Ambrosiaster

In his own words on Ephesians

• Ephesians 1:1

  He writes not only to the faithful but to the saints to show that they are truly faithful insofar as they have been sanctified in Christ. For a good life is worthwhile and is called saintly if it is lived in the name of Jesus. Otherwise it is polluted, because it injures the Creator.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 1.1

• Ephesians 1:2

  He calls God our Father because all things are created and restored in him. He calls Christ Lord because he redeems us, offering himself on our behalf.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 1.2

• Ephesians 1:3

  He means not with an earthly but a heavenly blessing, not corruptible but eternal, because Christ's glory is not in earth but in heaven and in Christ. For every gift of God's grace is in Christ. If someone who despises Christ imagines that he is blessed by God, he is wrong. Yet God is blessed in one way, humans in another. There is indeed one term blessing, but it should be understood as is proper to the recipient.… God is blessed when he is extolled with due praises, but the way in which God blesses human beings is to impart to them the gift of his grace, not according to their merits but according to his mercy.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 1.3.1-2

• Ephesians 1:4

  God, foreknowing all, knew who were going to believe in Christ. … Therefore those whom God is said to call will persevere in faith. These are the ones whom he elected before the world in Christ, so that they might be blameless before God through love—that is, so that the love of God might give them holy lives. For no one can show greater respect toward another than when he obeys in love.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 1.4

• Ephesians 1:9

  The pleasure of God, whose counsel cannot be changed, was to show in Christ the mystery of his will. This happened at the time when he chose that he should be revealed. Now his will was this, that he should then draw close to all who were in sin, either in heaven or in earth. God gave Christ to bring believers the gift of forgiveness of their sins through faith in Christ.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 1.9.1

• Ephesians 1:12

  What he means is that God first allotted the task of preaching to those believers in Christ who were from a Jewish background. Therefore no one of Gentile background was chosen to be an apostle. It was fitting that the first preachers should be chosen from those who had previously hoped for the salvation that had been promised to them in Christ.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 1.12

• Ephesians 1:14

  Just as it is the glory of a doctor if he cures many, so it is to the praise of God's glory when many are won for the faith. And so it is part of God's glory to have called the Gentiles that they might obtain their salvation through the faith promised to the Jews. The Gentiles have as a sign of their redemption and future inheritance the Holy Spirit, given at baptism.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 1.14

• Ephesians 1:17

  The hope of their faith lies in a heavenly reward. When they truly know what the fruit of believing is, they will become more eager in acts of worship.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 1.18.1

• Ephesians 1:22

  He says that the Father has subjected all creation to the Son, so that he may be the head and Lord of all on account of being the one through whom he made all things. He "made all things subject to him" when he generated him before all things, that through him all that had not been might come into being.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 1.23

• Ephesians 2:2

  He indicates that the prince of power, that is, the devil, has corrupted the understanding of the world to make it depart from the one God and conceive a belief in many gods. In this way the devil made them associates in his own conspiracy, seeing that they were found to exhibit the same impiety in their denial of the one God.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 2.2.1-3

• Ephesians 2:3

  He is speaking of a great deception when he brings to mind the "passions of the flesh." For the pleasure of the flesh means being delighted by the visible, so that it gives the name of gods to the elements that God appointed as his means of ordering the world. But this name [God] belongs rightly to the one and only God, from whom everything derives.… If anyone imagines that the "passions of the flesh" mean anything else, let him reflect on how the apostle led a pure life. He lived without blemish according to the righteousness of the law. But because he had persecuted the church he includes himself in the "we"—"we lived in the passions of our flesh." For every sin, according to Paul, has something to do with the deception associated with living according to the flesh, which is the mother of all corruption.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 2.3.1-3

• Ephesians 2:4

  These are the true riches of God's mercy, that even when we did not seek it mercy was made known through his own initiative.… This is God's love to us, that having made us he did not want us to perish. His reason for making us was that he might love what he had made, seeing that no one hates his own workmanship.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 2.4

• Ephesians 2:5

  God made us in Christ. So it is through Christ once again that he has formed us anew. We are his members; he our Head.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 2.5

