Commentary on Ephesians 0.1–2.21

Prologue. The Apostle did not found the Ephesians in the faith, but strengthened them, having suffered many evils for them at the hands of the faithless, as he says: “For if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus, what does it profit me, if the dead do not rise?” (1 Cor 15:32). And since he foresees that his struggle was not without the effect of their perfection, rejoicing in them, he exhorts them in writing to better things from his custody in the city of Rome; for, coming from Jerusalem in custody, he is understood to have been entrusted to a guarantor, staying outside the camp in his own lodging (Acts 28:16). Chapter one.

“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to all the saints who are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus.” He writes in his usual way, for he testifies that he is an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God. He writes not only to the faithful but also to the saints, so that they may truly be faithful if they are saints in Christ Jesus. For a good life profits and is believed holy only if it is held under the name of Christ; otherwise it will be defilement, because it serves to wrong the Creator. “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” He says that the grace of God is with the saints and faithful, God whom he calls our Father, because from him all things were both founded and restored; but Christ our Lord, because he redeemed us, offering himself for us. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing”: that is, not a worldly but a heavenly blessing, not a corruptible but an eternal one; because the glory of Christians is not on earth but in heaven, and it is in Christ. For every gift of God's grace is in Christ; so that if anyone, spurning Christ, thinks he is blessed by God, let him know that he errs. Yet God is blessed in one way and human beings in another. There is one word, blessing, but it must be understood according to the dignity of the person; for God too is said to make, and human beings make; but God makes impassibly by his will alone, while human beings accomplish things with hand, effort, labour, and sweat. God, then, is blessed when he is extolled with worthy praises; but God blesses human beings by imparting to them the gift of his grace, not according to their merits but according to his mercy. And therefore he said, “who has blessed us with spiritual blessing,” to show that the perfect blessing of heavenly things is given to those who believe in Christ, so that they may be full of heavenly glory, raised above the powers of the heavens. For “where I am,” he says, “there my servant will be also” (John 12:26).

“As he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, so that we might be holy and spotless before him in love.” God, foreknowing all things, knows who would believe in Christ, as he says to the Romans: “Those whom he foreknew he also called” (Rom 8:29–30): not only from the Jews but also from the gentiles. Those, then, whom God is said to call persevere in faith; these are those whom he chose before the world in Christ, so that they may be undefiled before God in love, that is, so that the love of God may make their conduct holy. For no one obeys someone better than one who serves out of love.

“Predestining us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ unto himself.” He says that God decreed that those who believe in Christ should be adopted as sons by God, so that their head might be Christ, the true Son of God.

“According to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his brightness.” He says God had such good pleasure that the grace given to human beings would serve to the praise of his brightness, so that our salvation may be God's glory. “With which he has graced us in his beloved Son.” God gave us grace because we believed in his Son Christ; for, loving his only-begotten, he bestows divine gifts on those who love him.

“In whom we have redemption through his blood, the remission of sins.” He makes known a twofold grace: that he both redeemed us by his blood and did not count our sins against us; that is, he redeemed and set free.

“According to the riches of his grace, which he has made to abound in us in all wisdom and prudence.” He adds to the grace: that after the benefits mentioned above, the gift of wisdom and prudence in spiritual things is added.

“So as to make known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in him, for the dispensation of the fulness of times, to restore all things in Christ, the things in heaven and the things on earth.” This pleased God, whose counsel cannot be revoked: to show in Christ the mystery of his will at the time when he willed to reveal it for the knowledge of the creation. And his will was this: that he would then become gracious to all who were in error, whether in heaven or on earth, when he made manifest that this gift is Christ, for believers, so that sins would not be counted against those who accepted the faith of Christ. Every creature, then, in heaven and on earth, when it learns the knowledge of Christ, is restored to that for which it was founded. For when it is instructed in faith in the one God, the mystery of the Saviour being known, it is restored from the error into which it had fallen, holding as certain that its Creator is the one God and Lord. This is why John too says in the Apocalypse: “I saw Michael and his angels fighting in heaven with the dragon and with his army” (Rev 12:7). This conflict comes partly from error, partly from presumption in a usurped tyranny.

