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The Apostle Paul's Epistle
to the Ephesians |
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Chapter 3
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So far, we've learned that in the
Messiah, we've been granted every spiritual blessing, we were chosen
from before the foundation of the world, we were predestined to be a
part of God's family and He has revealed to us the mystery of His
will. Not only that, Paul tells us that though we were dead in our
sins, left without any power to come to God, through the Messiah,
God brought us to life. Being united with the Messiah, we gain
citizenship in Israel, participation in the covenants of the promise
and, as a result, have great hope in this world. The enmity that is
brought about when walls of separation are put up between Jews and
Gentiles is abolished in the Messiah.
As we saw, the enmity between Jews and
Gentiles is brought about because of the "barrier," that is, the
various extra-Biblical fence laws that did not allow Gentiles to
freely be a part of Israel. As Paul put it, the Law of commandments
in dogma. The enmity, the Law of commandments in dogma, is abolished
in the Messiah because in the Messiah both Jews and Gentiles are on
equal level. Both Jews and Gentiles are sinners in the eyes of God,
for all have sinned and broken God's commandments. Both Jews and
Gentiles must be brought to life in the Messiah and in the Messiah,
both Jews and Gentiles are obligated to do good works. That is, we
are obligated to keep the Torah. The written Torah does not separate
Jews and Gentiles because it obligates believing Gentiles to the
same commandments that Jews are expected to keep. The Gospel should
not turn Jews into people who don't keep the Torah! It's the other
way around. The Gospels brings Gentiles into Israel, joining
faithful Jews in obedience to the Torah and thus receiving the
blessings of the covenant!
1For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner
of Messiah Yeshua for the sake of you Gentiles-- 2if indeed you have
heard of the stewardship of God's grace which was given to me for
you; 3that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as
I wrote before in brief.
You'll notice that Paul doesn't
actually use a verb. He begins saying "I, Paul..." but then does not
actually finish his sentence. Instead, he spends the next 12 verses
reiterating the truths of chapter 2. It's not until verse 14 that we
finally get to what he had intended to say here and he does so by
repeating himself, saying "for this reason, I..."
Paul was not speaking metaphorically
when he called himself a prisoner. He was actually a prisoner at the
time. In the same way, he wasn't exaggerating when he said that he
was a prisoner for the sake of the Gentiles. He actually got
imprisoned because he was preaching the equality of Jews and
Gentiles. In Acts 21, Paul arrives in Jerusalem. He's greeted by
James and the elders of the Jerusalem believing community. Paul
shared what God had been doing among the Gentiles. James and the
elders were pleased but warned Paul that there were false rumours
going around Jerusalem that he was teaching Jews neither to
circumcise their sons nor to keep the customs. James advised Paul to
join four other Jewish believers in a vow and to pay for their
expenses at the Temple, thus proving that Paul was not teaching
these things and, as James says, that he walked orderly, keeping the
Torah.
When it was time to complete the vows,
Paul entered the Temple. Some from Asia falsely accused Paul that he
taught against the people of Israel, the Torah and the Temple plus
they said that he had brought a Gentile into the Temple. None of
these were true. A Roman solider arrested Paul but allowed him to
make his case in front of the crowd. The crowd intently listened,
that is, until verse 21 of chapter 22 of Acts. Paul explained
essentially his whole story, thus far in the book of Acts, and
finally explained that God had called him to go to the Gentiles. It
was at this point that the crowd erupted and called for Paul to be
taken away.
Going back to our text, Paul, as a
prisoner for the sake of Gentiles, wants to make sure that Gentile
Believers understand these great truths, truths that in past times
were not understood. These mysterious truths were, however, revealed
to Paul.
4By referring to this, when you read
you can understand my insight into the mystery of Messiah, 5which 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;
In which way was the "mystery of
Messiah" not been known to people in past generations? Is Paul
referring to some sort of "secret knowledge?" Is Paul a Gnostic? No,
it's not that the mystery was not known in terms of knowledge; it
was not known in terms of manifestation. In other words, as we'll
see, never had the Biblical truth that God accepts Gentiles as
Gentiles - something the Torah itself teaches - been so clear as it
was now being manifested through the ministry of the Apostles.
