Ephesians 3:17

Ephesians 3:17. That Christ may dwell, etc. This may be regarded as parallel with Ephesians 3:16: ‘to be strengthened,' etc., since the form is the same (in the infinitive); or, as an added clause of result: ‘so that Christ may dwell,' etc. Some have even taken it as expressing the design of the prayer. The second is preferable, because of the emphasis which (in the Greek) rests on the verb. The word ‘dwell ‘points to a permanent indwelling of one who takes entire possession. The view that this verse expresses the result of the strengthening is favored by this idea of permanent and entire possession. This indwelling takes place through the in working of the Holy Spirit.

In your hearts; the seat and centre of the moral life, corresponding to ‘inner man' (Ephesians 3:16), but viewed rather on the side of the affections. Here is Christ's home; comp. John 14:21-23.

Through faith; lit, ‘the faith,' equivalent to ‘your faith.' This phrase, which in the original precedes ‘in your hearts,' gives the subjective means of this indwelling of Christ; ‘faith' opens the door to Him, appropriates Him, submits to Him so that we become His. ‘ The most beautiful object might be in the apartment of a blind man, and he not be sensible of its presence; or if by any means made aware of its nearness, he could have no delight in its beauty. Christ dwells in us by faith, because it is by faith we perceive His presence, His excellence and His glory, and because it is by faith we appropriate and reciprocate the manifestations of His love' (Hodge).

That ye. In the original there is an irregularity in the order of words, which has led some to translate thus: ‘in your hearts, having been rooted and grounded in love, that ye may be,' etc. This takes the clause as a consequence of the indwelling of Christ, in the form of an independent proposition. But the view accepted in the E. V. is, on the whole, preferable (see note in Lange, Ephesians, p. 125).

Being rooted and grounded in love. The figures are taken respectively from a tree and a building; but the former word was frequently used to indicate ‘firmness at the base or foundation' (Ellicott), without any further suggestion as to vital growth. The participles refer to a permanent state, the result of something in the past; and this fact furnishes a strong argument against joining them with what precedes.

In love. This phrase, placed first for emphasis in the original, points to the Christian grace of love, since the love of God or of Christ would have been more closely defined. To refer it to loving, including both God's love to us and ours to Him, confounds two things, either of which could be represented as soil and foundation, but scarcely both. To limit it to love of the brethren is unwarranted by anything in the context ‘Love is the fundamental grace' (Eadie).