        
• Key
Chapter 3
- Paul, a prisoner for the testimony of Jesus, declares
his knowledge of what had been a mystery from all ages,
that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs and of the
same body with the Jews, 1-6.
- Which doctrine he
was made a minister, that he might declare the
unsearchable riches of Christ, and make known to
principalities and powers this eternal purpose of
God, 7-12.
- He desires them not to be discouraged on
account of his tribulations, 13.
- His prayer that
they might be filled with all the fulness of God,
14-19.
- His doxology, 20,21.
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Verse 1. For this
cause
Because he maintained that the
Gentiles were admitted to all the privileges of the Jews, and
all the blessings of the new covenant, without being obliged
to submit to circumcision, the Jews persecuted him, and caused
him to be imprisoned, first at Caesarea, where he was
obliged to appeal to the Roman emperor, in consequence of
which he was sent prisoner to Rome. See Acts
21:21-28,
The prisoner of Jesus Christ for
you Gentiles
For preaching the Gospel to
the Gentiles, and showing that they were not bound by the law
of Moses, and yet were called to be fellow citizens with the
saints; for this very cause the Jews persecuted him unto
bonds, and conspired his death.
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Verse 2. If ye have heard of the
dispensation
The compound particle ειγε,
which is commonly translated if indeed, in several
places means since indeed, seeing that, and should be
translated so in this verse, and in several other places of
the New Testament. Seeing ye have heard of the dispensation
of God, which is given me to you-ward: this they
had amply learned from the apostle during his stay at Ephesus,
for he had not shunned to declare unto them the
whole counsel of God, Acts
20:27, and kept nothing back that was profitable to
them, Acts
20:20. And this was certainly among those things that were
most profitable, and most necessary to be known.
By the dispensation of the grace of God we may
understand, either the apostolic office and
gifts granted to St. Paul, for the purpose of preaching
the Gospel among the Gentiles, see Romans
1:5; or the knowledge which God gave him of that
gracious and Divine plan which he had formed for the
conversion of the Gentiles. For the meaning of the word
economy, See Clarke on Ephesians
1:10.
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Verse 3. By revelation he made known
unto me
Instead of εγνωρισε, he made
known, εγνωρισθη, was made known, is the reading of
ABCD*FG, several others, both the Syriac, Coptic,
Slavonic, Vulgate, and Itala, with Clemens,
Cyril, Chrysostom, Theodoret, Damascenus, and
others: it is doubtless the true reading.
The apostle wishes the Ephesians to understand that it was
not an opinion of his own, or a doctrine which he was taught
by others, or which he had gathered from the ancient prophets;
but one that came to him by immediate revelation from God, as
he had informed them before in a few words, referring
to what he had said Ephesians
1:9-12.
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Verse 4. Whereby, when ye
read
When ye refer back to them.
Ye may understand my
knowledge
Ye may see what God has given me
to know concerning what has been hitherto a mystery-the
calling of the Gentiles, and the breaking down the middle
wall between them and the Jews, so as to make both one
spiritual body, and on the same conditions.
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Verse 5. Which in other ages was not
made known
That the calling of the Gentiles
was made known by the prophets in different ages of the Jewish
Church is exceedingly clear; but it certainly was not made
known in that clear and precise manner in which it was
now revealed by the Spirit unto the ministers of the New
Testament: nor was it made known unto them at all, that the
Gentiles should find salvation without coming under the
yoke of the Mosaic law, and that the Jews
themselves should be freed from that yoke of
bondage; these were discoveries totally new,
and now revealed for the first time by the Spirit of God.
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Verse 6. That the Gentiles should be
fellow heirs
This is the substance
of that mystery which had been hidden from all ages, and which
was now made known to the New Testament apostles and prophets,
and more particularly to St. Paul.
His promise in
Christ
That the promise made to Abraham
extended to the Gentiles, the apostle has largely
proved in his Epistle to the Romans; and that it was to be
fulfilled to them by and through Christ, he
proves there also; and particularly in his Epistle to the
Galatians, see Galatians
3:14. And that these blessings were to be announced in the
preaching of the Gospel, and received on believing it, he
every where declares, but more especially in this
epistle.
