The Epistle to the Ephesians.
by Hamilton Smith.
Contents
1 Introduction
2 God's Purpose in Christ Eph. 1
3 God's Work in Carrying Out His Purpose Eph. 2
4 God's Way in Making Known His Purpose Eph. 3
5 The Believer's Walk in Relation to the Assembly Eph. 4: 1-16
6 The Believer's Walk as Confessing The Lord Eph. 4: 17-32
7. The Believer's Walk as a Child of God Eph. 5: 1-21
8. The Believer's Walk in Connection with Natural Relations Eph. 5: 22 - 6: 9
9 The Conflict Eph. 6: 10-20
THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS
1
Introduction
It is a great favour that the blessed God should have revealed Himself in grace to a world of sinners, and yet He has done more, for He has disclosed to believers the secret counsels of His heart of love.
To learn the blessedness of these disclosures we must turn to the Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians, for therein we have an inspired unfolding of the counsels of God for the glory of Christ and the blessing of those who are destined to share His glory.
It is of the utmost importance to see that there is the counsel of God's will for believers, as well as the grace of God that brings salvation for all men. Generally we are better acquainted with His saving grace than with the counsels of His heart. The saving grace of God meets our condition as sinners, and of necessity we must begin with that which meets our need; but the counsels of God reveal what God has purposed to bring to pass for the satisfaction of His own heart. The saving grace of God, and the counsels of God, though distinct blessings, cannot be separated, for the grace that saves our souls leads on to the glory that satisfies God's heart.
In the revelation of the counsels of God's heart we discover the true, heavenly character of Christianity. We learn that, though the church is formed on earth, it belongs to heaven and, though passing through time, it was counselled in eternity and for eternity.
Ephesians 1 unfolds to us the eternal counsels of God for Christ and His church in view of eternity.
Ephesians 2 presents God's ways for the formation of the church in time in view of His counsels for eternity.
Ephesians 3 presents the special service committed to the apostle Paul in connection with making known the truth of the church.
Ephesians 4 to 6 form the practical portion of the Epistle, in which believers, having been instructed in the counsels of God, are exhorted to walk in consistency with these truths as they pass through time. If God has counselled that there shall be, in the saints, the display of His grace throughout eternity, He cannot but desire that in the assembly, while being formed in time, there should be a witness to His grace, love and holiness.
2
God's Purpose in Christ
(Ephesians 1)
In the first chapter of the Epistle there is unfolded to us the revelation of the purpose of God for Christ and His church. In the chapters that follow we shall learn the gracious ways of God in the formation of the church; but there is first disclosed to us the purpose of God in view of eternity, in order that we may intelligently enter into His ways while in time.
After the introductory verses there is first presented to us the calling of God that discloses God's purpose for those who compose the church of God (verses 3 to 7). Secondly, we have the revelation of the will of God for the glory of Christ as the Head of the whole creation, and the blessing of the church in association with Christ (verses 8 to 14). Thirdly, we have the prayer of the apostle that we may realise the greatness of the calling of God, the blessedness of the inheritance, and the mighty power that is fulfilling the purpose of God and bringing believers into the inheritance.
(1) The purpose of God for believers (Vv. 1-7)
(Vv. 1, 2). The apostle is about to unfold the great secrets of the will and purpose of God, and he is therefore careful to remind the saints that he is “an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God.” He is not sent by man, as the servant of man, to unfold the will of man. He is divinely equipped, and sent by Jesus Christ, according to the will of God in order to unfold His will.
Moreover, he addresses the Ephesian believers as “the saints ... and faithful in Christ Jesus”, implying that in the assembly at Ephesus there was a spiritual condition, characterised by faithfulness to the Lord, which prepared them to receive these profound communications. It is possible for a company of saints to be marked by much zeal and activity, and yet to be lacking in faithfulness to the Lord. Indeed, this was the condition into which this very same assembly fell in after years, so that the Lord has to say to them, in spite of all their zeal and toil, “I have against thee, that thou hast left thy first love … thou art fallen.” At the time the apostle wrote they were still, as a company, marked by faithfulness to the Lord. Moreover, beside a right condition of soul, if we are to profit by the Epistle, we shall need “grace” and “peace” from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, which the apostle desired for these saints.
