Ephesians 5.20c-The Merits of the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Saturday September 12, 2026
Ephesians Series: Ephesians 5:20c-The Merits of the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ
Lesson # 369
Ephesians 5:15 Therefore, each and every one of you as a corporate unit must continue to make it your habit of paying careful attention to the manner in which each and every one of you make it your habit of conducting your lives. Each and every one of you as a corporate unit must continue to not make it your habit of conducting your lives in an unwise manner. On the contrary, each and every one of you must continue to make it your habit of conducting your lives in a wise manner 16 by continuing to make it your habit of taking full advantage of your opportunity for your own benefit because these days are characterized by evil. 17 For this reason, each and every one of must continue to make it your habit of not conducting your lives as foolish individuals. On the contrary, each and every one of you as a corporate unit must continue to make it your habit of conducting your lives as wise individuals by comprehending for the purpose of personal application what constitutes the Lord’s will (for the manner in which each one of you as a corporate unit are to continue making it your habit of conducting your life). 18 Consequently, each and every one of you as a corporate unit must continue to make it your habit of not permitting yourselves to be drunk by means of the excessive intake of wine because this is non-sensical behavior. On the contrary, each and every one of you as a corporate unit must continue to make it your habit of permitting yourselves to be influenced by means of the Spirit’s teaching 19 with result that each and every one of you as a corporate unit continue to make it your habit of communicating with one another by means of psalms, hymns as well as spiritual songs so that each and every one of you as a corporate unit continue to make it your habit of singing and specifically continuing to make it your habit of making music with your hearts for the benefit of the Lord. 20 Consequently, each and every one of you as a corporate unit continue to make it your habit of always expressing thanks to the one and only God, namely the Father because of each and every circumstance on the basis of the merits of the name possessed by the Lord ruling over each and every one of us as a corporate unit. (Lecturer’s translation)
Ephesians 5:20 is composed of the following:
(1) Participial result clause eucharistountes pantote…tō theō kai patri (εὐχαριστοῦντες πάντοτε…τῷ θεῷ καὶ πατρί), “Consequently, each and every one of you as a corporate unit continue to make it your habit of always expressing thanks to the one and only God, namely the Father” (Lecturer’s translation).
(2) Prepositional phrase: hyper pantōn (ὑπὲρ πάντων), “because of each and every circumstance” (Lecturer’s translation).
(3) Prepositional phrase: en onomati tou kyriou hēmōn Iēsou Christou (ἐν ὀνόματι τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ), “on the basis of the merits of the name possessed by the Lord ruling over each and every one of us as a corporate unit” (Lecturer’s translation).
In Ephesians 5:20, the noun onoma (ὄνομα), “the name” has a five-fold sense:
(1) It signifies the “personality” of the Lord distinguishing Him from the heathen gods.
(2) It signifies the “character” of the Lord representing who He is as the unique theanthropic person in creation, the God-man.
(3) It signifies the Lord’s “work” in creation and for the salvation of sinful humanity through His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at the right hand of the Father.
(4) It signifies the “reputation” of the Lord before the human race as the Creator and Redeemer of the human race.
(5) It signifies the “authority” of the Lord Jesus over the church and over every human being, angel and all of creation as a result of being the Creator.
The noun onoma (ὄνομα) contains the figure of metonymy, which means that the name of the Lord Jesus Christ is put for the merits of name and specifically, the merits of His holy person and character, finished work on the cross, reputation and authority as the sovereign ruler over creation and every creature.
As was the case in Ephesians 1:2, 3, 15, 17, 2:21, 3:11, 4:1, 5, 17, 5:8, 10, 17 and 19, the referent of the dative masculine singular form of the noun kurios (κύριος) here in Ephesians 5:20 is Jesus Christ.
The indicates the following about Jesus Christ:
(1) His equality with the Father and the Spirit.
(2) His joint-rulership with the Father over the entire cosmos.
(3) His highest-ranking position as Chief Administrator in the divine government.
(4) His absolute sovereign authority as Ruler over all creation and every creature.
(5) His victory over the sin nature and Satan and His kingdom through His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at the right hand of the Father.
The genitive masculine singular form of the noun Iēsous (Ἰησοῦς) means “Jesus” and refers to the human nature of the incarnate Son of God, Jesus of Nazareth.
