Ephesians 1:4

According as he hath chosen, &c. Better, According as He chose, &c. The time-reference is the same as just above; to the Divine premundane deed of purpose. "Chosen": out of mankind. See Romans 8:33 and its context for commentary on the idea of the word. The word "elect" (chosen) is generally used in N. T. in connexions where the highest level of Divine purposes, or spiritual privileges, is in view. In the O. T., Israel is "My people, My chosen" (Isaiah 43:20). In the N. T. the chosen are "the Israel of God" (Galatians 6:16; cp. Galatians 3:29; Romans 4:11). As with the Old so with the New Israel the choice is emphatically sovereign; "not according to our works" (2 Timothy 1:9). On the other hand, it takes effect through means;a truth perfectly harmonious with sovereign purpose, while often conveyed in the language of ordinary contingency. Cp. 2 Timothy 2:10; and, by way of illustration, Acts 27:22 with 31.

before the foundation of the world For the identical phrase, cp. John 17:24; 1 Peter 1:20. "Fromthe foundation, &c." occurs, among other places, Luke 11:50; Hebrews 4:3; Hebrews 9:26, where the apparent meaning is "since the beginning of humantime." But with the word "before", as here, the context always suggests the highest reference; "before any createdbeing began." Cp. the parallel phrases "before the ages (œons)" (1 Corinthians 2:7); "before eternal (œonian) times" (2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 1:2); and see Romans 16:25. Every genuine scientific discovery of vast antiquity in material nature throws a true though faint light on the grandeur of such words of Revelation.

that we should be, &c. This clause, taken in itself, is of ambiguous reference. It may bear either (1) on the intended personal spiritual stateof the elect, whether in this life, or in the life eternal, or in both; or (2) on their intended standing, as they are viewed as "in Christ," their Covenant Head. In the first case it would convey the undoubted truth that the intention of the electing Father is a real and universal personal holiness, perfect in this life in principle and motive (cp. e.g. Matthew 5:48; below, Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:12; 1Th 5:23; 1 Peter 1:15-16; 1 John 3:3; 1 John 3:6; 1 John 3:9), and, in the life eternal, in attainment (cp. e.g. ch. Ephesians 5:27; Romans 4:22; 1 John 3:2; Jude 1:24). Cp. 1 Thessalonians 4:7 (where the "call" closely corresponds to the "choice" here, as to the persons in view), and 2 Thessalonians 2:13, a remarkable parallel. In the second case the clause would mean that the elect are to be viewed as holy and spotless because identified, for purposes of acceptance, with their absolutely holy Head and Representative, "in Whom" they stand. Cp. for illustration the whole range of passages where believers are said to have "died and risen with Christ," in respect of atonement and justification, e.g. Romans 6:2, &c.; Colossians 3:1; Colossians 3:3. (And see Article XI. of the Church of England.) On the whole the powerful argument of context decides the ambiguity for the secondalternative. The thought throughout this passage is of the relation of the elect to Christ as their Head and Representative in the pre-mundane Covenant of the Father and the Son. We may explain accordingly, "that we should stand, in the judgment of eternal and absolute Holiness, accepted and satisfactory because united to Christ." Such a truth is only one aspect, but an all-important one, of the great Truth of Salvation.

in love I.e., in the embrace of that Divine Love which gave, and sustains, our position (1 John 3:1). If we connect "in love" with the words previous (as A. V.), and explain those words as above, this must be the meaning. Many expositors, however, ancient and modern, and the important Peshito Syriac Version (cent. 2), connect "in love" with the words following;"in love having predestinated, &c." So margin, R.V. But the cadence of the Greek is in favour of the ordinary connexion. In questions of punctuation in the Greek Testament it must be remembered that the oldest MSS. are scarcely punctuated at all, and the decision must rest accordingly with grammar, context, or the like.