How To Make Victory A Christian Reality
This
letter will endeavor to bring forth an accurate and helpful study of one of the
prayer portions of the Ephesian letter written by the apostle Paul. The objective of this study will be to help bring
forth a correct interpretation of the scripture to the every day Christian while
also applying it in a helpful way to the life of the saints. The portion of the Ephesian letter I will specifically
focus on in this writing will cover the range of verses found from 3:14-22. This letter will be a forthright attempt clarify
the passage to the layman who desires to know God’s Word deeply. The intent underlying the writing of this letter
will be to shoot two arrows from one bow.
The one arrow will aim for the heart of the reader, but the other to the
head of the reader also.
Ephesians
3:14-22, “For this cause I bow my knees
unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 Of 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 by his
Spirit in the inner man; 17 That Christ may dwell in your
hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 May
be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and
depth, and height; 19 And to know the love of Christ, which
passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. 20 Now
unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or
think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21 Unto him
be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end.
Amen.”[1]
In the fourth
chapter of the Ephesian letter by Paul, the apostle to the gentiles, waste
little time before striking at the issue of application of Christianity in the believers
life. However, chapter three precedes
chapter four, and before we can properly act in behavior and deed appropriate
to the Christian life, we must be enabled
to act in behavior and deed appropriate to the Christian life. How does Paul believe that this powerful life can become a reality in the life of the Ephesian believers? By praying for the them. By praying that they would possess
all the qualities of an enabling life in their Christian experience. The prayer is given to us as such: a presentation of
purpose clauses. This establishes a pattern of clauses that will build on one another and take the believer through steps
that will result in the fullness of God in their life.
In the following
progression we will see God’s instruction for starting the Christians “jet
engines” as some would say. Paul has
started Ephesians by telling us about what the jet plane offers and he will
finish the book telling us how to fly the jet plane. It is here though, that Paul bridges the
information and the flying lessons with instruction of how to start the
powerful engines that will give the follower of Christ liftoff! Others would say the book begins by describing
the wealth available to a Christians, ends by telling us how to spend it, and
theses verse tell us how to get our hands on it.[2] No matter how we view these verses, we must
understand that it is essential that we appropriate what we have available to
us as Christians, before we can live a life victorious in all the way that God
has planned for us.
We
begin then with the prayer itself (3:14).
Paul gives a reason he prays; it is due to the before described riches
of Christianity he desired to be accessed by his readers. We can link these words “for this cause” back with the words found back in Ep 3:1.[3] Prayer was a reverent thing to Paul, as well as a relevant thing. To his knees
Paul dropped, as the etiquette was in that day to show his humble reverence to
authority.[4] Prayer was the key to enlightening them (Ep
1:18), now it may hold the key to enabling them (Ep 3:14). Once Paul’s knees became grounded in the
dirt, his words became grounded in heaven. These words became more than just a prayer,
now they are scripture from which we can all benefit. Paul addresses the Father of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and the saints that are in the family both alive and in Heaven (Ep
3:14-15). What will follow is the first
purpose clause and the first step in the enabling process. We will divide the prayer into three parts,
Gods contribution in us (3:16-17a), God’s charity in us (3:17b-19a) and God’s
character in us (3:19b). We will also
introduce the prayer (4:14-15) and conclude it (3:20-21). We will loosely following the word ἵνα[5] which appears three times in the text[6], and
will serve as a natural breaking point at times in the prayer.
God’s Contribution In
Us
Our
first heading is God’s contribution in us. The first clause is found in the word ἵνα and it
translates as that and carries a
simple meaning of “in order that”. So
when Paul says he is praying for them, it is “in order that” the effects verse
16 would spring to reality in their life.
The granting of strength to the inner man of the Ephesian believers is
the request of Paul. The granting of
this strengthening is of a necessity, for it must come out of God’s riches. The word for grant is generally used in association with giving something. God must give this strength. We use the word grant today for bestowing a
request on someone. The preposition κατά is used for the word according, and it
simply means extended down. God must
extend downward to us His strength from the vault of Heaven, where His eternal
inexhaustible riches proceed from His glory!
It would do us well to see our need for His riches. We are reminded when we have strength of
ourselves we are absent of His strength which is far greater (2 Cor 12:9). The type of strength (or might) we are
receiving is literally a dynamite strength.
The word δύναμις is the explosive power of God that allows us to
perform spiritual deeds, and live a life that is becoming to God. Without this might descending from the glories
of Heaven to the portals of the carnal heart we would be stuck in our own
strength making us very inept and poor indeed. The delivery of this dynamic
strength is “by His Spirit.” As
believers, the Holy Spirit does not perch Himself far away and become
impersonal to us in the place of Heaven, but rather He is close to us and
in the portal of the heart!
