Ephesians 3

Personal Observations

v. 1, before Paul can continue to his imploring to walk in a way as to reflect this calling (4:1), he abruptly digresses

v. 2, the digression is Paul’s validity over his divine stewardship over the Ephesians

v. 3, the revelation being referred it is *perhaps?* Paul’s call to head to the Gentiles ()

v. 4-7, the revelation ultimately is tied to the salvation of Gentiles in King Jesus through the Gospel, a privilege given to Paul by God to ensure this good news would spread.

v. 8-10, Paul, overwhelmed by the magnitude of mercy and grace coming from God in establishing the responsibility of the heralding of the Gospel to the Gentiles (the least of all saints; Paul understood who he was and what he had done in his persecution of the Church), elaborates on this point, that the Gentiles are indeed a part of the Church. This was Paul’s responsibility, to make sure this truth was known in order that the wisdom of God may be made known through the church to the authorities of *both earthly and heavenly realms?*

v. 11, This whole idea, though new for the Christians of the early church, namely the Jewish Christians and the presumably confused Gentile Christians, was not new to God, as this was the eternal purpose intended by the Godhead carried out in the incarnated God-man.

v. 12, In fact, it is through faith in the incarnated God-man that our access to God is of a bold and confident nature

v. 13, the reason for Paul’s digression is exposed here: “Because y’all are a part of the body of Christ, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ, for your (Gentiles) sake— …so in light of everything I just said (v.2-12), don’t be troubled for my distress because of you, for my struggles is to your glory. In fact! *Paul then carries on from where he left off in v. 1* For this reason…(v. 14)”

v. 14-19, Because of God’s inclusion of the Gentiles in to the Church, he prays that God would strengthen them with power (v. 16) so that Christ may dwell in their hearts through faith (v.17) (what does this strengthening have to do with Christ being able to dwell in their hearts?), and that they may be able to understand the breadth (width), length, height, and depth (v.18) of Christ’s love for them and that they would know Christ’s love (v. 19), a love that surpasses any kind of knowledge of mankind. All this, so that they may be filled up to all the fullness of God (v. 19).

v. 15, 16, 17, 18, God is the source of every existing family, in heaven and earth (v. 15), God provides from the riches of His glory (v. 16), their capacity to understand and know the love of Christ hinges on the foundation of which they are rooted and grounded in: love (v. 17), and this knowledge is accessible to all saints (v. 18)

v. 20-21, this a conclusion to the doxology Paul began with in chapter 1, before he transitions into instruction mode. This section of the epistle is capped by praise to Him who deserves all praise from all generations for His provision and empowerment (what does it mean to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus?)

Big Idea: Before Paul can continue to provide instruction to the Ephesians, he stops as soon as he mentions his imprisonment on their behalf. He then begins to comfort the Gentiles, telling them not to worry about his imprisonment because of them, reminding them that this situation was not because of his own agenda, but rather the agenda of Christ, ensuring that they know his being there is to fulfill the call from Christ to spread the Gospel to the Gentiles. On this premise, this imprisonment pushes him harder to fulfill his calling to them, praying that God will help them to know and understand fully the love that God has for them, that they are indeed a part of the body of Christ.

Prayer Requests and Praise Reports

Read Passage

Intro:

Up to this point we have seen Paul’s pushback against the notion that the Gentiles had to contribute to their faith (inferred by their recognition as the “uncircumcision” by the “circumcision” (v. 2:11). Paul affirms that they too are saved in Christ (v. 2:13) and furthermore have equal share with the Jews, as the dividing barrier (the Law) has been taken down by Christ and the division has been replaced by reconciliation (v. 2:14-16). They are no longer strangers before God, but are now fellow citizens among the saints, being built together into a temple for the dwelling of God Himself (v. 19-22).

