FOR THIS REASON I, PAUL, THE
PRISONER OF CHRIST JESUS: Toutou charin ego Paulos o desmios tou
Christou [Iesou]: (2Co 10:1; Galatians 5:2) (Ep 4:1;
6:20; Luke 21:12; Acts 21:33; 26:29; 28:17, 18, 19, 20; 2Co 11:23;
Philippians 1:7; Philippians 1:13, 14, 15, 16; Colossians 1:24; 4:3,18;
2Ti 1:8,16; 2:9; Philemon 1:1,9; Revelation 2:10)
Why is Paul
spending so much time explaining to the Gentiles their "before/after"
picture and emphasizing their place of equality with the Jews in one
body, the body of Christ? It is because he wants to be sure that the
Gentile believers don't take their new found salvation for granted
(which has to a large extent occurred in the church in America, some of
whom don't even know that Jesus was a Jew, much less that the early
church was virtually all Jewish) so that they have a proper appreciation
and sense of gratitude for their salvation. Paul knows that when the
Gentiles grasp these truths, this truth has the potential to radically
impact their conduct, so that they are motivated to walk worth of their
new calling in Christ and not according to their former corrupt way as
pagans. For many Gentile believers, there is a tendency to "skim over"
the doctrinal truths in the first three chapters (except our favorite
verses like Eph 2:8, 9) so that we can get into the "practical" section
of Ephesians 4-6. The problem is that the character of our walk in the
last 3 chapters is intimately related to a proper understanding of the
doctrinal truth in the first 3 chapters. We love to talk about being
filled with the Spirit, but don't spend much time appreciating the
mystery of Christ which makes it possible to even be filled with the
Spirit!
For this reason
- refers back to the building together of the saints - "seeing that
you (Jew and Gentile) are being built together". Because you
Gentiles are fellow citizens with God’s people, and especially because
you Ephesians are included in the temple of God, a dwelling of God.
John Eadie
has an picturesque introduction to this chapter...
HAVING illustrated with such cordial
satisfaction and impressive imagery the high privileges of the Gentile
converts, the apostle, as his manner is, resolves to present a prayer
for them. But other thoughts rush into his mind, suggested by his own
personal condition. 1 He was a prisoner ; and as he was now writing to
Gentiles, at least was at that moment addressing the Gentile portion of
the Ephesian church, an allusion to his bonds was natural, and seems to
have been introduced at once as a proof of the honesty of his
congratulations, and as a circumstance that must have prepared his
readers to enter into the spirit of the earnest and comprehensive
supplication to be offered on their behalf. But the impressive theme on
which he had been dilating with such ecstasy still vibrated in his
heart, and the mention of his imprisonment, originating in his
attachment to the Gentiles, suggested a reference to his special
functions as the apostle of heathendom. These ideas came upon him with
such force, and brought with them such associations, that he could not
easily pass from them. The clank of his chain at length awakens him to
present reality, and he concludes the parenthesis with a request that
his readers would not mope and despond over his sufferings, endured for
a cause in which they had so tender and blessed interest. The 1st and
13th verses are thus in close connection, and the apostle, as if
describing a circle, comes round at length to the point from which he
originally started. The connection is " For this cause, I Paul, the
prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles " " bow my knees unto the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." (Commentary)
Ray Stedman
explains "for this reason" writing that...
Sometimes it is difficult for those
who do not read Greek to see how Paul builds his letters. This is
particularly true of this passage, because Paul begins "For this reason
..." -- but he doesn't give the reason toward which he is moving until
Verse 13! This is the way the apostle's mind worked. He starts out to
say one thing but then is captured by the truth of something else he is
going to say. So he begins to bring it in ahead of time. Then he is
carried along from one truth to another until finally he gets back to
what he started to say in the beginning. If you read it this way: "For
this reason..." then skip down to Verse 13: "... I ask you not to lose
heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory," you will
understand what he is trying to say in the intervening sentences. (Ephesians 3:1-6:
Great Mystery)
William Barclay
writes that...
To understand the connection of
thought in this passage it has to be noted that verses 2–13 are one
long parenthesis. The for this cause of verse 14 takes up again and
resumes the for this cause of verse 1. Someone has spoken of Paul’s
habit of “going off at a word.” A single word or idea can send his
thoughts off at a tangent. When he speaks of himself as “the prisoner
of Christ,” it makes him think of the universal love of God and of his
part in bringing that love to the Gentiles. (Barclay,
W: The Daily Study Bible Series, Rev. ed. Philadelphia: The Westminster
Press)
Wayne Barber
comments on "for this reason" writing that...
in 3:1. Paul says, "For this
reason I, Paul." I want to stop right there. If you move down to verse
14, he uses the exact terminology: "For this reason, I bow my knees
before the Father." Paul starts off to pray in chapter 3, but
immediately he backs away. Before he prays, he wants them to understand
something. Verses 2-13 could be put in parenthesis. He
starts his prayer, suddenly stops, and then starts up again in verse 14.