The word functions as a genitive of simple apposition meaning that it clarifies who is Lord here, namely Jesus of Nazareth since there were many lords that the pagans worshipped in the first century A.D.
The articular construction of the noun kurios (κύριος), “Lord” is used with the plural form of the personal pronoun ego (ἐγώ) to denote subordination, which indicates that Paul and the recipients of this epistle are “subordinated to” the Lord Jesus Christ.
The proper name Christos (Χριστός) signifies that Jesus of Nazareth served God the Father exclusively and this was manifested by His execution of the Father’s salvation plan which was accomplished by His voluntary substitutionary spiritual and physical deaths on the cross.
The word signifies that Jesus of Nazareth has been given authority by God the Father to forgive sins, give eternal life, and authority over all creation and every creature as a result of His execution of the Father’s salvation plan.
It denotes that Jesus of Nazareth was perpetually guided and empowered by God the Holy Spirit during His First Advent.
Lastly, Christos (Χριστός) signifies that Jesus of Nazareth is the promised deliverer of the human race from the bondage of Satan, his cosmic system and the old Adamic sin nature.
This word Christos (Χριστός) also functions as a genitive of simple apposition meaning that it stands in apposition to the genitive form of the noun Iesous, “Jesus” and clarifies who is Jesus here, namely He is the Christ since there were many in the first century who made the claim.
The noun onoma (ὄνομα) is the object of the preposition en (ἐν) is marking this noun as “the reason why” or “the basis upon which” the recipients of Ephesians were able to express thanksgiving to the Father in prayer because of each and every circumstance in their lives.
Therefore, this prepositional phrase in that they were able to continue do so “on the basis of” or “because of” the merits of the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Specifically, they were able to approach the Father in prayer “because of” or “based upon” the merits of His holy person and character, finished work on the cross, reputation and authority as the sovereign ruler over creation and every creature as well as their union and identification with Him in His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at the right hand of the Father.
Therefore, in Ephesians 5:20, the prepositional phrase en onomati tou kyriou hēmōn Iēsou Christou (ἐν ὀνόματι τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ), “on the basis of the merits of the name possessed by the Lord ruling over each and every one of us as a corporate unit” (Lecturer’s translation) is emphasizing with the recipients of this epistle that they must continue to make it their habit of expressing thanksgiving to the Father because of each and every circumstance “on the basis of” the merits of their union and identification with the Lord Jesus Christ’s holy person.
It also signifies with them that they must continue to make it their habit of expressing thanksgiving to the Father because of each and every circumstance “on the basis of” the merits of their union and identification with the Lord Jesus Christ’s holy character.
It also signifies that they must continue to make it their habit of expressing thanksgiving to the Father because of each and every circumstance “on the basis of” the merits of their union and identification with the Lord Jesus Christ’s work of salvation on their behalf.
This prepositional phrase also indicates that they must continue to make it their habit of expressing thanksgiving to the Father because of each and every circumstance “on the basis of” the merits of their union and identification with the Lord Jesus Christ’s reputation before the human race.
Lastly, it signifies that they must continue to make it their habit of expressing thanksgiving to the Father because of each and every circumstance “on the basis of” the merits of their union and identification with the Lord Jesus Christ’s sovereign authority.
The Lord Jesus Christ taught that prayer must be made in His name or His person, since He is the intermediary to the Father (John 14:13-15; 15:16; 16:23; Eph 5:20; Col 3:17).
The church age believer’s access to the Father in prayer through the person and work of the Son and their union and identification with Him is taught in Ephesians 2:18.
Ephesians 2:18 Consequently, through the personal intermediate agency of Himself each and every one of us as a corporate unit, namely, both groups are experiencing access by means of the omnipotence of the one Spirit to the presence of the Father. (Lecturer’s translation)
Jesus Christ is the personal intermediate agency who enables both Jewish and Gentile church age believers to experience access to the presence of the Father because when He declared them justified through faith in His Son, the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit appropriated for them the benefits of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at the right hand of the Father.
The church age believer gains permanent access into the presence of the Father for an eternal relationship and fellowship through the Lord Jesus Christ’s crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at the right hand of the Father.
When the Father declared the church age believer justified through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit placed them in union with His Son and under His federal headship and identified them with Jesus Christ in His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at the right hand of the Father.
