Commentary on Ephesians 1.8–1.21

“According to the riches of his grace, which he made abound in us in all wisdom and prudence.” God is the Father: for from him, as from a fountain, all things have arisen. How they arose is a great matter of understanding and a great doctrine; yet the confession is certain: all things are from God. Now “all things” means both the highest things and the weak, and those that are not eternal, and the rest of this kind. For when I say “all things,” one must understand things diverse, contrary, and conflicting; and in short all things that exist, whatever they are, however, and of whatever kind; and while they are these, they yet remain in their own mode, in substance, in their own being and their own quality. So although angels, demons, matter, elements, souls, and all other such things that exist have their own nature, and have a common force and power of origination, remaining in their own condition, yet souls, which certainly also have their own force among all things, do not persist as they came to exist and received their substance, but by God’s power are advanced into a better substance; and from souls, though they are souls, they become spirits. These, then, are the riches of God conferred on us: that we are made more than we were when we began to be and came to exist, while the rest remain in their condition and keep their own substance and quality as they arose. Magnificent grace of God, great riches of God, when he grants souls this gift: that they come to the adoption of the sons of God, yet through Jesus Christ, that is, through the spirit, thinking spiritual things so as to be spirits. These are his riches, and the riches of his grace, with which he abounded toward us. Rightly, then, did he abound toward us: for an angel, in being an angel, will remain so; and likewise the rest, whether in matter or in the luminaries or in other such things: all these were prepared and are preserved by God. But the soul, among all things, has received more from God, the greatest gift and great riches, when by knowing God—yet by God’s will infused into it through Christ Jesus—it merits to be received among the sons and to be near God; and made, as it were, co-heir with the Son, that is, with Jesus Christ—yet through Christ himself—of eternity, majesty, and power, it merits the name and power of a son. “He abounded,” then, he says, “toward us.” How did he abound? “In all wisdom and prudence.” For truly this is all wisdom and prudence: to know Christ, and through Christ both to understand and to see God. For the rest may be wisdom, whether worldly wisdom or other wisdom of that kind beyond the world; yet without Christ all wisdom and all prudence is vain and wretched; for this reason, namely, that whoever knows Christ, whoever receives Christ, becomes spirit: by doing all spiritual things he is taken up among the sons of adoption, and in a way he himself too comes to exist as such. With this grace, then, God abounded toward us, and with all wisdom and all prudence: wisdom as the genus, prudence as the species.

“That he might make known to us the mystery of his will.” “To us”: to human beings? Or to us Christians, who have received the law? For we understand the mystery of God’s will, by which his grace superabounded toward us, so that we might know his riches through the blood of Christ and through the forgiveness of sins. This will is, as he says, the mystery of prudence, or the mystery of his will in Christ Jesus. For thus he adds: “according to the will that he purposed in him.” For it is not only the will, but the will purposed in him. For all things are through him, and without him nothing, and nothing in the mystery that has been done is not through Jesus Christ: the world and what is in the world, our liberation, and the cause of all things are in Christ and are Christ.

“And this is the will of God which he purposed in him, in the dispensation of the fullness of times.” He shows that all things were arranged in order so that there might be a dispensation; likewise that all things would be, as it were, paid out; for whatever will happen has been ordained; that it may happen, it must without doubt be dispensed; and the world and all things in the world have been arranged, and so they happen; and what the sum of the dispensation is appears plainly through the individual things that happen. This is the fullness of times: when, each in its own times, one arrives at the sum that is made up of all things, namely our liberation and that of all souls—the heavenly ones, of course; but this in the fullness of times, when the times are fulfilled, while the things arranged by God in Christ come about. “And through Christ to restore all things in Christ, both those in the heavens and those upon the earth, in him.” For it is not all things, both those in the heavens and those upon the earth, that are restored, but those that are in Christ: for there are also other things, alien ones. Whatever, then, is in Christ, whether in the heavens or on earth, is restored and rises again. For he himself is salvation, he himself renewal, he himself eternity; “in whom we have also obtained our lot.” He added what was fitting. For not all at once, as is said in another place too: Christ first; then we; then the rest. This, then, is what he says:

