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.2

But wherefore hath He chosen us? "That

(Mat. vii: 24, 25.) And what is that rock but those heavenly things which are above the reach of every change? "Every one therefore who," saith Christ, "shall confess Me before men, him will I also confess before My Father which is in Heaven: But whosoever shall deny Me, him will I also deny." (Mat. x: 32, 33.) Again, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." (Mat. v: 8.) And again, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven." (Mat. v: 3.) And again, "Blessed are ye which are persecuted for righteousness we should be holy and without a blemish before sake, for great is your reward in Heaven." (Mat. v: II, 12.) Observe, how every where He speaketh of Heaven, no where of earth, or of the things on the earth.1 And again, "Our citizenship is in Heaven, from whence also we wait for a Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ." (Phil. iii: 20.) And again, "Not setting your mind on the things that are on the earth, but on the things which are above." (Col. iii: 3.) "In Christ."

That is to say, this blessing was not by the hand of Moses, but by Christ Jesus: so that we surpass them not only in the quality of the blessings, but in the Mediator also. As moreover he saith in the Epistle to the Hebrews; "And Moses indeed was faithful in all his house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were afterward to be spoken; but Christ as a Son over His house, whose house are we." (Heb. iii: 5-6.)

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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,

["Such a specification of the sphere' and thence of the spiritual character of the action would seem superfluous after the definite words preceding. In four other passages in this Epistle the expression, in the heavenlies,' seems 'local' (i: 20; ii:6; iii: 1o; vi: 12). So the expression here must be referred as a 'local' predication to evaoyia vevμanky defining the region' whence the blessings of the Spirit come. Cf. Heb. vi: 4."-Ellicott.-G. A.]

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.3 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.

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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

2 [And an argument which can hardly be considered valid, based, as it is, on the literal and etymological meaning of a word in a passage where it is plainly used metaphorically and not literally.The word is Karaẞoλý.—G. A.]

[Τεκμήριον καὶ τῆς αὐτῶν ἀρετῆς, a proposition which will strike a Protestant reader of any denomination with surprise, to say the

least. Schaff says, "Chrysostom laid great stress on free will work of conversion. Cassian, the founder of Semi-Pelagianism, was

and the co-operation of the human will with divine grace in the

his pupil and appealed to his authority. We may say that in tendency and spirit he was a Catholic Semi-Pelagian or Synergist before Semi-Pelagianism was brought into a system." Prolegomena p. 20. Chrysostom's exposition of this passage is inaccurate, inconsistent, illogical and untenable. If He chose us in order that we should be holy how can holiness, or "moral goodness," as Chrysostom says, be an antecedent condition of His choosing us? See note on ch, ii: 10.-G. A.]

the earnest will, the will accompanied with earnest desire, as in case of us, for I shall not refuse to employ even a somewhat familiar expression, in order to speak with clearness to the simpler sort; for thus we ourselves, to express the intentness of the will, speak of acting according to our resolve. What he means to say

love alone, it would follow that all must be again, "I desire that the younger widows saved; whereas again were it the result of our marry, bear children." (1 Tim. v: 14.) By virtue alone, then were His coming needless," 'good pleasure" then he means the first will, 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: 11.) 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.

Ver. 5. According to the good pleasure," he continues, "of His will."

That is to say, because He earnestly willed it. This is, as one might say, His earnest desire. For the word "good pleasure" every where means the precedent will, for there is also another will. As for example, the first will is that sinners should not perish; the second will is, that, if men become wicked, they shall perish. For surely it is not by necessity that He punishes them, but because He wills it. You may see something of the sort even in the words of Paul, where he says, "I would that all men were even as I myself." (1 Cor. vii: 7.) And

[These words, év ȧyánn, are in the Revised Version and in the text of Westcott and Hort joined with what precedes, ȧyíovs kai áμóμovs. So also Alford. Meyer and Ellicott, however, are in accord with Chrysostom and probably right in joining év áyann with poopíras, following.-G. A.]

