cause the continuance and consummation of these blessings are rendered certain by the nature of the union between Christ and his people. In him they are already raised from the dead and seated at the right hand of God.
V. 7. Why has God done all this? Why from eternity has he chosen us to be holy before him in love? Why has he made us accepted in the Beloved?) Why when dead in trespasses and sins hath he quickened us, raised us up and made us to sit together in heavenly places in Christ? The answer to these questions is given in this verse. It was, a order that, in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness towards us, through Christ Jesus, ἵνα ἐνδείξη- Tal—Tov πλοῦτον τῆς χάριτος--ἐν χρηστότητι ἐφ᾽ ἡμᾶς. The manifestation of the grace of God, i. 6. of his un- merited love, is declared to be the specific object of redemption. From this it follows that whatever clouds the grace of God, or clashes with the gratuitous nature of the blessings promised in the gospel, must be incon- sistent with its nature and design. If the salvation of sinners be intended as an exhibition of the grace of God, it must of necessity be gratuitous.
The words, in the ages to come, ἐν τοῖς αἰῶσι τοῖς ἐπερχομένοις, are by many understood to refer to the future generations in this world; secula, aetates seu tempora inde ab apostolicis illis ad finem mundi secu- turas, as Wolf expresses it. Calvin, who understands the apostle to refer specially to the calling of the Gen- tiles in the preceding verses, gives the same explana-
CHAP. I. vs. 7, 8, 9. 117
tion. Gentium vocatio mirabile est divinae bonitatis opus, quod filiis parentes et avi nepotibus tradere per manus debent, ut nunquam ex hominum animis silentio deleatur. As however there is nothing in the context to restrict the language of the apostle to the Gentiles, so there is nothing to limit the general expression ages to come to the present life. Others, restricting verse 6th to the resurrection of the body, which is to take place at the second advent of Christ, understand the phrase in question to mean the ‘ world to come,’ or the period subsequent to Christ’s second coming. Then, when the saints are raised up in glory, and not before, will the kindness of God towards them be revealed. But the preceding verse does not refer exclusively to the final resurrection of the dead, and therefore this phrase does not designate the period subsequent to that event. It is better therefore to take it without limitation, for all future time.
The simplest construction of the passage supposes that ἐν χρηστότητι is to be connected with ἐνδείξηται ; ἐφ᾽ ἡμᾶς with χρηστότητι, and ἐν Χριστῷ with the words immediately preceding. God’s grace is mani- fested through his kindness towards us, and that kindness is exercised through Christ and for his sake. The ground of this goodness is not in us but in Christ, and hence its character as grace, or unmerited favour.
Vs. 8,9. These verses confirm the preceding de- claration. The manifestation of the grace of God is the great end of redemption. This is plain, for salva-