“We have obtained our lot, predestined,” surely, “according to his purpose”; that is, who, at what time, and as we said above; and we had surely already been predestined to perfection. For nothing happens that was not predestined by God and in a sense done beforehand. Now there come to pass perceptibly the things that were established spiritually by God. “Who works all things according to the counsel of his will.” God, he says, who surely works all things; for Christ works by God’s power; and although he himself is the worker, yet God works through him: so God works, and works all things. All motion, and the motion of all things, is only from God and through God. And so, since working is motion, working is from God, because working is motion. For the rest are torpid, inert, defective, sluggish. In short, that they come into motion is God’s working, through Jesus Christ, of course. So it is God who works all things, and he works according to the counsel of his will. This, then, is the difference: when God works and Christ works, Christ works from the will of God; God works according to the counsel of his will; for Christ is the will of God. In other books I think we have explained and given a satisfactory account of what the will of God is and what God is, whether it is the same or something else, one or also another, and the rest of this kind. Here we must be content with a simple exposition, holding, with fear and reverence, to this: that the will of God is Christ, that the will of God is motion, that God works all things because God is motion, and the will of God is motion, and is God.

“That we may be to the praise of his glory.” For if we believe in him and become spiritual by following Christ, we shall be to the praise of the glory of God himself, “we who first hoped in Christ.” He has given the order: we shall be to the praise of his glory then, when we have hoped in Christ; or, we shall be to the praise of his glory, we who first hoped in Christ. First, then, comes hoping in Christ, that is, following Christ and believing that all that Christ promised can be fulfilled; and so it will follow that we are to the praise of God’s glory: because, as I have often said, through Christ eternity, which is our salvation, is at the same time God’s glory; hence there will be praise of his glory.

“In whom you also, having heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.” He comes down to particulars, so that he would not seem to have treated the matter only in general and not fittingly or usefully, as if this were a benefit for others and not for those to whom he is speaking. He added something specific, since he is sending the letter to the Ephesians: this, he says, is yours too; for you also are in this. What is “in whom you also”? In Christ, of course. And what in Christ? That, “having heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation,” you have followed the faith, now in Christ. “In whom, believing, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.” The very ground of the exhortation is, for the most part, the mystery: to believe in Christ, to believe the gospel, that is, “the word of truth,” he says; in this you too, believing, were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, so that you too have now received the Holy Spirit of Christ’s promise. But since the Holy Spirit is, as it were, one thing and Christ another, the consummation and perfection and full liberation is nonetheless the Holy Spirit. “You were sealed,” he says, “in the Holy Spirit of promise,” concerning the things promised: since the Holy Spirit was promised and given to us. And of him he adds this:

“Who is the pledge of our inheritance, for the redemption of adoption, to the praise of his glory.” This Spirit, he says, “is the pledge of our inheritance”: for he sent him to us as a pledge that we shall obtain the inheritance of heavenly things, of eternity, and of the glory of God. For this is what is said, “for the redemption of adoption,” so that we may be redeemed from these worldly, earthly, bodily, and fleshly evils; and redeemed into adoption, and exist as sons, seeking rather the glory of God. And it is grace that goes beyond our merit: for the gift that is received is great beyond merit; the glory belongs to him who bestowed it, not to him who received it.

“Therefore I too, having heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.” He comes down specifically to exhorting the Ephesians, and at the same time to warning them not to think otherwise. In a courteous manner of speaking he says, “having heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.” For this is the sum of things, this the virtue, this the mystery: that there be faith in Christ Jesus. This necessarily also entails that all the saints be loved who have taken up faith in Christ and been sanctified. So one who is faithful in Christ loves the saints, that is, those sanctified by faith in Christ and the mystery of baptism. So I too, having heard of your faith, love you; and having heard also of your love, love toward the saints, I will make it my business to give thanks to God for you.