(V. 3). After the introductory verses the apostle at once unfolds the blessing of believers according to the purpose of God, and therefore their highest blessings. In this great passage we learn the source of all our blessings, their character, the beginning of our blessings, and the end God has in view in so richly blessing us, and above all that the purposes of God are accomplished through Christ.
The source of all our blessing is found in the heart of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God has been perfectly revealed in Christ. In His pathway through this world as Man, He manifested the infinite holiness and power of God and the perfect grace and love of the Father. It is to the heart of God the Father thus revealed that we are privileged to trace all our blessings.
Then we are instructed as to the character of our blessings. The Father has “blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ.” The little word “all” tells us of the fulness of our blessings. Not a single blessing that Christ, as a Man, enjoyed has been kept back. We are blessed with “all” spiritual blessings. However much the profession of Christianity may confer outward benefits upon men, it ever remains true that Christian blessings are spiritual and not material, as with the nation of Israel. Our blessings are none the less real because they have a spiritual character. Sonship, acceptance, forgiveness — some of the blessings brought before us in this Scripture — are spiritual blessings beyond the reach of this world's wealth, but secured through Christ to the simplest believer in Him.
Further, the proper sphere of our blessings is not earth but heaven. We are blessed “in heavenly places”. On earth we may have little; in heaven we are richly blessed. All these spiritual and heavenly blessings are in connection with Christ, not in any wise because of our connection with Adam. They are “in Christ”. The blessings of the Jew were temporal, on earth, and in the line of Abraham: Christian blessings are spiritual, heavenly, and in Christ. Unlike earthly blessings they do not depend upon health, or riches, or position, or education, or nationality. They are outside the whole range of things earthly, and will remain in all their fulness when the life in time is finished and our path on earth is closed.
(V. 4). Then we learn not only the source and character of our blessings as coming from the heart of our God and Father, but we find that they had their beginning “before the foundation of the world”. Then it was in the far distant eternity, that we were chosen in Christ. This involves a sovereign choice entirely independent of all that we are in connection with Adam and his world, and which nothing that transpires in time can alter.
Moreover, we are permitted to see not only the beginning of our blessings before the foundation of the world, but also the great end that God has in view when the world shall have passed away. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world that in the ages to come we may be “before Him” for the satisfaction of His heart — “that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.” If it is God's purpose to have a people before Him for all eternity, they must be in a condition that is absolutely suited to Him; and to be suited to Him they must be like Him. Only that which is like God can suit God. Hence God will have us “holy and without blame” and “in love”. This is really what God is, and what was perfectly expressed in Christ as Man. He was holy in character, irreproachable in conduct, and in nature love. God, too, will have us before Him in a character that is perfectly holy, in conduct to which no blame can be attached, and with a nature that is love and can respond to love — the love of God. God is love, and love cannot be content without a response in the objects of love. God will surround Himself with those who, like Christ as Man, perfectly respond to His love, so that He can delight in us and we can delight in Him.
As faith receives these great truths, and looks on to the glorious end, it delights in all that has been revealed of the heart of God and of the efficacy of the work of Christ. Such is the Father's love, and such the virtue of Christ's work, that for all eternity we shall be before the Father's face holy and blameless, and therefore in the full unhindered enjoyment of divine love.
As we are thus permitted to look into eternity and see the vast vista of blessing that lies before us, this passing world, which so often appears to us so great and important, becomes very insignificant, while Christianity, seen in its true character according to God, becomes exceedingly great and blessed.
(V. 5). There are, moreover, special blessings to which believers are predestinated. Predestination always seems to have in view these special blessings. According to sovereign choice believers, in common with angels, will be before God holy and without blame. But, in addition to these blessings, believers have been predestinated to the special place of sonship. We are set in the same place of relationship with the Father as Christ is as Man, so that He can say, “My Father, and your Father”. Angels are servants before Him; we are sons “to Himself”.
This special place of relationship is “according to the good pleasure of His will”. Thus the blessing of verse 5 surpasses the blessing of verse 4. There it was sovereign choice that by grace makes us suited to Himself: here it is God's good pleasure that predestinates believers to the relationship of sons.
(V. 6). The way God has acted in predestinating us to this great place of blessing will resound “to the praise of the glory of His grace.” The riches of God's grace set us before Himself in suitability to Himself; the glory of His grace brings us into relationship with Himself, having taken us into favour in the Beloved. If we are accepted in the Beloved, we are accepted as the Beloved, with all the delight with which He has been received into glory.