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Verse 7. Whereof I was made a
minister
διακονος. A deacon, a
servant acting under and by the direction
of the great Master, Jesus Christ; from whom, by
an especial call and revelation, I received the apostolic
gifts and office, and by την ενεργειαντηςδυναμεωςαυτου, the
energy, the in-working of his power, this
Gospel which I preached was made effectual to the salvation of
vast multitudes of Jews and Gentiles.
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Verse 8. Less than the least of all
saints
ελαχιστοτερω παντωναγιων. As the
design of the apostle was to magnify the grace of
Christ in the salvation of the world, he uses every precaution
to prevent the eyes of the people from being turned to any
thing but Christ crucified; and although he was obliged to
speak of himself as the particular instrument which God
had chosen to bring the Gentile world to the knowledge of the
truth, yet he does it in such a manner as to show that the
excellency of the power was of God, and not of him; and that,
highly as he and his follow apostles were honoured; they had
the heavenly treasure in earthen vessels. To lay
himself as low as possible, consistently with his being
in the number of Divinely commissioned men, he calls himself
less than the least; and is obliged to make a
new word, by strangely forming a
comparative degree, not from the positive, which
would have been a regular grammatical procedure, but from the
superlative. The adjective ελαχυς signifies
little, ελασσων or ελαττων, less, and ελαχιστος,
least. On this latter, which is the superlative
of ελαχυς, little, St. Paul forms his
comparative, ελαχιστοτερος, less than the least,
a word of which it would be vain to attempt a better
translation than that given in our own version. It most
strongly marks the unparalleled humility of the
apostle; and the amazing condescension of God, in favouring
him, who had been before a persecutor and blasphemer, with the
knowledge of this glorious scheme of human redemption, and the
power to preach it so successfully among the Gentiles.
The unsearchable riches of
Christ
The word ανεξιχνιαστος, from α,
privative, and εξιχνιαζω, to trace out, from
ιχνος, a step, is exceedingly well chosen here: it
refers to the footsteps of God, the plans he had
formed, the dispensations which he had published, and
the innumerable providences which he had combined, to
prepare, mature, and bring to full effect and view his
gracious designs in the salvation of a ruined world, by the
incarnation, passion, death, and resurrection of his Son.
There were in these schemes and providences such
riches-such an abundance, such a variety, as could not
be comprehended even by the naturally vast, and, through the
Divine inspiration, unparalleledly capacious mind of the
apostle.
Yet he was to proclaim among the Gentiles these astonishing
wonders and mysteries of grace; and as he proceeds in this
great and glorious work, the Holy Spirit that dwelt in him
opens to his mind more and more of those riches-leads
him into those footsteps of the Almighty which could
not be investigated by man nor angel, so that his
preaching and epistles, taken all in their chronological
order, will prove that his views brighten, and his discoveries
become more numerous and more distinct in proportion as he
advances. And had he lived, preached, and written to the
present day, he had not exhausted the subject, nor
fully declared to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of
Christ-the endless depths of wisdom and knowledge
treasured up in him, and the infinity of saving acts and
saving power displayed by him.
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Verse 9. And to make all men
see
καιφωτισαιπαντας. And to
illuminate all; to give information both to Jews
and Gentiles; to afford them a sufficiency of light, so
that they might be able distinctly to discern the great
objects exhibited in this Gospel.
What is the fellowship of
the mystery
The word κοινωνια, which we
properly translate fellowship, was used among the
Greeks to signify their religious communities; here it
may intimate the association of Jews and Gentiles in
one Church or body, and their agreement
in that glorious mystery which was now so fully opened
relative to the salvation of both. But instead of κοινωνια,
fellowship, οικονομια, dispensation or
economy, is the reading of ABCDEFG, and more than fifty
others; both the Syriac, Coptic, AEthiopic,
Armenian, Slavonian, Vulgate and Itala, with the
chief of the Greek fathers. Some of the best printed
editions of the Greek text have the same reading, and that
in our common text has very little authority to support it.
