Ephesians Chapter 3

Ephesians 3:1-7 “For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles— ² if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, ³ how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, ⁴ by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), ⁵ which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: ⁶ that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, ⁷ of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power.”

Paul describes the mystery of God, which is Christ within us, in the terms of adoption in this chapter.  The kingdom of God is God living within us.  That is the mystery that Jesus described in the parable of the sower and the seed.  God revealed this mystery to Paul by the Holy Spirit.  A mystery is an idea that was hidden in the Old Testament but revealed in the New Testament. Notice the language of adoption, when he says that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs.  The Gentiles are grafted in with the Jewish believers in Jesus and we are of the same body.  We are all partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel.  The Holy Spirit of promise has come to dwell within us. Paul was placed into the ministry according to the gift of grace that was given to him, and it was demonstrated by the effective working of His power through the ministry of Paul. 

   

Ephesians 3:8-13 “To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, ⁹ and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; ¹⁰ to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, ¹¹ according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, ¹² in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him. ¹³ Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.”

Paul was placed into the ministry by the grace of God.  Paul was called to preach primarily to the Gentiles.  He preached the gospel of Christ and taught people to see what their part is in this mystery.  First we are to receive the gospel, hearing the Good News that Christ died for our sins and receiving Jesus into our hearts.  Then we grow in our understanding of the mystery of God, which is Christ living within us.  As we mature in Christ and share the gospel with our world, we set others free from the bondage of Satan.  Remember that Ephesians 2:2 says that Satan is at work in the sons of disobedience or unbelievers.  As we preach the gospel, we are demonstrating the manifold wisdom of God through us to the principalities and powers, setting the people free from Satan’s oppression.  This is the warfare that Paul will describe in Ephesians chapter 6.  It is not praying down principalities and powers who are somehow hovering over the earth.  It is preaching the gospel to the world. Satan is driven out of their lives as they receive the Holy Spirit in their hearts.  Prayer is vital and important in the life of the believer.  But people will not hear the gospel and receive Christ only through prayer. Paul was suffering much tribulation as he went forth preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 3:14-21 “For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵ from 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 through His Spirit in the inner man, ¹⁷ that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸ may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— ¹⁹ to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. ²⁰ Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, ²¹ to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

The key to understanding this prayer is to understand what constitutes the inner man and the heart.  This prayer used to confuse me.  I knew that Christ came to live in me when I received Him.  So why is Paul saying that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith?

The inner man is made up of the spirit and soul; so is the heart.  Many Bible teachers teach that the heart is the spirit.  Yet in 1 Peter 3:4, Peter said that the spirit is the hidden person of the heart.  The visible person of the heart is the soul.  The soul is your mind, emotions, will and conscience.  The inner man or heart contains both the spirit and soul.  

Now we can understand Paul’s prayer more clearly.  Christ has come to live within us when we received Him.  For His life and nature to be expressed through us, we must be strengthened with might through His Spirit in our soul.  Paul said in Romans 12 that we are transformed by the renewing of our mind.  Paul said that we are to be rooted and grounded in love.  That is speaking of the love of God for us.  That is our foundation below the surface that no one can see.  Then he prays that we may be able to comprehend the width and length and depth and height of the love of God.  That will cause the growth above the ground that people can see.  How are we going to be filled with all the fullness of God? We come to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge.  This is describing His love which we have experienced for ourselves, not just head knowledge.  God is able to do exceedingly above all that we ask or think according to the power of Christ that is at work within us. 

Paul has been describing our inheritance we received when we accepted Jesus into our hearts.  The foundation of our inheritance is His free gift of righteousness.  Jesus has paid the penalty for the sins of our entire lifetime and put them away.  We are in right-standing with God by His free gift of grace, not by our performance.  Our right-standing with God is assured and never changes, even when we fail.  Having this confidence, we can begin to grow up and put away sin and walk in love and holiness.  We can begin to partake of our inheritance as a member of the household of God.  We begin to share the gospel with confidence and help to set others free. Paul will discuss the hope of our calling in Ephesians chapters 4-6.   

Keith Oliver