Why does he do that? Well, he wants to tell them of a mystery that has
been revealed to his heart. The bottom line is that he is going to pray
that what has been revealed to him will be revealed to them. That is
what gives us our title, "God’s Divine Mystery." Let me give you a
little outline of verses 1-13 that might help you.
Ephesians 3:1-3: Mystery
revealed to him
Ephesians 3:4-6: Explanation of mystery revealed
Ephesians 3:7-9: Defense of preaching of revelation of the mystery
Ephesians 3:10-13: Proclamation of results of preaching the mystery
Ephesians 3:14-21: Prelude to prayer
You see again that he is going to
pray that God would reveal to them what God had already revealed to him.
(Ephesians 3:1-3 God's Divine Mystery - 1)
In regard to
Ephesians 3:2-13 being a parenthesis note that verse 1 begins with his
status as prisoner ("the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you
Gentiles") and that this same thought is picked up again in verse 13
("my tribulations on your behalf"). This suggests that Paul is
continuing the same thought that broke off from verse 1 to verse 2 as he
began to elaborate on the mystery in verses 2-12. A number of
commentators feel that Paul was on the verge of praying in verse 1 but
was inspired to first explain the mystery after which he then returned
to his desire to pray. Note that he had just taught about their being
built into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. Then he prays that
they be strengthened so that Christ might dwell (verb form of the
noun "dwelling") in their heart.
The following
alliterative outline of Ephesians 3 is modified from John Phillips (Exploring
Ephesians)
1. Paul as a Prisoner for the
Truth (Eph 3:1)
2. Paul as a Pioneer of the Truth (Eph 3:2-4)
a. The Truth
Entrusted to Him (Eph 3:2)
b. The Truth Enlightening to Him (Eph 3:3-4)
i. Communicated To Him (Eph 3:3a)
ii. Communicated By Him (Eph 3:3b-4)
3. Paul as a Partner in the Truth (Eph 3:5-6)
a. How the Truth Was Concealed (Eph 3:5a)
b. How the Truth Was Revealed (Eph 3:5b-6)
4. Paul as a Propagator of the Truth (Eph 3:7-9)
a. The Working of It (Eph 3:7)
b. The Wonder of It (Eph 3:8a)
c. The Wealth of It (Eph 3:8b-9)
i. Its Hidden Resources (Eph 3:8b)
ii. Its Heavenly Resources (Eph 3:9)
Warren Wiersbe
nicely alliterates Ephesians 3 as...
A PURPOSE - "For this reason"
Ephesians 3:1, 14
A PARENTHESIS - Mystery of the Church
Ephesians 3:2-13
A PRAYER - Ephesians 3:14-21
MacDonald
adds that "for this reason"...
looks back to what he had just
been saying about the place of privilege into which believing Gentiles
are brought as a result of their union with Christ. (MacDonald,
W & Farstad, A. Believer's Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson)
Prisoner (1198)
(desmios from desméo = bind from desmos = bind,
chain) is a captive or one who is bound or who is in bonds. Prisoners in
Paul's day often had time to think, read, write, etc. (see comments
below)
Here are the 16
uses of desmios - Matt. 27:15, 16; Mk. 15:6; Acts 16:25, 27; 23:18;
25:14, 27; 28:17; Eph. 3:1; 4:1; 2 Tim. 1:8; Philemon. 1:1, 9; Heb.
10:34; 13:3
Most agree that
Paul wrote this epistle during his first Roman imprisonment during which
he was under house arrest, and yet he
describes himself not as a prisoner of Rome but of Christ
Jesus. Paul understood his imprisonment as God's will for him.
Paul evidently
wrote this epistle while he was imprisoned in Rome "for the hope of
Israel" as Luke records in Acts quoting Paul's defense of his
imprisonment before the leading men of Jerusalem writing...
"For this reason therefore, I
requested to see you and to speak with you, for I am wearing this chain
for the sake of the hope of Israel." (Acts 28:20)
Paul had been a
prisoner ever since he was taken captive in Jerusalem at the command of
the Jewish leaders, Luke records that...
the commander came up and took hold
of him, and ordered him to be bound with two chains; and he began asking
who he was and what he had done. (Acts 21:33).
For at least two
years, however, he was given a certain amount of freedom Luke recording
that Paul...
"stayed two full years in his own
rented quarters, and was welcoming all who came to him preaching the
kingdom of God, and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all
openness, unhindered. (Acts 28:30-31
As previously
discussed it was most likely during this time of "house arrest" that he
wrote the letter to the Ephesians.