Dispensation or economy is far more congenial to
the scope of the apostle's declaration in this place; he
wished to show them the economy of that mystery
of bringing Jews and Gentiles to salvation by faith in Christ
Jesus, which God from the beginning of the world had kept
hidden in his own infinite mind, and did not think proper to
reveal even when he projected the creation of the world, which
had respect to the economy of human redemption. And although
the world was made by Jesus Christ, the great Redeemer,
yet at that period this revelation of the power of God,
the design of saving men, whose fall infinite wisdom had
foreseen, was not then revealed. This reading Griesbach
has received into the text.
Who created all things by Jesus
Christ
Some very judicious critics are of
opinion that this does not refer to the material
creation; and that we should understand the whole as
referring to the formation of all God's dispensations of
grace, mercy, and truth, which have been
planned, managed, and executed by Christ, from
the foundation of the world to the present time. But the words
διαιησουχριστου, by Jesus Christ, are wanting in
ABCD*FG, and several others; also in the Syriac, Arabic
of Erpen, Coptic, AEthiopic, Vulgate, and
Itala; as also in several of the fathers.
Griesbach has thrown the words out of the text; and
Professor White says, "certissime delenda,"
they are indisputably spurious. The text, therefore,
should be read: which from the beginning of the
world had been hidden in God who created all things. No
inferiority of Christ can be argued from a clause of
whose spuriousness there is the strongest evidence.
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Verse 10. That now unto the
principalities and powers in heavenly
places
Who are these principalities
and powers? Some think evil angels are intended,
because they are thus denominated, Ephesians
6:12. Others think good angels are meant; for as
these heavenly beings are curious to investigate the wondrous
economy of the Gospel, though they are not its immediate
objects, see 1 Peter
1:12, it is quite consistent with the goodness of God to
give them that satisfaction which they require. And in this
discovery of the Gospel plan of salvation, which reconciles
things in heaven and things on earth-both men and
angels, these pure spirits are greatly interested, and their
praises to the Divine Being rendered much more abundant.
Others imagine the Jewish rulers and rabbins are
intended, particularly those of them who were converted to
Christianity, and who had now learned from the preaching of
the Gospel what, as Jews, they could never have known.
I have had several opportunities of showing that this sort of
phraseology is frequent among the Jews, and indeed not seldom
used in the New Testament. Dr. Macknight, whose mode of
arguing against this opinion is not well chosen, supposes that
"the different orders of angels in heaven are intended, whose
knowledge of God's dispensations must be as gradual as the
dispensations themselves; consequently their knowledge of the
manifold wisdom of God must have been greatly increased by the
constitution of the Christian Church." Of this there can be no
doubt, whether the terms in the text refer to them or not.
By the Church
That is, by the Christians and by the wonderful
things done in the Church; and by the apostles, who were its
pastors.
The manifold wisdom of
God
ηπολυποικιλοςσοφια. That
multifarious and greatly diversified wisdom of God;
laying great and infinite plans, and accomplishing them by
endless means, through the whole lapse of ages; making every
occurrence subservient to the purposes of his infinite mercy
and goodness. God's gracious design to save a lost world by
Jesus Christ, could not be defeated by any cunning skill or
malice of man or devils: whatever hinderances are thrown in
the way, his wisdom and power can remove; and his infinite
wisdom can never want ways or means to effect
its gracious designs.
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Verse 11. According to the eternal
purpose
καταπροθεσιντων αιωνων.
According to the purpose concerning the periods. This
seems to refer to the complete round of the Jewish
system, and to that of the Gospel. I have often
observed, that though the proper grammatical meaning of the
word is ever-during or endless duration,
yet it is often applied to those systems, periods,
governments, complete duration, taking in the
whole of them, from their commencement to their
termination, leaving nothing of their duration
unembraced. So, here, God purposed that the Jewish
dispensation should commence at such a time, and terminate at
such a time; that the Gospel dispensation should commence when
the Jewish ended, and terminate only with life itself; and
that the results of both should be endless. This
is probably what is meant by the above phrase.
