I prepared this study for Advanced Greek Grammar (New Testament 705) at Bob Jones University in the spring of 2005.
Athanasius (c.a. 296–373)
And to the Ephesians; “Blessed be God even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestinated us to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself.”1
Chrysostom (c.a. 347–407)
Ver. 4. “Even as,” he proceeds, “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before Him in love.”
His meaning is somewhat of this sort. Through whom He hath blessed us, through Him He hath also chosen us. And He, then, it is that shall bestow upon us all those rewards hereafter. He is the very Judge that shall say, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” (Mat. xxv: 34.) And again, “I will that where I am they will also be with Me.” (John xvii: 24.) And this is a point which he is anxious to prove, in almost all his Epistles, that ours is no novel system, but that it had thus been figured from the very first, that it is not the result of any change of purpose, but had been in fact a divine dispensation and fore-ordained. And this is a mark of great solicitude for us.
What is meant by, “He chose us in Him?” By means of the faith which is in Him, Christ, he means, happily ordered this for us before we were born; nay more, before the foundation of the world. And beautiful is that word “foundation,” as though he were pointing to the world as cast down from some vast height. Yea, vast indeed and ineffable is the height of God, so far removed not in place but in incommunicableness of nature; so wide the distance between creation and Creator! A word which heretics may be ashamed to hear.
But wherefore hath He chosen us? “That we should be holy and without a blemish before Him.” That you may not then, when you hear that “He hath chosen us,” imagine that faith alone is sufficient, he proceeds to add life and conduct. To this end, saith he, hath He chosen us, and on this condition, “that we should be holy and without blemish.” And so formerly he chose the Jews. On what terms? “This nation, saith he, hath He chosen from the rest of the nations.” (Deut. xiv: 2.) Now if men in their choices choose what is best, much more doth God. And indeed the fact of their being chosen is at once a token of the loving kindness of God, and of their moral goodness. For by all means would he have chosen those who were approved. He hath Himself rendered us holy, but then we must continue holy. A holy man is he who is a partaker of faith; a blameless man is he who leads an irreproachable life. It is not however simply holiness and irreproachableness that He requires, but that we should appear such “before Him.” For there are holy and blameless characters, who yet are esteemed as such only by men those who are like whited sepulchres, and like such as wear sheep’s clothing. It is not such, however, He requires, but such as the Prophet speaks of; “And according to the cleanness of my hands.” (Ps. xviii: 24.) What cleanness? That which is so “in His eyesight.” He requires that holiness on which the eye of God may look.
Having thus spoken of the good works of these, he again recurs to His grace. “In love,” saith he, “having predestinated us.” Because this comes not of any pains, nor of any good works of ours, but of love; and yet not of love alone, but of our virtue also. For if indeed of love alone, it would follow that all must be saved; whereas again were it the result of our virtue alone, then were His coming needless, and the whole dispensation. But it is the result neither of His love alone, nor yet of our virtue, but of both. “He chose us,” saith the Apostle; and He that chooseth, knoweth what it is that He chooseth. “In love,” he adds, “having foreordained us;” for virtue would never have saved any one, had there not been love. For tell me, what would Paul have profited, how would he have exhibited what he has exhibited, if God had not both called him from the beginning, and, in that He loved him, drawn him to Himself? But besides, His vouchsafing us so great privileges, was the effect of His love, not of our virtue. Because our being rendered virtuous, and believing, and coming nigh unto Him, even this again was the work of Him that called us Himself, and yet, notwithstanding, it is ours also. But that on our coming nigh unto Him, He should vouchsafe us so high privileges, as to bring us at once from a state of enmity, to the adoption of children, this is indeed the work of a really transcendent love.
Ver. 4, 5. “In love,” saith he, “having foreordained us unto adoption as sons through Jesus Christ unto Himself.”
