that we may be able again to repair it. "In the Beloved," he saith, "in whom we have our redemption through His Blood." And how is this? Not only is there this marvel, that He hath given His Son, but yet further that He hath given Him in such a way, as that the Beloved One Himself should be slain! Yea, and more transcendent still! He hath given the Beloved for them that were hated. See, how high a price he sets upon us. If, when we hated Him and were enemies, He gave the Beloved, what will He not do now, when we are reconciled by Him through grace?”

“For as it is above so it is below, says the Scriptures, that we may become obedient unto the Father even unto death, and because, as Christ said, "O God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?" That He did not rescue Him, but truly abandoned Him on the cross; If and in favor of us this was done, then before His face, as such, the voice of God said loudly, This One's grace is everywhere. He who is loved and His beloved is proclaimed by the Holy Scriptures.”

“Here the Apostle sets down the fourth benefit, namely that of being made gracious through the conferral of grace. Concerning this he does two things. First he touches on the conferral of this benefit; second he shows the manner and condition of the conferring, at the words "in whom we have redemption," etc. He says therefore first: I say that we have been predestined unto the adoption of sons, unto the praise of the glory of his grace, and I say the grace, in which he has made us gracious, etc. Concerning this it must be known that it is the same thing for something to be pleasing to someone and to be loved by him. For that is pleasing to me which I love. Since, then, God has loved us from eternity — for he chose us before the foundation of the world in charity, as has been said — how then did he make us gracious in time? And it must be said that those whom he loved in himself from eternity, he makes gracious in time insofar as they exist in their own natures; and indeed that which is from eternity was not made, whereas that which is in time is said to come to be. Hence here the Apostle says "he has made us gracious," that is, he has made us pleasing, so that we might be worthy of his love. 1 John 3: "Behold what manner of charity the Father has given us, that we should be called, and should be, the sons of God." Now it is customary to distinguish a twofold grace: namely, grace freely given, which is given without merits — Romans 11: "But if by grace, now it is not of works, otherwise grace is no more grace" — and grace which makes gracious, which makes us pleasing and acceptable to God, and it is of this that it is spoken here. It must be noted, moreover, that some are loved on account of another, and some on account of themselves. For when I love someone greatly, I love him, and whatever pertains to him; but we are loved by God, not on account of ourselves, but in him who is loved by the Father through himself. And therefore the Apostle adds "in the beloved Son," for whose sake, namely, he loves us, insofar as we are like him. For love is founded upon likeness. Hence it is said, Ecclesiasticus 13:19: "every animal loves its like." Now the Son, by his own nature, is like the Father, and therefore is loved principally and through himself, and therefore is loved by the Father naturally and in the most excellent way. We, however, are sons by adoption, insofar, that is, as we are conformed to his Son, and therefore we have a certain participation of the divine love. John 13:35: "the Father loves the Son, and has given all things into his hand; he who believes in the Son has eternal life." Colossians 1:13: "he has translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love." Then, when he says "in whom we have redemption," etc., he sets down the manner of it. Concerning this he does two things. For first he proposes the manner on the part of Christ; second on the part of God, at the words "according to the riches of his grace," etc. On the part of Christ he sets down a twofold manner, for Christ made us gracious by two things. For there are two things in us which are opposed to the divine making-gracious, namely the stain of sin and the harm of punishment. And just as death is opposed to life, so sin is opposed to justice, so that by this, being removed far from the likeness of God, we would not be pleasing to God. But through Christ he has made us gracious. First indeed by the removal of punishment, and as to this he says that in Christ we have redemption, namely from the servitude of sin. 1 Peter 1:18: "you were not redeemed with corruptible things, gold or silver, from your vain manner of living handed down from your fathers, but with precious blood," etc. Apocalypse 5:9: "you have redeemed us to God in your blood." Second, we are said to be redeemed because, from the servitude in which we were held on account of sin, and which we could not fully satisfy for by ourselves, we have been freed through Christ, because by dying for us he satisfied God the Father, and thus the harm of guilt has been abolished. Hence he says "unto the remission of sins." John 1:29: "behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world." Luke, last chapter, 46: "it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise again from the dead the third day, and that penance and remission of sins should be preached in his name." Now the manner on the part of God is set down when he says "according to the riches," etc., as if he were to say that God, in making us gracious, not only remitted the fault to us, but gave his own Son, who satisfied for us. And this was out of superabundant grace, by which he willed, through this, to preserve the honor of human nature, in that, as it were through justice, he willed to free men from the servitude of sin and death through the death of his own Son. And therefore he says "according to the riches of his grace," as if he were to say: this, that we have been redeemed and made gracious through the satisfaction of his Son, was out of abundant grace and mercy, inasmuch as mercy and compassion are bestowed upon the undeserving. Now these things which have been said we have pursued according to the exposition of the Gloss, which exposition indeed seems forced, because the same thing is contained in the one as in the other. For it is the same thing to say "he chose us" and "he predestined us." And the same thing is said by what he says "that we should be holy and immaculate" as by what he says "unto the adoption of sons." On account of which it must be known that it is the custom of the Apostle that, when he speaks on some difficult matter, the things which immediately follow are an exposition of what was said before, and there is not there a mere repetition of words, but an exposition, and the Apostle keeps to this manner here. Hence, keeping the same weight of words, let us divide differently from the beginning, and let us say that this part, "blessed be God," etc., is divided first into three parts, because the Apostle first renders an act of thanksgiving, at "blessed be God," etc.; second he recounts the bestowal of all the benefits together, at "who has blessed us in every spiritual blessing," etc.; third he sets down an open expression of the divine benefits in particular, at "as he chose," etc. And this is divided into two parts, because first he expresses the benefits distinctly; second he expounds them, at "who has predestined us," etc. Now he sets forth the benefits: first as to election; second as to the things which follow, at "that we should be holy," etc. Now he expounds first concerning election. For there is a twofold election, namely of present righteousness, and of eternal predestination. Of the first, John 6:71: "did I not choose you twelve, and one of you is a devil?" And the Apostle does not intend this one here, because that election was not before the foundation of the world, and therefore he immediately makes clear which one he means, namely the second, that is, eternal predestination; on account of which he says "he has predestined us," etc. And because he says "in Christ," namely that we should be like and conformed to Christ, according as we are adopted into sons, therefore he adds "unto the adoption of sons through Jesus Christ." Now this, that he says "in charity," he expounds when he says "in whom we have redemption through his blood," as if he were to say: we have, etc. And this, that he says "and immaculate," he expounds when he says "unto the remission of sins." And this, that he says "in his sight," he expounds, saying, "unto the praise of the glory of his grace."”