“In whom we too have obtained our lot, predestined according to the purpose of God, who created all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we, who first hoped in Christ, may be to the praise of his glory.” This is what he says: that the stewardship of preaching was decreed by God for those from the Jews who believed in Christ. Hence no one from the gentiles was chosen for the apostolate; for it was fitting that preachers be chosen from those who had first hoped for the salvation that had been promised them in Christ. “In whom you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, believing, were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the pledge of our inheritance, for the redemption of possession, to the praise of his glory.” The praise of God's glory is when many are won to faith, as it is a physician's glory if he cures many. And therefore it pertains to God's glory that he called the gentiles, so that they might obtain the remedy of their salvation through the faith promised to the Jews, having as the sign of redemption and of the future inheritance the Holy Spirit given after baptism. For the redeemed are designated heirs if they persevere in regeneration; so that faith first merits pardon, but holy conduct persevering with faith merits the crown.

“Therefore I too, having heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers.” Since, according to God's decree by which he determined that the gentiles should become sharers in the promise of the Jews, the Ephesians, having heard the word of God, received the faith of Christ, loving all the saints, as the Lord commanded, for this reason he gives thanks to God for their conversion and love, who deigned to incorporate the gentiles with the Jews.

“That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of brightness, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your heart enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of his calling and what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.” It is plain that he says he prays for them so that they may know the hope of their faith in the heavenly reward; because when they fully know what the fruit of believers is, they will become more eager in cultivating religion. For they seem already to be in such progress that, if they are so devoted before they know the glory of the promise, they will necessarily become more eager when they have come to know it. Yet he calls God the Father of brightness and the God of Christ, since God is the true Father of Christ, and God of the creation. But the Lord himself says the same: “I go to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God” (John 20:17). He is the Father, then, of all brightness, because from him is all brightness and power and dignity. He is also the Father of Christ, but differently; because this one is the true Son, and he is God of all, but not in the same way the God of Christ. For he is the God of Christ in this way, that Christ is God from God; but of the others he is God as the cause of fear, as he himself says in the prophet Malachi: “If I am God, where is my fear?” (Mal 1:6).

“And what is the surpassing greatness of his power toward you who believe, according to the working of the might of his strength, which he worked in Christ, raising him from the dead and setting him at his right hand in the heavenly places, above every Principality and Power and Virtue and Dominion, and every name that is named not only in this age but also in the one to come.” He declares that the pattern of the salvation and glory of believers consists in the Saviour's resurrection, so that from it the faithful may know what has been promised them. For in a similar way they will be raised above the heavens to be with Christ, as he himself says: “Father, I wish that where I am, they too may be with me and see my glory” (John 17:24). This is because of the incarnation of the Son of God, so that even having become man he is said to be above all the heavens and above the whole creation, sitting at the right hand of God, having the name of God by nature, not by adoption; so that those who crucified him might know that he is the Son of God. For the honour that the Father gave him by generation was made manifest when, born a man, he suffered and, having conquered death, rose again, ascending above all the heavens whence he had descended. Hence it was said that “truth has sprung from the earth” (Ps 85:11). For since the Father has given all judgment to the Son (John 5:22), he is therefore said to sit at the right hand of God, as judge. Indeed, he himself says to the disciples: “Until now you have asked nothing in my name; ask, and I will do it” (John 16:24). Hence he says to the Jews: “From now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the power of God and coming with the clouds of heaven” (Matt 26:64). For from the time he became known, he began to be approached and petitioned as judge. “And he has subjected all things under his feet, and gave him as head over every church, which is his body and fulness, who is filled all in all.” He says that the Father subjected every creature to the Son, so that, since he made all things through him (John 1:3), he might be head and Lord of all. He subjected all things to him then, when he begot him before all things, so as to make through him the things that were not. By saying “every church,” he comprehends in sum all that is in heaven and on earth, so that they may be made his members into the new man when they confess that he is the one through whom they were made by God. For they are subject to him as members to the head from which they draw their origin, so that all things may be filled in all. For when they have returned to the confession of the one God, bending the knee to Christ, it is fulfilled in all that he is all things, because they are from him; and therefore he is in them, because they subsist by his power; for those who withdraw from God seem to empty him. Hence he says in another place: “So that all things may grow with the growth of God” (Col 2:19).

“And you, when you were dead in your offences and sins, in which you once walked according to the age of this world.” He calls them dead because they follow the errors of the age; for whatever withdraws from the profession of the one God is held to be dead, because it does not remain in the root from which it draws its origin. “According to the prince of the power of this air, the spirit who now works in the sons of distrust.” By the prince of power, that is, the devil, he indicates that he corrupted the understanding of the age, so that they withdrew from the one God, taking up the opinion of many gods, so that he might make them partners in his conspiracy, being found in the same impiety, denying the one God. He calls this prince of error the spirit of the air to show that he has usurped this region for himself to exercise dominion. For the air is one thing and the prince another; but because he rules in the world or in the air, he is called the spirit of the air.