Clearly Paul was a prisoner of men
(probably in Rome) but he viewed his circumstances from a divine
perspective. Thus while he was the prisoner of the Romans, in his mind
he was really the prisoner of Jesus Christ. Paul recognized that
it is by the sovereignty of God that he was where he was. He was the
prisoner of Jesus Christ for the Gentiles. Why was he there? Because God
had appointed him an Apostle to bring the ministry of the Gospel of
Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. As he explains at the end of this letter
he was "an ambassador in chains" because he had proclaimed "the mystery
of the gospel" (See notes
Ephesians 6:19;
6:20)
Rich Cathers
observes that...
In a sense, we’re all a prisoner of
something. We’re all bound to something. Some people are bound to
dangerous things like addictions to drugs or alcohol. Others are
bound to pleasure – they live for the next time they’ll experience
pleasure. It would seem that the three young men sentenced to prison on
Friday for their sex-party with a girl were prisoners of pleasure. Now
they’re prisoners of the state of California. Some people joke about
being a “prisoner of love”. Some people are imprisoned to others. They
are always wondering how they can please their father. For some it’s a
friend or spouse. Their life’s aim is to get that other person to be
happy with them. Bob Dillon had a song years ago where he sang, “You
gotta serve somebody …” The way Paul might rephrase it is, “you have to
be a prisoner of somebody” Paul chose to be a prisoner of Jesus Christ.
He lived for one thing, to serve Jesus. You might say he was “captured”
by His love. Paul said “the love of Christ controls me” (2Cor. 5:14) Who
are you a prisoner of? (Sermon
Notes)
Ray Stedman
writes that Paul was apparently...
in Rome, a prisoner of Caesar,
awaiting trial before Nero. But never once does he say that he is a
prisoner of Caesar; it is always "a prisoner of Christ Jesus." The
reason is obvious when you read his letters. He saw that Caesar was not
the one who had the final say about him; Jesus did. The duration of his
confinement was not determined by Caesar, but by the Lord Jesus. As Paul
came to understand the One whom he served, he knew that Jesus is in
control of history. He saw him as John did in the book of Revelation --
as sitting on his throne, holding the reins of government in his hands.
He is the One who opens, and no man shuts, who shuts, and no man opens,
who orders, and his will is carried out. Paul knew, therefore, that
anytime the Lord Jesus decided Paul's imprisonment would be of no
further value, he would be set free, that when the Lord Jesus spoke,
Caesar acted. Therefore, he never saw himself as being the prisoner of
Caesar. This is a tremendous lesson to us, who sometimes become worried
and anxious about what the political powers-that-be are doing in the
world today. Would that we had the faith of this mighty apostle who
understood so clearly that Caesar was not in control; Jesus is. (Ephesians 3:1-6:
Great Mystery)
Ruth Paxson
puts it well writing that...
Paul was in a Roman prison when
he wrote this epistle, but one would never know it. There is no smell of
a prison in Ephesians. As you open the book it is just like going into
some vast, open expanse and breathing the fresh air of heaven. There is
no clank of prison chains to be heard, for Paul is not bound in spirit.
He is there as the prisoner of Rome, but this he will not admit, and
claims to be "the prisoner of Jesus Christ." What is the secret of such
victorious otherworldliness? Paul's spirit is with Christ in the
heavenlies though his body languishes in that foul Roman prison. (Paxson,
R: The Wealth of the Christian)
William Barclay in noting that
Paul never thought of himself as the prisoner of Rome but of Christ adds
this note...
One’s point of view makes all the
difference in the world. There is a famous story of the days when Sir
Christopher Wren was building St. Paul’s Cathedral. On one occasion he
was making a tour of the work in progress. He came upon a man at work
and asked him: “What are you doing?” The man said: “I am cutting this
stone to a certain size and shape.” He came to a second man and asked
him what he was doing. The man said: “I am earning so much money at my
work.” He came to a third man at work and asked him what he was doing.
The man paused for a moment, straightened himself and answered: “I am
helping Sir Christopher Wren build St. Paul’s Cathedral.”
If a man is in prison for some great
cause he may either grumblingly regard himself as an ill-used creature,
or he may radiantly regard himself as the standard-bearer of some great
cause. The one regards his prison as a penance; the other regards it as
a privilege. When we are undergoing hardship, unpopularity, material
loss for the sake of Christian principles we may either regard ourselves
as the victims of men or as the champions of Christ. Paul is our
example; he regarded himself, not as the prisoner of Nero, but as the
prisoner of Christ. (Barclay,
W: The Daily Study Bible Series, Rev. ed. Philadelphia: The Westminster
Press)
John Phillips writes that...
