A Prisoner in Christ's Service Paul begins a prayer in 3:1, but immediately digresses. He does not return to his prayer until verse 14. Because Jew and Gentile were built together on the one foundation, Paul was ready to give thanks to the Father. He identifies himself as "the prisoner of Jesus Chr... [ Continue Reading ]
God Made Known the Mystery Christ revealed both the plan of salvation and his plan for Paul to tell others about it (Galatians 1:11-17; Acts 26:15-18). Paul says he wrote a few words before about the mystery. He may be referring to his earlier mention of the mystery in this book (1:9), or another l... [ Continue Reading ]
Paul's Mission Paul considered his mission to the Gentiles a special favor bestowed upon him by God. This came about by the working of God's power both in saving Paul and in giving him the needed strength to carry out his work (3:7). The apostle felt unworthy of his great mission especially because... [ Continue Reading ]
God's Wisdom As Seen in the Mystery God's wisdom is many sided and can only be understood as he reveals it. This is true for angels as well as men. At the time of Paul's writing, God's great plan for the redemption of man had been made known to men and angels in the church (3:10). God's eternal int... [ Continue Reading ]
Thoughts On the Apostle's Bondage Paul was willing to suffer the hardships of Roman imprisonment if the gospel could be furthered by his chains. (1 Peter 1:12-14.) He did not want the Ephesian brethren to give up because of his suffering in bonds. This was especially true since more Gentiles were b... [ Continue Reading ]
An Introduction to Paul's Prayer In 3:14, Paul resumes the approach to God's throne which he had begun in Ephesians 3:1. The things that caused him to bow in prayer are primarily found in chapter 2. Some of those are: the grace of God toward lost men, reconciliation between Jew and Gentile, making... [ Continue Reading ]
Paul's Request The outward man is the body everyone can see which gradually grows old. The inward man is the soul that will live eternally (2 Corinthians 4:16). All of us are made new through the washing of the new birth, or baptism, which the Holy Spirit caused to be written about in the Bible (Ti... [ Continue Reading ]
The Desired Results Further, Paul wanted them to completely understand, in all its measures, something, or some things. It may be the love spoken of in the previous verse, or the mystery spoken of earlier, or the church he is showing to be supreme in this letter. Perhaps it is all we have cited plu... [ Continue Reading ]
Praise for God Some may have thought Paul asked for too much in his prayer. His requests were directed to the omnipotent one. God can greatly exceed what man thinks of or would request. He accomplishes his working through the gospel and the Christ of the gospel (3:20; Romans 1:16; 1 Peter 4:13). Th... [ Continue Reading ]