• Ephesians 2:9

  All thanksgiving for our salvation is to be given only to God. He extends his mercy to us so as to recall us to life precisely while we are straying, without looking for the right road. And thus we are not to glory in ourselves but in God, who has regenerated us by a heavenly birth through faith in Christ.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 2.10

• Ephesians 2:13

  He reminds us that we were brought close to God by the blood of Christ in order to show how great is God's affection toward us, since he allowed his own Son to die. We too, enduring in faith, should not yield to despair in any of the agonies inflicted on us for his sake, knowing that what he deserves from us exceeds all that our enemies can bring upon us.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 2.13

• Ephesians 2:14

  The passion of the Savior made peace between the circumcision and the uncircumcision. For the enmity, which was between them like a wall and divided the circumcision from the uncircumcision and the uncircumcision from the circumcision, was abolished by the Savior. His command is that the Jew should not so presume on his circumcision as to reproach the Gentile, nor should the Gentile trust in his uncircumcision, that is, his paganism, so as to abhor the Jew. Both, made new, should maintain in Christ their faith in the one God.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 2.14.1

• Ephesians 2:15

  The law that he abolished was that which had been given to the Jews concerning circumcision and new moons and food and sacrifices and the sabbath. He ordered it to cease because it was a burden. In this way he made peace.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 2.15

• Ephesians 2:19

  Believers become "fellow citizens" in a way analogous to all those who desired the peace of Rome. They brought gifts and were accepted as Roman citizens, as were the people of Cilician Tarsus. Paul was a Roman citizen of that city. So too anyone who has joined himself to the Christian faith becomes a fellow citizen of the saints and a member of God's household.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 2.19

• Ephesians 2:20

  This means that the household of God is built upon both the old and the new covenants. For what the apostles preached had been foretold by the prophets. In his words to the Corinthians, that "God placed in the church first apostles then prophets," he is concerned with the order of the church. But in this case he is speaking of the foundation in the prophets of old.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 2.20

• Ephesians 3:3

  He indicates that he has been shown the revelation of the mystery of God, about which he says that he has written briefly, that is, precisely, according to their capacity to comprehend the wisdom of the apostle in the mystery of Christ.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 3.4

• Ephesians 3:10

  So abundant was God's wisdom that he not only gave this teacher (Paul) to the Gentiles but also caused the truth to be-come known to the angelic spirits in heaven, who are the principalities and powers. They are powers because they have more power among the other spirits and are principalities because they are the principal powers.… The goal of all this is that the preaching of the church should be profitable to the Gentiles also. They are called to forsake their allegiance to the devil's tyranny.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 3.10.1

• Ephesians 3:11

  The saving knowledge of the mystery of God is conferred upon the human race in this way: God bestows his grace on humanity as the firstfruits of Christ's coming kingdom. When Christ appeared, God revealed his mystery for the salvation of humanity.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 3.12

• Ephesians 3:17

  Paul prays that believers be made more steadfast, not doubting but believing increasingly that Christ dwells in them even when they do not see him with their physical eyes. He prays that the Spirit which has been given them might infuse into them a certainty that Christ lives and is the Son of God, so that he lives by faith in their hearts. Thus when we have faith in him we behold him in our hearts. The benefit of this is that we grow more sure of his blessing. He does not desert us. He is always present through that faith in him which he guards in us. The gift of the Spirit, which is also the gift of God the Father, is given to us that he may keep us safe, to his glory.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 3.17.1-2

• Ephesians 3:18

  What is meant when Paul speaks of "length and breadth and depth and height?" Think of a sphere. The length is the same as the breadth and the height the same as the depth. So too all is proportional within the immeasurable infinity of God. A sphere is enclosed in a definite manner. God, being unenclosed, not only fills all things but exceeds all things. God is not confined but has everything within himself, so that he is the only one to be reckoned infinite. We cannot sufficiently thank him for the fact that, being so great, he deigned through Christ to visit human beings when they were subject to death and sin.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 3.18.2

• Ephesians 3:19

  Can any words adequately describe this mystery, that God is born as a man? That God dies for the human race, the master for his servants, the Creator for his creation, the righteous for the unrighteous?… In the greatness of his majesty he became lowly to do on our behalf what was worthy of his love, so that we, insofar as we can, should join his household.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 3.19.1-3