The Jews were infuriated when Paul
taught that believing Gentiles were full members of God's family and the
fellowship of saints. The Jews' national pride was stung. Even in the
church many Jewish believers thought that Gentiles should become Jews in
order to be Christians, or at least they should be regarded as
second-class citizens in the kingdom. Paul's emancipating gospel annoyed
many Jews, even within the church. They disliked his wholehearted
acceptance of Gentiles into the church, free from all Jewish laws,
traditions, and customs. They resented his vocal and tireless
championship of the Gentile believers' cause. They felt threatened by
his zealous, far-reaching efforts to bring more and more Gentiles into
the church. The vast majority of unbelieving Jews regarded Paul with
horror and considered him a dangerous heretic. Paul, however, did not
criticize the Jews for opposing him. He knew where they were coming
from; he had been there himself. (Phillips,
J. Exploring Ephesians)
FOR THE SAKE OF YOU
GENTILES: huper humon ton ethnon: (Galatians 5:11; Colossians
1:24; 1 Thessalonians 2:15,16; 2Ti 2:10)
For the sake of
(5228)
(huper) means on behalf of or in place of. He explains the
reason for his imprisonment - for the sake of you Gentiles. In
fact, the event that triggered Paul's arrest and shipment to Rome for
trial before Caesar was a false charge that he had taken Trophimus, an
Ephesian, into area of the temple area that was out of bounds for
Gentiles (Acts 21:29). (See notes on
Ephesians 2:18)
Paul was a
prisoner because he believed in God’s previously undisclosed and unknown
program of uniting believing Jews and Gentiles into one new body, the
church. The non-believing Jews in Paul’s day considered the Gentiles
("the Uncircumcision") dogs,” but some of the believing Jews did not
have a much better attitude toward their Gentiles brothers in the faith.
At the time of
Paul's salvation Christ commissioned him to go to the Gentiles,
declaring...
Arise, and stand on your feet; for
this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a
witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the
things in which I will appear to you delivering you from the Jewish
people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, to open their
eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion
of Satan to God, in order that they may receive forgiveness of sins and
an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.'
(Acts 26:16-18)
Paul was a man on
mission. He has left an example of single minded determination to
fulfill the call of God on his life. We do well to imitate his zeal.
Live as you will wish to have lived after you are dead or as
Adoniram Judson the great missionary to
Burma said
"The motto of every missionary,
whether preacher, printer, or schoolmaster, ought to be 'Devoted for
life.'”
We too can end the Christian race
well, even if we began late, started slow, or faltered along the way.
The secret is to stay true to Christ to the last moment.
Gentiles
(1484)
(ethnos) refers to non-Jews or the heathen. When ethnos
is preceded by the definite article
("the") in the Greek, it means "the nations" which is synonymous
with the Gentiles marking them out as a distinct class. The
Gentiles implies those who practice idolatry and are ignorant of the
true God.
There are only 16
uses of ethnos in the NT - Matt. 27:15, 16; Mk. 15:6; Acts 16:25,
27; 23:18; 25:14, 27; 28:17; Eph. 3:1; 4:1; 2Tim. 1:8; Philemon 1:1, 9;
Heb. 10:34; 13:3
All of mankind can be divided into
Jew and Gentile and thus "Gentile" is a synonym for anyone who is
non-Jew, who is not a member of the "chosen people". The Hebrew word
corresponding to Gentile is goyim. From Genesis 12 through
Malachi 4 the majority of the Scriptures were about God's dealings with
the Jews, while Gentiles were mentioned only as they interacted with the
Jews. The NT does have more mention of the Gentiles after the formation
of the Church but after the church, Christ's Bride has been
raptured to heaven, God will resume His program with Israel nationally.
We find this described in the book of the Revelation (where there is no
mention of the church after Revelation 3). Many people are surprised to
discover that the Revelation of Jesus Christ has a heavy emphasis on
Israel, which explains why there are over 200 OT quotes or allusions to
OT passages.
As Wayne Barber
reminds us...
We are Gentiles today, and we live in
a country that has a Gentile mentality. We think it started with us. It
didn’t start with us, we were brought in at the appropriate time. We
were shut out until Acts 8 when God singled out the minister named Paul,
to preach the message to the Gentiles. The center of evangelism shifted
from Jerusalem to Antioch, and then the message went out into all the
world that any man, whether Jew or Gentile, can come in through the Lord
Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 3:1-9 God's Divine Mystery - 2)
Ray Stedman
reminds of the background from Paul's imprisonment writing that...
Paul cites some reasons for his
imprisonment. The first is that he was a prisoner on behalf of the
Gentiles. This refers not only to the fact that his arrest had come
about because he was preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, but also to
the fact that it benefited the Gentiles. Do not forget that the reason
Paul was charged by the Jews with sedition against the emperor was
because they were so angry that he would carry any message from God to
the Gentiles. Jewish scruples and prejudices were terribly offended by
the fact that Paul had the nerve, the effrontery, to say to the Jews
that the Gentiles were received by God equally as they, that the
Gentiles could have equal standing before him. When Paul spoke to the
Jewish mob in his own defense, after he was arrested in the temple
courts, the thing which triggered their renewed ire was the word
Gentile in his message.