(V. 7). The preceding verses have presented the purpose of God for believers; in this verse we are reminded of the way God has taken in order that we may partake of these blessings. We have been redeemed through Christ's blood, and our sins forgiven according to the riches of His grace. The riches of His grace meets all our need as sinners; the glory of His grace meets the good pleasure of God to bless us as saints. A rich man could bless a beggar out of the abundance of his riches, and this would be great grace, but if the rich man went further, and brought the poor man into his house and gave him the place of a son, it would not only be grace to the poor man, but to the honour and glory of the rich man. The riches of grace met the prodigal's need and clothed him with a robe from the father's house: the glory of grace gave him the place of a son in the house. The glory of God's grace has made believers sons, not servants.
(2) The revelation of the will of God for the glory of Christ and the blessing of the church (Vv. 8-14)
(Vv. 8, 9). Not only has God purposed us for blessing into which we shall be brought hereafter, and not only do we already possess the redemption of our souls and the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace, but this same grace has abounded towards us in order that we may have at the present time the knowledge of His purpose. God has made known to us the mystery of His will so that we may know the good pleasure that He has purposed in Himself.
It is God's will that the church, while here below, should be the depository of His counsels. God would have us to be wise and intelligent as to all that He is doing, and will yet do, for His good pleasure, for the glory of Christ, and for the blessing of the church. Having the mind of God would keep us calm in the presence of the world's unrest, and lift us above the sorrow and sin, as those who know the outcome of it all.
In Scripture a “mystery” is not necessarily that which is mysterious, but rather a secret that is made known to believers before it is publicly declared to the world. In the world we see man doing his own will according to his own pleasure, and hence all the sorrow and confusion. But it is the privilege of the believer to know the secrets of God, and therefore know that God is going to work all things according to His good pleasure, and that in the end His purposes will prevail.
(Vv. 10-12). The verses that follow unfold to us this mystery of God. We learn that there are two parts to this mystery. Firstly, there is God's purpose for Christ; secondly, there is that which God has purposed for the church in association with Christ.
It is God's pleasure, in the dispensation of the fulness of times, to gather together in one all things in Christ. The “fulness of times” would hardly refer to the eternal state, for then God will be all in all. It would seem to have in view the world to come — the Millennial day — when the full result of the ways of God in government will be seen in perfection. All the principles of government that have been committed to men at different times, and in which men have so completely failed, will be seen in perfection under the administration of Christ. The ruin of the times has been seen under the government of man; the “fulness”, or perfection, of the times, will be seen when Christ reigns. Then every created thing or being, in heaven and earth, will move under His control and at His direction. As a result, unity, harmony and peace will prevail. Such is the secret, or mystery, of the will of God for the glory of Christ.
Further, we are permitted to see that it is God's good pleasure that the church, in association with Christ, shall have part in this vast inheritance over which Christ will be the Head. In the eleventh verse the apostle says, “we have obtained an inheritance”, referring doubtless to believers from among the Jews. The Jewish nation had lost their earthly inheritance through rejecting Christ and pursuing their own will. The remnant of the Jews, who believed in Christ, obtained a more glorious inheritance in the world to come, according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will. Associated with Christ in His reign, believers will display His glory. In that day He will be “glorified” and “admired” in all that believe (2 Thess. 1: 10). The world and the whole creation will be blessed under Him.: the church will have her portion with Him. These believers from amongst the Jews had “pre-trusted” in Christ. They had trusted in Christ in the day of His rejection: the restored nation will trust Him in the day of His glory.
(V. 13). The “ye” of verse 13 brings in the Gentile believers to have part in the blessing of this glorious inheritance. They had believed the Gospel of their salvation, and had been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.
(V. 14). The “our” of verse 14 links believers together, from Jews and Gentiles. Such share in common this glorious inheritance. By the Spirit we enjoy a foretaste of the blessedness of the inheritance. This inheritance is a purchased possession — the price, the precious blood of Christ. All creation is His, for He is the Creator; and all is His by the right of purchase. Though all has been purchased, all has not yet been redeemed. He has purchased the inheritance by blood; He will redeem the inheritance by power. When He shall have delivered the whole creation from the enemy by His power, it will be to the praise of God's glory.