P1. The Mystery of Christ (v. 1-7)

P2. The Eternal Purpose (v. 8-13)

P3. Paul’s Prayer (v. 14-21)

P1. The Mystery of Christ (v. 1-7) *Read Passage, after observations “So starting at verse 7 what are some immediate observations?”*

v. 1, before Paul can continue to his imploring to walk in a way as to reflect this calling (4:1), he abruptly digresses

3:1. Apparently Paul started a prayer but broke it off at v. 2 to digress on God’s commission to him on the Gentiles’ behalf. (His prayer resumes in v. 14).

It’s fairly easy to find out what he was going to say because if you look carefully, when he gets down to verse 14, he starts off the same way. He says, “For this reason I …” So whatever he was going to say in verse 1, he gets back to it in verse 14. This is what he was going to say in verse 1, verse 14.

He was about to say, “For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ, I kneel and I pray this prayer for you …” but something makes him detour. What makes him detour? (The mention of his imprisonment)

Keller, T. J. (2013). The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive. New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church.

Where Paul was in prison is debated, but whatever decision is made does not affect the reading of this letter. That Paul is the “prisoner of Christ Jesus” is important. He could have blamed the Romans or even the Jews for his imprisonment, but for him their involvement is not the focus.

Does he view his being in prison as the direct purpose of Christ for him so that, in effect, Christ put him in chains? Or does Paul see his present situation as on behalf of Christ, as part of his service for Christ?

Either is possible, but 6:20 and seem to favor the latter. In either case, Christ is the one who has laid hold on Paul.

The only reason why Paul was in prison was because he obeyed Jesus. This is pretty discouraging.

You see, it’s one thing to say, “I’m a Christian. I did something wrong so I’m in prison.” It’s another thing to say, “I’m a Christian, and I was trying to obey God. Now I’m in prison because I was trying to obey God.” What we’re talking about here is the fact that the Bible comes right out and teaches, and we know from experience, the more consistent a Christian life you live, the more likely you are to actually suffer for Christ.

Keller, T. J. (2013). The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive. New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church.

Paul says, “I’m not Caesar’s prisoner. I’m not Rome’s prisoner. I’m Christ’s prisoner. I’m here strictly because I’ve been obedient to Christ. I’m here for Christ’s sake.”

Snodgrass, K. (1996). Ephesians (pp. 158–159). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

thought Gentiles had the same access to God that Jews did. If he had been content to be a Jewish Christian with a mission to Jews or if he had been willing to keep Gentiles on a lower plane, he would not have been in jail. But the purpose of Paul’s call was to bring about the obedience of faith among the Gentiles (; ), and if faith was the key to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles were on the same plane.

Paul’s dealing with such discouragement isn’t:

worldly-wisdom, which would say, yeah this is how it is, so suck it up.

romantic, which would say something like, Well, it looks bad, but I’m sure just any time now, it’s going to turn out for the best.”

stoic, you need to be strong, stop complaining, push through the struggle

Paul’s dealing is:

You must look at this matter through what God is doing.

v. 2, the digression is Paul’s validity over his divine stewardship over the Ephesians

v. 3, the revelation being referred it is *perhaps?* Paul’s call to head to the Gentiles ()

v. 4-7, the revelation ultimately is tied to the salvation of Gentiles in King Jesus through the Gospel, a privilege given to Paul by God to ensure this good news would spread.

3:2–7. This section begins and ends referring to grace given Paul—grace intended to benefit Gentiles. Specifically, this grace came as a stewardship (v. 2) and in Paul’s letters this word never has to do with money. Here it refers to Paul’s ministerial commission (cf. ; ; ), which will be spoken of later (vv. 8–12).

The mystery (v. 3)—also called the mystery of Christ (v. 4)—was revealed to Paul on the Damascus road (; Gl 1:12). Mystery refers to some aspect of God’s plan that was previously hidden (cf. 1:10) and in this context is virtually equivalent to a particular truth found in the gospel (i.e., Gentile inclusion). Even though the gospel of Christ was not made known to earlier generations, it is nothing new; it was foreseen in the OT (; Gl 3:8). On the other hand, only in the gospel age is the unification of Jews and Gentiles as equals now revealed.

