Ephesians 3:12-21

Eph 3:12

In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.

Boldness - “Fearlessness, freely, or unreservedly”

Access - “Access”

Confidence - “Trust”

As Paul continues from verse 11, he states that only the believer can come to God in the manner described in this verse. It is very important that we understand the usage of the small words in Scripture which give specific meanings. In this verse we once again see the word “we” which means only those people in Christ, the saved, have the permission to approach God freely but even that approach comes through the Lord Jesus Christ. We can never come to God by means of the Mass or any religious ceremony. We can only have that access to the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ. Now we can have that access in great trust or confidence because as we see in the rest of the verse that it is not our faith that gives us the access to God but the Faith of Christ. We see this great principle in other parts of Scripture also:

Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. (Galatians 2:16)

And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: (Philippians 3:9)

Notice the common theme which runs in these two verses that the works of the law and our own righteousness are placed in comparison to the faith of Christ which saved us and gave us the access to God the Father. The sorry thing is that the modern versions take this great teaching away from Christ and gives it to people by changing it to “faith in Christ.” This makes Christ the object of our faith. Grammatically speaking it is changing the sentence from Possessive “faith of Christ” to Dative “faith in Christ.” This places man at the center instead of keeping Christ in the center of salvation. Unsaved man has no ability to create faith in the spiritual world and must receive the faith of Christ to believe initially and beyond.

Eph 3:13

Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.

Wherefore - “Therefore or on this account”

I desire - “I ask”

Faint - “Lose heart or be despondent”

Tribulations - “Affliction, distress, or pressure”

Paul is building on the prior verse which focused on the great access to the Father through the faith of Christ. Paul is basically saying, that based on what I just wrote to you, please do not lose heart or become despondent. Remember, Ephesians is one of the prison epistles. Paul had no problem with being in prison or suffering for the Lord.

And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved. (2 Corinthians 12:15)

Paul was very concerned for the churches and he did not want the work of the church to stop because he was not present at that time. He was afraid that the church would begin to fade away if the people went into a despondent disposition. This is why the Scriptures give us the command that we are to commit the work to faithful men (2 Timothy 2:2) so the work continues to go forward when we are taken from the scene. It is indeed a strange appendage that Paul uses that his sufferings are the glory of the Christians in Ephesus. Paul was stating that his sufferings were for the eternal good of the Christians because he was suffering in prison for them, for all the churches, for Christianity in general as the glory of Christianity is that we will suffer for it. In many ways we suffer for being a Christian, some ways are rejection, mockery, hated, avoided, no promotion at work, etc.

Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. (1 Peter 4:16)

Paul wanted his sufferings to lead to the glorifying of God and not for the despondency of the Christians.

Eph 3:14

For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Paul counted it worthy to suffer for the Lord Jesus Christ and as a result, he humbled himself before God the Father.

And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. (Acts 5:41)

The world has no clue that when a Christian suffers for being a Christian and not an evildoer, it is a mark of honor with God. The glories that a Christian has waiting for them in heaven, far surpasses any menial suffering here on earth. Paul was also counting on the fact that a great work was going to be done through the churches and he was aware that his presence was not needed because God would raise other Christians up to continue the work of the church. This is part of the freedom we have in Christ, so when we have to retire or we become sick that we cannot do the work we used to, we can have confidence that God will continue the work which He started with us through other capable hands. The last part of the verse “of our Lord Jesus Christ” has been omitted in the modern versions. What they have done is to take away the relationship Christ had with his Father. This was a gnostic attack because the Gnostics did not believe that Christ was divine.

(ESV) For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,

(NIV) For this reason I kneel before the Father,

Eph 3:15

Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,

(Acts 11:26 KJV) And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.

There are some commentators which teach that this verse teaches not only the Fatherhood of God for the body of believers but also that it teaches the Fatherhood of God to all the unbelievers by means of creation. Well the problem with that theory is that the unbelievers will not be in Heaven and therefore the family that is in view is the body of believers which carry the name of Christ, hence, the name Christian. The Greek of the first century followed the Latin method of placing an ending to a proper name such as “Christ-ian” to note that a person was a follower or an adherent of a person or thing. In this case, in the Greek, “ianos” was added making it “Christianos” in the Greek which was the name for the followers of Christ.

Eph 3:16

That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;

Strengthened - “to empower or become strong.”

Here the Apostle Paul is praying that the Ephesian Christians would be granted the supernatural strength in the inner man. In other words, he is asking the Lord to strengthen these believers. Paul was concerned that they may have become despondent because of his imprisonment. This comes from a misunderstanding of God’s differing plan for each Christian. Now he is asking the Lord to give them strength according to the riches of God’s glory. Notice he is not asking God to strengthen them out of the riches but according to the riches. An example of this would be if a millionaire gave $500,000 to a cause, he would be giving according to his wealth but if he gave $5, he would be giving out of his wealth. Therein lies the difference between “according to” and “out of.”

For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: (Romans 7:22)

Our delight is in the law of God according to the inner man. Basically, we delight in our salvation and if God strengthens us in the inner man or our spirits, then we are able to endure the trials of life and be able to minister at the same time.

For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. (2 Corinthians 4:16)

This was also a concern for the church at Corinth. The Corinthian church was probably the most challenging of all the churches that Paul dealt with and yet he encouraged them by telling them that even though our physical bodies are perishing progressively each day, our inner man is being strengthened and renewed daily. This is how we are as we walk with the Lord, our spiritual strength becomes mightier even if our physical bodies become weaker. There is a great Old Testament verse which teaches this very principle that God will always give strength to His people according to their situation.

Thy shoes shall be iron and brass; and as thy days, so shall thy strength be. (Deuteronomy 33:25)