Do you observe how that nothing is done without Christ? Nothing without the Father? The one hath predestinated, the other hath brought us near. And these words he adds by way of heightening the things which have been done, in the same way as he says also elsewhere, “And not only so, but we also rejoice in God, through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Rom. v: II.) For great indeed are the blessings bestowed, yet are they made far greater in being bestowed through Christ; because He sent not any servant, though it was to servants He sent, but the Only-begotten Son Himself.2
Jerome (c.a. 402)
In the first book I take the words of Paul: “As he hath chosen us before the foundation of the world, that we might be holy and unspotted before him.” This I have interpreted as referring not, according to Origen’s opinion, to an election of those who had existed in a previous state, but to the foreknowledge of God; and I close the discussion with these words:
“His assertion that we have been chosen before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blemish before him, that is, before God, belongs to the foreknowledge of God, to whom all things which are to be are already made, and are known before they come into being. Thus Paul was predestinated in the womb of his mother: and Jeremiah before his birth is sanctified, chosen, confirmed, and, as a type of Christ, sent as a prophet to the Gentiles.”3
Augustin (c.a. 354–430)
In like manner to the Ephesians he writes: ‘Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ; according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him.’4
“They also,” says he, “quote the text: ‘For in thy sight shall no man living be justified.’” And his affected answer to this passage amounts to nothing else than the showing how texts of Holy Scripture seem to clash with one another, whereas it is our duty rather to demonstrate their agreement. These are his words: “We must confront them with this answer, from the testimony of the evangelist concerning holy Zacharias and Elisabeth, when he says, ‘And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.’” Now both these righteous persons had, of course, read amongst these very commandments the method of cleansing their own sins. For, according to what is said in the Epistle to the Hebrews of “every high priest taken from among men,” Zacharias used no doubt to offer sacrifices even for his own sins. The meaning, however, of the phrase “blameless,” which is applied to him, we have already, as I suppose, sufficiently explained. “And,” he adds, “the blessed apostle says, ‘That we should be holy, and without blame before Him.’” This, according to him, is said that we should be so, if those persons are to be understood by “blameless” who are altogether without sin. If, however, they are “blameless” who are without blame or censure, then it is impossible for us to deny that there have been, and still are, such persons even in this present life; for it does not follow that a man is without sin because be has not a blot of accusation.5
Who can hear the apostle saying, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us in all spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ; as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without spot in His sight; in love predestinating us to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself according to the good pleasure of His will, wherein He hath shown us favour in His beloved Son; in whom we have redemption through His blood, the remission of sins according to the riches of His grace, which hath abounded to us in all wisdom and prudence; that He might show to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He hath purposed in Himself, in the dispensation of the fulness of times, to restore all things in Christ, which are in heaven, and in the earth, in Him: in whom also we have obtained a share, being predestinated according to the purpose; who worketh all things according to the counsel of His will, that we should be to the praise of his glory;”—who, I say, can hear these words with attention and intelligence, and can venture to have any doubt concerning a truth so dear as this which we are defending? God chose Christ’s members in Him before the foundation of the world; and how should He choose those who as yet did not exist, except by predestinating them? Therefore He chose us by predestinating us. Would he choose the unholy and the unclean? Now if the question be proposed, whether He would choose such, or rather the holy and unstained, who can ask which of these he may answer, and not give his opinion at once in favour of the holy and pure?6
God foreknew that He would do this. This is the very predestination of the saints, “whom He has chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, that they should be holy and unspotted before Him in love; predestinating them unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, in which He hath shown them favour in His beloved Son, in whom they have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace, which has abounded towards them in all wisdom and prudence; that He might show them the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Him, in the dispensation of the fulness of times to restore all things in Christ which are in heaven and which are in earth; in Him, in whom also we have obtained a lot, being predestinated according to His purpose who worketh all things.”7
This is that election by which He elected those, whom He willed, in Christ before the foundation of the world, that they should be holy and without spot in His sight, in love, predestinating them unto the adoption of sons. No one, therefore, who understands these things is permitted to doubt that, when the apostle says, “God hath not cast away His people whom He foreknew,” He intended to signify predestination. For He foreknew the remnant which He should make so according to the election of grace. That is, therefore, He predestinated them; for without doubt He foreknew if He predestinated; but to have predestinated is to have foreknown that which He should do.8
Cyril (d. 444)
Having been baptized into Christ, and put on Christ, ye have been made conformable to the Son of God; for God having foreordained us unto adoption as sons, made us to be conformed to the body of Christ’s glory.9
Theodoret (c.a. 451)
The lesson he gives to the Ephesians is “in love having predestinated us into the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself.”10
Table of Citations
With v4
Not with v5
Ambiguous
With v5
Not with v4
Athanasius (1)
1
Chrysostom (1)
1
1[3]
1
Jerome (1)
1[2]
Augustine (5)
1
1
1
2
Cyril (1)
1
Theodoret (1)
1
Total:
3
1
1
3
4
Conclusion
The data are far too few to be very helpful, there being only six actual quotations including “in love.”11 The citations of verse four or five lacking “in love” are of little help. We cannot be sure whether the author omitted the phrase because it did not suit his purpose or because he regarded it as modifying the other verse. Neither can we be certain that the author was not quoting a translation with which he disagreed, which seems to be the case with Chrysostom.12 The issue of punctuation also plays an important role. In several cases punctuation is the only indicator of the individual’s choice of whether to include “in love” with verse 4 or 5. I am not certain that all of these marks of punctuation were the original author’s and not a later editor’s. The grammatical and theological data will have to carry the bulk of the determinative weight.