Paul had told the Ephesians about the mystery before in brief

Paul stressed that he did not take this honor to himself, but became a servant of this gospel by God’s grace and power (v. 7; cf. 1:19; 3:16). Thus 3:1–8 contains seven instances of the words gift, give, or grace (cf. vv. 2, 7, 8).

Peterman, G. W. (2014). Ephesians. In The moody bible commentary (p. 1850). Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers.

P2. The Eternal Purpose (v. 8-13)

v. 8-10, Paul, overwhelmed by the magnitude of mercy and grace coming from God in establishing the responsibility of the heralding of the Gospel to the Gentiles (the least of all saints; Paul understood who he was and what he had done in his persecution of the Church), elaborates on this point, that the Gentiles are indeed a part of the Church. This was Paul’s responsibility, to make sure this truth was known in order that the wisdom of God may be made known through the church to the authorities of *both earthly and heavenly realms?*

v. 11, This whole idea, though new for the Christians of the early church, namely the Jewish Christians and the presumably confused Gentile Christians, was not new to God, as this was the eternal purpose intended by the Godhead carried out in the incarnated God-man.

v. 12, In fact, it is through faith in the incarnated God-man that our access to God is of a bold and confident nature

v. 13, the reason for Paul’s digression is exposed here: “Because y’all are a part of the body of Christ, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ, for your (Gentiles) sake— …so in light of everything I just said (v.2-12), don’t be troubled for my distress because of you, for my struggles is to your glory. In fact! *Paul then carries on from where he left off in v. 1* For this reason…(v. 14)”

3:8–12. Paul probably called himself the very least (cf. ; ) because of his pre-Christian history as a persecutor (Gl 1:13). Nevertheless, God gave him grace, which involved a two-pronged task.

Nevertheless, God gave him grace, which involved a two-pronged task. The first was Paul’s preaching to Gentiles (v. 8). He did not preach an abstraction but a person—the Lord Jesus—a person with immeasurable wealth (). Second, Paul was called to bring to light how God had chosen to work His plan. Here, God’s plan is called the administration of the mystery (v. 9). It refers to the way God manages the Church, called a mystery because the complete unity of Jews and Gentiles was hidden in ages past but has now been revealed. Thus, the second aspect of Paul’s task probably involved communicating the reconciliation of Jews and Gentiles as described in 2:11–18.

The first was Paul’s preaching to Gentiles (v. 8). He did not preach an abstraction but a person—the Lord Jesus—a person with immeasurable wealth ().

Second, Paul was called to bring to light how God had chosen to work His plan. Here, God’s plan is called the administration of the mystery (v. 9). It refers to the way God manages the Church, called a mystery because the complete unity of Jews and Gentiles was hidden in ages past but has now been revealed. Thus, the second aspect of Paul’s task probably involved communicating the reconciliation of Jews and Gentiles as described in 2:11–18.

Furthermore, this task had a goal: making known God’s richly diverse wisdom. Certainly God’s manifold wisdom (v. 10) is at least seen in the catalog of spiritual blessings found in 1:3–14.

The surprising thing in v. 10 is not what is made known, but how and to whom.

First, God’s wisdom is made known through the very existence of a multi-ethnic Church.

Second, evil spiritual forces (rulers and the authorities, cf. 1:21) come to see that God is overturning their work of sowing hatred and division. As always, this eternal purpose is accomplished through Christ (v. 11).

3:13. For Paul, his commission meant suffering (; ). He suffered for others (my tribulations) to bring them the gospel (cf. ), which promises eternal glory (, ; ).

Peterman, G. W. (2014). Ephesians. In The moody bible commentary (pp. 1850–1851). Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers.