Which he purposed in Christ
Jesus
ηνεποιησεν. Which he made or
constituted in or for Christ Jesus. The
manifestation of Christ, and the glory which should follow,
were the grand objects which God kept in view in all his
dispensations.
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Verse 12. In whom we have
boldness
By whom we, Gentiles,
have τηνπαρρησιαν, this liberty of speech; so
that we may say any thing by prayer and
supplication, and τηνπροσαγωγην, this
introduction, into the Divine presence by faith in
Christ. It is only in his name we can pray to
God, and it is only by him that we can come to
God; none can give us an introduction but Christ Jesus,
and it is only for his sake that God will either hear
or save us. It is on the ground of such scriptures as
these that we conclude all our prayers in the name, and for
the sake, of Jesus Christ our Lord.
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Verse 13. I desire that ye faint
not
In those primitive times, when there
was much persecution, people were in continual danger of
falling away from the faith who were not well grounded in it.
This the apostle deprecates, and advances a strong reason why
they should be firm: "I suffer my present imprisonment
on account of demonstrating your privileges, of which the Jews
are envious: I bear my afflictions patiently, knowing that
what I have advanced is of God, and thus I give ample proof of
the sincerity of my own conviction. The sufferings, therefore,
of your apostles are honourable to you and to your
cause; and far from being any cause why you should
faint, or draw back like cowards, in the
day of distress, they should be an additional argument to
induce you to persevere."
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Verse 14. For this cause I bow my
knees
That you may not faint, but
persevere, I frequently pray to God, who is our God and the
Father of our Lord Jesus. Some very ancient and excellent MSS.
and versions omit the words τουκυριουημωνιησουχριστου,
of our Lord Jesus Christ. And in them the
passage reads: I bow my knees unto the Father.
The apostle prays to God the Father, that they may not
faint; and he bows his knees in this praying. What can
any man think of himself, who, in his addresses to God, can
either sit on his seat or stand in the presence
of the Maker and Judge of all men? Would they
sit while addressing any person of ordinary
respectability? If they did so they would be reckoned very
rude indeed. Would they sit in the presence of
the king of their own land? They would not be permitted
so to do. Is God then to be treated with less respect than a
fellow mortal? Paul kneeled in praying, Acts
20:36;; 21:5.
Stephen kneeled when he was stoned, Acts
7:60. And Peter kneeled when he raised Tabitha, Acts
9:40.
Many parts of this prayer bear a strict resemblance to that
offered up by Solomon, 2 Chronicles
6:1, He kneeled down upon his knees before all the
congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands
towards heaven; 2 Chronicles
6:13. The apostle was now dedicating the Christian Church,
that then was and that ever should be, to God; and praying for
those blessings which should ever rest on and distinguish it;
and he kneels down after the example of Solomon, and invokes
him to whom the first temple was dedicated, and who had made
it a type of the Gospel Church.
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Verse 15. Of whom the whole
family
Believers in the Lord Jesus
Christ on earth, the spirits of just men made
perfect in a separate state, and all the holy
angels in heaven, make but one family, of
which God is the Father and Head. St. Paul does not say, of
whom the families, as if each order formed a
distinct household; but he says family,
because they are all one, and of one. And all
this family is named-derives its origin and
being, from God, as children derive their name from him
who is the father of the family: holy persons in heaven and
earth derive their being and their holiness from God, and
therefore his name is called upon them. Christ gives
the name of Christians to all the real members of his
Church upon earth; and to all the spirits of just men (saved
since his advent, and through his blood) in heaven. They are
all the sons and daughters of God Almighty.
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Verse 16. That he would grant
you
This prayer of the apostle is one of
the most grand and sublime in the whole oracles of God. The
riches of the grace of the Gospel, and the extent to which the
soul of man may be saved here below, are most emphatically
pointed out here. Every word seems to have come immediately
from heaven; labouring to convey ideas of infinite importance
to mankind. No paraphrase can do it justice, and few
commentators seem to have entered into its spirit; perhaps
deterred by its unparalleled sublimity. I shall only attempt a
few observations upon the terms, to show their force
and meaning; and leave all the rest to that Spirit by which
these most important words were dictated. In the mean time
referring the reader to the discourse lately published on this
prayer of the apostle, entitled, The Family of God
and its Privileges.