“I will not cease giving thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers.” Every prayer that we make to God is either about what we have received or in order that we may receive something. And since everyone who prays prays first for himself and then for those whom he loves, so Paul says, “In my prayers,” he says, “I make mention of you.” So the principal prayer is first for me, then also for you. And he puts forward that double reason, “giving thanks for you.” This concerns the past. But he added:

“The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you the spirit of wisdom.” This, then, concerns the future: to pray with some petition, so that, since you believe in Christ, I may give thanks to God for you, and again pray and make mention of you in my prayers, that God (which God? so that they may not stray, may not suppose other gods, whether those of the Gentiles or of the Jews), God, he says, “of our Lord Jesus Christ,” the Father, who is “the Father of glory.” It can therefore be seen as set apart: “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ”; for he is the God of Christ; so he is ours as well, since our Lord is Christ; and he is our God who is the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is far separate from the God of the Jews; he is the very one who is also the Father of glory. So I pray that God may give you the spirit of wisdom, that you may be wise and understand what is true. And here and in very many places it is sufficiently confirmed, and shown and demonstrated as certain, that the spirit is given us by God so that we may be wise and understand, and understand the truth—but the spirit of wisdom. Finally he adds, proving that what we understand, or strive to understand, is not our own. For what does he say? “And of revelation in the knowledge of him,”

“… the eyes of your heart enlightened,” that he may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation. The spirit of wisdom means that the spirit itself makes us wise and is in us, and that we are wise as if by ourselves, since the spirit makes us wise. The spirit of revelation, on the other hand, means that what we are to understand, receive, and follow is revealed to us as if from outside us. So in a way the spirit of wisdom is one thing and the spirit of revelation another. Let us know, then, that we come to the truth and to the fullest mystery in two ways, as it were: either when we ourselves understand God and grasp knowledge of divine things, or when there is a certain revelation, that is, a warning as if from outside, which shows us God and all divine things. Among some, indeed, it is considered exceptional and great, and as it were close to the truth, to perceive something by revelation; but either it is alike, or … more alike and certain. But when we receive wisdom so that by our own ability—and, to speak truly, as is also laid down here, by the divine spirit—we grasp divine things, we already have the discussion among ourselves and with ourselves, and, if it may be said, the spirit as it were already exists in us. I pray, then, that he may give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation. Concerning what? He added: namely, “in the knowledge of him,” so that this may be the wisdom, and through these the revelation, that is, that we may know God and have the eyes of the heart enlightened for the knowledge of God. This, he says, I pray for you: “that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.” To know God is indeed a great reward; yet somehow it is a small reward for a human being unless he himself obtains something and in some way becomes better than himself. So I ask, he says, that the spirit of wisdom and revelation be given you in the knowledge of him, and that you have the eyes of your heart enlightened. But since, as I said, the knowledge of God is great indeed, yet small in our eyes unless we gain something from it, he added what you should further understand in that very knowledge of God: “that you may know,” he says, “what is the hope of his calling.” First, what hope we have as those who are called; then what riches we obtain, and riches of glory; which are the riches of the glory of his inheritance, so that we obtain both his glory and the inheritance, and are numbered among the sons. For since the goodness of God receives us into adoption, into the adoption of his sons, we are also heirs; heirs, though, not as in worldly matters, when the one whose heir someone is perishes—which it is impious to think or to say—but as in these matters, heirs of goods, so that we are held to be heirs: that the goods God enjoys, we too may enjoy, may be in glory, may be eternal. This is the inheritance. For we are also co-heirs with Christ, and Christ is God: so with God we are heirs of the riches of his glory. But all these things are “in the saints,” that is, in those sanctified by the mystery, by the name of Christ. So—a thing most approved—I ask that you be enlightened and know this great benefit: that he implores and asks that the spirit, which teaches us this, may come to us. And we indeed often ask this for ourselves; but no small benefit is bestowed by one who has already served the Lord fully and been sanctified, when he asks that the very thing we desire and ask for may come to us. This, then, Paul records that he does for the Ephesians.