(3) The prayer that believers may know the hope of the calling and the glory of the inheritance (Vv. 15-23)
(V. 15). The prayer is introduced by setting before us the spiritual condition of the Ephesian saints — a condition which encouraged the apostle to give thanks, and pray without ceasing, on their behalf. Very blessedly, they were marked by “faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints.” Christ being the object of their faith, the saints became the object of their love. There can be no greater proof of living faith in Christ than practical love to the saints. Faith puts the soul in touch with Christ, and, being in touch with Him, the heart goes out to all whom He loves. The nearer we get to Christ, the more our affections go out to those that are His.
(V. 16). Hearing of their faith and love, the apostle is constrained to give thanks and pray without ceasing for these saints. If only occupied with the defects and failures of one another, we shall be overwhelmed and constantly complaining about the saints. If we look for, and are occupied with, what the grace of God has wrought in the saints, we shall have cause for thanksgiving, while, at the same time, we shall not be indifferent to what may need correction. The apostle never overlooked what was of Christ in the saints, though never indifferent to what was of the flesh. Even as to the Corinthians saints, in whom there was so much that called for correction, he can give thanks for what he saw of God in them. We, in our weakness, are apt to fall into one extreme or the other. In our anxiety to show love we may treat very lightly what is wrong; or, in our opposition to what is wrong, we may overlook what is of God.
The apostle had been unfolding the counsels of God to these saints, and the fact that he is constrained to pray is, in itself, a witness to the immensity of these counsels. They are beyond the power of mere human words to express, and beyond the power of the human mind to apprehend. The apostle realises that if these great truths are to affect us, the mere assertion of them is not sufficient. In writing to Timothy he says, “Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding.” So in this Epistle, Paul, led by the Spirit, can unfold to us the counsels of God, but he realises that only God can give understanding. Hence he turns to Him in prayer.
(V. 17). The apostle addresses “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ”, for, in this prayer, the Lord Jesus is viewed as Man. The prayer of Ephesians 3 is addressed to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for there the Lord is viewed as the Son. A further reason for the use of different Names in the two prayers may be that the apostle desires, in the first prayer, that we may know the power which carries out the counsels of God, for the Name of God is rightly connected with power; and the second prayer, being concerned with love, is very appropriately addressed to the Father.
In this prayer God is also addressed as “the Father of glory”, presenting the thought that the scene of glory to which we are going takes its character from the Father from whom it springs. His love and holiness will pervade that world of glory in which God will be perfectly displayed. While the Father is the spring and source of glory, the Lord Jesus, as Man, is the centre and object of glory. In Him all the power of God is displayed, His Name is above every name, and He is Head over all things to the church.
To enter into the truths which form the subject of the apostle's prayer, we need the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Christ. All the wisdom of God and all the revelation of God's will are made known in Christ. Hence we need the full knowledge of Christ to enter into the wisdom of God, the revelation that God has made known of Himself, and of His counsels.
(v. 18). Further, the knowledge of Christ for which the apostle prays, is no mere intellectual knowledge, but a heart acquaintance with a Person, for he says (as the text should read), “being enlightened in the eyes of your heart”. Again and again we see in Scripture, and learn by experience, that God teaches through the affections. It was so in the case of the poor, sinful woman of Luke 7, who “loved much” and quickly learned. It was so in the case of a devoted saint, Mary Magdalene, in John 20. Her affection for Christ was apparently more in activity on the resurrection day than that of Peter and John, and to this loving heart the Lord revealed Himself, and gave the wonderful revelation of the new position of His brethren in relationship with the Father.
With these introductory desires, the apostle makes the three great requests of the prayer:
Firstly, that we may know the hope of God's calling.
Secondly, that we may know the riches of the glory of God's inheritance in the saints.
Thirdly, that we may know the power that will bring to pass the purpose of the calling and bring the saints into the inheritance.
The calling is above in relation to divine Persons in heaven: the inheritance is below in relation to created things on earth. As we learn from Philippians 3: 14, the calling is on high, of God, and in Christ. The source of the call is God; therefore it is referred to here as “His calling”. It is unfolded to us in verses 3 to 6 of this chapter. According to the divine call, we are blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, we are chosen in Christ by the Father to be before God, suited to Him, “holy and without blame before Him in love”, for the joy and satisfaction of His heart. Moreover, the calling tells us that we shall be before God, not as servants — like the angels — but as sons before His face. Further, the calling tells us that we shall be in God's everlasting favour, accepted in the Beloved. Lastly, we learn in the calling that we are going to be for the eternal praise of the glory of God's grace.