(Ed note: Acts 22:21, 22, 23
records Paul's statement of what Jesus told him to do "'Go! For I will
send you far away to the Gentiles.'" And they [Jewish audience] listened
to him up to this statement, and then they raised their voices and said,
"Away with such a fellow from the earth, for he should not be allowed to
live!" And as they were crying out and throwing off their cloaks and
tossing dust into the air...)
They had been listening carefully to
him as he spoke of his conversion, of how he had been called by God,
until he stated that he had been sent out unto the Gentiles. Then all
hell broke loose again. They mobbed him and would have lynched him on
the spot had it not been for the intervention of the Roman guard. So it
was because of this great message that he was a prisoner. (Ephesians 3:1-6:
Great Mystery)
><> ><> ><>
Whose Prisoner?- A story is told of Scottish minister
Alexander Whyte, who was able to look at the bleakest situation and yet
find something to be thankful for. On a dark Sunday morning when the
weather was freezing, wet, and stormy, one of his deacons whispered,
“I am sure the preacher won’t be able
to thank God for anything on a day like this. It’s absolutely horrible
outside!”
The pastor began the
service by praying,
“We thank Thee, O God, that the weather is not
always like this.”
The apostle Paul also saw the best in every situation. Consider his
circumstances as he wrote to the church in Ephesus while he awaited
trial before the Roman emperor Nero. Most people would have concluded
that he was a prisoner of Rome. But Paul saw himself as a prisoner of
Christ. He thought of his hardship as an opportunity to bring the gospel
to the Gentiles.
These words of Paul should challenge us:
“To me, who am less than the least of
all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the
Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:8).
Paul, a prisoner of Christ, saw
himself as being given the privilege to serve God and present the
“riches of Christ” to many.
Whose prisoner are we? —Albert Lee (Our
Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by
permission. All rights reserved)
Afflictions may
test me,
They cannot destroy;
One glimpse of Thy love
Turns them all into joy. —Willett
The trials that imprison you need not limit God’s work in you.
><> ><> ><>
Pastor Steven
Cole has the following excellent sermon on Ephesians 3:1-7
Grateful for the Gospel
The Thanksgiving holiday reminds us
that we often take God’s gifts for granted, rather than giving thanks.
God gives us many common blessings, such as the gift of sight to enjoy a
beautiful sunrise or sunset. He gives us the gift of sound, so that we
can enjoy the laughter of children or conversation with friends or a
favorite song. He gives us the gift of taste, so that we can enjoy good
food. We enjoy many material blessings in this country—our homes, cars,
and many gadgets that make life more comfortable. Traveling to some of
the poorer areas of the world helps you to see how life could be, had
you not been blessed to be born in America! So we should be thankful!
But the greatest gift that God gives us is the gospel—the good news that
Jesus Christ came into this world to save us from our sins. If He has
opened the eyes of your heart to trust in Jesus Christ as the One who
bore your eternal punishment on the cross, then even if you are going
through terrible suffering, you have reason to rejoice and be thankful!
And if God has saved you, He also has given you some way that He wants
you to serve Him. The fact that former selfish, rebellious sinners could
be redeemed and now put into service for the King of kings should fill
our hearts with joyful gratitude to Him. This is what the apostle Paul
both says and exemplifies in our text:
We can be joyfully grateful even in our trials, if we remember God’s
gift of salvation and the gracious privilege of serving Him.
These verses are a bit difficult, so track with me as I try to explain
them. In Ep 2:11-22, Paul has outlined the unprecedented blessings that
God has now poured out on the Gentiles. For 2,000 years from Abraham to
the time of Christ, God’s blessings were mostly restricted to the Jews.
The Gentiles were excluded from the nation of Israel, were strangers to
God’s covenants of the promise, and thus they had no hope and were
without God in the world (Ep 2:12).
Then comes that glorious contrast (Ep 2:13), “But now in Christ Jesus
you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of
Christ.” Paul shows how through the gospel, Christ now has reconciled
the Jews and Gentiles to one another and He has reconciled both groups
in one body to God through the cross. As a result, the Gentiles are no
longer strangers and aliens, but they are fellow citizens of God’s new
people, they are members of His household, and together with the Jews,
they are being built into a holy temple where God now dwells (Ep 2:19,
20, 21, 22).
In light of these wonderful truths, Paul is about to pray for the
Ephesians, that God would make these truths a reality in their
experience. He will pray (Ep 3:17) that Christ will dwell in their
hearts by faith, in line with what he has said about them being built
into the dwelling of God (Ep 2:22). In line with the unity of Jews and
Gen-tiles in Christ, he will pray (Ep 3:17) that they may be rooted and
grounded in love.
