Ephesians 3:1-21

Christian Belief and Behaviour

Ephesians

Les Painter (Bible text by Cynthia Green)

Chapter 3

3:1-13 ~ God has made his secret known

3:1-6 ~ God made his secret known to Paul

v1 For this reason, I, Paul the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you *Gentiles –

v2 you must have heard about the responsibilities that God has given me for you *Gentiles. I am a *steward of his *grace towards you. v3 As I have already written briefly, he made his special secret clear to me. v4 And as you read this, you will understand how he did this. And you will understand why he did this. v5 Men who lived in earlier days did not understand the secret of Christ. But now the Spirit has shown it to God’s *holy *apostles and *prophets. v6 This secret is that God wants *Gentiles and *Israelites to unite together in the same group. He wants *Gentiles to have a share in all his promises. He gives these promises by Christ Jesus. He wants the *Gentiles to share these with his people, *Israel.

Verse 1 ‘For this reason, I, Paul the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you *Gentiles –’. Paul does not finish this sentence in verse 1 but see verse 14. In verse 14, he repeats ‘For this reason’. The *Roman ruler, Nero, had put Paul in prison. They had put chains on him. Paul wrote this letter from prison. But now he has new understanding. He knows King Jesus as his *Lord. Now he thinks about himself as a prisoner of Jesus Christ. He does not think about himself as a prisoner of Nero, the *Roman ruler. He thinks about his whole life in a different way. Both good and bad events happen in his life. But Jesus controls his life. He is sure about that.

So Paul is in prison. He gives his *Gentile readers a reason for this. He is there because of them. Moreover, it is for their benefit. Now he is able to tell them the good news. This is the *gospel about Jesus Christ. Paul has been teaching about the *Gentiles. He has taught that they too are God’s chosen people (chapter 2). Both share in the promises. God gave these to Abraham. Paul has been teaching that the *Gentiles and the *Jews are members of the same group. By the *gospel, they have the same promise in the *Messiah Jesus. The *Jewish leaders believed that God had chosen *Israel alone to be his people. So the *Jewish leaders objected to what Paul taught. It was dangerous to their religion. Yes, the *Roman ruler had put Paul in prison. But what really put Paul there was what he taught.

Verse 2 God has given his *grace to Paul. By his *grace, God sent Paul to the *Gentiles. By his *grace, God gave Paul the honour to be their *apostle. Paul knows that he is responsible to use this special *blessing. He must use it in a responsible way. He must be a good *steward. God gave Paul special understanding about his plans for the *Gentiles. God also gave Paul the *grace to tell them about God’s plans. What God made known to him, Paul must make known to other people.

Verse 3 In this chapter, Paul uses the word ‘secret’ 4 times (verses 3, 5, 6 and 9). In many religions, only those who belong can understand. They hide it from other people. For the Christian, these ‘secrets’ are truths. They are truths that God makes known to us. However, these truths are not just for a few chosen people. They are for everybody. A ‘secret’ or *mystery is something that once God hid. Now he wants us to know about it.

Verses 4-6 The ‘secret’ is the good news that Christ has joined *Jews and *Gentiles together. He wants them to become one people. Jesus offers them life and *salvation. Both groups share that promise.

3:7-13 ~ God chose Paul to *preach this secret

v7 God gave me his *grace. And he made me his servant to tell people his good news. His power worked in me to do this. v8 I am less important than any of God’s people. But God gave me the *grace to teach the *Gentiles about his rich gifts. He gives us these gifts in Christ. His riches are very great. We shall never know how great they are. v9 God wants me to show everyone how to understand this secret. God, who created everything, hid his plan from his people. He hid it through all the past years. v10 He would show his immense wisdom to the rulers and authorities in the heavens. He would do this by the *church. v11 This was the plan that God had in the beginning. It is the plan that he will complete in Christ Jesus, our *Lord. v12 If we believe and trust in Christ, we can approach God. Christ gives us courage and confidence so that we can come close to him. v13 So you must not lose courage because I am suffering for you. My suffering causes *glory for you.

Verse 7 God gave Paul the power to tell people the good news. Paul knew that he was not strong enough. He knew that he could not do the work without God’s help.

