To the praise of the glory of his grace
The grace of God manifestly appears in the predestination of men
to adoption; in that God had no need of sons, he having a dear
and well beloved one; in whom he is well pleased; and in that
those he adopts are so unworthy of the relation; and in that men,
and not angels, should be taken by him into his family; and that
some, and not others of the same race; and that this should be
before the world was; and in providing Christ as a Redeemer, to
open the way for the reception of this grace and happiness; and
in appointing the grace of faith to be the receiver of it: and
the glory of the grace of God appears herein; the glory of God is
the supreme end of all he does; and the glory of his grace, and
not his power, or other perfections of his, and the manifestative
glory of that is here intended; yea, the "praise" of that glory:
and this end is answered, when the children of God ascribe their
adoption to the free grace of God; and when they admire it, and
are thankful for it, and walk worthy of the relation they are
brought into:
wherein he hath made us accepted in the
beloved;
the Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions read, "his own beloved
Son", and so the Claromontane exemplar; the Lord Jesus Christ,
who is the beloved of God the Father; and was so from
everlasting, and will be so to everlasting; which has appeared by
his nearness to him, lying in his bosom; by his being privy to
all his counsels, purposes, and designs; in putting all things
into his hands, and in showing him all that he does; and by his
giving him honour and glory, as man and Mediator: and he is the
beloved of the saints, for the transcendent excellencies that are
in him, and for his love to them, and for what he has done for
them, and is unto them; and in him is their acceptance: which is
to be understood of the acceptance of their persons, as founded
in the blood and righteousness of Christ, and so of their
services in him; of God's act of delight and complacency in them,
as considered in Christ; who looks upon them, and is well pleased
with them, and rests in his love towards them; which is an
amazing instance of grace: it was grace that gave them a being in
Christ, and which has provided in predestination everything to
make them grateful to God; and the very act of acceptance is of
mere grace; for internal grace, or grace infused, is not here
meant, but the free favour of God: some read not "in which", but
"which" (ecaritwsen) , "he
freely gave us in the beloved"; so the Alexandrian copy, and some
others, and the Syriac and Arabic versions.