Ephesians 1:23

Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. WHICH IS, [ heetis (G3748)] - inasmuch as she is. HIS BODY - His mystical body. Not merely figurative. He is really, though spiritually, the Church's Head. His life is her life. She shares His crucifixion and His consequent glory. He possesses everything, His fellowship with the Father, His fullness of the Spirit, and His glorified manhood, not merely for Himself, but for her, who has a membership of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones (Ephesians 5:30). FULNESS. The Church is dwelt in and filled by Christ. She is the receptacle, not of His inherent, but of His communicated plenitude of gifts and graces. As His is the "fulness" ...

23._The fullness of him that filleth all in all. _This is the highest honor of the Church, that, until He is united to us, the Son of God reckons himself in some measure imperfect. What consolation is it for us to learn, that, not until we are along with him, does he possess all his parts, or wish to be regarded as complete! Hence, in the First Epistle to the Corinthians, [1 Corinthians 12:12 ] when the apostle discusses largely the metaphor of a human body, he includes under the single name of Christ the whole Church. _That filleth all in all. _This is added to guard against the supposition that any real defect would exist in Christ, if he were separated from us. His wish to be filled, and, in some respects, made perfect in us, arises from no want or necessity; for all that is good in ourselves, or in any of the creatures, is the gift of his hand; and his goodness appear

15-23 God has laid up spiritual blessings for us in his Son the Lord Jesus; but requires us to draw them out and fetch them in by prayer. Even the best Christians need to be prayed for: and while we hear of the welfare of Christian friends, we should pray for them. Even true believers greatly want heavenly wisdom. Are not the best of us unwilling to come under God's yoke, though there is no other way to find rest for the soul? Do we not for a little pleasure often part with our peace? And if we dispute less, and prayed more with and for each other, we should daily see more and more what is the hope of our calling, and the riches of the Divine glory in this inheritance. It is desirable to feel the mighty power of Divine grace, beginning and carrying on the work of faith in our souls. But it is difficult to bring a soul to believe fully in Christ, and to venture its all, and the hope of e...

Verse Ephesians 1:23. _WHICH IS HIS BODY_] As he is _head over all_ things, he is _head_ to the _Church_; and this Church is considered as the _body_ of which he is _especially_ the head; and from him, as the head, the Church receives light, life, and intelligence. _AND IS THE FULNESS OF HIM_] That in which he especially manifests his power, goodness, and truth; for though he _fills_ all the world with his presence, yet he fills all the members of his mystical body with wisdom, goodness, truth, and holiness, in an especial manner. Some understand the _fulness_ or πληρωμα, here, as signifying the _thing to be filled_; so the Christian Church is to be filled by him, whose fulness fills all his members, with all spiritual gifts and graces. And this corresponds with what St. John says,...

WHICH IS HIS BODY - This comparison of the church with “a person” or body, of which the Lord Jesus is the head, is not uncommon in the New Testament; compare the notes at 1Co 11:3; 1 Corinthians 12:27, note; Ephesians 4:15, notes. THE FULNESS OF HIM - The word rendered here as “fulness” - πλήρωμα plērōma - means properly, that with which anything is filled; the filling up; the contents; notes, Romans 11:12. The exact idea here, however, is not very clear, and interpreters have been by no means united in their opinions of the meaning. It s

EXPOSITION EPHESIANS 1:1, EPHESIANS 1:2 ADDRESS AND SALUTATION. EPHESIANS 1:1 PAUL AN APOSTLE OF CHRIST JESUS. Paul's one but all-sufficient claim on the Ephesians is his relation to Christ: he is Christ's apostle, not only as sent forth by him, but also as belonging to him; elsewhere his servant or bondman. He makes no claim to their attention on the ground of his great experience in the gospel, his profound study of it, or even his gifts, but rests simply on his being Christ's apostle; thus recognizing Christ as the only Head of the Church, and source

WHICH IS HIS BODY,.... That is, which church is the body of Christ; as an human body is but one, consisting of various members, united to each other, and set in an exact proportion and symmetry, and in a proper subservience to one another, and which must be neither more nor fewer than they are; so the church of Christ is but one general assembly, which consists of many persons, of different gifts and usefulness, and are all united together under one head, Christ, whose name they bear, and are made to drink of the same Spirit; and these are placed in such order, as throw a glory and comeliness on each other, and to be useful to one another, so that it cannot be said of the meanest member, that there is no need of it; and the number of them can neither be increased nor diminished; and this is Christ's body, his mystical body, which becomes his by the Father's gift to him, and by his own pu...

Ephesians 1:1. _Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ._ He wishes them grace, first, and peace afterwards, which is the right and natural order. There is no lasting peace without grace. There is no peace worth having which does not spring from a work of grace in the soul. «Grace be to you, and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.» Ephesians 1:3. _Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,_ How dear the Father is when we view him in association with the Redeemer. Never do the saints seem to delight so much in God as when they behold him in the person of Jesus Chris

ANALYSIS AND ANNOTATIONS I. THE MASTERWORK OF GOD (1-3) 1. The Godhead at Work CHAPTER 1 _ 1. The introduction (Ephesians 1:1)_ 2. The great doxology (Ephesians 1:3) 3. The work of the Father (Ephesians 1:4) 4. The work of the Son (Ephesians 1:7) 5. The work of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13) 6. The parenthetical prayer to the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory (Ephesians 1:15)

A PARAGRAPH OF PRAYER. The writer, who has been informed (by letter?) of the Christian faith and love of his correspondents, reciprocates their thanksgiving and prayers (Ephesians 1:15 f.); he beseeches God, the glorious Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, to bestow on them the Spirit, giver of wisdom, revealer in the knowledge of God (Ephesians 1:17); that the eyes of their hearts may be opened, so that they may know the hope implied in God's calling, the wealth of glory involved in God's inheritance in His people, and the overwhelming greatness of His power towards believers, as displayed in the working of His strong might wrought in Christ (Ephesians 1:18): whom God raised from the dead and made assessor of His