Ephesians 3:19

And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. PASSETH - surpasseth. The paradox, "to know ... which passeth knowledge," implies that by "know" he does not mean that we can adequately know: all we know is, that His love exceeds far our knowledge of it; and, with even our fresh accessions of knowledge hereafter, will still exceed them, even as God's power exceeds our thoughts (). "Know" experimentally what intellectually is beyond our powers of knowing (1 Corinthians 8:2). FILLED WITH - Greek, 'filled even unto all the fullness of God' (the grand goal); i:e., filled, each according to his capacity, with the divine holiness, wisdom, knowledge, and love; even as God is full, a...

19._And to know the love of Christ. _By those dimensions Paul means nothing else than the love of Christ, of which he speaks afterwards. The meaning is, that he who _knows _it fully and perfectly is in every respect a wise man. As if he had said, “In whatever direction men may look, they will find nothing in the doctrine of salvation that does not bear some relation to this subject.” The love of Christ contains within itself the whole of wisdom, so that the words may run thus: _that ye may be able to comprehend the love of Christ, which is the length and breadth, and depth, and height, _that is, the complete perfection of all wisdom. The metaphor is borrowed from mathematicians, taking the parts as expressive of the whole. Almost all men are infected with the disease of desiring to obtain useless knowledge. It is of great importance that we should be told what is necessary for us to know...

13-19 The apostle seems to be more anxious lest the believers should be discouraged and faint upon his tribulations, than for what he himself had to bear. He asks for spiritual blessings, which are the best blessings. Strength from the Spirit of God in the inner man; strength in the soul; the strength of faith, to serve God, and to do our duty. If the law of Christ is written in our hearts, and the love of Christ is shed abroad there, then Christ dwells there. Where his Spirit dwells, there he dwells. We should desire that good affections may be fixed in us. And how desirable to have a fixed sense of the love of God in Christ to our souls! How powerfully the apostle speaks of the love of Christ! The breadth shows its extent to all nations and ranks; the length, that it continues from everlasting to everlasting; the depth, its saving those who are sunk into the depths of sin and misery;...

Verse 19. _TO KNOW THE LOVE OF CHRIST, WHICH PASSETH KNOWLEDGE_] It is only by the _love of Christ_ that we can know the _love of God_: the love of God to man induced him to give Christ for his redemption; Christ's love to man induced him to give his life's blood for his salvation. The gift of Christ _to_ man is the _measure_ of God's love; the _death_ of Christ _for_ man is the _measure_ of Christ's love. _God so loved the world_, c. _Christ loved us_, and _gave himself for us_. But how can the love of Christ, _which passeth knowledge_, be _known_? Many have laboured to _reconcile_ this seeming _contradiction_. If we take the verb γνωναι in a sense in which it is frequently used in the New Testament, to _approve, acknowledge_, or _acknowledge with approbation_, and γνωσις to signify _comprehension_, then the difficulty will be partly removed: "That ye may ackn

AND TO KNOW THE LOVE OF CHRIST - The love of Christ toward us; the immensity of redeeming love. It is not merely the love which he showed for the Gentiles in calling them into his kingdom, which is here referred to; it is the love which is shown for the lost world in giving himself to die. This love is often referred to in the New Testament, and is declared to surpass all other which has ever been evinced; see the Romans 5:7, notes; John 15:13, note. To know this; to feel this; to have a lively sense of it, is one of the highest privileges of the Christian. Nothing will so much excite gratitude in our hearts; nothing will prompt us so much to a life of self-denial; nothing will make us so benevolent and so dead to the world; see the notes on...

EXPOSITION EPHESIANS 3:1 DIGRESSION ON THE ADMISSION OF THE GENTILES TO THE KINGDOM OF GOD. EPHESIANS 3:1 FOR THIS CAUSE. The reference is not merely to the last statement or illustration, but to the whole view of the purpose of God toward the Gentiles unfolded in Ephesians it. The apodosis does not come in till verse 14, at the beginning of which this conjunctive clause is repeated. I PAUL, THE PRISONER OF CHRIST JESUS FOR YOU GENTILES. He introduces himself in order to make known the feelings which w

AND TO KNOW THE LOVE OF CHRIST, WHICH PASSETH KNOWLEDGE,.... The love of Christ to his own, to his church and people, is special and peculiar; free and Sovereign; as early as his Father's love, and is durable and unchangeable; the greatest love that ever was heard of; it is matchless and unparalleled; it is exceeding strong and affectionate, and is wonderful and surprising: the instances of it are, his engaging as a surety for them; his espousing both their persons and their cause; his assumption of their nature; his dying in their room and stead; his payment of their debts, atoning for their sins, and bringing in for them an everlasting righteousness; his going to prepare a place for them in heaven; his intercession for them there; his constant supply of all their wants, and the freedom and familiarity he uses them with. The saints have some knowledge of this love, some tastes of it; th...

EPHESIANS 3:19 plhrwqh/te eivj pa/n to. plh,rwma tou/ qeou/ {A} Instead of plhrwqh/te eivj pa/n to. plh,rwma tou/ qeou/, which is amply attested by good representatives of both the Alexandrian and the Western types of text (a A C D G it vg syrp, h, pal copbo goth), several witnesses (î46 B 462 copsa) omit &te eivj, reading plhrwqh|/ pa/n to. plh,rwma tou/ qeou/ (“[that] all the fullness of God may be filled up”). Several other readings are found in individual manuscripts (81 reads plhroforhqh/te, 1881 substitutes Cristou/ for qeou/, and 33, other...

3. THE MYSTERY MADE KNOWN Chapter S 2:11-3:21 _ 1. The condition of the Gentiles (Ephesians 2:11)_ 2. But now in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:13) 3. The new and great relationship (Ephesians 2:19) 4. The Mystery made known and Paul's ministry (Ephesians 3:1) 5. The prayer (Ephesians 3:14) 6. The doxology (Ephesians 3:20) With the eleventh verse of the second chapter we reach a new divisio

THE WRITER'S PRAYER FOR HIS READERS. Kneeling, in a very ecstasy of prayer, before the Father who is the source and prototype of all fatherly relationship whether on earth or in heaven, the writer prays that, in a degree commensurate with the wealth of the Divine glory, his readers may be granted power and strength through the Spirit unto inner spiritual growth; that the indwelling of Christ in their hearts may through faith be realised; that Christian love may come to be the very root and foundation of their being; and that so they may be given strength to share with all God's holy people the comprehension of the length and breadth and height and depth (of God's glorious purpose) and the knowledge of that love of Christ which is beyond all knowledge, and be made spiritually full unto the measure of the fulness of God Himself (Ephesians 3:14). God can do that and more: His power the po