Ephesians 1:6Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Why, then, does He desire that we praise and glorify Him? So that through this He may make our love for Him warmer. He requires from us neither service, nor glorification, nor anything else. He desires only our salvation, and He does everything for this.

Indeed, one who gives glory and stands in reverence before the grace manifested in Him will be more attentive and zealous for his salvation.

"By which He made us accepted." He did not say, "the grace which He freely gave," έχαφίσατο, but "by which He made us gracious," έχαρίτωοεν ημάς. That is, He not only delivered us from sins, but also made us beloved to Himself.

Let us imagine someone taking a man with scabies, covered with wounds, weighed down by sickness, old age, poverty, and hunger. Suddenly he transforms him into a handsome young man, whose beauty draws all people to him. His cheeks shine, and his eyes, with every glance, send forth rays of sunlight.

Then he leaves him forever in this flourishing age, and clothes him besides in purple, a diadem, and all royal adornments. In just this way God transformed our soul, making it beautiful, attractive, and beloved.

Angels, archangels, and all the other heavenly powers desire to behold such a soul. So He made us beloved and desired by Himself: "And the King will desire your beauty" (Ps 44:12).

Notice what bitter words we used to speak, and what gracious words we speak now. We marvel not at earthly treasures, nor at what is here, but at heavenly things, at what is in heaven.

When a child has beauty of face and also knows how to speak pleasantly, do we not say, "What a dear child this is"? Such indeed are the faithful. Listen to the words they speak when they partake of the Mysteries.

What can be more desirable than those lips which, uttering wondrous words, with great splendor and boldness, with a pure heart and undefiled lips, partake of the mystical table?

What is more desirable than the words by which we renounce the devil and unite ourselves to Christ, that confession before the font and after the font?

Let us consider, then, how many have corrupted the grace of Baptism. Let us sigh in repentance, so that we may receive it again.

It is not only wondrous here that He delivered up His Son, but also that the Beloved was slain. What great excess of love! He delivered up the Beloved for those who were hateful.

Thus good pleasure, εύδοκία, is God's principal desire, the foundation of the other desires. For example, God's first will is that no one perish. His second will is that those who have become evil should perish. He does indeed punish not by necessity, but by His will.

Therefore good pleasure is God's principal will.

"By which He made us accepted in the Beloved."

He did not say "He granted," έχαρίσατο, but "He made gracious," έχαρίτωσε, that is, He made us pleasing and beloved.

It is like someone meeting an old man covered with sores, exhausted by hunger, and ugly, and suddenly making him different, handsome and young, adorning him with every gift. So too God, finding us morally disfigured and vile, showed us forth as pleasing and beautiful.

"And the King will desire your beauty" (Ps 44:12), it says.

He made us gracious in His Beloved Son, that is, through the Beloved.

St. John Chrysostom, explaining these words of the Apostle, says: "Do you see how nothing is without the Father? The Father predestines; the Son brings. Great blessings have indeed been granted, but they become far more precious because they have been granted through Christ. For to us, who were servants, God sent not someone chosen from among servants, but His Only-begotten Son."

"According to the good pleasure of His will," that is, because He had a strong desire, an irresistible will. Why does He love us so, and where is the source of His grace? The source is solely His goodness. Therefore He also appointed us for adoption, to manifest the glory of His grace.

Summarizing the spiritual blessings in Christ indicated by the Apostle, Bishop Theophan says: "The summit of all is adoption. The condition for it is holiness and blamelessness. The agent is Christ the Lord by the grace of the Holy Spirit. The true beginning of all is the good pleasure of God's will. The motive is love. The goal is the glory of grace. How many mysteries of God are indicated in a few words! But this is not yet all."

"We have forgiveness of trespasses by the same Blood of Christ, as also redemption. Both are according to the riches of grace."

"For a sinner there is no good more palpable than the awareness that all his sins have been forgiven him."

"See how much God loves you, and you yourself love Him who has so loved you. Glorify Him by manifesting in yourself the action of His grace."

In choosing us from eternity, God at the same time resolved to make us His sons through Jesus Christ. He was moved solely by His good pleasure toward mankind. He also had in view that men would praise and glorify Him, or love Him more deeply, for the great grace He had granted.

That men must certainly glorify God is clear from the character of grace itself. By it God made us beautiful and pleasing, έχαριτωσεν, having removed from us all our sinful uncleanness.

He has received us into sonship for Himself. So that we may worthily bear this highest title, He commands us to be holy, and He has ordered everything for the attainment of holiness.