2 [The good pleasure of His will means, "God's free self-determination, independent of all human desert, as regulative of the προορίζειν.”—Meyer.G. Α.]

then is this, God earnestly aims at, earnestly desires, our salvation. Wherefore then is it that He so loveth us, whence hath He such affection? It is of His goodness alone. For grace itself is the fruit of goodness. And for this cause, he saith, hath He predestinated us to the adoption of children; this being His will, and the object of His earnest wish, that the glory of His grace may be displayed. "According to the good pleasure of His will," he proceeds, Ver. 6. "To the praise of the glory of His grace,3 which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved."

That the glory of His grace may be displayed, he saith, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. Now then if for this He hath shown grace to us, to the praise of the glory of His grace, and that He may display His grace, let us abide therein. "To the praise of His glory." What is this? that who should praise Him? that who should glorify Him? that we, that Angels, that Archangels, yea, or the whole creation? And what were that? Nothing. The Divine nature knoweth no want. And wherefore then would He have us praise and glorify Him? It is that our love towards Him may be kindled more fervently within us. He desireth nothing we can render; not our service, not our praise, nor any thing else, nothing but our salvation; this is His object in every thing He does. And he who praises and marvels at the grace displayed towards himself will thus be more devoted and more earnest.

"Which He freely bestowed on us," he saith. He does not say, "Which He hath graciously given us," (zapisaro) but, "wherein He hath shown grace to us. (ἐχαρίτωσεν) That is to say, He hath not only released us from our sins, but hath also made us meet objects of His love. It is as though one were to take a leper, wasted by distemper, and disease, by age, and poverty, and famine, and were to turn him all at once into a graceful youth, surpassing all mankind in beauty, shedding a bright lustre from his cheeks, and eclipsing the

["As love was the motive for the divine predestination, so is the glorifying of the divine love, here designated grace,' its divinely conceived ultimate aim."-Meyer.-G. A.]

["The word does not here mean 'to make love worthy,' as Chrys., referring to inherent righteousness, but to grant grace,' just as ver. 7 sets forth simply the work of pardoning grace.'' Meyer.-G. A.]

vailed for, as one might say, that He might be able to reveal to us the mystery. What mys tery? That He would have man seated up on high. And this hath come to pass.

Ver. 10. "Unto a dispensation of the fulness of the times to sum up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens and the things upon the earth, even in Him."

Heavenly things, he means to say, had been severed from earthly. They had no longer one Head. So far indeed as the system of the creation went, there was over all One God, but so far as management of one household went, this, amid the wide spread of Gentile error, was not the case, but they had been severed from His obedience.

"Unto a dispensation," saith he, "of the fulness of the times."

it was well nigh come to this, that man had been made in vain, brought into the world in vain, nay, rather to his ruin; when all were absolutely perishing, more fearfully than in the deluge, He devised this dispensation, that is by grace; that it might not be in vain, might not be to no purpose that man was created. This he calls "the fulness of the times," and "wisdom." And why so? Because at that time when they were on the very point of perishing, then they were rescued.

That "He might sum up" he saith. What is the meaning of this word, "sum up?" It is "to knit together." Let us, however, endeavor to get near the exact import. With ourselves then, in common conversation, the word means the summing into a brief compass things spoken at length, the concise account of The fulness of the times, he calls it. Observe matters described in detail. And it has this with what nicety he speaks. And whereas he meaning. For Christ hath gathered up in Himpoints out the origination, the purpose, the will, self the dispensations carried on through a the first intention, as proceeding from the lengthened period, that is to say, He hath cut Father, and the fulfillment and execution as them short. For "by finishing His word and effected by the agency of the Son, yet no cutting it short in righteousness.' (Romans ix: where does he apply to him the term minister1. 28.) He both comprehended former dispensa"He chose us," saith he, "in Him, having tions, and added others beside. This is the foreordained us unto adoption as sons through meaning of "summing up." Jesus Christ to Himself; and, "to the praise of the glory of His grace, in whom we have redemption through His blood,-which He purposed in Him, unto a dispensation of the fulness of the times, to sum up all things in Christ; " and no where hath he called Him minister. If however the word "in" and the word "by" implies a mere minister, look what the matter comes to. Just in the very beginning of the Epistle, he used the expression "through the will of the Father." The Father, he means, willed, the Son wrought. But neither does it follow, that because the Father willed, the Son is excluded from the willing; nor because the Son wrought, that the Father is deprived of the working. But to the Father and the Son, all things are common. "For all Mine are Thine," saith He, "and Thine are Mine." (Jo. xvii: 10.) The fullness of the times, however, was His coming. After, then, He had done everything, by the ministry both of Angels, and of Prophets, and of the Law, and nothing came of it, and