It is the renewed inner man that fellowships with the Spirit of God
directly. Every believer has a quickened
inner man in which the Holy Spirit dwells (Rom 8:9), and it is there from which
Heaven delivers downward God’s strengthening power through His Spirit to our
inner man. What a marvelous thing we can see forming in a
believers life when God answers our prayer for their strengthening! It may well be true as we search for
application to our life, that the greatest thing we can do for a fellow
believer is pray for their spiritual strength. For a personal application, if we are to pray
that God would strengthen us, we must remember that we be yielded and submitted
to God’s word, not grieving the Holy Spirit (4:30). God does not give His victory power to
rebels.
Most English
translations give us another clause in verse 17 using the word that as the opening word, but our
divisions will follow ἵνα as
previously mentioned, so we will keep this verse under the first heading with
verse 16. It is true that what happens
in verse 17 is a result of verse 16, or a byproduct of it. We are told numerous times in the Bible that
we are in Christ. Now we are told Christ
is in us![7] When we are strengthened in the inner man,
Christ can dwell in our hearts by faith.
We must look at the dwell, and what it means, for we are aware that
Christ has a resident in every believers heart.
The word dwell, is an aorist active infinitive of κατοικέω,[8] and is
made of two words, oikeō which means a dwelling
place and κατά which generally serves to mean down. The word is an
infinitive clause and therefore is responsible for the “that” in our English
translations without the presence of ἵνα. This infinitive clause should be seen in
connection (epexegetically) with the word strengthen in verse 16.[9] So we see a correlation with being “strengthened”
to live empowered as a Christian, and Christ “dwelling” in us. We know that Christ is resident in every
believer (Rom 8:9), so the presence of Christ is not the issue. When we take κατοικέω, and merge the
meanings of the two words it is comprised of together, we get end up with an
intensified meaning of dwell, one where Christ is president, not merely
resident. It would be a yielded heart
where He is comfortable and at home there.[10] He dwells in our hearts by faith. Christ made His home there by faith, and the
just live from faith to faith. By faith
we trust Him and make Him feel at home.[11] A heart that is yielded to Christ and makes
Him comfortable is a heart that is strengthened in the inner man by God’s
Spirit. When a man is walking in the
Spirit, he is in the deepest intimate fellowship with Christ possible.
God’s Charity In Us
We will
now continue into our second division, God’s
charity in us. To help us understand
Paul takes us to the country and to
the city. We have an example of agriculture and architect. Verse 17 says this, “that you (ἵνα) being rooted and grounded in
love” and provides us with valuable material to dissect. Technically ἵνα appears at the begging of verse 18 in the Greek manuscripts,
but in an interlinear Bible, it will be placed here with the word “that” bringing out the purpose clause. We are to be rooted in love. Again a preposition will help us greatly in painting
a full picture what Paul is saying. The
preposition ἐν, which proceeds the word for love, is rich with meaning. If we were to take a pictorial approach, we
would draw a circle, ἐν would be placed the middle of that circle, and we
would call that circle love. Our growing
in life (rooted) and building in life (grounded) must be in God’s gracious
love. We are rooted and grounded in love
at this stage of the prayer! When Christ
is at home in our hearts, our growing roots are digging deeper into the depths
of His love. As is the root, so is the
fruit! We are grounded in His love also. Our lives not only are growing in His love; our
lives are also building in His love. A
firm foundation makes for a terrific tower.
When all of our growing and building is accomplished in the love of
Jesus Christ, we are then becoming His useable ambassadors indeed. What we experience, we can then show forth. When Christ is comfortable in our hearts, the
Spirit sheds the love of God abroad in our hearts (Rom 5:5). A plant cannot grow in improper soil, and a
building will not stand without a right foundation.[12] Therefore, the necessity of an empowered life
saturated with the presence of Christ’s gifted love is very clear.