P3. Paul’s Prayer (v. 14-21)

v. 14-19, Because of God’s inclusion of the Gentiles in to the Church, he prays that God would strengthen them with power (v. 16) so that Christ may dwell in their hearts through faith (v.17) (what does this strengthening have to do with Christ being able to dwell in their hearts?), and that they may be able to understand the breadth (width), length, height, and depth (v.18) of Christ’s love for them and that they would know Christ’s love (v. 19), a love that surpasses any kind of knowledge of mankind. All this, so that they may be filled up to all the fullness of God (v. 19).

v. 15, 16, 17, 18, God is the source of every existing family, in heaven and earth (v. 15), God provides from the riches of His glory (v. 16), their capacity to understand and know the love of Christ hinges on the foundation of which they are rooted and grounded in: love (v. 17), and this knowledge is accessible to all saints (v. 18)

v. 20-21, this a conclusion to the doxology Paul began with in chapter 1, before he transitions into instruction mode. This section of the epistle is capped by praise to Him who deserves all praise from all generations for His provision and empowerment (what does it mean to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus?)

3:14–15. For this reason looks back to the reconciliation of Jews and Gentiles in Christ (2:11–22), he continues from where he left on in verse 1. Since in the ancient world a name revealed one’s character and nature, Paul’s prayer is directed to a Father who begets, intimately knows, names, and exercises sovereignty over all people groups.

3:16–19. The prayer contains two basic requests: strength (vv. 16–17) and knowledge (vv. 18–19). God has more than sufficient resources (riches) to grant these requests (cf. v. 20).

First, concerning strength: The “inner being” (NIV; cf. ; ) is parallel to heart in v. 17 and refers to the location of the self (intellect, emotions, will). Contrary to NASB, v. 17 is not a goal of v. 16 but an explanation of it. That is, spiritual power is the indwelling Christ. Certainly Jesus inhabits every Christian (). That indwelling is a blessing of conversion. The dwelling of 3:17, however, has to do with sanctification. It is Jesus taking up residence in us, making Himself “at home” in us. This happens through faith. As we trust Him, He makes us His home. (Authentic Faith, Art Azurdia)

Second, concerning knowledge: Verses 18 and 19 are parallel. Thus breadth … depth (v. 18) is a spatial and poetic way of referring to Christ’s immense love (v. 18; cf. ). Knowledge of His love is both intellectual and personal (cf. ), both individual and corporate. The goal of this knowledge is fullness—being all that God wants us to be (cf. 4:13).

3:20–21. The closing doxology encourages readers and praises God. First, with language reminiscent of 1:19 they are reminded that He has the power to grant such bold requests and more still. Second, glory is given to Him, who alone deserves it (cf. ; ).

21 The wording “to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus” is unusual. It does not imply that “the church” and “Christ Jesus” are placed on a level with each other.

Peterman, G. W. (2014). Ephesians. In The moody bible commentary (p. 1851). Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers.

God is to be glorified in the church because the church, comprising Jews and Gentiles, is his masterpiece of grace. It is through the church that his wisdom is made known to the spiritual forces of the heavenly realm. “The heavens declare the glory of God” but even greater glory is shown by his handiwork in the community of reconciliation.

This community, moreover, consists of human beings who are united in Christ, members of his body, in whom Christ dwells: the glory of God “in the church” cannot be divorced from his glory “in Christ Jesus.” The “glory of God in the face of Christ” has illuminated the hearts of his people () and is reflected in the glory which, in life as well as in word, they ascribe to God through Christ.

This ascription of glory will have no end: not only now but “in the ages to come the surpassing wealth of his grace” continues to be shown “in his kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (), and provides occasion for eternal praise.

The “Amen” which follows the doxology would be the congregation’s response as it was read in their hearing. It is through Christ, as Paul says in another letter, that his people “utter the Amen … to the glory of God” (). With this loud “Amen” the first half of the present letter is concluded.

Bruce, F. F. (1984). The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians (p. 331). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

Big Idea: Before Paul can continue to provide instruction to the Ephesians, he stops as soon as he mentions his imprisonment and suffering on their behalf. He then begins to comfort the Gentiles, telling them not to worry about his imprisonment because of them, reminding them that this situation was not because of his own agenda, but rather the agenda of Christ, ensuring that they know his being there is to fulfill the call from Christ to spread the Gospel to the Gentiles.

On this premise, this imprisonment pushes him harder to fulfill his calling to them, praying that God will help them to know and understand fully the love that God has for them, that they are indeed a part of the body of Christ.

Ephesians 3

​