“Among whom we too once lived in the desires of our flesh, doing the will of the flesh and of its counsels; and we were by nature children of wrath, like the rest.” He means unbelief when he mentions the desires of the flesh. For the will of the flesh is to delight in visible things, so as to call gods the elements that God appointed as the helm of the world; whereas this name is owed to the one God, from whom are all things; so that, as he has no partner among them in power, so he may have none sharing the name. But this name is not denied to Christ, because, as the nature is common to them, so will the name be. Yet there is this difference between the Father and the Son, that the Father received it from no one, but the Son by generation received all that is the Father's, so that in power and substance and name the Son differs in nothing from the Father. Hence he says: “All that the Father has is mine, and mine is the Father's” (John 16:15). It is not unworthy or contrary, then, if Christ too is called God, but from God the Father, so that the authority of the one God is preserved. For if anyone thinks that he means something else when he names the will of the flesh, let him know that the Apostle too had a clean life, for he lived blameless according to the righteousness of the Law. But because he persecuted the faith of Christ, therefore he says, “we lived in the desires of our flesh.” For every sin is called flesh, above all unbelief, which is the mother of all wickedness. Good works and chastity will profit no one if he is faithless; for unbelief stains all these. Hence he added: “And we were by nature children of wrath, like the rest.” For when an evil will is set under nature, it becomes a nature of wrath, that is, one to be subjected to punishment, changed not in substance but by an evil will. For what follows is reckoned to nature; hence he says in Isaiah: “Most evil seed” (Isa 1:4). And why it is most evil seed he added: “For you have forsaken the Lord,” he says, “and provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger”; so that a nature that deserts God is called most evil seed. For to degenerate is to withdraw from the author; and when it gives a bad example to others it is evil seed, for it produces the worst fruits. But if it returns to the Author, the nature will be good, according to the Apostle, who, changed when he acknowledged his Creator, is called a vessel of election (Acts 9:15).

“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he had mercy on us.” These are the true riches of mercies: that mercy was granted of his own accord to those who did not seek it, as Isaiah says: “I have been made manifest to those who did not seek me” (Isa 65:1); for this is to abound in mercy, that one gives even to those who do not ask. Yet this is God's love toward us: that because he made us, he does not wish us to perish; for he loves his work. For he made us so as to love what he made; for no one hates his own labour.

“And when we were dead in sins, he made us alive together in Christ.” Estranged from God we were dead; but by his grace he called us back, that is, made us alive in Christ. For because he made us through him, again through him he re-formed us in him, that is, so that we may be his members; and he is our head; for we have him, by God's gift, as the author of our life, as the apostle Peter says: “But you killed the author of life” (Acts 3:15).

“By whose grace you have been saved.” To this gift he adds the gentiles too, signifying that we have been saved by the grace of Christ.

“And he raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” He says what I mentioned above: that the saints, even those from the gentiles, will be there where Christ, their head, is.

“So that in the ages to come he might show the overflowing riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” He signifies that in the age to come the immortal gift of God will appear in the reward of the faithful, “what eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor 2:9). These are the overflowing riches: that so much is given to believers as the mind cannot search out.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith.” The grace of faith was given so that believers might be saved. “And this not of yourselves, for it is the gift of God; not of works, lest anyone boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared that we should walk in them.” It is true that all thanksgiving for our salvation is to be referred to God, who grants us his mercy, so as to call back to life those who were wandering and not seeking the true way. And therefore we must not boast in ourselves, but in God, who regenerated us by a heavenly birth through faith in Christ, so that, exercised in the good works that God decreed for us once reborn, we may merit to receive the promises.

“Remembering that you once were gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision in the flesh, made by hand; that you were at that time without Christ, estranged from the way of life of Israel, and strangers to the covenants, and not having the hope of their promise, and without God in this world.” He admonishes the gentiles to remember what they were (for they were fleshly and without hope, having no share in the promise of the Jews in Christ; for Christ had been promised to the Jews, not to the gentiles), so that they may more readily give thanks to God through Christ, who in his mercy made them sharers in spiritual things when they were fleshly. Yet he says “circumcision in the flesh, made by hand,” to signify another, spiritual circumcision not made by hand.

