John Calvin Commentary Ephesians 1

Paul, an apostle. As the same form of salutation, or at least very little varied, is found in all the Epistles, it would be superfluous to repeat here the observations which we have previously made. He calls himself an apostle of Jesus Christ; for all to whom the ministry of reconciliation has been given are His ambassadors. The word Apostle, indeed, carries something more; for not every minister of the gospel, as we shall later see (Ephesians 4:11), can be called an apostle. But this subject has been explained more fully in my remarks on the Epistle to the Galatians (See Calvin on Galatians 1:1).

He adds, by the will of God; for no man should take this honor to himself, (Hebrews 5:4) but every man should wait for the calling of God, which alone makes lawful ministers. He thus meets the jeers of wicked men by asserting the authority of God, and removes every occasion for inconsiderate strife.

To all the saints. He gives the name of saints to those whom he later calls faithful in Christ Jesus. No man, therefore, is a believer who is not also a saint; and, on the other hand, no man is a saint who is not a believer. Most of the Greek copies lack the word all; but I was unwilling to remove it, because it must, in any case, be understood.

The word bless is used here in more than one sense, referring to God and to men. I find four different meanings of this word in Scripture:

1. We are said to bless God when we offer praise to Him for His goodness.
2. God is said to bless us when He crowns our undertakings with success and, in the exercise of His goodness, bestows on us happiness and prosperity. The reason for this is that our enjoyments depend entirely on His pleasure. Our attention is called here to the singular efficacy which dwells in the very word of God, and which Paul expresses in beautiful language.
3. Men bless each other by prayer.
4. The priest’s blessing is not simply a prayer, but is also a testimony and pledge of the Divine blessing, for the priests received a commission to bless in the name of the Lord.

Paul therefore blesses God because He has blessed us, that is, has enriched us with all blessing and grace.

With all spiritual blessings. I have no objection to Chrysostom’s remark that the word spiritual conveys an implied contrast between the blessing of Moses and of Christ. The law had its blessings. However, perfection is found only in Christ, because He gives us a perfect revelation of the kingdom of God, which leads us directly to heaven. When the body itself is presented to us, figures are no longer needed.

In heavenly. Whether we understand the meaning to be, in heavenly Places, or in heavenly Benefits, is of little consequence. All that was intended to be expressed is the superiority of that grace which we receive through Christ. The happiness which it bestows is not in this world, but in heaven and everlasting life.

In the Christian religion, indeed, as we are elsewhere taught (1 Timothy 4:8), is contained the promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come; but its aim is spiritual happiness, for the kingdom of Christ is spiritual. A contrast is drawn between Christ and all the Jewish emblems by which the blessing under the law was conveyed; for where Christ is, all those things are superfluous.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The lofty terms in which he extols the grace of God toward the Ephesians are intended to rouse their hearts to gratitude, to set them all on flame, to fill them even to overflowing with this thought.

Those who perceive in themselves discoveries of the Divine goodness, so full and absolutely perfect, and who make them the subject of earnest meditation, will never embrace new doctrines by which the very grace which they feel so powerfully in themselves is thrown into the shade. The design of the apostle, therefore, in asserting the riches of divine grace toward the Ephesians, was to protect them against having their faith shaken by the false apostles, as if their calling were doubtful, or salvation were to be sought in some other way. He shows, at the same time, that the full certainty of future happiness rests on the revelation of his love to us in Christ, which God makes in the gospel.

But to confirm the matter more fully, he rises to the first cause, to the fountain—the eternal election of God, by which, before we are born (Romans 9:11), we are adopted as sons. This makes it evident that their salvation was accomplished, not by any accidental or unlooked-for occurrence, but by the eternal and unchangeable decree of God.

According as he hath chosen us. The foundation and first cause, both of our calling and of all the benefits which we receive from God, is here declared to be his eternal election. If the reason is asked, why God has called us to enjoy the gospel, why he daily bestows on us so many blessings, why he opens to us the gate of heaven—the answer will be constantly found in this principle, that he hath chosen us before the foundation of the world.

The very time when the election took place proves it to be free; for what could we have deserved, or what merit did we possess, before the world was made? How childish is the attempt to meet this argument by the following sophism! “We were chosen because we were worthy, and because God foresaw that we would be worthy.” We were all lost in Adam; and therefore, had not God, through his own election, rescued us from perishing, there was nothing to be foreseen. The same argument is used in the Epistle to the Romans, where, speaking of Jacob and Esau, he says,

“For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth” (Romans 9:11).

But though they had not yet acted, might a sophist of the Sorbonne reply, God foresaw that they would act. This objection has no force when applied to depraved human natures, in whom nothing can be seen but materials for destruction.

In Christ. This is the second proof that the election is free; for if we are chosen in Christ, it is not of ourselves. It is not from a perception of anything that we deserve, but because our heavenly Father has introduced us, through the privilege of adoption, into the body of Christ. In short, the name of Christ excludes all merit, and everything that people have of their own; for when he says that we are chosen in Christ, it follows that in ourselves we are unworthy.

That we should be holy. This is the immediate, but not the chief design; for there is no absurdity in supposing that the same thing may serve two purposes. The purpose of building is that there should be a house. This is the immediate design, but the convenience of dwelling in it is the ultimate design. It was necessary to mention this in passing; for we shall immediately find that Paul mentions another design, the glory of God. But there is no contradiction here; for the glory of God is the highest end, to which our sanctification is subordinate.

This leads us to conclude that holiness, purity, and every excellence that is found among people, are the fruit of election; so that once more Paul expressly puts aside every consideration of merit. If God had foreseen in us anything worthy of election, it would have been stated in language the very opposite of what is here employed, and which plainly means that all our holiness and purity of life flow from the election of God.