“To the praise of the glory of his grace,.... The grace of God manifestly appears in the predestination of men to adoption; in that God had no need of sons, he having a dear and well beloved one; in whom he is well pleased; and in that those he adopts are so unworthy of the relation; and in that men, and not angels, should be taken by him into his family; and that some, and not others of the same race; and that this should be before the world was; and in providing Christ as a Redeemer, to open the way for the reception of this grace and happiness; and in appointing the grace of faith to be the receiver of it: and the glory of the grace of God appears herein; the glory of God is the supreme end of all he does; and the glory of his grace, and not his power, or other perfections of his, and the manifestative glory of that is here intended; yea, the "praise" of that glory: and this end is answered, when the children of God ascribe their adoption to the free grace of God; and when they admire it, and are thankful for it, and walk worthy of the relation they are brought into: wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved; the Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions read, "his own beloved Son", and so the Claromontane exemplar; the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the beloved of God the Father; and was so from everlasting, and will be so to everlasting; which has appeared by his nearness to him, lying in his bosom; by his being privy to all his counsels, purposes, and designs; in putting all things into his hands, and in showing him all that he does; and by his giving him honour and glory, as man and Mediator: and he is the beloved of the saints, for the transcendent excellencies that are in him, and for his love to them, and for what he has done for them, and is unto them; and in him is their acceptance: which is to be understood of the acceptance of their persons, as founded in the blood and righteousness of Christ, and so of their services in him; of God's act of delight and complacency in them, as considered in Christ; who looks upon them, and is well pleased with them, and rests in his love towards them; which is an amazing instance of grace: it was grace that gave them a being in Christ, and which has provided in predestination everything to make them grateful to God; and the very act of acceptance is of mere grace; for internal grace, or grace infused, is not here meant, but the free favour of God: some read not "in which", but "which" "he freely gave us in the beloved"; so the Alexandrian copy, and some others, and the Syriac and Arabic versions.”

“To the praise of the glory of his grace - Δοξης της χαριτος αὑτου· The glory of his grace, for χαρις ενδοξος, his glorious or illustrious grace, according to the Hebrew idiom. But the grace or mercy of God is peculiarly illustrated and glorified in the plan of redemption by Christ Jesus. By the giving of the Law, God's justice and holiness were rendered most glorious; by the giving of the Gospel, his grace and mercy are made equally conspicuous. Wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved - This translation of εν ᾑ εχαριτωσεν ἡμας εν τῳ Ηγαπημενῳ is not clear; with which he has graciously favored us through the Beloved, is at once more literal and more intelligible. Whitby, Macknight, and Wakefield translate the passage in nearly the same way. In the Beloved must certainly mean in Christ, who is termed God's beloved Son, Mat 3:17; but several excellent MSS., such as D*EFG, the later Syriac, the Ethiopic, Vulgate, Itala, with several of the fathers, add, υιῳ αυτου, his beloved Son. This is the meaning, whether the reading be received or rejected.”

“(Eph 1:7, Eph 1:17-18). The end aimed at (Psa 50:23), that is, that the glory of His grace may be praised by all His creatures, men and angels. wherein--Some of the oldest manuscripts read, "which." Then translate, "which He graciously bestowed on us." But English Version is supported by good manuscripts and the oldest versions. us accepted--a kindred Greek word to "grace": charitos, echaritosen: translate, "graciously accepted"; "made us subjects of His grace"; "embraced us in the arms of His grace" (Rom 3:24; Rom 5:15). in the beloved--pre-eminently so called (Mat 3:17; Mat 17:5; Joh 3:35; Col 1:13). Greek, "Son of His love." It is only "IN HIS BELOVED" that He loves us (Eph 1:3; Jo1 4:9-10).”