Verse 8 Paul says that he is ‘less important than any of God’s people’. In Latin (the language of the *Romans), Paulus (his name) means little or small. Paul thinks about himself like this because he feels so weak. He can do nothing without God’s help. He also remembers that he was once an enemy of God. He used to put Christians in prison. God has been so kind to him. God has *forgiven him. So now he thanks God.

God has given Paul a gift. It is the power to ‘teach the *Gentiles about his (God’s) rich gifts’. God’s riches are difficult to discover. No one can measure them. They are like wealth at the bottom of the sea. It is so deep that you cannot bring it to the shore. This wealth is the greatness of God. It is the riches of his wisdom, knowledge, beauty and power.

This wealth is not money and possessions. We can receive *spiritual riches now in our life upon the earth. The death of Jesus has made this possible. But there is even more wealth. We will share the life of Christ in heaven. This wealth is greater than anything that we can think of. Moreover, it is for ever.

Verse 9 Paul wants to ‘show everyone how to understand this secret’. The *Greek word ‘to show’ is something like the English word ‘photo’. It means to bring light to something. The message is for both *Jews and *Gentiles.

Verse 10 God wants to make known his ‘immense wisdom’. He has many different kinds of wisdom, which he wants men and women to learn. There are *spiritual authorities and rulers who are surrounding us. They are the good *angels and bad *angels that we cannot see. God wants them to know about it too. He makes this wisdom known ‘by the *church’. There is no other way that everybody can know it.

God has given Paul the special task to be the *apostle to the *Gentiles. God has made known the secret of his plan to Paul himself. He has also made it known to the other *apostles and *prophets (verse 5). We have seen the complete plan of God. First, he shows his plan to Paul. Then he sends Paul (and other people) to *preach the *gospel in the entire world. This is by the spoken message. It is the task of the growing *church. There are *angels in the air round us. We cannot see them. They watch the *church as it grows. So they see the immense wisdom of God too.

Verse 11 ‘This was the plan that God had in the beginning.’ It is all ‘in Christ Jesus our *Lord’. God is working out his plan in history. The whole world is included.

Verse 12 Paul has been speaking about the great plan of God in history. But in this verse, Paul explains what this means to Christians now. Christians have received the gift of *salvation from God. We have received it by *faith. We can now come straight to God. We can come without fear. We can come at any time. It is like a little child who runs to his father. That is how it is with us. Praise God!

Verse 13 Paul is suffering and he is in prison. Paul knows that there is a reason for this. It will benefit his Christian friends. He warns them not to be sad or afraid. The situation is becoming more and more to the *glory of God. Paul is certain about this. There is no better way for God to achieve his purpose.

3:14-21 ~ Paul’s second prayer

v14 For this reason, I kneel and I pray to the Father of our *Lord Jesus Christ. v15 Each member of his whole family in heaven and on earth has his name. v16 I pray that he will make you strong with power from the riches of his *glory. He will do this in you (in your inner person) by his *Holy Spirit. v17 When you have *faith in Christ, he will live in you. Then your lives will be like plants with roots in the ground of his love. v18 And I pray that you and all the *saints will know more of the love of Christ. You will be able to understand that his love is immense. It is so very wide and long and high and deep. v19 His love is much too great to know completely. But I pray that the Father of our *Lord Jesus Christ will fill you until you are full. I pray that he will fill you with the whole nature of God.

v20 Let us give *glory to God. He can do so much more than we can ever ask or think. His power is very great and it is working in us. v21 Let the whole *church in Christ Jesus give him *glory. Let all the *church, now and for all the years to come, give him *glory. *Amen!

Verse 14 ‘For this reason, I kneel and I pray to the Father of our *Lord Jesus Christ.’ It was the custom of *Jews to stand when they prayed (see Matthew 6:5; Luke 18:11; Luke 18:13). However, sometimes they would kneel. This would show a great desire to pray. Ezra prayed like this (Ezra 9:5). Jesus prayed like this. He fell to the ground in the garden. This was just before he died on the *cross (Matthew 26:39). Stephen prayed like this just before he died (Acts 7:60).