To sum up the calling as presented in these wonderful verses, it means that we are chosen and called on high to heavenly blessing, to be like Christ and with Christ before the Father, in relationship with the Father, in the everlasting favour of the Father, and for the eternal praise of the glory of His grace.
This is the calling about which the apostle prays, and as to which we may well pray that we may enter into its blessedness, and know what is “the hope of His calling”. Here the hope has no reference to the coming of the Lord. As the saints are viewed in this Epistle as seated in the heavenlies, there is no allusion to the coming of the Lord. The “hope” is, as one has said, “the full revelation in the eternal glory of all that God has called us into in Christ, as the fruit of His counsels of a past eternity.”
Secondly, the apostle prays that we may know “the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.” It has been said, “In His calling we look above; the inheritance, as it were, stretches out beneath our feet.” The inheritance is presented in verses 10 and 11 of this chapter. There we learn that the inheritance embraces every created thing in heaven and earth over which Christ will be the glorious Head. In Him the church will obtain an inheritance, for we shall reign with Him. In the prayer the inheritance is referred to as “His inheritance in the saints”. A kingdom does not consist merely of a king and territory, but of a king and his subjects. Moreover, “the riches of the glory of His inheritance” will be set forth in the saints. In that day He will be “glorified in His saints”, and “admired in all them that believe” (2 Thess. 1: 10).
(V. 19). Thirdly, the apostle prays that we may know the power that is toward us by which these great things will be brought to pass. This power is spoken of as a “mighty power”, and as “working”, and therefore active towards us at the present time. It is an “exceeding” or “surpassing” power (N.T.). There are other and great powers in the universe, but the power that is “working” towards us surpasses every other power, whether it be the power of the flesh in us, or the power of the devil against us. What a comfort to know that in all our weakness there is a surpassing power toward us and working for us.
(Vv. 20, 21). Moreover, it is a power that has not only been revealed to us in a statement, but has been put forth in the resurrection of Christ. The world and Satan were permitted to put forth their greatest display of power — the power of death — when they nailed Christ to the cross. Then, when the devil and the world had expressed their power to the utmost degree, God set forth His surpassing power by raising Christ from the dead, and setting Him as Man in the highest place in the universe, even at His own right hand. In this exalted position, Christ has been set above every other power, whether spiritual principalities and powers, or temporal might and dominion. There are names named for the government of this world, and the world to come, but Christ has a Name above every name — He is King of kings, and Lord of lords.
(V. 22). Furthermore, Christ is not only over every power, but all evil will be put under His feet. Such is the mighty expression of the power that will not only bring us to share with Christ this exalted place of glory, but which is toward us on our way to glory.
Then we learn another great truth: the One in whom all power has been set forth, who is set in a position above every power, who has power to put down all evil, is the One who is Head over all things to the church.
In relation to all the powers of the universe He is set “far above” every power. In reference to evil, all is subdued under His feet. In relation to the church, His body, He is Head, and Head to direct in all things. Thus it is the privilege of the church to look to Christ for guidance and direction in relation to all things. In the presence of every opposing power, and all evil, we have a resource in Christ our Head. He may indeed use gifts, and leaders, to instruct and guide, but it is to the Head we should look and not simply to the poor weak vessels that in His grace He may see fit to use.
(V. 23). In verse 22 we learn what Christ is to the church — what the Head is to the body. In verse 23 we learn what the church is to Christ — what the body is to the Head. The church is the fulness of Him that filleth all in all. The church, as His body, is for the display of all the fulness of the Head. Christ is to be set forth in the church. Nothing could be more wonderful than the place the church has in relation to Christ. One has said, it is His body “filled with His love, energised with His mind, working out His thoughts, as our bodies work out our thoughts and the purposes of our minds.” Alas! having failed to give Christ His place as Head over all things to the church, we have, as a necessary result, failed to set forth the fulness of Christ.
