Ephesians 3

== Ephesians 3:1 ==
1 For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,
=== For this cause ===
* This refers back to the last part of chapter 2 where Paul speaks of the Gentiles as part of the spiritual temple of God, the church. 
=== I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles ===
* This is actually somewhat difficult to follow, especially in the more archaic KJV English. It does not read as a complete sentence in the English and we are left hanging, waiting for the verb: I Paul...did what? However, a better rendering of this would be simply: Thus, because I, Paul, am bound by Jesus for you Gentiles... It is a similar statement to what Paul wrote in Galatians 2:7 that he was the apostle to the uncircumcision (as opposed to Peter who was an apostle to the circumcision).
== Ephesians 3:2 ==
2 If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:
This is the beginning of a very long parenthetical explanation of grace and Paul's preaching of it. I have covered this thoroughly in my article 'What is Grace?', but Paul spends significant time on it in this letter, so I shall iterate the parts that are appropriate.
=== If you have heard of the dispensation ===
* The word dispensation here has to do with an office or administration, like a manager of a business. Paul is saying "if you've heard of the duty given to me".
=== of the grace of God ===
* We'll see throughout the rest of this aside that this gift is the gospel of Jesus Christ.
=== which is given me to you-ward ===
* The awkward phrasing of the KJV should not be too difficult here. The idea is that Paul was given the gospel (3 years out in Arabia given personal instruction from Jesus) and the responsibility to preach it to the Gentiles.
== Ephesians 3:3-6 ==
3 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, 4 Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) 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; 6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
=== The mystery made known to Paul ===
* Again, Paul is referring to the letter to the Galatian congregations where he explained his time out in Arabia receiving personal instruction from Jesus in the gospel. Specifically, Jesus revealed to him what the mystery of the gospel was.
=== Which in other ages was not made known... ===
* One of the things the Israelites/Jews struggled with was their relationship to the Gentiles and the relationship the Gentiles had with the promise to Abraham. They misunderstood that they were a vehicle for the promise to be fulfilled, but that promise did not give them any superiority over the other nations. The Jews believed they would be the heirs of whatever God would give to bless the world and the Gentiles would have no part in that.
=== as it is now revealed... ===
* God explained the real nature of the mystery explicitly to the apostles and prophets by the Holy Spirit.
=== That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs ===
* Time and time again in Paul's letters, the apostle writes that there is no longer a distinction between Jew and non-Jew. Everyone has equal opportunity according to Christ. Gentiles would be part of the 'church-which-is-his-body' (Eph. 1:22-23).
=== partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel ===
* This is actually a very important phrase as it helps us understand the concept of 'the promise' as we read of it in places like Acts 2. The promise to Abraham was that all the world would be blessed somehow. We see this embodied in Jesus Himself. He is the promise. He is how all the nations of the world are blessed. The gospel is the news that proclaims who Jesus is and what He has done as fulfillment of this promise. It is through the application of the gospel that the Gentiles were able to participate in that promise, in that blessing.
== Ephesians 3:7 ==
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.
Paul was made a servant based on God revealing the gospel directly to Paul (in Arabia). The gift is the gospel. God's power is the gospel. Paul is a servant to the Gentiles because of the gospel.
== Ephesians 3:8-9 ==
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; 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:
=== least of all saints ===
* Still and forever haunted by his time as Saul of Tarsus, persecutor of the church, Paul speaks of himself as the least of all Christians. He diminishes himself rightly in order to highlight the nature of the gospel itself. Paul says he is the chiefest of sinners, the least of all saints, of no personal account. Yet the gospel was still given to him to preach to the Gentiles.
=== unsearchable riches ===
* These truths had to be revealed. They are not information that man can look for and discover like the laws that govern the physical universe.
=== to make all men see ===
* Paul's purpose is to no only understand the nature of the mystery, but to spread that information to everyone. God did not fully reveal His plan to mankind until He sent Jesus, who is that revelation, that fulfillment. He is central to the Bible, to the whole of Creation, in every way. Paul emphasizes this point by saying that God created the entire universe by Jesus. Jesus is the logos, the instrument God used to fashion the universe from His will.
== Ephesians 3:10-11 ==
10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, 11 According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
=== principalities and powers in heavenly places ===
* These are referring to the same principalities and powers in Romans 8:38 and later in Ephesians 6:12. It is the heavens of the apocalyptic terms, the current rulers of Judaism, and to a lesser extent Rome. Through the church, the wisdom of God would be made known to those currently in power. This wisdom revealed to them through the church is based on God's purpose from eternity realized in Jesus.
* This is not about destruction of the Jewish or the Roman state. This is about preaching the gospel, preaching the fulfillment of the promise and encouraging the people of these systems to participate in the spiritual blessings of Ephesians 1:3.
== Ephesians 3:12-13 ==
12 In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him. 13 Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.
Paul says that through faith in Jesus, they have been given courage and access to the Father. A parallel to Ephesians 2:18 and Romans 5:2.
This is why Paul says not to worry about all the trouble he endures for their sake. He's doing it to build that temple from the end of chapter 2.