Verse 15 ‘Each member of his whole family in heaven and on earth has his name.’ Our Father in heaven is completely wise. He is completely loving. He is completely powerful. He provides everything that we need. He looks after us. He corrects us when we go wrong. A human father does all that he can for his children. Our Father in heaven is much greater. His ways with us are perfect and complete.

Verse 16 Our strength comes ‘from the riches of his *glory’. We can describe God’s *glory in many ways. It is his greatness. We see it in the powerful way that he made everything. He made it all out of nothing. His *glory is great and powerful. We see his *glory in Exodus chapter 19. Moses climbed Sinai Mountain to meet with God. There was thunder, lightning and a thick cloud over the mountain. Thunder is the loud noise that we hear during a storm. The noise was very great. It caused everyone in the camp to tremble with fear. Paul prays that God will make us strong by the ‘riches of his *glory’.

‘He will do this in you by his *Holy Spirit.’ God will give us *spiritual strength with power from his *Holy Spirit. It will be in our ‘inner person’. The inner person is the place where we experience our feelings. We can be happy. We can be sad. We can be angry. We can hate people. The inner person is the place where we think about things. It is where we make decisions. It is the centre of a person. It is where the *Holy Spirit lives. The *Holy Spirit works from this centre of our person. He works from there to change us. He changes us from one experience of *glory to another (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Verse 17 When we have *faith in Christ, he lives in our ‘inner person’. There he gives us his love. ‘Your lives will be like plants with roots in the ground of his love’. It is as if we have deep roots. It is like the roots of a strong tree. They go down deep into the soil. Christ’s love is like the soil that the roots grow into. His love gives strong life to the roots. He holds us firmly. In Christ, we are safe and we can grow. It is also like the firm rock under a building. With hard rock underneath it, the building cannot fall down.

Verse 18 The love of God is wide. It is for everyone in the world. Paul is talking especially about *Jews and *Gentiles. So it is for them. It is long enough for all time and every age. It is high enough to bring *praise to God in heaven. It is deep enough to reach down to the worst *sinner. The root is love in the inner person. It is not love in the head and the mind. It does not mean knowledge in the mind. Also, a person does not receive this love only for himself. He receives it together with ‘all the *saints’. We share this wonderful love with each other.

Verse 19 This love of Christ is ‘much too great to know completely’. Our minds are not large enough to understand it all. It is beyond our best prayers, desires, thoughts or hopes. This love is more than to know something in our heads. We need to express Christ’s love in all the daily experiences in life. His love is with us in our joys, difficulties and suffering too.

Here we have the most important part of Paul’s prayer. He prays that the Father ‘will fill you until you are full’ - ‘with the whole nature of God’. But God is completely powerful and he lives for ever. It is not possible to contain him inside any human person. In verse 19, Paul is asking that we receive all that we can of God. It is so that God can enter into us.

Also, we must go on and on receiving him. Christ now sits at the right side of God. Only at the end, in heaven, shall we be like him. We shall then be perfect and complete in his love.

Verse 20 Paul now starts a *hymn of *praise to God. God knows what we ask. And he knows it even before we ask. He knows our thoughts. He knows what we imagine. He knows what we dream. He has the power to go beyond any of these. His thoughts and his ways are greater than ours. He is able to do much more than we can ever ask or imagine. The power comes from Christ. He lives in our inner person by *faith. Paul writes about the same power that raised Jesus from death. The same power put Jesus at the right side of God. And it puts us there with him.

Verse 21 Everything that there is will give God *glory. It will be for ever and ever through all the ages. This is his great master plan of *salvation. He gave it to us by Jesus Christ. Christ’s love and power are in the Christian and in the *church. The *church will work out God’s purposes in the world. They will have the strength of God’s *Holy Spirit to do this.

Part 2: The behaviour of the *believer in the world (Chapter s 4-6)

Gentiles ~ people who are not Jews; people who do not know God; people from all nations.

