The Blessing

“…to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:6 ESV).

This scripture comes at the end of verses 4-6, which reads, “In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.” In this, Paul talks of predestination, adoption, and our redemption through Christ Jesus. Let us look a little deeper into verse 6.

“To the praise of His glorious grace.” We often exchange glory and grace as equivalent expressions. It is often lumped with honor. Ultimately, God wants to be glorified. We see it over and over as He dealt with the hard-hearted Israelites. Clearly, it is seen in Isaiah 48:9-11, “For my name's sake I defer my anger; for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that I may not cut you off. Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another. Here, not only do we see God’s righteousness and demand for the glorification for which He rewards, but also His mercy in withholding His wrath from those deserving.

What we must understand is that, as those “blessed in the beloved,” we are highly favored. All of humanity is a part of God’s creation, individually made through Christ; however, as Paul indicated, not all are adopted by God.  God takes pleasure in blessing us, His adopted. Yet He also takes pleasure in the destruction of those who are evil, whose father is the enemy.

Jonathan Edwards wrote, “According to the Scripture, communicating good to the creatures is what is in itself pleasing to God. And this is not merely subordinately agreeable, and esteemed valuable on account of its relation to a further end, as it is in executing justice in punishing the sins of men; but what God is inclined to on its own account, and what he delights in simply and ultimately. For though God is sometimes in Scripture spoken of as taking pleasure in punishing men’s sins, Deut. 28:63. “The Lord will rejoice over you, to destroy you.” Ezek. 5: 13. “Then shall mine anger be accomplished, and I will cause my fury to rest upon them, and I will be comforted.” Yet God is often spoken of as exercising goodness and showing mercy, with delight, in a manner quite different, and opposite to that of his executing wrath. For the latter is spoken of as what God proceeds to with backwardness and reluctance; the misery of the creature being not agreeable to him on its own account. Neh. 9:17. “Thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness.” Psalm. 103:8. “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.” 1

Scripture tells us of the wrath of God, as well as the blessings and mercy of God. God is sovereign over all creation. He calls those to Him whom He has blessed and favors. He does this not by clairvoyance, knowing who would believe or refuse, but whom He selected to believe and those to refuse before the beginning of time.

So, what do we do with this truth? We look at it through the lens of the flawed creature we are. If we are chosen, we are to glorify God for He has blessed us eternally through our salvation in Christ Jesus. We are to know that in our predestination, we are what we are by God’s will and mercy, and that while we are still sinners, our sins past, present, and future were paid for by Christ in His blood.

We were purchased at a price so high that we cannot comprehend it. Jesus came on a rescue mission to save us from ourselves. God Himself was punished for our sins. God died and rose again so that we who believe will never die.

Martyn Lloyd Jones wrote, “We must now look at the last three words in this sixth verse — "in the beloved". They constitute one of these magnificent summaries of the gospel. As we have seen, the Apostle emphasizes that we must always think of the gospel in terms of the glory of God. It is all "to the praise of the glory of his grace". He has also reminded us, and especially in this sixth verse, of the extraordinary privileges that we enjoy as the result of being accepted (highly favored) "in the beloved". The Apostle then proceeds to tell us how God has manifested His glory in our salvation: it is "in the beloved". Every blessing that man ever enjoys from God is always in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, we are entitled to say that God's glory is revealed ultimately and finally and most completely in and through the Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 I think Reverend Jones summed it up so clearly, everything we have, everything we are, and everything we will be comes through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Are you favored and blessed? Indeed, I know you are, by His blood alone. If you have not accepted Christ as your Savior and, after reading this, you understand why you clicked on In Messiah or want to learn more about salvation through faith alone in Jesus Christ, contact us here at inmessiah.com.

Grace and Peace.

1. Jonathan Edwards, The Works of Jonathan Edwards Vol. 1, sect. V,1. 1834, Carlisle, PA.

2. Martyn Lloyd Jones, Sermon: The Blessing, Accessed: MLJ Trust 5 March 2026.