(6) To the praise of the glory of his grace.--That is, for the acknowledgment by all God's creatures of the gloriousness of His grace; or, in other words, for the acknowledgment that God's essential glory is best manifested in His grace--that He "declares His almighty power most chiefly in showing mercy and pity." So in Exodus 33:18-19, to the request, "Show me Thy glory," the answer is, "I will make my goodness to pass before thee . . . and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious." (Comp. Exodus 34:5-7.) He is pleased to consider His glory best realised in the spectacle of souls redeemed and regenerate by His grace, and to decree that it should be thus realised for our sakes. "Wherefore would He have us praise and glorify Him? It is that our love to Him may be kindled more fervently. He desires not our service, nor our praise, nor anything else except our salvation" (Chrysostom's First Homily on the Ephesians).

Wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.--The verb here rendered "made us accepted," is the same verb used in Luke 1:28 (and nowhere else in the New Testament), where we translate "highly favoured." Etymologically it means to "bestow grace upon;" the tense here is the past tense, not the perfect Hence the meaning is (in connection with the previous clause), "His grace, which He bestowed upon us in the Beloved"--in virtue of our unity with "His beloved Son, in whom He is well pleased" (Matthew 3:17). This special title is given to our Lord to mark a connection with the "love" declared in the last verse to be the source of God's predestination. It is a love to all mankind, as in God's foreknowledge already made one with His beloved Son. (See John 17:23; John 17:25, "Thou hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me . . . for Thou lovedst Me before the foundation of the world.") . . .

Verse 6. - To the praise of the glory of his grace; with a view to praise being given to the glory of his grace. The purpose of grace quoad man, is to make him perfectly holy; quoad God, is to give to the universe a right conception of his grace, and draw forth corresponding tributes of praise. It is to show that Divine grace is not a limp, shallow attribute, but one of glorious riches, deserving infinite praise. The idea of the richness, fullness, abundance, of God's grace is prominent throughout the Epistle. God desires to draw attention, not only to this attribute, but to the boundlessness of it - thus to draw the love and confidence of his creatures to himself and inspire them with the desire to imitate him (comp. Matthew 18:21-35). Wherein he abounded toward us in the Beloved. Two slight difficulties are found here - one in the text, the other in the interpretation. After χάριτος αὐτοῦ, some copies read ἐν ῇ, others ηης. A.V. follows the former; R.V. the latter. Ξαριτόω usually means to bestow grace; sometimes, to make gracious or beautiful. The former is more in accordance with New Testament usage (Alford) and with the tenor of the passage. The glory of the grace of which God desires to create a true impression is not an abstraction, not a glory hidden away in stone inaccessible region, but a revealed glory, a communicated glory; it is revealed in the grace wherein he abounded to us, or which he freely bestowed on us, in the Beloved. The grace bestowed on believers exemplifies the glorious quality of the attribute - its glorious riches. The connection of God with Christ in the bestowal of this grace, and of believers in the reception of it, is again noted by the remarkable term, "in the Beloved." That the Father's relation to Christ was one of infinite love is a fact never to be lost sight cf. His having constituted the Beloved One the Kinsman and Mediator of sinners shows the riches of the glory of his grace. "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he hot, with him also freely give us all things?" Our union to the Beloved, our participating in all the blessings of his purchase, our becoming heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ, further illustrates the glorious riches of his grace. "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!"

Parallel Commentaries ...


to
εἰς (eis)
Preposition
Strong's 1519: A primary preposition; to or into, of place, time, or purpose; also in adverbial phrases.

[the] praise
ἔπαινον (epainon)
Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular
Strong's 1868: Commendation, praise, approval. From epi and the base of aineo; laudation; concretely, a commendable thing.

of
τῆς (tēs)
Article - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

His
αὐτοῦ (autou)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.

glorious
δόξης (doxēs)
Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 1391: From the base of dokeo; glory, in a wide application.

grace,
χάριτος (charitos)
Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 5485: From chairo; graciousness, of manner or act.

which
ἧς (hēs)
Personal / Relative Pronoun - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 3739: Who, which, what, that.

He has freely given
ἐχαρίτωσεν (echaritōsen)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 5487: To favor, bestow freely on. From charis; to grace, i.e. Indue with special honor.

us
ἡμᾶς (hēmas)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Accusative 1st Person Plural
Strong's 1473: I, the first-person pronoun. A primary pronoun of the first person I.

in
ἐν (en)
Preposition
Strong's 1722: In, on, among. A primary preposition denoting position, and instrumentality, i.e. A relation of rest; 'in, ' at, on, by, etc.

the
τῷ (tō)
Article - Dative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

Beloved [One].
Ἠγαπημένῳ (Ēgapēmenō)
Verb - Perfect Participle Middle or Passive - Dative Masculine Singular
Strong's 25: To love, wish well to, take pleasure in, long for; denotes the love of reason, esteem. Perhaps from agan; to love.


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NT Letters: Ephesians 1:6 To the praise of the glory (Ephes. Eph. Ep)