In all this great prayer the apostle is looking for a present effect upon the lives of the saints. The calling and the inheritance are secured to us, so the apostle does not pray that we may have the hope and the inheritance, but that we may know what they are. Thus the knowledge of what is coming is to have a present effect upon our lives and ways, delivering us, in the power of resurrection life, from the flesh and every opposing power, and separating us in spirit from this present world.
3
God's Work in Carrying Out His Purpose
(Ephesians 2)
In Ephesians 1 there are revealed to us the counsels of God for Christ and the church, closing with the prayer of the apostle that we may know the power to us-ward by which these counsels of love will be fulfilled.
In Ephesians 2 we are permitted to learn, firstly, how the power of God works in us (Vv. 1-10), and, secondly, God's ways with us (Vv. 11-22), for the formation of the assembly in time in order to fulfil His counsels for us.
(1) The work of God in the believer (Vv. 1-10)
(Vv. 1-3). The chapter opens by presenting a solemn picture of the condition and position into which man had fallen under the old creation. The first two verses present the condition of the Gentile world, while verse 3 brings the Jew into this solemn picture. “We” Jews, says the apostle, “were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.”
Jew and Gentile are seen to be dead to God in trespasses and sins, but alive to the course of an evil world under the power of the devil — the prince of the power of the air. Thus man is disobedient to God, fulfilling the lusts of the flesh and the mind, and by nature under the judgment of God.
The Jew, though in a place of external privilege, proved by his lusts that he had a fallen nature and was on common ground with the Gentile. Both Jew and Gentile are dead to God. In the Epistle to the Romans we are viewed as under the sentence of death as the result of what we have done — our sins. Here we are viewed as already dead to God as the result of what we are — as having a fallen nature. This condition of death is not, however, a condition of irresponsibility, for the apostle describes man as “walking”, having “conversation” and fulfilling his lusts. It is to God that man is dead. To the influences of the world, the flesh and the devil, he is actively alive. Moreover, the devil has obtained mastery over man through his disobedience to God, and the fallen nature we have is the result of that disobedience — we are children of disobedience.
(V. 4). If all the world is dead to God, there is no possibility of man extricating himself from such a condition. A dead man can do nothing in regard to the one to whom he is dead. Any blessing for a dead man must wholly depend upon God. This prepares the way for the activities of the love of God. The truth presented is not so much our entering into these things experimentally, but rather the way God works, according to His own love to satisfy Himself.
In the first three verses we see man acting according to his fallen nature, bringing himself under judgment. In the verses that follow we have, in direct contrast, God presented as acting according to His nature, bringing man into blessing. When man acts according to his nature, he acts without reference to God from motives of lust in his own heart. When God acts according to His nature, He acts without reference to man, and from motives of love in His heart. God's love works in us when “dead in sins”, not when we began to awaken to a sense of our need, nor when we responded to that love.
Four qualities of God come before us — love, mercy, kindness and grace (verses 4 and 7). Love is the nature of God, the spring of all His actions, and the source of all our blessings. If God acts according to the love of His heart, the blessing that results can only be measured by His love. The question, then, is not what measure of blessing will meet our needs, but what is the height of blessing that will satisfy the love of God. Grace is love in activity towards unworthy objects, and goes out towards all. Mercy is shown to the individual sinner. Kindness is the bestowal of blessings upon the believer. God acts, then, “because of His great love”, not because of anything that we are. who can measure His “great love”, and who can measure the blessing that is according to that love?
(V. 5). This love is first expressed to us in the activities of grace that quicken us, as individuals, with Christ. If we are dead there can be no movement on our side towards God. The first movement must come from God. A new life has been imparted to us, but it is a life in association with Christ. It is a life which, in fact, is the life of Him with whom we are quickened. Thus our condition by grace is the exact opposite of our condition by nature. We were dead to God with the world by nature, we are now alive to God with Christ by grace.
(V. 6). But not only is our condition changed, our position is also changed. Quickening is the communication of life; resurrection brings the one who is quickened into the place of the living. This place is set forth in Christ. Jewish and Gentiles believers are raised up together and made to sit together in the heavenlies in Christ. Quickening is “with Him”, but risen and seated is “in Him”. Actually we are not yet raised and seated in the heavenlies. Nevertheless, we are before God in this new position in the Person of our representative. We are represented “in Christ”.
