Ephesians 3.12b-The Basis and the Means By Which Church Age Believers Possess Access to the Father
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday June 11, 2024
Ephesians Series: Ephesians 3:12b-The Basis and the Means By Which Church Age Believers Possess Access to the Father
Lesson # 164
Ephesians 3:12 On the basis of our faith in and union and identification with Him, each and every one of us are experiencing boldness, namely access with confidence to the presence of the Father by means of His faithfulness. (Lecturer’s translation)
Ephesians 3:12 is composed of the following:
(1) Prepositional phrase en hō (ἐν ᾧ), “On the basis of our faith in and union and identification with Him” (Author’s translation)
(2) Declarative statement: echomen tēn parrēsian kai prosagōgēn (ἔχομεν τὴν παρρησίαν καὶ προσαγωγὴν), “each and every one of us are experiencing boldness, namely access” (Author’s translation)
(3) Prepositional phrase: en pepoithēsei (ἐν πεποιθήσει), “with confidence” (Author’s translation)
(4) Prepositional phrase (due to the use of the figure of ellipsis): pros ton patera (πρὸς τὸν πατέρα), “to the presence of the Father” (Author’s translation)
(5) Prepositional phrase dia tēs pisteōs autou (διὰ τῆς πίστεως αὐτοῦ), “by means of His faithfulness” (Author’s translation)
Therefore, the reader can see that Ephesians 3:12 is built upon the declarative statement echomen tēn parrēsian kai prosagōgēn (ἔχομεν τὴν παρρησίαν καὶ προσαγωγὴν), “each and every one of us are experiencing boldness, namely access.”
It is modified by four prepositional phrases and one of which is implied due to the figure of ellipsis.
The prepositional phrase en pepoithēsei (ἐν πεποιθήσει), “with confidence” is actually modifying prosagōgēn (ἔχομεν τὴν παρρησίαν καὶ προσαγωγὴν), “access” and is completing the latter’s thought.
Together, they are defining the articular expression tēn parrēsian (τὴν παρρησίαν), “boldness.”
The prepositional phrase pros ton patera (πρὸς τὸν πατέρα), “to the presence of the Father” is omitted but implied due to Paul’s use of the figure of ellipsis.
It is completing the thought of the declarative statement echomen tēn parrēsian kai prosagōgēn (ἔχομεν τὴν παρρησίαν καὶ προσαγωγὴν), “each and every one of us are experiencing boldness, namely access” as are the prepositional phrases en pepoithēsei (ἐν πεποιθήσει), “with confidence” and pros ton patera (πρὸς τὸν πατέρα), “to the presence of the Father.”
Lastly, the prepositional phrases en hō (ἐν ᾧ), “On the basis of our faith in and union and identification with Him” and dia tēs pisteōs autou (διὰ τῆς πίστεως αὐτοῦ), “by means of His faithfulness” are also modifying the declarative statement.
They also serve as bookends for this declarative statement and the prepositional phrases, which modify it.
The former is fronted for emphasis and the latter completes the verse.
The former expresses the reason for the declarative statement and the prepositional phrases that modify it and the latter expresses the means for them.
Together, they serve to emphasize that the new humanity composed of both Jewish and Gentile Christian communities owes its very existence to the Lord Jesus Christ because His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at the right hand of the Father serves as the basis for its very existence.
Now, the referent of the relative pronoun hos (ὅς), “Him,” which appears in the first prepositional phrase which appears in the verse, is the Lord Jesus Christ and contains the figure of metonymy.
This means that the Lord Jesus Christ is put for the church age believer’s faith in Him at justification as well as their union and identification with Him through the baptism of the Spirit at his justification.
This word is the object of the preposition en (ἐν), which functions as a marker of cause or reason.
Therefore, this indicates that the church age believer’s faith in Him at justification as well as their union and identification with Him through the baptism of the Spirit at justification is “the reason why” they are experiencing boldness, namely, access with confidence to the presence of the Father.
The referent of the genitive third person masculine singular form of the intensive personal pronoun autos (αὐτός), which appears in the last prepositional phrase in Ephesians 3:12, is also the Lord Jesus Christ and emphasizes His identity and is the demonstrative force intensified.
Unlike, Ephesians 1:15 and 2:8, the noun pistis (πίστις) in this last prepositional phrase in Ephesians 3:12 is not a reference to the church age believer’s faith in Jesus Christ, which resulted in the Father imputing or crediting His Son’s righteousness and declaring them justified based upon the merits of His Son’s crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at the Father’s right hand.
