Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. (Eph 1:3–14)
He has conferred on us the gifts of the Holy Spirit, gave the hope of resurrection, the promises of immortality, the guarantee of the kingdom of heaven, the dignity of sonship. These Paul called spiritual blessings, and added “in heavenly places,” because these gifts are heavenly.
Since, however, some formed the idea the message was recent and despised it as later than the way of life of the Law, he necessarily teaches about it as well. From the beginning, before the formation of the world, He both foreknew our situation and predetermined it. He brings out also why He chose us: to be holy and blameless before Him. And how did He choose those who were not then in existence? He foresaw us, loved us, and predetermined our calling so that we might enjoy the gift of adoption through the Incarnation of our Savior. The phrase to Himself refers to the Father—that is so that we might be called His children. Then struck by the greatness of the generosity, he went on: He willed this (he is saying), this pleased Him. It is in fact, customary with the Holy Scriptures to refer to the intention of doing a favor as good pleasure.…
The extraordinary degree of beneficence moves even the tongues of the ungrateful to thanksgiving. The death of the Lord has made us worthy of love. In shedding through him the toils of sin and being freed from slavery to the tyrant, we have been drawn toward the characteristics of God’s image. He also teaches how we attained these features: He makes the springs of mercy gush forth, and withs its torrents bedews us on all sides.
He called His hidden will mystery: having predetermined this from the beginning (he is saying), He revealed it later.… Only God's nature needs nothing. The whole creation stood in need of his healing order of gifts. For, since the elements came into being to serve human needs, he made them subject to corruption, for he could foresee that transgression was going to make humanity mortal also. As for the unseen powers, they were naturally aggrieved when they saw human beings living in wickedness: if they rejoice at one sinner who repents, as the Lord said, it is very obvious that they grieve to behold the opposite. But the Incarnation of the Only-begotten, by doing away with death, revealing the resurrection, and giving the pledge of the common resurrection, dissipated that dismal cloud. By gather together he means the complete transformation of things. For through the gift given through Christ the Lord, the human nature is raised anew and puts on incorruptibility. Ultimately the visible creation, delivered from corruption, will receive incorruption. The hosts of unseen powers will rejoice continually, because sorrow and grief and sighing have fled away. This is what the divine apostle teaches through these words; for he said not simply “heaven and earth” but “those in heaven” and “those on earth.”
Having predestined us from the beginning, the One who does everything He wishes chose us for this life. He brings out more clearly also for what kind of inheritance He has predestined us: when men look at us, who have believed in Christ, all sing the praises of Christ, who is responsible for these good things. You not only heard but also believed; hence you also attained the grace of the all-holy Spirit.… You gained the gift of the Spirit like a kind of seal. He calls it a promise since the Lord promises to send the grace of the Spirit.
He shows how great are our expectations. This grace is already being given, through which miracles were worked: the dead were raised, lepers cleansed, and demons driven out. All of these and similar things have the status of a pledge, so it will become obvious that the faithful will enjoy in the future a much greater grace. This pledge, he is saying, has been given to us at present so as to free us from the tyranny of the Enemy and bring us into a relationship with God, so that mindful of the grace, we may always sing His praises.
Theodoret of Cyrus, Epistle to the Ephesians 1
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