But, before he gets to his prayer, something diverts Paul’s attention.
Perhaps he heard his chains clank and it brought him back to his present
situation, of being a prisoner. Paul’s persistent enemies, the
Judaizers, were no doubt plaguing the Ephesian church, arguing that the
Gentiles needed to be circumcised and follow the Law of Moses to be
saved. One of their arguments was to discredit Paul. If he really is
God’s apostle, then why is he in prison?
So Paul begins (Ep 3:1), “For this reason [because of the reconciliation
of the Jews and Gentiles to one another and to God], I, Paul, the
prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—” but then,
instead of launching into his prayer, he interrupts himself. He will
come back to the prayer in Ep 3:14, but he goes into a digression to
show the Ephesians that his imprisonment in Rome should not cause them
to doubt God or to question Paul’s apostleship. Rather than losing heart
because of his sufferings, they should see that his tribulations on
their behalf were actually for their glory (Ep 3:13). So in this
digression, he reminds them again of God’s great gift of the gospel and
of the gracious privilege of being able to serve and to suffer for
Christ’s sake. Rather than grumbling about his imprisonment, Paul
overflows with joyful gratitude to God. He not only tells us, but also
shows us, how to have this same joyful gratitude in the midst of our
trials.
1. All believers will suffer, but in our sufferings we need to
maintain God’s perspective.
The teaching that God promises health and wealth to all of His children
is heresy. But, although most of us don’t buy into that error, we often
think that if we walk obediently with the Lord, He will reward us with
protection from trials. Or, when trials come, some teach that it is okay
to get angry with God. The assumption behind this is, “I don’t deserve
this kind of treatment!” I once saw a booklet from the ministry that
publishes “Our Daily Bread” titled, “Forgiving God”! That’s a
blasphemous title, because it implies that God did something wrong! It
was about a woman who had lost her four-year-old, and how she had to
learn to forgive God for this tragedy! But, if Job (the most righteous
man on earth) did not need to forgive God for taking al ten of his
children in one accident, then neither do we need to forgive God, no
matter how difficult our trials. He never treats us unjustly or sends
trials into our lives without a loving purpose on His part.
Paul was suffering unjustly from a human perspective. He had not done
anything wrong. He was suffering because he had gone to a lot of
personal bother to do something good. He had raised a gift from the
Gentile churches and had personally taken it to Jerusalem to help
alleviate the suffering of the Jewish people. Behind his actions, no
doubt, was his strong desire to see the Jewish and Gentile wings of the
church united in love. But when he got there, some Jews saw him in the
temple and started a riot by falsely accusing him of bringing some
Gentiles beyond the barrier in the temple. The riot led to Paul’s
imprisonment, which had been going on now for about five years. During
those years, Paul easily could have grown bitter towards the Jews who
had falsely accused him, and even toward God, who had allowed this to
happen.
Also, Paul was not suffering because he denied the truth, but rather
because he boldly proclaimed the truth. You can dodge a lot of hassles
as a preacher if you tiptoe around difficult doctrines and just preach
“nice” messages that make everyone feel good. But God had revealed
certain truths to Paul, and he lived to please God, who examines the
heart, not to please people (1Th 2:4). It would have been much easier
for Paul just to make peace with the Judaizers, saying, “We don’t agree,
but unity is more important than truth.” But, instead, he always stood
firmly for the truth of the gospel of grace, even if it meant hardship
and persecution.
When Paul says (Ep 3:2), “if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of
God’s grace which was given to me for you,” he is not implying that some
of the Ephesians had not heard. Probably Paul was using irony (H. C. G.
Moule, Ephesians Studies [Christian Literature Crusade], p. 110). His
ministry to the Gentiles had been well known for many years and was at
the heart of why he was in prison. So here, he is using understatement
to say, “If perhaps you have heard a few things about my ministry to the
Gentiles…”! They were Christians because of his ministry to the
Gentiles!
Note one further thing about Paul’s perspective on his sufferings:
Although he did not deserve to be in prison, he was joy-fully grateful
because he understood and submitted to God's sovereignty over his
sufferings. He calls himself (Ep 3:1), “the prisoner of Christ Jesus.”
If Paul had seen himself as the prisoner of the Jews, he would have been
bitter at the Jews. If he had seen himself as the prisoner of the Roman
government, he would have been angry about the miscarriage of justice.
But, he saw himself as the prisoner of Christ Jesus. Paul knew that the
Lord only acted toward him with grace and kindness. And so, he could
rejoice even in his sufferings.