1 E. G. of the Angels by way of contrast, "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister," eis diakoviav. Hebr. i: 14. However S. Irenæus says, " Ministral ei ad omnia sua progenies et figuratio sua, id est Filius et Spiritus Sanctus." Har iv: 17. And St. Justin Martyr applies to our Lord the word vanpereiv. Tryph. 61, as scripture does the word Angel or Messenger. The distinction is obvious; our Lord may be named the Minister or Instrument of the Father in the sense in which our reason may be called the instrument of our mind, as being one with it and in it. In this sense St. Hilary calls the Son obedientem dictis Dei Deum. de Trin. v. vid. Petav. De Trin. ii. 7. §. 7. 2 Which he purposed in him' (i. e. 'Christ' according to Rev. Ver. and W. and H; but God' according, to Meyer and Ellicott, who have αὐτῷ) "with a design to the dispensation of the fullness of the times, i. e., the dispensation to be established at the setting in of the fulness of the times. Gal. iv: 4. Mark. i: 15."-Meyer.G. A.]

It has also another signification; and of what nature is this? He hath set over all one and the same Head, i. e., Christ according to the flesh, alike over Angels and men. That is to say, He hath given to Angels and men one and the same government; to the one the Incarnate, to the other God the Word. Just as one might say of a house which has some part decayed and the other sound, He hath rebuilt the house, that is to say, He has made it stronger, and laid a firmer foundation. So also here He hath brought all under one and the same Head. For thus will an union be

["A distinction at variance with Scripture."-Meyer.-G. A.] view of this passage is that the apostle speaks thus: The Lord and "This illustration has been again employed by Harless whose Creator of the whole body of which heaven and earth are members has in the restoration of one member restored the whole body; and in this consists the greatest significance of the reconciliation that it is not merely a restoration of the life of earth but a bringing back of the harmony of the universe. This concedes to the rà

i rois oupavois merely an indirect participation in the avakedaλaiwots and the de facto operation of the Messianic oikovouía on the heavenly world is set aside,-which appears the less admissible inasmuch as the rà ènì Tois oupavois has the precedence (in posi(vi: 12:) indeed heaven was the first theatre of sin when a part of tion)."-Meyer. "Heaven and earth have become places of sin the angels fell into sin and away from God (1 Tim, iii: 6; 1 Jo. iii:8; James ii: 19; 2 Peter ii: 4) thence it came to earth (2 Cor. xi: 3; 1 Cor. x: 20, 21) Thus the state originally appointed by God and the development He wished to be without disturbance, ceased (Rom. viii: 18-24,) so that a renewing of the heavens and the earth was taken into view (2 Peter iii: 13.) The center of this renewal is Christ and His redeeming work. Here we may certainly apply what Bengel so aptly remarks on Rom, viii: 19. that pro suo quodque genus captu, every kind according to its capacity,' participates in this Anacephalaiosis, the evil (angels) as conquered and rejected opponents, the good angels as partici pating friends, the redeemed as accepted children, the rest of creation as subordinate companions."-Braune in Lange. Similarly Eadie: "Not only has harmony been restored to the universe and the rupture occasioned by sin repaired, but beings still in rebellion are placed under Christ's control, as well as the uneonscious elements and spheres of nature. This summation is seen in the form of government: Jesus is universal regent.”—G. A.]

