Ephesians 3.8a-Paul Describes Himself as Less Than Least of All the Saints
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday April 30, 2024
Ephesians Series: Ephesians 3:8a-Paul Describes Himself as Less Than Least of All the Saints
Lesson # 152
Ephesians 3:1 For this reason, I myself, Paul, the prisoner owned by and under the authority of the one and only Christ who is Jesus for the benefit of each and every one of you as a corporate unit, who are Gentiles—2 if and let us assume that it is true for the sake of argument that each and every one of you as a corporate unit have surely heard about the stewardship, which is unique to the grace, which originates from the one and only God, which was given to me for the benefit of all of you as a corporate unit without exception. (Of course, every one of you have in fact heard about it.) 3 Namely that, the mystery was made known for the benefit of myself as revelation as I wrote beforehand in a concise manner. 4 Concerning which, that is, by each one of you making it your habit of hearing read publicly, all of you will for your own benefit become able to comprehend my insight into this incomparable mystery, which is produced by your unique union and identification with Christ. 5 This mystery was by no means made known to members of the human race in previous generations as it has now been revealed through the personal agency of His holy apostles as well as prophets by means of the omnipotence of the Spirit. 6 Namely, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs as well as fellow members of the body likewise fellow partakers of the promise because of justification by faith in and union and identification with Christ Jesus by means of the proclamation of the gospel. 7 I assumed the position and responsibility of serving this gospel according to the gift originating from the one and only God’s grace, which was given to me according to the activity produced by the exercise of His power. 8 To me, the less than least of all the saints, this grace was given in order to proclaim for my benefit to the Gentiles the unfathomable wealth brought about by this justification by faith in and union and identification with Christ. (Lecturer’s translation)
Ephesians 3:8 is composed of the following:
(1) relative pronoun clause: Emoi tō elachistoterō pantōn hagiōn edothē hē charis hautē (Ἐμοὶ τῷ ἐλαχιστοτέρῳ πάντων ἁγίων ἐδόθη ἡ χάρις αὕτη), “To me, the less than least of all the saints, this grace was given.”
(2) infinitival purpose clause: tois ethnesin euangelisasthai to anexichniaston ploutos tou Christou (τοῖς ἔθνεσιν εὐαγγελίσασθαι τὸ ἀνεξιχνίαστον πλοῦτος τοῦ Χριστοῦ), “in order to proclaim for my benefit to the Gentiles the unfathomable wealth brought about by this justification by faith in and union and identification with Christ.”
In the relative pronoun clause, the dative first person singular form of the possessive personal pronoun egō (ἐγώ), “to me” refers of course to the apostle Paul is fronted in the verse.
Thus, it is in the emphatic position in order to emphasize with the readers that Paul is less than least of all the saints.
The purpose of this emphasis is to accentuate the grace of God in his life.
It expresses the apostle’s deep humility and gratitude in light of God’s incomparable grace policy towards him in bestowing the great unmerited blessings to him at the moment of justification to be a servant and steward and apostle to proclaim the gospel to the Gentiles.
Specifically, he expresses deep humility and gratitude that God would bestow him the great honor and privilege and unmerited blessing to proclaim to the Gentile Christian community the good news that they are fellow heirs as well as fellow members of the body likewise fellow partakers of the promise with Jewish church age believers because of justification by faith in and union and identification with Christ Jesus by means of the proclamation of the gospel.
The articular dative masculine singular form of the adjective elachistos (ἐλάχιστος), “the less than least” serves to compare Paul to the rest of the members of the body of Christ and it describes himself as “the less than least” of all those in the Christian community.
The genitive masculine plural form of the adjective hagios (ἅγιος), “saints” describes all the members of the body of Christ who have been set apart through the baptism of the Spirit at the moment of justification in order to order serve God exclusively.
It is modified by the genitive masculine plural form of the adjective pas (πᾶς), which pertains to “the totality” of church age believers or members of the body of Christ who are the future bride of Christ.
The adjective hagios (ἅγιος) functions as a genitive of comparison, which serves to compare Paul with the rest of the members of the body of Christ, i.e., the church.
The articular nominative feminine singular form of the noun charis (χάρις), “grace” speaks of a particular unmerited blessing that flowed to the apostle Paul from the function of the Father’s attribute of love.
Specifically, it refers to the contents of Ephesians 3:7, which asserts that Paul assumed the position and responsibility of serving the gospel according to the gift originating from the one and only God’s grace, which was given to him according to the activity produced by the exercise of His power.
Thus, it refers to the unmerited blessing of serving the gospel by communicating the mystery that Gentiles church age believers are fellow heirs as well as fellow members of the body likewise fellow partakers of the promise with Jewish church age believers.
The referent of the genitive feminine singular form of the immediate demonstrative pronoun houtos (οὗτος), “this” appears in Ephesians 3:7 and is the articular genitive feminine singular form of the noun charis (χάρις) because they agree in gender (feminine), number (singular) and case (genitive).
In Ephesians 3:7, the referent of the latter is the gift of Paul serving the gospel by communicating the mystery that Gentiles church age believers are fellow heirs as well as fellow members of the body likewise fellow partakers of the promise with Jewish church age believers.
Thus, the immediate demonstrative pronoun houtos (οὗτος), “this” in Ephesians 3:8 links this verse with Ephesians 3:7 and in fact, in a broader sense, it links it to the contents of Ephesians 3:2-7.
It also indicates that Ephesians 3:8 is a relative pronoun clause with the possessive personal pronoun egō (ἐγώ), “to me,” the adjective elachistos (ἐλάχιστος), “the less than least,” the adjective hagios (ἅγιος), “saints” and the adjective pas (πᾶς), “all” fronted in order to emphasize the grace of God in Paul’s life.
This word houtos (οὗτος), “this” is in the predicate position to indicate an attributive function, which means that it is singling out the Father’s grace policy which He employs in relation to sinners and sinners He justifies through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ.
As was the case in Ephesians 3:7, the verb didōmi (δίδωμι) here in Ephesians 3:8 means “to bestow as a gift” since the word pertains in this context to giving someone something which is of great value and as a gift.
It speaks of giving someone something as an expression of generosity.
The referent of the third person singular form of this verb is the unmerited blessing of Paul serving the gospel by communicating the mystery that Gentiles church age believers are fellow heirs as well as fellow members of the body likewise fellow partakers of the promise with Jewish church age believers.
This description of Paul here in Ephesians 3:8 is further indication that the Ephesian epistle is not a pseudonymous writing.
A. Skevington Wood writes “Is it conceivable that an admirer of Paul, writing in his name to enhance his reputation in the late-first-century church, would ascribe such a self-demoting confession to him?”
In 1 Timothy 1:12-13 and 1 Corinthians 15:9-10, Paul identifies the reason why he describes himself in Ephesians 3:8 as the less than least of all the saints, i.e., members of the body of Christ, the church.
1 Corinthians 15:1 Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel that I preached to you, that you received and on which you stand, 15:2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 15:3 For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received—that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, 15:4 and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, 15:5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 15:6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 15:7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 15:8 Last of all, as though to one born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also. 15:9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been in vain. In fact, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God with me. 15:11 Whether then it was I or they, this is the way we preach and this is the way you believed. (NET)
First Timothy 1:12 I continually possess gratitude to the One who empowered me, namely Christ, who is Jesus, our Lord because He considered me for Himself as faithful by appointing me for Himself for the purpose of service. 13 Even though I was characterized as being a slanderer as well as a persecutor and in addition, an insolent violent person. But in direct contrast to this, I obtained grace because being in a state of rejection, I acted due to unbelief. (Lecturer’s translation)