6to be specific, that the Gentiles are
fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of
the promise in Messiah Yeshua through the gospel,
The specific mystery of Messiah is that
believing Gentiles are fellow-heirs, fellow members of the body and
fellow partakers of the promise in the Messiah. Notice that Paul
does not mention who the Gentiles have joined. The NIV has correctly
paraphrased this verse this way: "This mystery is that through
the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel..."
(Ephesians 3:6, NIV). It's Israel to which the Gentiles have
joined. As we already reviewed, the Gospel does not lead Jews out of
Israel into a new religious people-group but rather the Gospel
brings Gentiles into the family of Israel and into obedience to
God's commandments.
7of which I was made a minister,
according to the gift of God's grace which was given to me according
to the working of His power. 8To me, the very least of all saints,
this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable
riches of Messiah, 9and to bring to light what is the administration
of the
mystery which for ages has been hidden
in God who created all things;
Paul was made a minister, that is, he
was commissioned by Yeshua Himself to go to the Gentiles (Acts
9:15). Paul exhibits humility in his calling, as he gives all
glory to God for the numerous abilities he had. Not only that, he
calls himself the least among God's set apart people. It's fitting
that God would give such a tremendous task to such a humble person.
The task of teaching, guiding and molding Gentiles to the ways of
God is no easy task. While Jewish people have the advantage of
knowing the Scriptures and the ways of Torah since birth, Gentiles
need to completely reprogram their minds and lifestyles to fit God's
pattern given in the Torah. Again, when Paul says that the
"administration" - that is, Gentiles being fellow citizens with
Israel - has been "hidden" for "ages," he's not referring to the
knowledge of it. The pattern for this "administration" is clearly
laid out in the Torah, as the Torah makes provision for Gentiles who
want to join themselves to Israel and to the commandments of God.
Not only that, the Prophets also indicates that Gentiles who join
themselves to the LORD and to God's people, should not think of
themselves as second-class (Isaiah 56:6-8). Instead, he's
referring to the manifestation of countless Gentiles joining God's
people in obedience to the commandments, the very thing that was
happening in his day.
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10so that the manifold wisdom of God
might now be made known through the assembly to the rulers and the
authorities in the heavenly places.
Someone might ask, what's God's purpose
in saving Gentiles? To understand the great significance of the
salvation of Gentiles, think back to the Exodus. To what end did God
send the ten plagues upon Egypt? According to historians, each
plague specifically made a mockery of the gods of Egypt. The three
days of darkness spited Ra, the sun god. The hail spited Nut, the
goddess of the sky. The water turning into blood spited Hapi, the
god of the Nile. These are just to name a few. The point is that
through the Exodus, God showed His power and in the process
completely castrated the gods of Egypt. The Egyptians, and Pharaoh
specifically, might have thought the gods would never let Israel
escape but God showed who the one true God was and brought Israel
out. In saving Gentiles, God shows His power and spites the rulers
and authorities of the Gentile nations. Not prime ministers or
presidents but rather the demonic forces that are at work behind the
scenes.
This is why it's vitally important to
understand the ecclesia, the assembly, as the faithful community of
the Messiah within Israel. To deny Israel as being the matrix in
which Gentiles are brought into, is to deny the whole imagery of the
spiritual exodus God has accomplished for us. To disconnect
followers of Yeshua from Israel is to miss the glory of God's
redemptive plan. God freed the Hebrews from Egypt so that they could
enter the promised Land, be His nation and keep His Torah. The same
is true for Gentiles.
11This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried
out in Messiah Yeshua our Master, 12in whom we have boldness and
confident access through faith in Him. 13Therefore I ask you not to
lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf, for they are your
glory.
God
always intended to save the elect of Israel and the nations through
the Messiah. It says in Isaiah 49:6:
He says, "It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to
raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of
Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations. So that My
salvation may reach to the end of the earth." (Isaiah 49:6)
Through the Messiah Yeshua, we have an assurance of salvation that
results in boldness when approaching God. Not an arrogant boldness,
as if we deserve His salvation. Rather, we have boldness through
humble submission to the Good News of the Messiah. Though our
righteousness is like filthy rags, the Messiah's righteousness is
utterly perfect and it's through His righteousness that we approach
God.