effected, thus will a close bond be effected, if one and all can be brought under one and the same Head, and thus have some constraining bond of union from above. Honored then as we are with so great a blessing, so high a privilege, so great loving-kindness, let us not shame our Benefactor, let us not render in vain so great grace. Let us exemplify the life of

Angels, the virtue of Angels, the conversation of Angels, yea, I entreat and conjure you, that all these things turn not to our judgment, nor to our condemnation, but to our enjoyment of those good things, which may God grant we may all attain, in Christ Jesus, our Lord, with whom to the Father, together with the Holy Ghost, be glory, strength, &c. &c.

HOMILY II.

CHAPTER I. VERSES 11-14.

kind, he speaks also of inheritance by lot, yet so as not to divest them of free will. That point then, which more properly belongs to happy fortune, is the very point he insists upon. For this inheritance by lot depends not on virtue, but, as one might say, on fortuitous circum

stances.

It is as though he had said, lots were cast, and He hath chosen us ; but the whole is of deliberate choice. Men predestinated, that is to say, having chosen them to Himself, He hath separated. He saw us, as it were, chosen by lot before we were born. saythe foreknowledge of God, and acquainted with all things before their beginning.

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For marvellous is

"In whom also we were made a heritage, having been their privilege compared with the rest of manforeordained according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of his will." PAUL earnestly endeavors on all occasions to display the unspeakable loving-kindness of God towards us, to the utmost of his power. For that it is impossible to do so adequately, hear his own words. "O! the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God; how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past tracing out." (Rom. xi: 33.) Still, notwithstanding, so far as it is possible, he does display it. What then is this which he is ing; "In whom also we were made a heritage, being predestinated ?" Above he used the word, "He chose us ;" here he saith, But mark now how on all occasions he takes were made a heritage.' But inasmuch as a lot pains to point out, that it is not the result of is a matter of chance, not of deliberate choice, any change of purpose, but that these matters nor of virtue, (for it is closely allied to ignor- had been thus modeled from the very first, so ance and accident, and oftentimes passing over that we are in no wise inferior to the Jews in the virtuous, brings forward the worthless into this respect; and how, in consequence, he does notice,) observe how he corrects this very point: every thing with this view. How then is it that "having been foreordained," saith he, ac- Christ Himselt saith, "I was not sent, but unto cording to the purpose of Him who worketh all the lost sheep of the house of Israel?" (Mat. things." That is to say, not merely have we XV: 24.) And said again to his disciples, "Go been made a heritage, as, again, we have not not into any way of the Gentiles, and enter not merely been chosen, (for it is God who chooses,) into any city of the Samaritans." (Mat. x: 5.) and so neither have we merely been allotted, And Paul again himself says, "It was neces(for it is God who allots,) but it is "according sary that the word of God should first be spoken to a purpose." This is what he says also in the to you. Seeing ye thrust it from you and judge Epistle to the Romans, (Rom. viii: 28-30.) yourselves unworthy of eternal life, lo, we To them that are called according to His turn to the Gentiles." (Acts xiii: 46.) These pose;" and "whom He called, them He also expressions, I say, are used with this design, justified, and whom He justified, them he also that no one may suppose that this work came to glorified." Having first used the expression, pass incidentally only. "According to the "to them that are called according to a purpurpose," he says, "of Him who worketh all pose," and at the same time wishing to declare 1 [Meyer against the Rev. Version and many scholars makes the meaning here to be: "In whom we were allotted the inheritance." He shows that as greve may take as subject when in passive voice the dative of the active construction, so also may Anpou which takes in the active a dative.-See also verse 14, kλnpovoμia. -G. A.]

pur

"Why calls he the grace of God by the name of lot? because in a lot there is no choice, but the will of God; for when it is said, 'a man does, he does not,' merits are regarded; and then there is a choice, not a lot. But when God found no merits of ours, He saved us by the lot of His will, because He willed, not because we were worthy. This is a lot," &c. August. in Psalm xxx. Enar. iii. 13.