“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been made near through the blood of Christ.” He still commends the gift and grace of God, to whom he wants us always to give thanks as those under obligation; for this is why he mentions that we have been made near to God in the blood of Christ: to show how great an affection God has toward us, who allowed his Son to die for us; so that we too, enduring in faith in him, may not give way to all the deaths inflicted on us for him, knowing that he deserves more from us than whatever can be inflicted by enemies. For he, though he is Lord and needs nothing, offered himself for us, so that it might profit not him but us. For we, even if it did not profit us, would perhaps be compelled as servants to die for our very Lord; how much more when not only his death but our own brings us its effect!

“For he himself is our peace, who has made both one and broke down the middle wall of the partition, the enmities, in his flesh.” The Saviour's passion made peace between circumcision and uncircumcision. For the enmity that was like a wall in the middle, dividing circumcision from uncircumcision and uncircumcision from circumcision, the Saviour dissolved, giving a law that neither the Jew, presuming on circumcision, should reject the gentile, nor the gentile, relying on uncircumcision, that is, on paganism, should abhor the Jew; but that both, made new, should follow faith in the one God in Christ. For all that the Saviour taught he confirmed when he rose from the dead. Yet the wall that was in the middle, dividing between the law of deeds and gentile ways, he called a partition or hedge, that is, not a stable or strong wall; because neither was gentile religion a firm thing, being invented by man, nor were circumcision and new moons, and the observance of foods and sacrifices or sabbaths, stable and fixed; for they were given so as to cease when Christ came. For although God gave them, it was for a time; but the preaching of faith is firm and without successor.

“Making void the law of commandments in decrees, so as to create the two in himself into one new man, making peace.” This is what I mentioned above in summary: that the law that had been given to the Jews in circumcision, new moons, foods, sacrifices, and the sabbath he made void, that is, ordered to cease now, because they were a burden; and so he made peace. Hence the apostle Peter says in the Acts of the Apostles: “Why do you place a yoke on the neck of the brothers that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?” (Acts 15:10).

“So as to present and reconcile both in one body to God through the cross.” Having removed the enmity, Christ by his death first reconciled the peoples to one another, then made them at peace with God the Father; so that human beings of one nature, because they had become divided through error, might be made members of one new body, whose head is Christ.

“Killing the enmities in himself; and coming, he preached peace to you who were far off, and peace to those who were near; because through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.” The sense is the same; for he killed the enmity in himself when he died for all, Jews as well as gentiles. For the Saviour's death profits all; for, rising from the dead, death that held all being condemned, he showed what hope those who believe in him would have. Hence he commanded the preaching by which all would be called together to God the Father in the unity of the Spirit, discord being cut away; so that whether Jews (who are called near because the promise was made to their fathers) or gentiles (who are called far off because they did not receive the law of God given through Moses), the former rite being removed, should receive the faith of Christ, through which they would become one. “So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens of the saints and members of God's household.” He admonishes them to be mindful of God's benefits; because, though they were far from the knowledge and fear of God, by his mercy they were joined, so as to become sharers with those who were near God, made fellow citizens of the sons of God. For just as any nation that wished to follow peace with the Romans was received with gifts of citizenship, so as to be Roman citizens, as were the people of Tarsus in Cilicia, whence the Apostle says he is a Roman citizen (Acts 22:28), so too whoever joins himself to the Christian faith becomes a fellow citizen of the saints and a member of God's household.

“Built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone.” That is, placed upon the New and Old Testaments. For what the apostles preached, the prophets said would come; although he says to the Corinthians: “God has placed in the church first apostles, second prophets” (1 Cor 12:28). But those are other prophets; for in that place he discusses the ordering of the church, but here the foundation of the church: for the prophets arranged, but the apostles laid the foundations. Hence the Lord says to Peter: “On this rock I will build my church” (Matt 16:18); that is, on this confession of the catholic faith I will establish the faithful for life. For David too arranged the house of God and marked the place where it should be, but Solomon founded it.

“In whom the whole structure, fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you too are built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.” This is the sense of the Lord's words: “On this rock I will build my church.” For the Saviour took the two peoples into himself and made them one in the Lord, as the cornerstone holds two walls, made firm in the unity of the house; for the faithful are the surface of God's temple, living in the Spirit, so that they may become heirs of the heavenly dwelling.