== Ephesians 3:14-17 ==
14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
=== I bow my knees ===
* Understanding all this, Paul says he is made to worship the Father and Son, to pray to them on behalf of the Gentiles who had become Christians at Ephesus.
=== of whom the whole family...is named ===
* The church is named for Christ. One of the simplest things to teach those of the denominations is that of the identity of the church, how the Bible distinguishes it from man made institutions to which they belong. Naming the church after a mere man like Martin Luther or John the 'Baptist' honors those men. It's like calling my wife Mrs. Jones instead of Mrs. Laurence. My wife honored me by taking my family name. She showed that she became part of my family.
* The church is named for Christ. It bears His name.
=== strengthened with might by His spirit in the inner man ===
* Like I examined in Romans 8, this is not about the 3rd person of the Godhead coming into you in a literal, immediate sense. This is about having the mind of Christ. Paul is praying that God grant to these Christians by the power of the gospel that transformed them strength to do their job preaching to the world.
=== That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith ===
* In a number of articles I have written about the nature of the indwelling of God in Christians. In John 14 (related to my article [No Mansions In Heaven]), Jesus says if any man loves Him and keeps His commandments, He and the Father will come and make their abode (mone - same Greek word translated as 'mansion' in verse 2) with him. In a number of places, the NT speaks of God dwelling in us or the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. Many have made the argument that this indwelling is literal, personal, and supernatural. Churches have split over this issue.
* However, the Godhead dwells in faithful Christians all in the same way. God dwells in our hearts by faith. This is what it means in the immediately preceding verse. We are strengthened by the gospel, by the power of God (Romans 1:16). By reading the gospel, we grown in faith (Romans 10:17). Jesus is the Word (John 1:1-3). All of this is not single, isolated memory verses. It's a whole thought.
=== rooted and grounded in love ===
* When Christ is in Christians, when faith has made us strong, emboldened us, it roots us, grounds us. These words carry the idea of being immovable and and unbreakable like a tree against any fierce wind. I cannot do justice to these passages without emphasizing the connection between love, faith, and obedience. As Jesus stated in John 14, "if you love me, keep my commandments", "if any man loves me and keeps my commandments, I and the Father will come and make our abode in him". Our obedience to God in faith is not a sign that we love God. It is not to show that we love God. Our obedience to God is our love for God. The three are inseparable when all together. Faith without obedience is dead (James 2). Faith without love is pointless. And love without obedience is a lie. True Biblical faith is obedience to God which is our love for God made manifest.
* And that rooting and grounding in love empowers us...
== Ephesians 3:18-19 ==
18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
=== able to comprehend with all saints ===
* When we are rooted and grounded in love for God, it is a recursive loop, a feedback into faith. God commands that we study His word (2 Tim. 2:15; 3:16-17), by which we grow in faith (Romans 10:17), and are more fully able to love God. You cannot deeply love someone without coming to know them and reading God's Word, believing the teachings of Paul delivered by revelation from Jesus that Paul has been talking about in this chapter, allows Christians to understand the full dimensions of God's plan for humanity.
=== to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge ===
* The growth in the gospel allows us to know that which passeth knowledge. Now, at first, this may seem like a contradiction. Yet, if understood properly in the context of revelation, its not. The gospel came by revelation from God to man. It's focus is Jesus Christ and in Him is the embodiment of the Word. Through Christ, we understand the love of God, and it is through the gospel that we understand Christ. Man cannot arrive at this knowledge on his own. He cannot study the natural world and come to the conclusions, come to the truth revealed in scripture. So, to comprehend God through the Bible is to know the love of Christ, His life, teachings, death, burial, resurrection, ascension, kingship, priesthood, all that is Jesus Christ, which man could not otherwise know.
* This is why those faith systems that are based on personal experience and emotion fall flat and leave people feeling empty. They never attain real knowledge of God. They only find the two-dimensional image of God they have constructed from their preconceived notions of what they think God should be.
== Ephesians 3:20-21 ==
20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
=== Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above... ===
* Paul closes this particular thought with the conclusion that God is able to do above and beyond all that His children would think or ask. God is able to do this according to the power that works in us, that is to say, God answers our prayers, God works in the world, through us! Through our study and application of the scripture. Quite frankly, one of the biggest reasons the world is not a better place today is because the church does not understand this, does not believe this, or does not apply this.
=== Unto Him be glory in the church...to every age of ages. ===
* Paul ends the thought with praise to God, glorifying God in the church by Jesus throughout all ages. That means for as long as time exists.
* This is more important than some realize and I would like to take a brief moment to say that there are those who say that the idea of ekklesia (church) was temporary. That it only included the firstfruits, the first century Christians until AD 70. This verse single-handedly shows that position to be false. God is glorified in His church throughout all the ages, as long as there is time, God will be glorified in His church by Jesus Christ. The idea of a temporary church is utter nonsense.
In Truth and Love.
== Navigation ==
Ephesians 1
Ephesians 2
Ephesians 3
Ephesians 4
Ephesians 5
Ephesians 6