There is an error today called “open theism” that teaches that God is
not sovereign over the tragic things that happen. He is just as upset as
you are, but He can’t do anything about it. They are trying to get God
off the hook for all of the evil and suffering in the world. But, it is
fundamentally unbiblical. In the Bible, God makes it clear that He is
sovereign over everything, including our trials (Ex 4:11; Isa. 45:7;
Amos 3:6). Also, by denying God’s sovereignty over our trials, the open
theists take away the only source of comfort in our trials, namely, that
“God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God,
to those who are called according to His purpose” (Ro 8:28).
So here is Paul, suffering for no wrong that he had done. But there is
not a hint of self-pity or complaint on his part, because his focus was
on Christ Jesus as his sovereign Lord, and also on helping the Ephesians
understand God’s purpose in Paul’s imprisonment. But, there is more:
2. We can be joyfully grateful in our trials if we remember that we
are beneficiaries of God’s gracious salvation.
Paul never ceased to be thankful for God’s grace that had been shown to
him in the gospel. Though he was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor,
and a violent aggressor, yet he was shown mercy, and God’s grace was
more than abundant for the chief of sinners (1Ti 1:13, 14, 15). If you
think about where you used to be as a sinner, and where you would be
today if God had not broken into your life with His grace, it will cause
you to overflow with gratitude. Note four things about God’s grace in
the gospel:
A. God’s grace in the gospel is a precious, undeserved gift.
Paul was so moved by God’s grace in saving him that he just can’t stop
repeating himself. In Ep 3:2 he writes, “if indeed you have heard of the
stewardship of God's grace which was given to me for you…” Then, again
in 3:7, he says, “of which I was made a minister [servant], according to
the gift of God's grace which was given to me according to the working
of His power.” He continues (Ep 3:8), “To me, the very least of all
saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable
riches of Christ.” He just couldn’t get over it! Neither should we!
No one has ever come to Christ by his own intelligence, will power, or
good works. If you are a Christian, it is not because you thought
through all of the options and due to your superior intelligence and
high moral standards, you decided to follow Jesus. Rather, the Bible
indicts us all (Ro 3:10-18):
As it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one; there is none
who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become
useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one. Their
throat is an open grave, with their tongues they keep deceiving, the
poison of asps is under their lips; whose mouth is full of cursing and
bitterness; their feet are swift to shed blood, destruction and misery
are in their paths, and the path of peace they have not known. There is
no fear of God before their eyes.”
If you’re thinking, “Well, that may describe others, but it doesn’t
describe me,” then you do not understand God’s grace in the gospel.
Jesus did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to
repentance (Luke 5:32). You have to feel how lost and helpless you are
before you will cry out to Jesus, “Save me, Lord, or I perish!”
Salvation is totally a precious, undeserved gift of God’s grace.
B. God’s grace in the gospel cannot be grasped by human reason, but
God must reveal it to us.
Paul writes (Ep 3:3, 4, 5, 6), “that by revelation there was made known
to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. By referring to this,
when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ,
which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it
has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit;
to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of
the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through
the gospel….”
To understand Paul’s flow of thought we need to understand what he means
by mystery. He uses this word 21 out of the 27 times in the New
Testament, and with different shades of meaning in different contexts.
But the basic meaning is that it refers to God’s revelation or
disclosure of something that formerly was hidden. Such information
cannot be attained by human reason or wisdom, but only when God reveals
it by His Spirit (1Co 2:7, 8, 9, 10).
In Ephesians, Paul first refers to the mystery in Ep 1:9, where it
refers to God’s revealing His eternal purpose to sum up all things in
Christ. So the key idea in the mystery centers on God’s eternal plan of
bringing all things together in the person of Jesus Christ. When Paul
says (3:3) that he wrote before about this in brief, he is referring
back to Ep 1:9 (see, also, Col. 1:25, 26, 27).
But, this one supreme mystery has a number of applications (Peter
O’Brien, The Letter to the Ephesians [Eerdmans/Apollos], p. 110). Thus
in our text, Paul refers to the general sense of the mystery of Christ
(Ep 3:4), but then specifies the application of that mystery to the now
revealed truth that “the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of
the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through
the gospel” (Ep 3:6). Paul had written about that aspect of the mystery
in Ep 2:11-22. So, to sum up (O’Brien, p. 236, citing John Stott), “The
mystery or open secret of Christ is ‘the complete union of Jews and
Gentiles with each other through the union of both with Christ.’”
When Paul says that this aspect of the mystery had not been made known
in other generations as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles
and prophets, he means that God has revealed new truth with regard to
the church. The Old Testament often spoke of God’s blessing on the
Gentiles, but it was always through the Jews. But now, (Gal. 3:14) “in
Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that
we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” In other
words, the newly revealed truth that Paul and the New Testament (“holy
apostles and prophets in the Spirit”) proclaim is that the Gentiles are
equal with the Jews in the church. They are (Ep 3:6) “fellow heirs and
fellow members of the body and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ
Jesus through the gospel.”