• Ephesians 3:19

  Faith is never directed solely to the Father or solely to the Son [but to Father and Son in their relationship]. Hence he adds "that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." Thus by confessing Christ and giving thanks to him in the same glorious terms, the same honor is reserved for the Son as for the Father. All things that come from God the Father have been restored through his Son. By this the faithful confess the divine perfection in its wholeness.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 3.19.4

• Ephesians 3:20

  He is praying to God the Father that we might know better what is expedient for us, and what had better not be asked for, and when something should be given, and how much of it and exactly what we really need. He prays that God himself might fittingly govern those who believe in him by his own providence and power.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 3.21

• Ephesians 4:6

  God the Father owes his existence to no one. Hence he is declared to be "over all" and "through all." He is "through all" in the sense that all things come from him. Necessarily he will be "over all" the things that come from him. And God is "in all," that is, dwelling in all the faithful. For he is in us by our confession, because we confess him, and he has given us his own Spirit, through which without doubt he is dwelling in us. He is not in the same sense dwelling in unbelievers who deny that he is the Father of Christ.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 4.5.1-2

• Ephesians 4:9

  The truth incarnate is that he is said to have descended in order to ascend, unlike humans, who have descended in order to remain there. For by decree they were held in the lower world. But this decree could not hold the Savior. He has conquered sin. Therefore, after his triumph over the devil, he descended to the heart of the world, so that he might preach to the dead, that all who desired him might be set free. It was necessary for him to ascend. He had descended to trample death underfoot by the force of his own power, then only to rise again with the former captives.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 4.9

• Ephesians 4:11

  Apostles are bishops, while prophets are interpreters of the Scriptures.… Even if they are not elders they can nonetheless preach the gospel without a chair, as Stephen and Philip are recorded to have done. Shepherds may be readers, who nourish the people who hear them by their readings.… Masters may refer to the healers in the church who constrain and chastise those who are troubled. Or they may be those who were accustomed to hearing the readings and imparting them to children, as was the Jewish custom. Their tradition was passed on to us but has by now become obsolete through neglect.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 4.12.1-2

• Ephesians 4:12

  He says that the church's order has been so formed as to join the human race together in the profession of unity, so that all may be in Christ, having Christ as their single head, that is, as the source of life.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 4.12.6

• Ephesians 4:13

  He exhorts them to strive to attain to the perfecting of faith, the essence of which is to hold fast to Christ as true and perfect God. Do not measure him by some human measure. Measure yourself by regarding him as perfect God in the fullness of his deity. When he refers to a mature man he does not mean a span of years or physical stature but a maturation into the full understanding of the divinity of the Son of God.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 4.13

• Ephesians 4:15

  Considering the love of Christ by which he loved us and gave himself up for us, we should make everything subject to him, knowing that he is the author of life for all. This is the truth. We are to be subject to him as members of the body are to the head. Others, either through error or through malice, may not confess that Christ is the head of everything or that everything is created from him by the Father's will. But we who adhere to the wholeness of faith ought nonetheless to take pains with all care and devotion that we bring no harm to this faith but rather to uphold it. We do this by remaining steadfast in this affirmation, so as to constrain the talk of depraved minds armed against the truth.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 4.15

• Ephesians 4:19

  They have lost their moral compass through lack of hope in a future life. Living now as if they had no future, they pollute their own lives with the foulest behaviors. They refuse to submit themselves to the most elementary requirement of faith, which brings their pleasure-seeking into accountability in relation to the future life. It is this future life that these people declare to be ridiculous. Hence they pretend to have a right to debauch themselves. They covet the goods of others with ravenous greed, as though there were no life whatever after this little space.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 4.19

• Ephesians 4:21

  It is Christ himself who teaches us about himself! When we are "taught in him," we learn who he is, how great we should reckon him to be and what hope is in him. We learn "in him" what sort of people believers ought to be. Any one who has "learned Christ" knows that he rose from the dead to be the pattern for the faithful. He teaches that there is great hope after this death for those who love God.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 4.21

• Ephesians 4:25

  Since we have been "created in truth and righteousness" and reborn in baptism, in order to remain in it we are instructed to put away lying altogether. Hold fast to the truth. Do not cheat your brother in any way. Being members of one body, support one another's causes in turn.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 4.25