Therefore, the Ephesians were not to lose heart over Paul's
tribulations because Paul understood that the salvation of Gentiles
was an amazing fulfillment of God's promises. The salvation of Jews
and of Gentiles is equally important because they both fulfill the
promises that God made to the Patriarchs.
14For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15from whom
every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, 16that He
would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be
strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,
Now, after 12 verses, Paul finally gets to his original thought that
he began back in verse 1. This should tell us something about Paul's
method of teaching. It would seem that he understood that one must
first properly understand sound doctrine and then move on to
practical matters. Before we pray, perhaps we should have a proper
understanding of what the Bible teaches in regards to what we are
praying for.
Nevertheless, what Paul intended to communicate back in verse 1 was
that he prayed for the Gentile Believers. He prayed that Gentiles
would be strengthened with power in the inner man. Firstly, he
describes God as the one whom every family in heaven and earth
derive their name. This should be understood to mean that everyone,
whether alive or in Paradise have existence because of God. Without
God's continual sustenance, we wouldn't exist. In the same way that
God maintains our existence, He strengthens us in our "inner man."
The phrase "inner man" should be understood as our spiritual growth.
It's not that the inner man is the non-physical part of us, it's
that it has to do with the things that have to do with the Spirit of
God. The Spirit of God dwells within us and therefore it would be
logical for Paul to describe that part of us as the "inner man."
17so that Messiah may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that
you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18may be able to comprehend
with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and
depth, 19and to know the love of Messiah which surpasses knowledge,
that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
To
have the "inner man" strengthened is to have the Messiah dwell in
our hearts through faith. What does that mean? It means that we have
the reality of what the Messiah has accomplished for us so ingrained
within us that our actions result in obedience to God's
commandments. The only way that the Messiah can practically dwell in
our hearts is through faith. Faith, as we've learned, is not merely
agreeing with theological truths. Instead, real faith is expressed
through good deeds and obedience to the commandments of God. The
more we obey God's commandments, the more we will become rooted and
grounded in love. The Master says that the whole Torah is summed up
in the commandments to love God and to love our neighbour. This
means that only obedience to God's commandments expresses love for
God and for each other. The more we are obedient, the more we will
understand what is the breadth, length, height and depth of His
love. If obedience to God's commandments is the same as loving God
and each other, then we will never begin to comprehend how limitless
God's love is until we submit to His Word. The more we submit to His
Word, the more God will fill up who we are. Where does it end? It
ends when we have been filled up with the fullness of God Himself.
Our goal is that all of our actions will be completely filled with
God's will.
As
a side note, the word, here translated as "fullness," is the Greek
word "pleeroo." It speaks of completeness and totality. To be
utterly filled to the point where you are everything you should be.
The same Greek word is used in Matthew 5:17 when Yeshua says
He did not come to abolish the Torah but rather to fulfill it.
Yeshua came to bring the Torah to it's utter fullness. With Yeshua,
the Torah is completed. With Yeshua in our lives, as our Master and
Saviour, we have in the Torah all that we could ever ask for, in
terms of instruction from God. Paul is teaching something similar
here. To be strengthened in the inner man, to have the Messiah dwell
in our hearts, to be rooted and grounded in love, to comprehend the
breadth, length, height and depth of His love and to know the love
of Messiah which surpasses knowledge can all be summed up in a life
of diligent and consistent obedience to God's commandments. For
apart from a life of obedience to God's commandments is a life
filled with sin and a sinful life is not what Paul is describing at
all.
20Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that
we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, 21to
Him be the glory in the Assembly and in Messiah Yeshua to all
generations forever and ever. Amen.
Paul ends the first half of his epistle with a fitting doxology. If
one truly comprehends the truths that Paul has taught us in these
first three chapters, it will result in utter awe of God's might. If
were were to truly embrace the truths of these first three chapters,
that is, embrace the amazing power that has been displayed to us and
through us, God will do among us things that are beyond all that we
can ask or think. For God will be glorified in His Assembly and in
the Messiah Yeshua for all generations. In reference to the
Assembly, this is in reference to our ultimate state but it should
already be working itself out in This World. |
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