“And what is the surpassing greatness of his power toward you who have believed, according to the working of the might of his power, which he worked in Christ.” This, he says, I ask in my prayers: that he give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation; likewise I ask that you know what is the hope of the calling, what the riches; and likewise that you know what is the surpassing greatness. He explains this surpassing: “of greatness,” he says. But what is this greatness? He added, “of power.” And what is this power? That which is in you, or toward you, in that it bestows this on you. And what is that power which it bestows on you? That you believe in him, and believe “according to the working of the might of his power.” Now the working of God’s power is manifold; for whatever has been done through Christ is, as it were, the working of Christ, like the world and all things that were made through him. Yet the true, certain, and at the same time magnificent working of God is that “which he worked in Christ.” And he adds what that working of God is which he worked in Christ: “raising him from the dead, and setting him at his right hand in the heavens.”

“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; and he subjected all things under his feet, and gave him as head over the whole church, which is his body, the fullness of him who is filled all in all.” “According to the working,” he says, “of the might of God’s power” you have believed. Now there is a working of God’s power. Although in the beginning that working was the sending of Christ, or the making of the world subject on account of souls, since this is lofty and hidden, he begins from things that are openly manifest, since they were done, and done recently, and are still before our eyes. From there he takes his exposition of the power of God which he worked in Christ. What is it? It comes from the raising from the dead. For when he raised Christ from the dead, which we have certainly seen, it is surely a great working of the might of God’s power. Then come the things that followed after he raised him from the dead: he set him at his right hand in the heavens. Surely this is great, to have given such honor, such majesty, that he set him both in the heavens and at his right hand. That is too little: “above every principality,” he says; so that no other ruler, whether in the world or above the world, is anything but inferior to Christ. “And above every power,” he says, “and above every virtue, above every dominion, and above every name.” What name? Whether named on earth, that is, in the age; or in this world, or even in the one to come. Again, what did he bestow? That “he subjected all things to his feet,” and that he gave him to be “head over the whole church.” He also defines the church, so that we may understand what it is: “which is his body”; that is, the church is that of which all the members are Christ’s; because it is “the fullness of him who is filled all in all.” Since, then, God bestowed such great and magnificent things on Christ, and fulfilled them for Christ whom he raised, it is surely a great working of the might of his power, which he worked in Christ.

Since the sense and the sum of the passage are clear, let us now go over the details. “Raising him from the dead”: this was done openly and is clear by every testimony—God raised Christ Jesus, who was in the flesh, who died and was lifted up on the cross, on the third day from the dead. Although even on a simple understanding the account of the mystery is magnificent, yet that he was raised from the dead, that the death which human beings undergo, whether by violence or by the necessity of the body, accomplished nothing, that God removed it so that death had no power—this is surely a great power of God, a great might, a great working. But since we have often said what Christ is, what it means that he was in the flesh, what it means that he was lifted onto the cross, what it means that he was raised, we give only this brief reminder; for the account of the fuller mystery has often been treated by us in these books and explained more fully elsewhere. Through Christ, that is, through the spirit, souls were re-created and freed, so that they might return to their origin and the sins into which the souls had fallen might be taken away. Since human beings could not live because of the weakness of the flesh, Christ was sent, that is, the spirit—the spirit of understanding and of the revelation of all divine things and of eternal life—so that through his mystery and through bodily death the souls, raised up, might return to the heavenly power; and at the same time Christ, having suffered the death of the cross and received resurrection from the Father, might provide through the mystery an image of resurrection for all souls. But these things, as he said, also at a certain time.