That he would grant you-You can expect nothing from
him but as a free gift through Christ Jesus; let this
be a ruling sentiment of your hearts when you pray to God.
According to the riches of his
glory
According to the measure of his own
eternal fulness; God's infinite mercy and goodness
being the measure according to which we are to be
saved. In giving alms it is a maxim that every one should act
according to his ability. It would be a disgrace to a
king or a noble-man to give no more than a
tradesman or a peasant. God acts up to the
dignity of his infinite perfections; he gives according
to the riches of his glory.
To be strengthened with
might
Ye have many enemies, cunning
and strong; many trials, too great for your natural
strength; many temptations, which no human
power is able successfully to resist; many
duties to perform, which cannot be accomplished
by the strength of man; therefore you need
Divine strength; ye must have might; and ye must be
strengthened every where, and every way
fortified by that might; mightily and most
effectually strengthened.
By his Spirit
By the sovereign energy of the Holy Ghost. This fountain
of spiritual energy can alone supply the
spiritual strength which is necessary for this
spiritual work and conflict. In the inner man
In the
soul. Every man is a compound being; he has a
body and a soul. The outward man is that
alone which is seen and considered by men; the
inward man is that which stands particularly in
reference to God and eternity. The outward man is strengthened
by earthly food, the inward man, by spiritual
and heavenly influences. Knowledge, love, peace, and
holiness, are the food of the inward man; or rather Jesus
Christ, that bread of life which came down from heaven: he
that eateth this bread shall live and be strengthened by it.
The soul must be as truly fed and nourished by Divine food as
the body by natural food.
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Verse 17. That Christ may dwell in
your hearts by faith
In this as well as in
many other passages, and particularly that in Ephesians
2:21, (where see the note,) the apostle compares the
body or Church of true believers to a
temple, which, like that of Solomon, is built up to be
a habitation of God through the Spirit. Here, as
Solomon did at the dedication of the temple at Jerusalem, 2 Chronicles
6:1, having considered the Church at Ephesus completely
formed, as to every external thing, prays that God may
come down and dwell in it. And as there could be
no indwelling of God but by Christ, and no indwelling
of Christ but by faith, he prays that they may have
such faith in Christ, as shall keep them in constant
possession of his love and presence. God, at the beginning,
formed man to be his temple, and while in a state of
purity he inhabited this temple; when the temple became
defiled, God left it. In the order of his eternal mercy,
Christ, the repairer of the breach, comes to purify the
temple, that it may again become a fit habitation for the
blessed God. This is what the apostle points out to the
believing Ephesians, in praying that Christ κατοικησαι, might
intensely and constantly dwell in their hearts by
faith: for the man's heart, which is not God's house, must
be a hold of every foul and unclean spirit; as Satan and his
angels will endeavour to fill what God does not.
That ye, being rooted and grounded
in love
Here is a double metaphor;
one taken from agriculture, the other, from
architecture. As trees, they are to be rooted
in love-this is the soil in which their souls are
to grow; into the infinite love of God their souls by
faith are to strike their roots, and from this love
derive all that nourishment which is essential for their full
growth, till they have the mind in them that was in Jesus, or,
as it is afterwards said, till they are filled with all
the fulness of God. As a building, their
foundation is to be laid in this love. God so loved
the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,
ground on which alone the soul, and all its hopes and
expectations, can be safely founded. This is a
foundation that cannot be shaken; and it is from this
alone that the doctrine of redemption flows to man, and from
this alone has the soul its form and comeliness. IN this, as
its proper soil, it grows. ON this, as its only
foundation, it rests.
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Verse 18. May be able to comprehend
with all saints
ινα εξισχυσητεκαταλαβεσθαι.
