Ephesians 1:4Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

These words mean that through Him by whom He blessed us, He also chose us. Thus He Himself grants us all this here. He Himself will be the Judge and will say, "Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Mt 25:34).

And elsewhere: "I desire that where I am, they also may be with Me" (Jn 17:24).

In almost all his epistles, the Apostle strives to show that what has been done for us is not some novelty. It was prefigured from of old. It happened not because of a change in God's intention, but because it was so arranged beforehand and predestined. This is the work of great divine care.

"Since He chose us in Him before the creation of the world."

He blessed us, he says, through Christ, just as He also chose us through Him, that is, through faith in Him.

He chose us before the creation of the world. What has been done for us was predestined from eternity. Nothing new is taking place. Rather, what was appointed from the beginning is being fulfilled.

He also rightly said καταβολή, foundation or creation, which properly means a casting down from on high. By this he shows that the world was, as it were, cast down and established from a certain height of divine power.

The word "chose" indicates both divine love for mankind and their virtue, for He chooses all who will be worthy.

"That we should be holy and blameless before Him."

For in His pre-eternal counsel He chose us for this before the world, that we should be holy through baptism and pure, namely through love, not through the righteousness of our own life.

"Since He chose us in Him before the creation of the world."

The word καταβολή signifies an action in which something is thrown from above and directed from a high place, or when something begins to exist.

The Apostle Paul, wishing to show that God ordered all things from nothing, did not use of Him the word "arrangement," "formation," or "completion," but καταβολή, creation.

"That we should be holy and blameless before Him in love."

Paul's distinction between holy and blameless is this: the holy one is at the same time blameless, but the blameless one is not at the same time holy.

Children are blameless, because with a body not yet corrupted they have committed no sin. Yet they are not yet holy, because holiness is acquired by effort of the will and by labor.

God, who foreknows all things, knows who will believe in Christ. As it is said to the Romans: "For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son" (Rom 8:29). This is not only from the Jews, but also from the Gentiles. Therefore those whom God calls, as it is said, remain in faith. These are those whom He chose before the foundation of the world in Christ, that they should be pure before God in love. That is, the love of God should sanctify their life. For no one can show greater regard to another than to do this out of love.

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." It is evident that He is our God, but the Father of our Lord. We noted this also in the interpretation of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians.

"Who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ." For He has imparted to us the gifts of the divine Spirit. He has given the hope of resurrection, the promises of immortality, the Kingdom of Heaven, and the dignity of adoption.

These are what the Apostle called spiritual blessings. He added, "in the heavenly places," because all these are heavenly gifts.

"He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world." As Adam was the representative of all humanity that came from him, so Christ is the representative of all who have believed in Him. Existing from eternity, He was also foreordained from eternity for the salvation of men. In Him, as their Head, all believers were chosen for salvation and therefore also for holy life.

The Apostle's words, "God chose us in Him, in Christ, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him in love" (Eph 1:4), mean that He did not choose us because He foresaw our holiness and good works. He chose us so that we might yet become holy.

He chose us not according to our merits, but according to His will alone. Yet here and in other similar places (2 Thess 2:13; 1 Cor 2:7), what is meant is not election or predestination to glory (Mt 25:34). As we have seen, that undoubtedly takes place according to the foreknowledge of each person's merits.

After the greeting, the Apostle offers thanksgiving to God for the great and inexpressibly beneficent work of salvation for men. It was predestined from of old and accomplished by Jesus Christ.

In this the fullness of God's love was manifested, which is grasped through our perfection in love. That love must be holy and blameless.

Explaining the greatness of the gift of salvation, which the Apostle calls God's "every blessing," blessed Jerome writes: "God blessed us not with one blessing, but with every blessing. This does not mean that all received everything. Rather, when each has one or several of all, all of us possess everything in parts." The gifts of the Holy Spirit are meant.

The defenders of unconditional predestination also explain the Apostle Paul's words in the Epistle to the Ephesians as referring to unconditional predestination in holiness, and together with it to blessedness: "as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him in love."

They suppose these words contain the thought that God chose believers for glory, not because they were to be holy and blameless, as He foresaw, but precisely so that they should be such. They would be so as a consequence of God's very election.