Luther
The text has good reason for adding that God gave His only Son and that believers in Him will not perish but have eternal life. For God has many other sons. We, for instance, glory in the fact that God is our Father, as we pray in the Our Father. And Saint Paul declares that God “destined us in love to be His sons through Jesus Christ” (Eph. 1:5). But the evangelist identifies these sons when he says, “These are sons who believe in the Son.” It is logical that the Son in whom we believe must be distinct and different and greater than we, the sons of God who believe in Him. Others are also sons of God, but they are not such sons as is He in whom we must believe. He is not a Son of God by reason of His believing in us; we, however, become sons of God through our believing in Him. Therefore, His divine sonship is vastly different from yours or mine.13
Calvin
What I mean is still more clearly explained in another passage: God, says he, “has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we might be holy and without blame before him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,” (Eph. 1:4, 5). Here he opposes the good pleasure of God to our merits of every description.14
But Paul reminds us that the end for which we are elected is, “that we should be holy, and without blame before him,” (Eph. 1:4). If the end of election is holiness of life, it ought to arouse and stimulate us strenuously to aspire to it, instead of serving as a pretext for sloth.15
And, indeed, Paul not only declares for what end he was sent, but rising to the sublime mystery of predestination, seasonably represses all the wantonness and prurience of the human mind. “He has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he has made us accepted in the Beloved: In whom we have redemption through his blood,” (Eph. 1:4–7).16
Notes
1. “Four Discourses Against the Arians,” Athanasius: Selected Works and Letters, Vol. 4 of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, ed. Philip Schaff (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, 1997), 389. ↩
2. “Homilies on the Epistle of St. Paul to the Ephesians,” Chrysostom: Homilies on the Epistles to the Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians, and the Epistles to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon, Vol. 13 of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers First Series, ed. Philip Schaff (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, 1997), 51–52. ↩
3. “Jerome’s Apology for Himself Against the Books of Rufinus,” Theodoret, Jerome, Gennadius, Rufinus: Historical Writings, Vol. 3 of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, ed. Philip Schaff (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, 1997), 494. ↩
4. “Concerning Man’s Perfection in Righteousness,” Saint Augustin: Anti-Pelagian Writings, Vol. 5 of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, ed. Philip Schaff (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, 1997), 165. ↩
5. Ibid., 173. ↩
6. “A Treatise on the Predestination of the Saints,” Saint Augustin: Anti-Pelagian Writings, Vol. 5 of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, ed. Philip Schaff (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, 1997), 515. ↩
7. Ibid., 531. ↩
8. Ibid., 545. In one other place, Augustin writes, “But I see that the Father loved us also before, not only before the Son died for us, but before He created the world; the apostle himself being witness, who says, “‘According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world.’” “On the Trinity,” St. Augustin: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises, Vol. 3 of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, ed. Philip Schaff (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, 1997), 175. ↩
9. “Five Catechetical Lectures to the Newly Baptized,” Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen, Vol. 7 of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, ed. Philip Schaff (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, 1997), 149. ↩
10. “Letters of the Blessed Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrus,” Theodoret, Jerome, Gennadius, Rufinus: Historical Writings, Vol. 3 of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, ed. Philip Schaff (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, 1997), 319. ↩
11. There are actually eight, but 3 of these are in the same passage and therefore do not carry the same weight as citations in different passages or different authors. ↩
12. He cites the verse as having “in love” with verse 4, but then in his commentary he treats it with verse 5. ↩
13. This passage comes from a Sermon by Martin Luther on John 3:16. Heritage of Great Evangelical Teaching (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1997), n.p. ↩
14. John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, trans. Henry Beveridge (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997), Book 3, Chapter 22, Section 1. ↩
15. Ibid., Book 3, Chapter 23, Section 12. ↩
16. Ibid., Book 2, Chapter 12, Section 5. ↩