The point to apply is that the truth about the centrality of Jesus
Christ and the gospel is not something that anyone can arrive at by
human logic, intuition, or study. It’s not like math, where if you work
at it, eventually you can get it. Rather, to understand God’s truth,
especially the truth of the gospel, He must open your eyes (see, Matt.
13:11, 12, 13). So, if you do not understand the good news about Jesus
Christ and what He did on the cross, cry out to God for understanding
and search the New Testament as if you were looking for buried treasure
until you find Him!
C. God’s grace in the gospel comes to us by the working of His power.
Paul mentions (Ep 3:7) that the gift of God’s grace “was given to me by
the working of His power.” God’s mighty power transformed a violent
racist like Paul into the apostle who now loved the very people he had
hated, the Gentiles! Maybe, like the Ephesians, you were into the occult
and all manner of evil. But, God’s mighty power transformed these people
who engaged in sexual immorality at the pagan Temple of Diana into a
holy temple in the Lord (Ep 2:21).
Not all conversions are as dramatic as Paul’s or the Ephesians were, but
all conversions require the same working of God’s mighty power. Maybe,
like me, you were raised in a Christian home and were at church every
time the door was open. You still need to be saved from your
self-righteousness, pride, hypocrisy, lust, greed, and other sins by
God’s mighty power. Beware of cultural Christianity, where you assume
that you’re a Christian because you live in a Christian country and
attend a Christian church! You are not a Christian unless you know the
life-transforming power of God in your heart!
D. God’s grace in the gospel is a special privilege that we now
enjoy.
To overflow with joyful gratitude, even in your trials, keep in mind
that you enjoy God’s revealed grace in a way that millions in history
never have. Paul says that the mystery of Christ was not made known in
other generations as it now is made known! But even now, there are
hundreds of millions of people around the globe who live in spiritual
darkness in countries where the gospel is hardly known.
But, we have these transforming truths revealed to us in the New
Testament as a precious treasure! If it was revealed to you that
somewhere in your back yard, a strongbox with a million dollars was
buried, you’d be out there this afternoon with pick and shovel, and you
wouldn’t stop digging until you found it! Well, you’ve got something far
greater than money—you’ve got “the unfathomable riches of Christ” (Ep
3:8), hidden in your Bible! Start digging!
So, we can be joyfully grateful even in our trials if we remember God’s
gift of salvation, revealed in Jesus Christ. Finally,
3. We can be joyfully grateful in our trials if we remember that we
have graciously been given the privilege of serving God.
Being an apostle was not Paul’s career choice! Rather, it was given to
him as a sacred stewardship of God’s grace. When he says that he “was
made a minister” (Ep 3:7), it is a passive verb, meaning that he didn’t
choose it. Rather, God acted on Paul. On the day of Paul’s conversion,
the Lord told Paul (Acts 22:10), “Get up and go on into Damascus, and
there you will be told of all that has been appointed for you to do.” He
was drafted!
“Minister” (Eph. 3:7) is not a stained glass word, referring to a
member of the clergy. That concept is foreign to the New Testament.
Rather, it is the Greek word, diakonos, meaning, servant. It referred to
one who waited tables. As such, a servant obeyed his master. He was not
free to do his own thing, but he did what his master commanded.
Although none of us are apostles and although you may not be in
so-called “full time ministry,” if you know Christ, you are His servant.
Even if He calls you to suffer for His name’s sake, from your prison
cell you can joyfully serve Him if you remember what a great privilege
it is to be a steward of His amazing grace.
Conclusion
Before his conversion, John Wesley, who was very religious outwardly,
but lacked the inward reality of God’s grace, had a conversation with a
poor porter at his college that deeply impressed him. Wesley discovered
that the man had only one coat and that he had not had any food that
day, but only water. And yet his heart was full of gratitude to God.
Wesley said, “You thank God when you have nothing to wear, nothing to
eat, and no bed to lie upon. What else do you thank him for?”
“I thank him,” answered the porter, “that He has given me my life and
being, and a heart to love Him, and a desire to serve Him.” (In The
Inextinguishable Blaze, by A. Skevington Wood [Eerdmans, 1968], p. 100.)
That porter knew the reality of God’s saving grace. Like him, we can be
joyfully thankful even in our trials if we re-member God’s gift of
salvation and the gracious privilege of serving Him.
Application Questions
Some teach that it is okay to be angry at God when we suffer and that we
should be honest in expressing our feelings. Why is this at odds with
Scripture?
How can a person who grew up in a Christian home get a deeper
appreciation of God’s abundant grace in salvation?
Who is more difficult to reach with the gospel: a thorough pagan or a
self-righteous churchgoer? Why?
Why is it important for every believer to see himself as a steward or
servant of Christ? How does this attitude help us? (Pastor Cole's entire
series on Ephesians is highly recommended - It functions much like a
verse by verse commentary - see
Ephesians Series)