Jew, Jewish ~ a person who is from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; a person who believes the faith of the Jews, called Judaism.
faith ~ the belief in someone or something; to agree with and to do the things that God teaches; to obey his commands even when they seem difficult; belief and trust in God and in Jesus his Son; belief that the Bible is true; ‘the faith’ means the things that Christians believe about Jesus.
steward ~ someone who looks after the property of another person.
grace ~ a gift, from God or from people, that we do not deserve and cannot earn; what God or people give because they are generous; the help and protection that comes from God.'holy, holiness ~ description of God, set apart, perfect, wonderful; completely good, with nothing bad in it; belonging to God; separate from sin, pure, clean.

sin, sinner, sinful ~ when people do things against God; when we do not do the commands of God; the evil nature that is in us that we were born with.
apostle ~ a man that God has chosen to lead his church; one of the 12 men that Jesus chose to be his helpers and to teach about him.
church ~ a group of people who follow and believe in Jesus Christ; a group of Christians who meet together. It can also mean all the Christians in the world.
Israelites ~ the people from Israel; people that speak Hebrew; the people who are Jews and live in Israel.
Israel ~ the name that God gave to Jacob; the name of the people from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the group of people that God chose; the nation of the Jews and those who speak Hebrew.
Hebrew ~ the language of Jewish people.

Jew, Jewish ~ a person who is from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; a person who believes the faith of the Jews, called Judaism.

Jew, Jewish ~ a person who is from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; a person who believes the faith of the Jews, called Judaism.
faith ~ the belief in someone or something; to agree with and to do the things that God teaches; to obey his commands even when they seem difficult; belief and trust in God and in Jesus his Son; belief that the Bible is true; ‘the faith’ means the things that Christians believe about Jesus.
Israel ~ the name that God gave to Jacob; the name of the people from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the group of people that God chose; the nation of the Jews and those who speak Hebrew.

Jew, Jewish ~ a person who is from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; a person who believes the faith of the Jews, called Judaism.
Hebrew ~ the language of Jewish people.
faith ~ the belief in someone or something; to agree with and to do the things that God teaches; to obey his commands even when they seem difficult; belief and trust in God and in Jesus his Son; belief that the Bible is true; ‘the faith’ means the things that Christians believe about Jesus.

Jew, Jewish ~ a person who is from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; a person who believes the faith of the Jews, called Judaism.

'Rome, Roman ~ Rome was the most famous city in the world at the time of Jesus. Their soldiers fought and defeated many countries. They made the people obey the rules of Rome. They made them pay taxes to Rome. The people could not rule themselves, but they had to obey the laws of Rome.
lord ~ someone with authority.
Lord ~ the name for God or Jesus; it means that he is head over all.
gospel ~ the good news that God has helped people who love Jesus; he has helped them by the life, death and raising from death of Jesus Christ; the good news about the things that Jesus has done for us; the message from God to us; one of the four books at the beginning of the New Testament.

New Testament ~ the last part of the Bible, which the writers wrote after the life of Jesus.

'Jew, Jewish ~ a person who is from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; a person who believes the faith of the Jews, called Judaism.
faith ~ the belief in someone or something; to agree with and to do the things that God teaches; to obey his commands even when they seem difficult; belief and trust in God and in Jesus his Son; belief that the Bible is true; ‘the faith’ means the things that Christians believe about Jesus.
Messiah ~ the special servant of God, the name that God chose for Jesus Christ. The person whom God sent to save his people from their sins. God promised the Jews that Messiah would come. Jesus is that Messiah but most Jews still do not believe it.
save ~ to rescue someone from the results of their sins

sin, sinner, sinful ~ when people do things against God; when we do not do the commands of God; the evil nature that is in us that we were born with.

Jew, Jewish ~ a person who is from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; a person who believes the faith of the Jews, called Judaism.
faith ~ the belief in someone or something; to agree with and to do the things that God teaches; to obey his commands even when they seem difficult; belief and trust in God and in Jesus his Son; belief that the Bible is true; ‘the faith’ means the things that Christians believe about Jesus.

'Jew, Jewish ~ a person who is from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; a person who believes the faith of the Jews, called Judaism.
faith ~ the belief in someone or something; to agree with and to do the things that God teaches; to obey his commands even when they seem difficult; belief and trust in God and in Jesus his Son; belief that the Bible is true; ‘the faith’ means the things that Christians believe about Jesus.