"The praise of glory" is the feeling that is involuntarily drawn from the heart at the sight of an excellent thing or deed. God has shown such full grace toward us that all who understand it cannot refrain from praising both the grace and the One who grants it. They cannot but cry out: most glorious grace!

So it is with all God's works. They are not done in order to be praised, but they are done in such a way that they draw forth praise. This praise is not what is in view. What is in view is the complete perfection of the work. Praise is the consequence, the amazement involuntarily born in the soul when it sees the perfection of a thing or deed. In this lies the blessedness of rational creatures. For the sense of perfection in what surrounds us is the sweetest feeling.

Saint Chrysostom says: "For this He predestined us to sonship, that He might show the glory of His grace. 'To the praise of the glory of His grace.' What does this mean? Does it mean that He needs everyone to praise Him, that we, the Angels, the Archangels, and all creation should praise and glorify Him? No. The Godhead has no need of this. Why, then, does He desire us to praise and glorify Him? So that through this He may make our love for Him warmer. He requires from us neither service, nor glorification, nor anything else. He desires only our salvation, and He does everything for this. Indeed, the one who glorifies and reveres the grace manifested in Jesus Christ will be more attentive and zealous for his salvation."

"By which He has graced us." The first thought at these words is that He has poured grace over us. He has given us grace upon grace, a full cup overflowing. Such an "excess of beneficence, when recognized, moves even the tongue of the ungrateful to thanksgiving and doxology" (Theodoret).

This is the thought suggested by the word "graced." Yet the Greek expression compels us to look beyond grace to what is given by grace, that is, to the spiritual perfection communicated by grace to those who have received it. Through this they become worthy of love, attractive, and so beautiful that one delights to look upon them. Such does the all-merciful God make all men in Christ Jesus.

Saint Chrysostom says: "He did not say, 'the grace which He bestowed on us,' εχαρισατο, but 'the grace by which He graced us,' εχαριτωσεν ημας. That is, He not only delivered us from sins, but also made us beloved to Himself. Imagine someone taking a sick man covered with wounds, bent with old age, weighed down by disease and poverty, and exhausted by hunger. Suddenly he transforms him into a handsome youth, whose outward appearance draws all hearts to himself. His cheeks shine with beauty, and his eyes, at every movement, cast forth rays like the sun. Then he leaves him forever in this flourishing age. Then he clothes him with a diadem and with every royal adornment. In just this way God transformed our soul. He made it beautiful, attractive, and beloved, so that the Angels, Archangels, and all the other heavenly powers desire to behold such a soul. Thus He has made us beloved and desirable to Himself. It is written: 'The king will desire your beauty' (Ps 44:12). Notice what bitter truths we spoke before, the mournful words about the state outside Christianity, and what gracious words we now proclaim. We marvel not at earthly treasures, nor at what is here, but at heavenly blessings and at what is in heaven. Do we not say of a child who is beautiful in face and also knows how to speak pleasantly: what a dear child this is? Such are the faithful. Listen to the words they speak when they partake of the Mysteries. What could be more desirable than those lips which, uttering wondrous words, with great beauty and boldness, with a pure heart and undefiled lips, approach the mystical table? What could be more desirable than the words by which we renounce the devil and unite ourselves to Christ? What is more desirable than that confession before the font and after the font? Let us consider how much we have corrupted the grace of baptism, and let us sigh in repentance, that we may receive it again."

"He graced us in the Beloved," that is, in His Only-begotten Son, who was incarnate for our salvation. Christ the Lord, the archetype of our perfection, is in the highest degree the object of God's love. In Him God rests with His full good pleasure (Mt 3:17).

Only insofar as we become one with Him by faith and fidelity, and God sees us in Him, do we also become beloved of God. But we are in Him only by becoming a new creation, being created anew according to His image.

Therefore, in the words "in the Beloved," one may see the whole divine economy of salvation. God made us beloved to Himself by sending His beloved Son to us. Having come and accomplished everything on earth, He ascended into heaven. From there He sent the Holy Spirit, who gave life to the whole universe by establishing the Holy Church in its midst. In that Church He continues to accomplish wondrous things, gracing and saving us.

All who enter this order established by God become beloved to Him. There is no other way for God to look upon us with good pleasure. Everything is in Christ and through Christ, in His Holy Church.

Let us briefly set forth the spiritual blessings in heavenly things in Christ indicated so far. The summit of all is sonship. The condition for it is holiness and purity. The one who accomplishes it is Christ the Lord, by the grace of the Holy Spirit. The source of all, which cannot be traced beyond itself, is the good pleasure of God's will. The motive is love. The goal is the glory of grace. How many mysteries of God are indicated in a few words! Yet this is not all.