These words are so exceedingly nervous and full of meaning,
that it is almost impossible to translate them. The first
word, εξισχυσητε, from εξ, intensive, and ισχυω, to
be strong, signifies that they might be thoroughly
able, by having been strengthened with might, by
God's power. The second word καταλαβεσθαι, from κατα,
intensive, and λαμβανω, to take, catch, or
seize on, may be translated, that ye may fully
catch, take in, and comprehend this wonderful
mystery of God. The mind must be rendered apt, and the
soul invigorated, to take in and comprehend these
mysteries.
What is the breadth, and
length, and depth, and height
Here the
apostle still keeps up the metaphor, comparing the Church of
God to a building; and as, in order to rear a proper building,
formed on scientific principles, a ground plan and
specification must be previously made, according to
which the building is to be constructed, the apostle refers to
this; for this must be thoroughly understood, without which
the building could not be formed. They were to be builded up a
heavenly house, a habitation of God through
the Spirit; and this must have its latitude or
breadth, its longitude or length, its
altitude or height, and its profundity or
depth.
It is supposed by some that the apostle is here alluding to
the famous temple of Diana at Ephesus, which, as I have
already had occasion to remark, was reputed one of the
wonders of the world, being in length 425 feet, in
breadth 220; it was supported by 127 pillars, each 60 feet
high; was builded at the expense of all Asia; and was 220
years in being completed. I cannot, however, allow of this
allusion while the apostle had a nobler model at hand,
and one every way more worthy of being brought into the
comparison. The temple at Jerusalem was that alone which he
had in view; that alone could be fitly compared here; for that
was built to be a habitation of God; that was his house, and
that the place of his rest: so the Christian temple, and the
believing heart, are to be the constant, the endless residence
of God; and how august must that edifice be in which the
eternal Trinity dwells!
But what can the apostle mean by the breadth, length,
depth, and height, of the love of God?
Imagination can scarcely frame any satisfactory answer to this
question. It takes in the eternity of God. GOD is LOVE;
and in that, an infinity of breadth, length,
depth, and height, is included; or rather all
breadth, length, depth, and height, are
lost in this immensity. It comprehends all that is
above, all that is below, all that is
past, and all that is to come. In reference to
human beings, the love of God, in its BREADTH, is a girdle
that encompasses the globe; its LENGTH reaches from the
eternal purpose of the mission of Christ, to the
eternity of blessedness which is to be spent in his
ineffable glories; its DEPTH reaches to the lowest
fallen of the sons of Adam, and to the deepest
depravity of the human heart; and its HEIGHT to the infinite
dignities of the throne of Christ. He that
overcometh will I give to sit dawn with me upon my throne,
as I have overcome and sat down with the Father upon
his throne. Thus we see that the Father, the
Son, and all true believers in him, are to be seated on
the same throne! This is the height of the love
of God, and the height to which that love raises the
souls that believe in Christ Jesus!
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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, 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 acknowledge, approve, and
publicly acknowledge, that love of God which surpasseth
knowledge." We can acknowledge and approve of
that which surpasses our comprehension. We
cannot comprehend GOD; yet we can know that he is;
approve of, love, adore, and serve
him. In like manner, though we cannot comprehend, the
immensity of the love of Christ, yet we know
that he has loved us, and washed us from our sins in
his own blood; and we approve of, and
acknowledge, him as our only Lord and Saviour. In this
sense we may be said to know the love of Christ that
passeth knowledge.
But it is more likely that the word γνωσις, which we
translate knowledge, signifies here science in
general, and particularly that science of which the
rabbins boasted, and that in which the Greeks greatly
exulted. The former professed to have the key of
knowledge; the secret of all Divine mysteries;
the latter considered their philosophers, and their
systems of philosophy, superior to every thing that had
ever been known among men, and reputed on this account all
other nations as barbarians. When the apostle prays
that they may know the love of Christ which passeth
knowledge, he may refer to all the boasted knowledge of
the Jewish doctors, and to all the greatly extolled science of
the Greek philosophers. To know the love of Christ, infinitely
surpasseth all other science. This gives a clear and
satisfactory sense.