We are
invited now by Paul in verse 18 to try to measure the love of Christ. We will segregate a verse from the others for
a moment to study it. Ephesians 3:18
reads, “may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is
the breadth, and length, and depth, and height”.[13] First there is something Paul wants us to comprehend. Some see the word καταλαμβάνω as to be translated as grasp. Paul
wants us to grasp the reality of the love of God. The KJV uses comprehend (the NASB also follow
suit with comprehend) and therefore comprehend appears to be very accurate and
carry the best meaning. Grasp however,
seems to be an excellent way to define comprehend, and to help us realize Paul
wants us to get our minds around the vastness and depth of God’s love. We are to understand this love (though it be
beyond knowing with the mere mind). Now,
that we are rooted and built in this love, we have access to it so that we can measure
it. We can measure it because we are
rooted in it. If that be so, it is
because Christ is at home in our hearts, and since He is at home in our hearts,
we are of necessity strengthened in the inner man by the Spirts of God. We must
start with the realization that it is only with supernatural enablement that
God’s people can truly comprehend God’s love.[14] Let us now take Paul’s measurements and see
if we can frame the love of God. First
we look at two measurements, breadth and length. Of these first two measurements, length can
create a line, and when you add breadth you create have a surface. When we add depth, the third measurement, we
now have a three dimensional object. To
add a fourth measurement, height, that will bring you beyond the realm of
possibility.[15] In reality βάθος, the word translated depth, can mean either
depth or height; for one gives the other.
If you measure the ocean from the bottom up you have height, if you
measure it from the top down you have depth.
They are one and the same, yet Paul I think gives us the fourth
measurement to imply that there is a realm we cannot get into with the mind alone,
and that is the spiritual realm of God’s love.
It must be experienced through the production and reality of the Holy
Spirit alone. John the revelator only
measured the new Jerusalem in three dimensional measurements (Rev 21:16). So to comprehend the vastness of God’s love
we must understand it cannot be realized within ourselves unless it comes from
the experience of being rooted and grounded in the love of Christ. His love is immeasurable, though we are to
take these measurements to try and “know the love of Christ” (v19), yet while
at the same time, the same verse concludes that this love passes knowledge.
I think we can find a clue in the text to help prove this point and see
further what Paul is saying. The verse reads as such, “and to know the love
of Christ which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the
fullness of God.” The first time know
is used it is the word γινώσκω.
Here the word refers to having understanding or grasping the
subject. This would be something a
Christian empowered with the love of God could do somewhat, even if words
failed to articulate the fullest depth of meaning. The word knowledge in the latter end of the
verse is γνῶσις. While similar, they do
carry different ideas. The second word (γνῶσις) has with it an idea of a
cognitive knowledge, where in comparison to the first word (γινώσκω), according to Joseph Thayer, carries
an idea of “come to know, perceived, and feel”.
We could sum much of this up in saying this: when a person truly grasps
the love of Christ, and his life is an outlet for God’s love, then he has
grasped much of what it is to be a Christian. Christ is living through him, and
that person is empowered by the Holy Spirit.
We understand a person can never fully arrive in this life, but a person
can live in victory in this life.
God’s Character In Us
We now
find our way to our third category, God’s
character in us. The use of the
word ἵνα is found in the word “that” which precedes “you may
be” in verse 19. The text now
continues to tell us once we grasp this magnificent love, and are living in it
as we ought in our life, we then are filled with the fullness of God. What can this mean? Positionally we are complete in Christ. Practically, in this life, we can only fully
enjoy the grace that we apprehend.[16] The
Greek preposition εἰς, found in v19, is translated unto in the KJV. Much light is shed on the necessity of God’s
empowering us, as the way to obtain the fullness
of God, by this word εἰς. We might interject this, and it should go
without saying, that the fullness of God in every believer is perfectly accomplished in
the consummation. However, Paul appears
to wish this fullness to be true in his readers now before the consummation, in
this life. What then could the fullness
be if not the perfect state? The preposition εἰς, is often put in a visual format by drawing
an arrow coming into a circle from outside of the circle. It would then be understood as something
entering in from the outside of an object (or person in this case), that is not
already inherently in the object (or person).
As we have preciously determined, when a person is able to grasp what is
the love of Christ, through the Spirits help, then we have grasped what is
perhaps the greatest attribute of God.
We then can reflect that needful quality. (We do not
to take away from holiness and other spiritual qualities by stating this point). What Paul is referring to then as the
fullness of God, is to be so compelled and full of Divine love that we are
empty of all else and move only at the impulse of this great virtue. This then, is a display of God’s greatest
attribute to the world. The love of God
is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Rom 5:5). The world will know we are His disciples by
how we love one another (Jn 13:35).
Furthermore, we are told we can know we have passed from death into (εἰς) life because we love the
brethren (1 Jn 3:14). In 1 John 3:14 we
see the word εἰς used to
show we are brought into the realm of the living, and it is equally true to say
that the realm of eternal life was brought into us as well! Likewise, we must see that the process that
brings us to the this loving full condition must be brought into us, or started
in us, by the Holy Spirit who indwells every believer. There is a sense in which this is already in
us, in that, the Spirit who produces this love already resides in the saint. Yet we must see clearly the profound
difference between having access to
this love, and possessing the attributes
of this love. God’s will for us, and Paul’s
prayer for the Ephesians was that they would access this great love, live in
it, and be full of it.