Jew, Jewish ~ a person who is from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; a person who believes the faith of the Jews, called Judaism.

'blessing, blessed ~ the good things that God does for us; a blessing can be a prayer that God will bless someone.
bless ~ to cause good things to happen to someone.
mystery ~ something hidden that we cannot explain; something that is secret and unknown.
salvation ~ rescue from the punishment and power of sin.

sin, sinner, sinful ~ when people do things against God; when we do not do the commands of God; the evil nature that is in us that we were born with.
preach ~ to tell and explain the good news about Jesus Christ to a group of people.
church ~ a group of people who follow and believe in Jesus Christ; a group of Christians who meet together. It can also mean all the Christians in the world.'glory, glorious ~ the power and great importance of God; great beauty and like a great king; a bright light that comes from God or Jesus.
forgive ~ when someone stops being angry with another person who has done bad things.
spiritual ~ life that relates to the spirit.
spirit ~ evil spirit(s) from the devil; part of a person when they are alive, which we cannot see; it decides what to do – good or bad; God’s Holy Spirit, whom Jesus promised to send to all who know him as the Son of God.
devil ~ another name for Satan, the chief evil spirit.

holy, holiness ~ description of God, set apart, perfect, wonderful; completely good, with nothing bad in it; belonging to God; separate from sin, pure, clean.
Satan ~ a name for the chief bad spirit; the top devil; he is also called the devil.

sin, sinner, sinful ~ when people do things against God; when we do not do the commands of God; the evil nature that is in us that we were born with.
Greek ~ the language of Greece. Paul wrote his letter in the Greek language.
angel ~ a servant from God who brings messages from heaven; angels are pure spirits, greater than men and women; they give love to God; they do what he wants; they look after those who have come into God’s family; a bad angel serves Satan.
spirit ~ evil spirit(s) from the devil; part of a person when they are alive, which we cannot see; it decides what to do – good or bad; God’s Holy Spirit, whom Jesus promised to send to all who know him as the Son of God.
Satan ~ a name for the chief bad spirit; the top devil; he is also called the devil.
devil ~ another name for Satan, the chief evil spirit.

holy, holiness ~ description of God, set apart, perfect, wonderful; completely good, with nothing bad in it; belonging to God; separate from sin, pure, clean.

sin, sinner, sinful ~ when people do things against God; when we do not do the commands of God; the evil nature that is in us that we were born with.
faith ~ the belief in someone or something; to agree with and to do the things that God teaches; to obey his commands even when they seem difficult; belief and trust in God and in Jesus his Son; belief that the Bible is true; ‘the faith’ means the things that Christians believe about Jesus.'holy, holiness ~ description of God, set apart, perfect, wonderful; completely good, with nothing bad in it; belonging to God; separate from sin, pure, clean.

sin, sinner, sinful ~ when people do things against God; when we do not do the commands of God; the evil nature that is in us that we were born with.
saint ~ a holy person; someone who knows Jesus Christ as Lord.
lord ~ someone with authority.
Lord ~ the name for God or Jesus; it means that he is head over all.
Amen ~ a word that shows that one agrees (usually after a prayer).
cross ~ two pieces of wood that someone has fixed together. The Romans punished people by fixing them to a cross to die. Jesus died on this; the cross is now the sign of the church of Christ; not to put yourself first but to put Jesus and other people first in your life.

Rome, Roman ~ Rome was the most famous city in the world at the time of Jesus. Their soldiers fought and defeated many countries. They made the people obey the rules of Rome. They made them pay taxes to Rome. The people could not rule themselves, but they had to obey the laws of Rome.
church ~ a group of people who follow and believe in Jesus Christ; a group of Christians who meet together. It can also mean all the Christians in the world.
praise ~ words that say how good a person is; words that give love to God, as when we are praying and singing to him.'sin, sinner, sinful ~ when people do things against God; when we do not do the commands of God; the evil nature that is in us that we were born with.
hymn ~ a song to praise God, like those in the Psalms in the Bible.
believer ~ a person who knows Christ.