That ye might be filled with all
the fulness of God.
Among all the great
sayings in this prayer, this is the greatest. To be FILLED
with God is a great thing; to be filled with the
FULNESS of God is still greater; but to be
filled with ALL the fulness of God,
παντοπληρωματουθεου, utterly bewilders the sense and confounds
the understanding.
Most people, in quoting these words, endeavour to
correct or explain the apostle, by adding the
word communicable; but this is as idle as it is useless
and impertinent. The apostle means what he says,
and would be understood in his own meaning. By the
fulness of God, we are to understand all those gifts
and graces which he has promised to bestow on man, and which
he dispenses to the Church. To be filled with all the
fulness of God, is to have the whole soul filled with
meekness, gentleness, goodness, love, justice, holiness,
mercy, and truth. And as what God fills, neither sin
nor Satan can fill; consequently, it implies that the soul
shall be emptied of sin, that sin shall neither have dominion
over it, nor a being in it. It is impossible for
us to understand these words in a lower sense than
this. But how much more they imply, (for more they do
imply,) I cannot tell. As there is no end to the merits of
Christ, no bounds to the mercy and love of God, no
limits to the improvability of the human soul, so there can be
no bounds set to the saving influence which God will dispense
to the heart of every believer. We may ask, and we
shall receive, and our joy shall be full.
• AC Top
JFB
Verse 20. Now unto
him
Having finished his short, but most
wonderfully comprehensive and energetic prayer, the
apostle brings in his doxology, giving praise to Him
from whom all blessings come, and to whom all thanks are due.
That is able to do exceeding
abundantly
It is impossible to express the
full meaning of these words, God is omnipotent,
therefore he is able to do all things, and able to do υπερεκ
περισσου, superabundantly above the greatest abundance.
And who can doubt this, who has any rational or Scriptural
views of his power or his love?
All that we ask or
think
We can ask every good of which
we have heard, every good which God has promised in his word;
and we can think of, or imagine, goods and
blessings beyond all that we have either read of or
seen: yea, we can imagine good things to which
it is impossible for us to give a name; we can go
beyond the limits of all human descriptions; we can imagine
more than even God has specified in his word; and can feel no
bounds to our imagination of good, but
impossibility and eternity: and after all,
God is able to do more for us than we can ask or think;
and his ability here is so necessarily connected with
his willingness, that the one indisputably implies the
other; for, of what consequence would it be to tell the Church
of God that he had power to do so and so, if there were
not implied an assurance that he will do what his power
can, and what the soul of man needs to have done?
According to the power that
worketh in us
All that he can do, and all
that he has promised to do, will be done according to
what he has done, by that power of the holy Ghost
τηνενεργουμενην, which worketh strongly in us-acts with
energy in our hearts, expelling evil, purifying and
refining the affections and desires, and implanting good.
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JFB
Verse 21. Unto him
Thus possessed of power and goodness, be glory
in the Church-be unceasing praises ascribed in all the
assemblies of the people of God, wherever these glad
tidings are preached, and wherever this glorious doctrine
shall be credited.
By Christ Jesus
Through whom, and for whom, all these miracles of
mercy and power are wrought.
Throughout all ages
ειςπασαςταςγενεας. Through all succeeding
generations-while the race of human beings continues to
exist on the face of the earth.
World without end.
τουαιωνοςτωναιωνων. Throughout eternity-in
the coming world as well as in this. The song of
praise, begun upon earth, and protracted through all
the generations of men, shall be continued in heaven,
by all that are redeemed from the earth, where eras, limits,
and periods are no more for ever.
Amen.
So be it.
So let it be! and so it will be; for all the counsels of God
are faithfulness and truth; and not one jot or tittle of his
promise has failed, from the foundation of the world to the
present day; nor can fail, till mortality is swallowed up of
life.
Therefore, to the Father, Son, and holy Ghost, be glory,
dominion, power, and thanksgiving, now, henceforth, and for
ever.-Amen and Amen.
