Ephesians 1:6

Ephesians 1:6. Unto the praise of the glory of his grace. This is the refrain of the passage. The election and predestination were not only in accordance with God's freedom, but also for this end: that those who become sons of God by adoption (and with them all sinless creatures) should praise the Divine glory which is the special characteristic of His grace that makes it worthy of praise. We are to praise Him, not simply for His favor to us, but for that exhibition of grace which exalts us to a higher knowledge of His glory, so that, even in praising Him for what He does for us, we learn to praise Him for what He is. This phrase must not, therefore, be weakened into ‘His glorious grace.' Comp. the phrase, ‘unto the praise of His glory' (Ephesians 1:12; Ephesians 1:14).

Which he freely bestowed on us. The E. V. is quite faulty here, following an incorrect reading and misinterpreting the verb. This word has two senses: (1.) To graciously bestow; (2.) to endue with grace. The latter sense is objectionable, both here and in Luke 1:28 (the only other N. T. passage where the word occurs). In fact, ‘grace' is used by Paul of Divine grace, not of the human result, and here the reference is ‘to an act of God once past in Christ, not to an abiding state which He has brought about in us' (Alford). Hence ‘hath' is to be omitted. At the same time the thought of the Apostle here turns toward the carrying out of the purpose of redemption.

In the Beloved. ‘We, as adopted children, are indeed loved, but there is another, the Son, the own beloved Son. It was not, therefore, affection craving indulgence, or eager for an object on which to expend itself, that led to our adoption. There was no void in His bosom, the loved one lay in it' (Eadie). We become the objects of God's love through His grace, which has in Christ its sphere, and becomes ours through union with Him.