Why then is it that some people are religious, and live in the fear of God, while others give themselves up without reserve to all manner of wickedness? If Paul may be believed, the only reason is that the latter retain their natural disposition, and the former have been chosen to holiness. The cause, certainly, is not later than the effect. Election, therefore, does not depend on the righteousness of works, for Paul here declares that election is its cause.

We learn also from these words that election does not provide an excuse for licentiousness, or for the blasphemy of wicked people who say, “Let us live in any way we please; for, if we have been elected, we cannot perish.” Paul tells them plainly that they have no right to separate holiness of life from the grace of election; for

“whom he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom he called, them he also justified” (Romans 8:30).

The inference, too, which the Catharists, Celestines, and Donatists drew from these words, that we may attain perfection in this life, is without foundation. This is the goal to which the whole course of our life must be directed, and we shall not reach it till we have finished our course.

Where are those who dread and avoid the doctrine of predestination as an inextricable labyrinth, who believe it to be useless and almost dangerous? No doctrine is more useful, provided it is handled in the proper and cautious manner, of which Paul gives us an example, when he presents it as an illustration of the infinite goodness of God, and employs it as an encouragement to gratitude.

This is the true fountain from which we must draw our knowledge of the divine mercy. If people should evade every other argument, election shuts their mouth, so that they dare not and cannot claim anything for themselves. But let us remember the purpose for which Paul reasons about predestination, lest, by reasoning for any other purpose, we fall into dangerous errors.

Before him in love. Holiness before God (κατενώπιον αὐτοῦ) is that of a pure conscience; for God is not deceived, as humans are, by outward pretense, but looks to faith, or, which means the same thing, the truth of the heart. If we view the word love as applied to God, the meaning will be that the only reason why he chose us was his love for humankind. But I prefer connecting it with the latter part of the verse, as denoting that the perfection of believers consists in love; not that God requires love alone, but that it is an evidence of the fear of God, and of obedience to the whole law.

Who has predestinated us. What follows is intended to heighten even further the commendation of divine grace. The reason why Paul instilled so earnestly in the Ephesians the doctrines of free adoption through Christ, and of the eternal election that preceded it, has already been considered. But as the mercy of God is nowhere acknowledged in more elevated language, this passage will deserve our careful attention. Three causes of our salvation are mentioned here, and a fourth is added shortly afterward. The efficient cause is the good pleasure of the will of God, the material cause is Jesus Christ, and the final cause is the praise of the glory of his grace. Let us now see what he says concerning each.

To the first belongs the whole of the following statement: God has predestinated us in himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, unto the adoption of sons, and has made us accepted by his grace. In the word predestinate, we must again attend to the order. We were not then in existence, and therefore there was no merit of ours. The cause of our salvation did not proceed from us, but from God alone. Yet Paul, not satisfied with these statements, adds in himself. The Greek phrase is εἰς αὑτόν, and has the same meaning as ἐν αὑτῷ. By this he means that God did not seek a cause outside of himself, but predestinated us because this was his will.

But this is made even clearer by what follows: according to the good pleasure of his will. The word will was enough, for Paul very frequently contrasts it with all outward causes by which people are apt to imagine that the mind of God is influenced. But so that no doubt may remain, he employs the word good pleasure, which expressly sets aside all merit. In adopting us, therefore, God does not inquire what we are, and is not reconciled to us by any personal worth. His single motive is the eternal good pleasure, by which he predestinated us. Why, then, are the sophists not ashamed to mingle other considerations with this, when Paul so strongly forbids us to look at anything but the good pleasure of God?

Lest anything should still be lacking, he adds, ἐχαρίτωσεν ἐν χάριτι. This intimates that, in the freest manner and on no mercenary grounds, God bestows his love and favor on us, just as, when we were not yet born and when he was prompted by nothing but his own will, he fixed his choice on us.

The material cause, both of eternal election and of the love that is now revealed, is Christ, the Beloved. This name is given to remind us that through him the love of God is communicated to us. Thus he is the well-beloved, so that we may be reconciled through him. The highest and last end is immediately added: the glorious praise of such abundant grace. Every person, therefore, who hides this glory, is endeavoring to overturn the everlasting purpose of God. Such is the doctrine of the sophists, which entirely overturns the doctrine of Christ, lest the whole glory of our salvation should be ascribed undividedly to God alone.

In whom we have redemption. The apostle is still illustrating the material cause—the manner in which we are reconciled to God through Christ. By his death he has restored us to favor with the Father; and therefore we ought always to direct our minds to the blood of Christ, as the means by which we obtain divine grace.

After mentioning that, through the blood of Christ, we obtain redemption, he immediately styles it the forgiveness of sins,—to indicate that we are redeemed because our sins are not imputed to us. Therefore, it follows that we obtain by free grace that righteousness by which we are accepted by God, and freed from the chains of the devil and of death.

The close connection which is here preserved between our redemption itself and the manner in which it is obtained deserves our attention; for, as long as we remain exposed to the judgment of God, we are bound by miserable chains, and therefore our exemption from guilt becomes an invaluable freedom.

According to the riches of his grace. He now returns to the efficient cause—the greatness of the divine kindness, which has given Christ to us as our Redeemer. Riches, and the corresponding word overflow, in the following verse, are intended to give us expansive views of divine grace. The apostle feels himself unable to celebrate, in a proper manner, the goodness of God, and desires that the contemplation of it would occupy the minds of people until they are entirely lost in admiration.

How desirable it is that people were deeply impressed with the riches of that grace which is here praised! No place would then be found for pretended satisfactions, or for those trifles by which the world vainly imagines that it can redeem itself, as if the blood of Christ, when unsupported by additional aid, had lost all its efficacy.