1. FOR the great importance of the matter contained
in this chapter, and the sublimity of the language and
conceptions, there is no portion of the New Testament
equal to this. The apostle was now shut up in prison, but the
word of the Lord was not bound; and the kingdom of God seems
to have been opened to him in a most astonishing manner. There
seems to have been exhibited to him a plan of the Divine
counsels and conduct relative to the salvation of man,
before and from the foundation of the world to the end of
time; and while, with the eye of his mind, he contemplates
this plan, he describes it in language at once the most
elevated that can be conceived, and every where dignified and
appropriate to the subject; so that he may with safety be
compared with the finest of the Grecian writers. In the notes
I have already observed how hard it is to give any literal
translation of the many compound epithets which
the apostle uses. Indeed his own nervous language seems to
bend and tremble under the weight of the Divine ideas which it
endeavours to express. This is most observable in the
prayer and doxology which are contained in Ephesians
3:14-21. A passage in Thucydides, lib. vii. cap. lxxxvii,
in fine, where he gives an account of the total
overthrow of the Athenian general, Nicias, and his whole army,
by the Sicilians, has been compared with this of the apostle;
it is truly a grand piece, and no reader can be displeased
with its introduction here: ξυνεβητεεργον
τουτοελληνικοντωνκαθατονπολεμοντονδεμεγιστονγενεσθαικαι
τοιςτεκρατησασιλαμπροτατονκαιτοιςδιαφθαρεισιδυστυχεστατον.
καταπανταγαρπαντωςνικηθεντεςκαιουδενολιγονεςουδεν
κακοπαθησαντεςπανωλεθριαδητολεγομενονκαιπεζοςκαινηες
καιουδενοτιουκαπωλετο. καιολιγοιαποπολλωνεποικου απενοστησαν.
"This was the greatest discomfiture which the Greeks sustained
during the whole war, and was as brilliant to the conquerors
as it was calamitous to the vanquished. In every
respect they were totally defeated; and they
suffered no small evil in every
particular: the destruction was universal, both of
army and navy; there was nothing that did not perish;
and scarcely any, out of vast multitudes, returned to their
own homes.
The learned may compare the two passages; and while due
credit is given to the splendid Greek historian, no critic
will deny the palm to the inspired writer.
2. With such portions of the word of God before us, how is
it that we can he said conscientiously to credit the doctrines
of Christianity, and live satisfied with such slender
attainments in the divine life? Can any man that pleads
for the necessary and degrading continuance of
indwelling sin, believe what the apostle has written?
Can we, who profess to believe it, be excusable, and live
under the influence of any temper or passion that does not
belong to the mind of Christ? Will it be said in answer, that
"this is only a prayer of the apostle, and contains his
wish from the overflowings of his heart for the
spiritual prosperity of the Ephesians?" Was the apostle
inspired or not when he penned this prayer? If
he were not inspired, the prayer makes no part of
Divine revelation; if he were inspired, every
petition is tantamount to a positive promise;
for what God inspires the heart to pray for, that God purposes
to bestow. Then it is his will that all these blessings
should be enjoyed by his true followers, that Christ should
inhabit their hearts, and that they should be filled with all
the fulness of God; yea, and that God should do for them more
abundantly than they can ask or think. This necessarily
implies that they should be saved from all sin, inward
and outward, in this life; that the thoughts of
their hearts should be cleansed by the inspiration of God's
Holy Spirit, that they might perfectly love him, and worthily
magnify his holy name.
As sin is the cause of the ruin of mankind, the
Gospel system, which is its cure, is called good
news, or glad tidings; and it is good news
because it proclaims him who saves his people from
their sins. It would be dishonourable to the grace of
Christ to suppose that sin had made wounds which that
could not heal.
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Copyright Statement
The Adam Clarke Commentary is a derivative of an
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Bibliography
Information
Clarke, Adam. "Commentary
on Ephesians 3". "The Adam Clarke Commentary".
<http://www.studylight.org/com/acc/view.cgi?book=eph&chapter=003>.
1832.
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