“Just as,” kathos, means since. The reason for what was said before now follows. In the preceding verse God is blessed for His abundant blessings to us in Christ Jesus. Two questions may arise concerning this. Has God only now been pleased to enrich us so greatly? And what need was there to expend so many divine treasures upon us? The Apostle answers this in the present verse. No, it was not only now determined that this should be so, but from eternity. Only now has it been brought to fulfillment. And if so many spiritual treasures have been poured out upon us, it is because otherwise we could not be holy. God resolved to lead us again to holiness and blamelessness, and He directed everything toward this. It was necessary to justify us, and behold, the Lord underwent the death of the Cross for us. It was necessary to make us alive, who had been slain by sin, and behold, the grace of the Holy Spirit was sent down upon the Apostles. Then it was to be poured out upon all believers and give life to all. It was necessary to prepare a place for those being saved, and behold, the Lord ascended into heaven to prepare places, that His servants also might be where He Himself is. There are three chief moments in the life of Christians: forgiveness of sins, sanctification by the grace of the Holy Spirit, and eternal blessedness in Christ’s Kingdom. All blessings are contained in them. Yet they are all directed toward this, that we should be holy and blameless. This is the center of all the grace-filled institutions of the New Testament. Just as He chose us. The holy Apostle does not intend to dwell at length on election. It is the most important moment for each person being saved, but here it is not fully unfolded. It is only mentioned for the further explanation of how the blessing of praise to God naturally burst from the Apostle’s heart after beholding the blessings in Christ Jesus the Lord. Not only the abundance of these blessings compels him to bless God, but especially the fact that they were appointed from eternity. This entered into the general plan of the world’s being. Saint Chrysostom says of this: “In almost all his epistles Saint Paul strives to show that what was done for us is not some novelty, but that it had been prefigured of old. It did not happen because of a change in God’s intention, but had been arranged and predetermined in this very way. It is the work of God’s long-standing care.” Theodoret sets this thought of pre-eternal election in relation to the Old Testament dispensation and writes: “Since some thought that the preaching of the Gospel was something new, and despised it because it appeared later than life under the Law, the Apostle instructs them about this also: ‘just as He chose... before the foundation of the world.’ For from the beginning, before the ordering of the world, God both foreknew and predestined all that is accomplished with us.” The spiritual blessing of us, accomplished in time as a deed, is the work of redemption accomplished by the Lord. Spiritual blessing, in relation to these and those persons, is entry into participation in redemption. Both are in time, but their foundation is not in time. It is in eternity. From eternity God determined that redemption should be. The time came, and it was accomplished. From eternity also those being saved were determined. The appointed time comes, and those determined receive salvation. The foundation of this last is God’s pre-eternal election. He chose us in Him. Us means all Christians, all who have already believed and all who will believe until the end of the world. The Apostle’s gaze embraces all who have been saved from among men. What this election is may be understood from the election of the people of God. Israel was chosen from among the nations to be the people of God, consecrated to God and to the work of God. But that election was temporal, though for eternal purposes that embrace all mankind. When the purpose was fulfilled, the significance of the temporal election ended. It was replaced by another, higher election, spiritual in purpose and eternal in meaning. Here not one tribe is chosen from all, but one people is chosen from all tribes, consisting of persons of one spirit and serving one goal. It is of this election that he says it was accomplished before the foundation of the world. Time and history only carry out that pre-eternal election. The Apostle ascends beyond the limits of time and sees the beginning of this election in the pre-eternal act of God’s will. He chose us in Him, that is, in Christ. Christ is the one who contains all saved mankind, as Adam contains fallen and perishing mankind. From the whole mass of those perishing in Adam, God chose us for Himself through faith in Christ Jesus. All who are from Adam are sinful before God and without grace. God sees them as such. This dark covering is lifted, and God’s blessing extends only to that part of them which takes shelter under Christ’s protection. Through Christ, the most blessed One, He not only sees them as blessed, but also fills them with blessing. God chose us in Christ. Therefore Christ was chosen first. The decree that salvation should be through redemption in Christ was the original and entirely free decree of God’s will. Christ is the First-Chosen. Yet since He is not for His own sake, but for the sake of those being saved, they too are chosen in His election. God’s blessing rests wholly upon Christ, and for His sake upon all who believe in Him. Everything in them is from God through Christ. Those being saved need faith, grace, holiness, and, for this, eternal glory. All this comes to them from Christ and through Christ. When Christ is chosen, those saved by Him are also chosen, and all the means of salvation are chosen. How a person actually enters into his pre-election, or comes into his allotted portion, is a hidden mystery in God beyond comprehension. The Apostle says here only that all such persons are chosen, and chosen in Christ, before the foundation of the