Gaius Marius Victorinus
Nicene & Post-Nicene · AD 325–500 · 220 passages across 12 books
Commentary
Ephesians 2:2
Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Light and dark are two things, as are truth and falsehood, goodness and wickedness. But they are not to be imagined as equal, for it is not pious to compare anything to God, even by contraries. So we are to understand that there are two spirits, one of faith and one of disobedience. Satan and his devils have their substance from air, that is, from material reality. They derive their power in that same way, over those who think materially. The prince of that power which is in the air works through matter. He is therefore that spirit now at work through material means among the children of disobedience. He possesses their minds and has dominion over them. Therefore the one who lives “according to the course of this world lives according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit who is now at work in the children of disobedience.”
Ephesians 2:6
And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
He did not make us deserving, since we did not receive these things by our own merit but by the grace and goodness of God.… But all this, as he often asserts and I insist, is in Christ. For in him is the whole mystery of the resurrection, both ours and of all others.
Ephesians 2:9
Not of works, lest any man should boast.
The fact that you Ephesians are saved is not something that comes from yourselves. It is the gift of God. It is not from your works, but it is God’s grace as God’s gift, not from anything you have deserved. Our works are one thing, what we deserve another. Hence he distinguishes the two phrases “not from yourselves” and “not from works.” Remember that there are faithful works that ought to be displayed daily in services to the poor and other good deeds.
Ephesians 2:10
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Does Paul mean “good works” in the future tense or those which we now perform? Taken either way they are good for us to walk in. They are witnesses to Christ’s working in us.
Ephesians 2:12
That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
The true way of Israel consists in living according to the Spirit, thinking according to the Spirit and being circumcised from unworthy desires.
Ephesians 2:14
For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
Christ, he says, “is our peace.” Elsewhere Paul calls him mediator. He interposed himself of his own accord between divided realms. Souls born of God’s fountain of goodness were being detained in the world. There was a wall in their midst, a sort of fence, a partition made by the deceits of the flesh and worldly lusts. Christ by his own mystery, his cross, his passion and his way of life destroyed this wall. He overcame sin and taught that it could be overcome. He destroyed the lusts of the world and taught that they ought to be destroyed. He took away the wall in the midst. It was in his own flesh that he overcame the enmity. The work is not ours. We are not called to set ourselves free. Faith in Christ is our only salvation.
Ephesians 2:15
Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
Their souls have thus been reconciled to the eternal and the spiritual, to all things above. The Savior, through the Spirit, indeed the Holy Spirit, descended into souls. He thereby joined what had been separated, spiritual things and souls, so as to make the souls themselves spiritual. He has established them in himself, as he says, “in a new person.” What is this new person? The spiritual person, as distinguished from the old person, who was soul struggling against flesh.
Ephesians 2:17
And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
He distinguishes “those who are far off” from “those who are near.” This refers to the Gentiles and Jews. For the Jews are obviously close and the Gentiles far off. Yet the Savior himself has brought the gospel to the Gentiles. Paul here mentions first that Christ by his advent has truly preached peace also to those who are far off, that is, the Gentiles, as is shown by many evidences. For those who come to belief from Gentile backgrounds ironically have a greater claim to be called sons than those from Jewish backgrounds. And yet, so that it may not be denied to the latter, he adds “and those who are near.”
Ephesians 2:18
For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
Both Jews and Gentiles “have access to the Father” through Christ himself. But how? “In one Spirit.” For the Spirit, who is one with Christ, enters into us when we believe in Christ. We then feel God’s presence, know God and worship God. Thus we come to the Father in that same Spirit through Christ. No one, whether Jew or Gentile, comes to the Father except through Christ.
Ephesians 2:19
Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
What are we to understand by “fellow citizens with the saints?” It implies a distinction between citizens and saints. But if this is so, who are the saints and who are the citizens? Saints refers to the apostles, prophets and all who formerly experienced God or spoke divinely through the Spirit dwelling within them. They in some way beheld God’s presence, as did Abraham, either through the flesh, through the Spirit or through both flesh and Spirit, as with all the apostles. Those who have later believed in Christ without any such special means are “fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household.”
Ephesians 2:20
And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
Jesus Christ and his teachings are the foundation for the apostles. The edifice built on this foundation consists in life and character and one’s conduct and discipline. The primary foundation is for life; the rest of the edifice is for its adornment and edification. The primary foundation, I say, is to believe in Christ, hope in him and trust in God. This foundation is the teaching of the apostles, which is also heard in the word of the prophets. Note the order of this distinction, first apostles and then prophets. The apostles beheld [God incarnate]; the prophets received the Spirit. These are the saints mentioned above: those who saw and those who were inhabited by the Spirit. Hence the teachings of the apostles and prophets are indeed the teachings of Christ, which proclaim the foundation of all eternal hope.
Ephesians 2:21
· 2 passages
In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
All souls made spiritual through Christ are joined and built up into a holy temple, where God dwells. As Christ is in all and God in Christ, all are a temple of God through Christ.
He called this stone a cornerstone not merely because it is at the corner but because it is the first and most important stone. From it begins the foundation of the corner which joins and couples two things to make them one. Souls above already with Christ are united together with those that live in holiness and receive Christ in a mystery that is present. Souls below that are Christ’s, including those of the Gentiles, are also joined by that cornerstone, Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 2:22
In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
As he does so often, he brings the argument back to individuals, that is, to the Ephesians. They themselves have been built into that same temple cornerstone. Here he cleverly adjusts his language to form an exhortation. They have not yet fully entered into this unity but are still being built up. There is a deficiency, and therefore he warns and exhorts them.
Ephesians 3:1
For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,
It remains, after he has stated the truth that all their hope is in Christ and thus they are all being built up together in the Spirit to be the dwelling place of God—it remains, I say, that he should teach them who he himself is and whether he himself is contributing to building them up together through the gospel and can give a reason for his own authority so that they may believe him.
Ephesians 3:3
How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,
Paul indicates that this mystery was made known to him through revelation. From this passage it is evident that a Christian, and a very excellent Christian at that, can be brought into being solely by grace.… Nevertheless, the power of God dispenses grace in many ways. Others come to faith by teaching, wherein by a legitimate training process and through the commandments of the Savior a person is reborn through the Spirit and water, so as to receive the spirit of Christ, in a teaching process that is mediated from human beings and through human beings. But what happened to Paul came to him by the grace of God through revelation. Although he, in my judgment, was the only one who received this particular revelation, God is able to reveal himself in this form or in other ways to others.
Ephesians 3:5
Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;
He teaches that there is a perfect harmony—a complete unity and identity—between the revelations given to him and those given to the apostles. His purpose is to avoid discord and any appearance of having received by revelation something that was not given to the apostles by the living Christ.
Ephesians 3:7
Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.
Everywhere Paul reminds us that we receive God’s gifts not by our own merit but by grace. Grace belongs to the giver, not to the recipient. And by adding “according to the working of his power,” he also ascribes this to God, so that “if I do any work, it is God’s power. For it is not my power that works in me but God’s.”
Ephesians 3:8
Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
Was work given before grace? Or did grace come before any works? That which is working is God’s power. So grace had already been given. When it is said that Paul was made a minister according to the gift of God, we understand that the gift of being a minister was given before his working to make him a minister, and his being a minister is the gift and grace of God.
Ephesians 3:9
And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
When he speaks of making “all men see the plan,” this includes both Israel and the Gentiles. Paul had doubtless received the gospel for the Gentiles. But the Jews too can see the plan if they follow and obey.