• Ephesians 4:27

  An angry mind will necessarily think evil thoughts, as the devil desires. If the devil finds a mind ready for evil and slipping toward it, he deceives the person who was created for life. The thought, you see, is human. But the devil completes it.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 4.27

• Ephesians 4:28

  Paul exhorts them not to return to their past vices and sins. He wants them to behave as new persons. What good is it to be called new if our evil deeds prove us to be still gripped by our old nature? The Christian is commanded not merely to avoid stealing but more so to care actively for the poor through his own hard work. Hence by commitment to good works he may restore what he formerly stole. We are not to be praised for refusing to steal. What makes one praiseworthy is to give of one's own to the needy.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 4.28

• Ephesians 4:29

  To the servant of God, all things appear to have some aspect of good. This does not stain his purity in any respect. What use is it to have a clean life and a foul mouth? The Lord says that everyone will be justified or condemned by his own words. One who speaks ill cannot be thought to live well. Many vices are implied in speaking ill of another, whether this means talking basely or disparaging the good of another or telling deceitful tales or lies. All these are repugnant. But good and sober reports are gratifying to those who hear them. They set an example. God is glorified in such words, which build up faith in Christ.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 4.29

• Ephesians 4:30

  The Holy Spirit rejoices in our salvation not for himself, since he has no lack of blessedness. But if we have disobeyed the Spirit, we have grieved the Spirit. His work in us is cut short, just when he wishes us to belong to life. Yet he is not grieved in such a way as to suffer in a literal sense. For God the Spirit is invisible and not subject to physical suffering. When Paul says the Spirit is "grieved," he speaks metaphorically on our account to show that the Spirit leaves us to our own self-will when we have, so to speak, wounded him by despising his admonitions.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 4.30

• Ephesians 4:31

  Some repress anger and clamor yet still remain mischievous. Paul therefore adds that these should be entirely done away, along with all malice. Such mischief consists not only in blasphemy but in putting on a face of peace while holding on to discord within the soul.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 4.31

• Ephesians 5:3

  What a grave sin is covetousness, though we gloss over it when compared with fornication and uncleanness. We treat covetousness as a minor fault when in fact it is a grave matter. No one can be a saint in whom is found any of these things that he forbids.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 5.3

• Ephesians 5:5

  To teach us that covetousness is such a dangerous thing, he calls it idolatry, no sin being greater than this. But why is covetousness called idolatry? Idolatry usurps the honor of God and claims it for the creature. The holy name of God, which belongs solely to the Creator, is thereby applied to creatures. Covetousness is viewed on a level with idolatry because the covetous person similarly usurps for himself what belongs to God and hides them away. Covetousness withholds the resources offered by God for the common use of all. It hoards them to itself so that others may not use them.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 5.5.1

• Ephesians 5:7-8

  "Once you were darkness" suggests ignorance. No one sees clearly in shadows. The ignorance referred to is disbelief, harking back to pagan days. Those who lived in darkness have been drawn to faith by the grace of God, which has been brought to light, that is, truth. Things that exist are made apparent in the light. Paganism remains deluded as with covered eyes they celebrate their own mysteries as if in the shadows of a cave.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 5.8

• Ephesians 5:10

  From the abundance of his holiness and goodness it is possible to know what works delight God. … In his holiness we are purified. In his mercy we are brought to full and perfect righteousness.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 5.10

• Ephesians 5:14

  By sleep he signifies a stupor of the mind. The sleepers are lost from the true path. This estrangement is a kind of death, from which he calls them to rise that they may repent and acknowledge the truth, which is Christ. Thus the faithless and vicious, steeped as they are in mud without hope of life, are called to rise and come out and have a share in life with Christ, so as to pass from the shadows out to the light and from death to life.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 5.14

• Ephesians 5:15

  Paul has previously ordained that false and vicious lives be exposed by the servants of God. He now adds a qualifier: they are to be exposed in a careful manner to avoid scandal. The faithful must be prudent in their conduct among the faithless, especially at a time when the faithless hold dominion, trusting in an unholy ruler. If then a Christian encounters a troubler who is turbulent and angry, he should be cautious in his presence so as not to incite him to blaspheme or raise a storm. He will utter his words where occasion offers.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 5.15.1