world. Through communion with Him by faith and through being graced in the mysteries, eternal election receives its temporal fulfillment or realization. In the one who works out his salvation, certainty is also added concerning actual living communion with Christ. Together with the maturation of certainty in this communion, certainty also matures in the one who is truly being saved concerning pre-eternal election in Christ. He chose us before the foundation of the world, that is, from eternity, for before the foundation of the world there was no time. In other places Saint Paul does not use this expression. In a similar passage, 2 Thess 2:13, it says: “God chose you from the beginning.” From the word “foundation,” Saint Chrysostom draws an inference concerning the manner of the world’s origin. Foundation, katabole, means a casting down. From the infinitely great God this world was cast into space and time at an infinite distance from Him in dignity. Or the world was cast forth by the Word of God into space and time. He spoke, and they came to be. He spoke, and they came to be. Every word proceeding from the mouth of God brought forth worlds, which we are not even able to number. Here are the words of Saint Chrysostom: “The Apostle beautifully called the creation of the world katabole, a casting down from on high. Truly great and ineffable is the height of God, not with respect to place, but with respect to the boundlessness of the divine nature. And great is the distance between creature and Creator.” The same observation is made by all the ancient Eastern interpreters and Blessed Jerome. In their time there was at intervals a struggle with materialist and fatalist philosophers. Therefore they considered it necessary to draw this inference. It is not unnecessary in our time either. It is remarkable that, in the contemplation of the saints, the world, however vast, disappears from their consciousness before the consciousness of the greatness of the Godhead. This is because, passing beyond the world, they lived in God. Conversely, to those who burrow in matter while forgetting God, the world with its forces seems something immeasurably great and powerful. It screens God from their consciousness and, as it were, drives Him out of it. One must marvel that these latter, attending to His works in act, did not recognize the Craftsman. “Looking upon His works, they did not know the Maker” (Wis 13:1). He chose us to be holy and blameless. The nearest goal of election is holiness and blamelessness. These in turn become the means to a higher goal, adoption (Eph 1:5), and this again to a further goal, the inheritance. Such is the chain. But the center of all is holiness and blamelessness. Since we were chosen to them in Christ, and Christ is the accomplisher of the whole economy of salvation, the whole goal of that economy lies in our holiness and blamelessness. Man was created holy and blameless. Having fallen, he lost holiness and blamelessness. Being restored from the fall, he is restored again to holiness and blamelessness. God did not choose the holy and blameless, but chose sinners that they might be holy and blameless. Whoever is pure and blameless in himself is also holy. Everyone who has received baptism, or the remission of sins in repentance, is pure from every defilement, both in God’s gaze upon him and in his own conscience. Yet he does not always possess complete holiness in his whole nature. He is holy because all his sins have been forgiven. He has undertaken the obligation to holiness, has been clothed with the grace-filled power for it, and is zealous, even to laying down his life, to stand in the good, however strong the assaults of the contrary may be. This inward order is essential in the spirit of Christians. All Christians are chosen to it. Thus, if holiness is not given all at once, but requires labors, sweats, and struggle, then those chosen to holiness are also chosen to this narrow path toward it, fully realized in ascetic struggle. Christian, chosen one, saint, combatant, ascetic, and laborer are all titles of the same meaning. Saint Chrysostom says: “So that you may not think faith alone is enough, the Apostle also points to life. For this, he says, God chose us, that we should be holy and blameless. Election bears witness, on the one hand, to God’s love for mankind, and on the other, to the virtue of those chosen. Without doubt, He chose those who are worthy of this. He made us holy, but we must also be worthy of being holy. Everyone who partakes of faith is holy, but blameless is the one who leads a blameless life.” God chose us to be holy and blameless before Him, that is, before God, not only outwardly and before the eyes of men. He chose us before the face of the all-seeing God, and therefore essentially. “He requires,” says Saint Chrysostom, “not mere holiness and not mere blamelessness, but such as would prove to be so before Him. For there are those considered holy and blameless by men, who in fact are like whitewashed tombs or are ravenous wolves in sheep’s clothing. He does not choose such, but those like the Prophet who said: ‘The Lord will reward me according to my righteousness, and according to the purity of my hands before His eyes’ (Ps 17:25). Do you see what kind of holiness He seeks? Holiness before His eyes, that is, holiness which the eye of God can acknowledge.” In love. Interpreters connect this phrase in different ways. Oecumenius refers it to “He chose.” Saint Chrysostom, Theodoret, and Theophylact connect it with what follows, “having predestined.” Saint John of Damascus and Ambrosiaster connect it with “to be holy and blameless.” With which word this phrase is to be joined depends on whose love one understands here, divine or human. Blessed Jerome says that both human love and divine love may be understood here. If the former, it means that we are chosen to be holy and blameless through love for God and neighbor. If the latter, it means that God chose and predestined us according to His love for us.