“And setting him at his right hand in the heavens.” Since Christ is the motion of God, and motion is in working, and the working of motion is always at the right hand, Christ was therefore set at God’s right hand, above every principality and power. For the first motion of all things is the motion of Christ. Principalities, powers, virtues, and dominions are motions of things to be done, whether in divine or in worldly affairs. But since Christ is the fountain, origin, and principle of all that is moved, he is placed above every principality, as above every power. Principality is one thing, power another: principality is in act; power is in the capacity by which something can be—not by which it already is, but by which it can be something. And since Christ is the very origin of all things, and in him is what is potency, he is above every power. Likewise, since he is the fountain of all acts, and act is principality, he is above every principality. Likewise, since, whether when he is or when he can be something else in relation to himself, he is potency, and he can, before there is action, be above every action; in all these, whether in principality or in power, there is virtue, that is, even before the act, so that he himself can be principality. Therefore, since Christ is above all these, he is also above every virtue. Then, since all those powers, whether worldly or heavenly or beyond, in the eternal realm, or all principalities, or all virtues, hold dominion over some one thing each (for each one rules over something), and Christ is the fountain of all—for from him are all things, since he is the father of all motion, and all these are motions—Christ is also above every dominion.

“And every name.” All names were devised by later beings, and especially by those who are in the world, whether human beings or angels or powers. For all those eternal things are the realities themselves, living powers, eternal and intelligent, which are known substantially. So there is no name there, but names were added to them by our vocabulary, whether in our language or, as I said, in that of angels, yet of those who are in the world. Moreover, although that Christ, divine and holy spirit and Son of God, receives these names from us, he is nonetheless beyond all these words that might seem to have been imposed on him. And indeed in a certain place we touched on this: that every name is begotten afterward, and that among names themselves there is a principal name, which is truly above all names and from which all names come, which in Greek is called on, “being.” But Christ is above that very on: so also above all names. But that on is in the eternal realm; and if it is in the eternal realm, and Christ is above on, it is rightly said, “above every name that is named not only in this age but also in the one to come.” More keenly and sharply: all the names that could be formed by the intellect to express the things we have grasped by understanding have already been made. But since many new things are to come, and things more new in that age which is to come, when all things will be disclosed; and since names have not yet been imposed by us on those things, which are not yet known—nor can they be, since they are not known—Christ has been set above even the names that are to come. So he is first and highest in realities too, since he is above all powers, principalities, and the rest. He is above all names, since in this age no name can fittingly be applied to him, and all the names that are to come lie within his designation, or his substance, or any pronouncement and utterance about him.

“And he subjected all things to his feet.” In many and various ways one power is understood, which is Christ, whether as motion, or as word, or as Christ the first universal, through whom all things come to be, have been made, and will be. Rightly, then, God subjected all things under his feet. For Christ is the procession from God, and Christ is the procession through all things; and all things that have come forth, and that return to God, return by his power. So likewise all things are subjected in action under his feet.

“And gave him as head over the whole church.” Many call all souls the church. So Christ, who is spirit, through whom souls know God and become spiritual and are freed from the condition of soul, so that they are no longer tempted and do not slip, since they have been made spiritual through the spirit, Christ—believing in whom they think spiritually and so come to the knowledge of God—in this way Christ is head over the whole church, which is his body. The whole church is likewise every soul, but every soul that is to be saved, and therefore has its substance from the eternal realm, through which all things flourish; and so all souls are saved through Christ, as we have often said. So the whole body of Christ is every soul, which he has named the church. “His fullness,” that is, the church itself, which is his body. It is the fullness “of him who is filled all in all.” Christ is fullness, who is filled with all fullness. But everything that is filled has been emptied. And Christ was emptied, or emptied himself, and again, all things being recovered through the mystery and all souls saved, he is filled in all. Therefore he is fullness. But Paul spoke so as to say that the church is his body, “whose fullness it is,” he says; and it is the fullness of him who is filled all in all. On these two words, fullness and capacity, I have explained more distinctly and fully in other books: how God is fullness only, and how Christ is both capacity and fullness. All these things said of the magnificence and power of Christ have this aim and prove this: that nothing beyond is to be accepted, nothing outside is to be thought; and therefore that the Ephesians err if they add anything besides and join to it anything from the teaching either of the Jews or of the world. Hence he now returns to them and warns them that, having been received into Christ and receiving Christ, they ought to accept nothing other than the fullness of Christ.