• Ephesians 5:17

  Do what you have to do with moderation. This is the will of the Lord. Do not allow commotion and din or discord with bad feeling to give rise to estrangement. So Paul adds these words to what he has said about his wish that the servants of God should admonish wrongdoing.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 5.17

• Ephesians 5:18

  It is good conduct that strikes fear in the wrongdoer. Only one who is sober is prepared to counsel another realistically and with confidence. The person being counseled feels less resentment when he knows how good is the actual conduct of the one who admonishes him. But where there is intoxication there is also debauchery, and debauchery causes base deeds. Therefore it is our duty to be sober, so that the requirements of good conduct may be observed.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 5.18

• Ephesians 5:19

  If we are living well, we are always being filled with the Holy Spirit so as to confess and extol the gift of God. The Holy Spirit loves this way of life. This is especially expressed in songs, that praise may be sung to God by every tongue. If the Spirit is dwelling within someone, he is always meditating on the Spirit. It is not only his lips that burst forth but his heart.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 5.19

• Ephesians 5:20

  We are told to give thanks to God for all his gifts. For God has stooped low to adopt us through Christ his own Son, through whom we know God. We have learned that God, being Spirit, is to be adored in the Spirit. So we submit ourselves to one another out of reverence for Christ, who commanded us to pursue humility.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 5.21

• Ephesians 5:24

  Here is Paul's analogy: As the church takes its beginning from Christ and therefore is subject to him, so too does woman take hers from the man and is subject to him. There is a crucial difference, however, between Christ and the church as opposed to man and woman. The essential difference is that the woman is of the same nature as the man. The church, on the other hand, can participate in Christ in name but not in nature.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 5.24

• Ephesians 6:1

  This law is given to children: Since their parents are the enablers of their existence, they are to obey them. The principle is that they reverence those through whom they exist.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 6.2

• Ephesians 6:2

  Because the first four commandments pertain to God, it is implied that they are contained in the first table. The second table pertains to humans, that they should honor their parents, not murder, not commit adultery, not steal, not bear false witness and covet none of their neighbors' goods. These six commandments are viewed as written on the second table.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 6.3.2

• Ephesians 6:5

  Christianity promises the kingdom of heaven only to those who believe, in order that they will not feel human pride on meriting this. Our faith is by grace, which is exalted to a higher plane than works. Only faith avails. On this gracious premise we are ordered to discharge all that is due to earthly masters. This will have the effect of inciting all the more the minds of unbelievers toward the worship of God. They will see by our behavior that our religion is both righteous and humble. Then, as masters see their slaves become more educated and more faithful in rendering service, they will see with what light reins true religion exercises governance in human affairs. So, when servants for their part notice the increased kindness of their masters, they will be similarly moved to more avid faith.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 6.5.1

• Ephesians 6:6

  It is on account of their reverence for God that they are called to demonstrate here and now their faithful and just service to persons. As they serve God by their service to earthly masters, they look toward the day of judgment, when all will be requited and all brought to final justice.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 6.8

• Ephesians 6:7

  This conduct may also tend toward the salvation of the master. They will see that their slaves through the grace of God have become faithful ministers. This is no small thing. They will then come to praise God's grace as well.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 6.8

• Ephesians 6:13

  We are waging war against the fiercest of enemies. He is skilled in every deceit. We must therefore keep on the lookout, with all circumspection and care, that wherever they test our resistance they will find us protected and ready.… Against earthly foes the body must be strengthened with food and the mind aroused by drink to become bold enough to fight back. So against the spiritual weapons of iniquity we must fight spiritually. But our weapons must be sobriety and abstinence, that, having been imbued with the Holy Spirit, we may vanquish the unclean, warring spirits.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 6.17.1-2

• Ephesians 6:18

  Insofar as our conduct is right we are rightly prepared for the Holy Spirit to abide in us. Hence we are more ready to obtain what we request. This therefore is what it means to pray in the Spirit at all times. We are directing our prayer to God with a clean conscience and sincere faith. One who prays with a polluted mind prays only in the flesh, not in the spirit.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 6.20.1

• Ephesians 6:19

  He exhorts them to pray for him in two ways: first that his thoughts may be filled by the Spirit for the full declaration of the mystery, and second that he may be given a faculty of bold utterance in proclaiming it.

  EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 6.20.2