⁶ to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

God’s goal for choosing His people is that they would be holy and blameless before Him in love. Election brings both privilege and responsibility.

God’s provision of salvation and adoption into His privileges necessitates our praise.

There are eight spiritual blessings for the Christian in verses 3 to 14. We come today to study the third positional blessing for the believer.

to the praise of the glory

“To the praise of the glory of His grace” is a regular refrain throughout this chapter.

The goal of God’s provisions was that believers who received His spiritual prerogatives would praise the glory of His grace. His grace is glorious (Eph 1:12, 14). Grace is something Christians should praise. God’s grace carries splendor.

“Glory” is a governing word for Ephesians. God is rich in His person and work. His attributes are full of splendor. His work compels wonder. God’s purpose is that we will see something of the wonder of His grace. He wants His grace to be praised. Christians are to give similar praises to the Son (v. 12) and the Spirit (v. 14).

of His grace,

The Christian should praise the glory of God’s grace. We cannot praise God’s grace enough. Grace is a key theme in Ephesians (Eph 1:7; 2:5, 8; 3:2, 7-8).

by which [grace]

Grace is the means whereby God can give us something. He never gives us things on the basis of who and what we are. By God’s grace He made us accepted to Himself by placing us in the same status as Jesus.

He made us accepted [graced us]

We can translate “made us accepted” as graced us. This verb is the same root as the noun “grace.” The idea is “with which grace he graced us” or conferred grace on us. Salvation and the Christian life are all about grace. That is why we praise God’s grace.

PRINCIPLE:

The believer has a responsibility to glorify God’s grace.

APPLICATION:

Grace means God’s provisions for us did not cost us anything. We are not self-made people; we are God-made people. Christians should glorify God’s grace just as Paul did in his refrain throughout this chapter.

Ro 3:24, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

Ro 5:1-2, Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

1 Co 15:10, But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.