Rather, it means “faithfulness” since it is used in relation to the Lord Jesus Christ and pertains to the state of being someone in whom complete confidence can be placed.
Therefore, it expresses the idea that the Lord Jesus Christ is someone a sinner can place complete confidence in to provide them bold access to the Father because the Father has accepted His crucifixion, death, burial as the propitiation of their sins.
His resurrection and session at the right hand of the Father demonstrated that the Father had accepted His Son’s substitutionary sacrifice as the payment for their sins since it satisfied His holiness, which demanded that sin and sinners experience His righteous indignation in the eternal lake of fire.
Most expositors and translators interpret the noun pistis (πίστις) as functioning as an objective genitive, which takes place when the genitive substantive receives the action implicit in the head noun.
Therefore, this would indicate that Jesus Christ receives the action of being trusted by the church age believer, which resulted in the Father declaring them justified.
However, more and more expositors and translations like the NET Bible translate the word as a subjective genitive, which takes place when the genitive substantive functions semantically as the subject of the verbal idea implicit in the head noun.
Therefore, this would indicate that Jesus Christ is the subject of the verbal idea implicit in the head noun pistis (πίστις) indicating that it was His faithfulness which was the means by which the church age believer experiences boldness, namely access with confidence to the presence of the Father.
However, I believe that the articular construction of this noun pistis (πίστις) is employed with the genitive third person masculine singular form of the intensive personal pronoun autos (αὐτός) in order to denote possession.
This use of the intensive personal pronoun appears frequently in the Greek New Testament.
Thus, this construction emphasizes this faithfulness is “the possession of” the Lord Jesus Christ.
Some would argue that this interpretation of this genitive expression is wrong because there is a narrower sense in that it can be interpreted as a subjective genitive.
Wallace writes “A genitive should not be labeled possessive unless this is the narrowest sense it can have. If it is related to a verbal noun, then, it is probably objective or subjective.”
However, the intensive personal pronoun autos (αὐτός) is employed with the articular construction of the noun pistis (πίστις) to denote possession.
In fact, the former is often used with the articular construction of nouns to express possession.
Wallace writes “possessive pronouns will be the primary words used for the genitive of possession. In fact, when one sees a possessive pronoun he/she can usually assume that its primary nuance is that of possession.”
That the noun pistis (πίστις) is not an objective genitive and does not refer to the church age believer’s faith in the Lord Jesus Christ which resulted in the Father declaring them justified is indicated by the fact that Paul uses two other prepositional phrases in this verse, which imply justifying faith.
As we noted, the prepositional phrase en hō (ἐν ᾧ) contains the figure of metonymy which means that the Lord Jesus Christ is put for faith in Him at justification and the church age believers union and identification with Him through the baptism of the Spirit.
The prepositional phrase en pepoithēsei (ἐν πεποιθήσει), “with confidence” implies justifying faith because access to the Father which is characterized by confidence in His presence presupposes justifying faith.
The genitive feminine singular form of the noun pistis (πίστις) is the object of the preposition dia (διά), which expresses “the means by which” the recipients of the Ephesian letter were presently experiencing access to the presence of the Father, which is characterized by boldness and confidence.
Therefore, the prepositional phrase dia tēs pisteōs autou (διὰ τῆς πίστεως αὐτοῦ) expresses the idea that the church age believer experiences boldness, namely access with confidence to the presence of the Father “by means of the Lord Jesus Christ’s faithfulness.”
As also noted, Paul employs the figure of ellipsis in Ephesians 3:12 because he is deliberately omitting the prepositional phrase pros ton patera (πρὸς τὸν πατέρα), “to the presence of the Father,” though it is implied from the context and the contents of Ephesians 2:18.
The prepositional phrase en hō (ἐν ᾧ), “On the basis of our faith in and union and identification with Him” which begins the verse and the prepositional phrase dia tēs pisteōs autou (διὰ τῆς πίστεως αὐτοῦ), “by means of His faithfulness,” which ends the verse speak of the mediatorship of the Lord Jesus Christ, which of course is related to the doctrine of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:14-21; Col. 1:22; 1 Tim. 2:5).
The contents of Ephesians 3:12 echo the contents of Ephesians 2:18.