Paul
does not seem to think that his prayer is too much to ask[17]. Verse 20 reads, “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we
ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.[18]” Paul knew that God was able. This is a lesson we always consent to but
sometimes we live as if it isn’t true.
The word for able is δύναμαι,
which is a verb that shows God’s
actions as eminently able, able, to have full strength. When God moves in action, we can be certain
it is able action! The action is
exceedingly abundantly above our ream of asking and thinking. It appears immeasurable, just like His
love. To be exceedingly above alone, is
to fill the cup up above what it can bear.
To add “above” and say exceedingly above, it like trying to catch the
ocean in a thimble. God is able to do
above not only what we say, but also above what we think. One commentator rightly said this about the
passage,
“After
having exhausted all the powers of language, we may proceed to stretch our
imaginations beyond the limits of distinct and accurate conception: and,
provided the things be proper for him to give, and for us to receive, he can,
and will, bestow them. He will do for us not only what we ask, but what we
“think;” he will do it “all” and “above” all, and “abundantly” above all, yea,
“exceeding” abundantly above all that we can ask or think.[19]”
The power of God in verse 20 works in
us. Let us take heart not to forget that
privilege. It is not too much to attempt
great things for God. It is not too much
to expect great things from God. It
would be too little to not pray that the lambs of God’s pasture grow into the
measure of the fullness of Christ. We
serve the same God as Paul and the same promises ring true today.
Paul breaks into a glorious
praise. This is because he has reflected
upon glorious truth. Verse 21 ends our
study saying this, “Unto
him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without
end. Amen.[20]”
When we reflect on God’s word, if our face will not shine like Moses’s
once did, our spirit and soul at least surely will. From the depths of appreciation we praise
Him. He is to receive glory. We are to honor Him fully for who He is, and
for what He has done. His person and His
attributes are all together lovely. We
are to honor Him in the Church. It is
surely the job of the bride to honor and love the groom. What we do in His power today gives Him honor
throughout all ages.[21] What He does for us does the same.
In
conclusion, let us apprehend that which we have available to us. Let us enter the spiritual dimension, the one
where the indescribable, and immeasurable love of God reigns supreme in the
hearts of His children. Let us be
strengthened in the inner man so we may have this. Let us pray for others to be strengthened by
His might. Let us pray that we will be,
and then yield fully to His word so that we may be. May God’s Spirit now use God’s word to
strengthen and change lives.
[1] The Holy Bible: King James Version.
(2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Eph 3:14–21).
Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
[2]
Wiersbe, Warren W. The Bible Exposition Commentary. Wheaton, IL: Victor
Books, 1996. Volume 2 pg 30
[3]
Ephesians A Handbook ON The Greek Text
[4]
Exploring Ephesians and Philippians John Phillips pg90
[5]
Ephesians A Handbook ON The Greek Text pg59
[6]
Witherington, Ben, III. The Letters to Philemon, the Colossians, and the
Ephesians : A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on the Captivity Epistles. Grand
Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2007. Pg273
[7]
Ephesians A Handbook of the Greek Text pg62
[8]
Ephesians A Handbook of the Greek Text pg62
[9]
Ephesians A handbook of the Greek Text pg62
[10]
Wiersbe, Warren W. The Bible Exposition Commentary. Wheaton, IL: Victor
Books, 1996. Volume 2 pg32
[11]
Exploring Ephesians and Philippians John Phillips pg93-94
[12]
Exploring Ephesians and Philippians John Phillips pg94
[13] The Holy Bible: King James Version.
(2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Eph 3:20).
Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
[14]
The Epistle to the Ephesians F.F. Bruce pg68
[15]
Exploring Ephesians and Philippians John Phillips pg95
[16]
Wiersbe, Warren W. The Bible Exposition Commentary. Wheaton, IL: Victor
Books, 1996. Volume 2 pg 33
[17]
The Epistle to the Ephesians F.F. Bruce pg70
[18] The Holy Bible: King James Version.
(2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Eph 3:20).
Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
[19]
Simeon, C. (1833). Horae Homileticae:
Galatians-Ephesians (Vol. 17, pp. 329–330). London: Holdsworth and Ball.
[20] The Holy Bible: King James Version.
(2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Eph 3:21).
Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
[21]
Wiersbe, Warren W. The Bible Exposition Commentary. Wheaton, IL: Victor
Books, 1996. Volume 2 pg34
