οἴδαμεν δὲ = further, we know: in a sense this is one ground more for be-
652
w Eph. i. 5, τοῖς κατὰ πρόθεσιν κλητοῖς οὖσιν. 29. ὅτι οὓς προέγνω, καὶ " προώρισε
11; 1 Cor. πο
x Phil. iii. 41 (19).
* συμµόρφους τῆς εἰκόνος τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ, εἰς τὸ εἶναι αὐτὸν πρωτότοκον 3 Be κ ἐν πολλοῖς ἀδελφοῖς' 30. οὓς δὲ προώρισε, τούτους καὶ ἐκάλεσε ᾽
A , καὶ οὓς ἐκάλεσε, τούτους καὶ ἐδικαίωσεν ' οὓς δὲ ἐδικαίωσε, τούτους
καὶ ἐδόξασε.
lieving in the glorious future: God is ever with us, and will not abandon us at last. πάντα συνεργεῖ (6 θεός): συνεργεῖ is naturally neuter, and if 6 θεός is the true reading, it is probably best to render ‘God co-operates for good in all things (πάντα accus. οἱ ref. as in 1 Cor. ix. 25, X. 33) with those,” etc. τοῖς ἀγαπ. τὸν θεὸν describes the persons in question from the human side ; τοῖς κατὰ πρόθεσιν κλητοῖς οὖσιν describes them from the Divine side. It is in pursuance of a purpose of God (for πρόθεσις with refer- ence to the eternal purpose of redemp- tion, see ix. 11, Eph. i. 11, ΠΠ, 11, 2 Tim. i. g) that they are called. ‘“ Calling” in Paul never means “‘invitation’’; it is always “effectual calling”.
Ver. 29 f. These verses give the proof that God in all things co-operates for good with the called. They show how His gracious purpose, beginning with foreknowledge and foreordination perfects all that concerns them on to the final glory. οὓς προέγνω: those whom He foreknew—in what sense? as persons who would answer His love with love? This is at least irrelevant, and alien to Paul’s general mode of thought. That salvation begins with God, and begins in eternity, are fundamental ideas with him, which he here applies to Christians, without raising any of the problems involved in the relation of the human will to the Divine. He comes upon these in chap. ix., but not here. Yet we may be sure that προέγνω has the pregnant sense that γιγνώσκω
(Φ”) often has in Scripture: ¢.g., in
Ps. i. 6, Amos iii. 2: hence we may ren- der, ‘‘those of whom God took know- ledge from eternity” (Eph. i. 4). καὶ προώρισεν κ.τ.λ., “he also foreordained to be conformed to the image of His Son”. This conformity is the last stage in salvation, as προέγνω is the first. The image is in import not merely spiritual but eschatological. The Son of God is the Lord who appeared to Paul by Da- mascus: to be conformed to His image is to share His glory as well as His holi- ness. The Pauline Gospel is hopelessly distorted when this is forgotten. eis τὸ
, ~ ‘ ~ 31. Τί οὖν ἐροῦμεν προς ταῦτα; εἰ 6 Θεὸς ὑπὲρ
εἶναι αὐτὸν πρωτότοκον ἐν πολλοῖς ἀδελφοῖς: the end in all this is the exal- tation of Christ. It is implied in πρωτό- τοκον that He also is regarded as only having attained the fulness of His Son- ship through the resurrection (cf. i. 4, and Col. i. 18 πρωτότοκος ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν). The idea of Christ’s dignity as firstborn among many brethren who all owe their salvation to Him is sublimely interpreted in Heb. ii. 10-13. The Apostle now re- sumes the series of the Divine acts in our salvation. οὓς δὲ προώρισεν, τούτους καὶ ἐκάλεσεν. The eternal foreordina- tion appears in time as ‘‘calling,” of course as effectual calling: where salva- tion is contemplated as the work of God alone (as here) there can be no break- down in its processes. The next stages are summarily indicated. ἐδικαίωσεν: God in Jesus Christ forgave our sins, and accepted us as righteous in His sight; ungodly as we had been, He put us right with Himself. In that, everything else is included. The whole argument of chaps. vi.-vill. has been that justification and the new life of holiness in the Spirit are inseparable experiences. Hence Paul can take one step to the end, and write οὓς δὲ ἐδικαίωσεν, τούτους καὶ ἐδόξασεν. Yet the tense in the last word is amazing. It is the most daring anticipation of faith that even the N.T. contains: the life is not to be taken out of it by the philoso- phical consideration that with God there is neither before nor after.