(V. 7). Having reached the height of the Christian position, we are now told the glorious purpose that God has in view in thus acting towards us in love. It is that “He might display in the coming ages the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.” God, as it were, says, “In the coming ages I am going to show what is the fruit of Christ's work, and what is the purpose of My heart.” It is obvious that nothing but the highest condition and position in which a man can be found is adequate for such great ends. When angels and principalities “see a poor sinner, and the whole church, in the same glory as the Son of God, they will understand the exceeding riches of the grace that has set them there.”
(Vv. 8, 9). All is brought to pass by the grace of God, and every blessing we enjoy is the gift of God. The very faith by which salvation is received is the gift of God. The works of man have no place in securing this blessedness; all is of God, and hence there is no room for man to boast.
(V. 10). This leads to a further truth. Not only are our works shut out — for God has done all the work — but we also are His workmanship, and, as such, we form part of a new creation in Christ Jesus. If, however, the works of the law are excluded as a means of salvation, we are not to infer that works have no place in the Christian life. There are indeed works suited to the place of blessing into which we are brought, which God has before prepared that we should walk in them. These works will come before us in the later part of the Epistle, in which we are exhorted to walk worthy of the vocation, and to walk in love, to walk as children of light, and to walk carefully (Ephesians 4: 1; Ephesians 5: 2, 8, 15).
The “good works”, of which this verse speaks, are more than doing a good work, which it would be possible for a natural man, whose walk is anything but good, to do. Here believers are viewed as not only doing good works, but as walking in them. Moreover, the good works are prepared of God and lead to a godly walk.
(2) The work of God with believers (Vv. 11-22)
The great theme of chapter 2 is the formation of the church in time in view of God's counsels for eternity. The early part of the chapter unfolds to us the work of God in us individually, whether Jew or Gentile; the latter part presents the work of God with Jewish and Gentile believers, in order to unite them together in “one body” and one house for the dwelling place of God.
(Vv. 11, 12). Before setting forth the present position of believers in Christ, the apostle contrasts the former position of Gentiles in the flesh with their new place. So far from the church being the aggregate of all believers from the beginning of the world, there existed in times past (the times before the cross) a God-appointed distinction between Jew and Gentile which, as long as it existed, made the existence of the church impossible.
The apostle reminds the Gentile believers that, at that time, there existed very sharp distinctions between Jew and Gentile. In the ways of God on earth the Jew enjoyed nationally a place of outward privilege to which the Gentiles were entire strangers. Israel formed an earthly commonwealth, with earthly promises and earthly hopes, and were in outward relationship with God. Their religious worship, their political organisation, their social relations, from the highest act of worship to the smallest detail of life, were regulated by the ordinances of God. This was an immense privilege in which the Gentiles, as such, had no part. It was not that the Jews were any better than the Gentiles, for, in the sight of God, the great mass of the Jews were as bad as the Gentiles, and some even worse. On the other hand, there were individual Gentiles, such as Job, who were truly converted men. In the ways of God on earth, however, He separated Israel from the Gentiles, and gave them a special place of privilege, for, even if unconverted, (as was the case with the mass), it was an immense privilege to have all their affairs regulated according to the perfect wisdom of God. The Gentiles had no such position in the world, not enjoying public recognition of God, nor having their affairs regulated by divine ordinances. Indeed, the very ordinances that regulated the life of the Jew sternly kept Jew and Gentile apart. The Jew, therefore, had a place of outward nearness to God, while the Gentile was outwardly afar off.
Israel, however, entirely failed to answer to their privileges, turning from Jehovah to idols. The commandments and ordinances of God, which gave them their unique position, they wholly disregarded. The prophets, through whom God sought to appeal to their conscience, they stoned. Their own Messiah, who came into their midst in lowly grace, they crucified; and they resisted the Holy Spirit who bore witness to a risen and glorified Christ. As a result, they have lost, for the time being, their special place of privilege on earth, and have been scattered among the nations.
(V. 13). The setting aside of Israel prepares the way for the great change in the ways of God on earth. The vivid glimpse into the past, given by the Spirit of God in verses 11 and 12, makes by contrast the position of believers in the present the more striking. Following upon the rejection of Israel, God, in the pursuit of His ways, has brought to light the church, and has thus established an entirely new circle of blessing wholly outside the Jewish and Gentile circles.
This new position of believers no longer views them as in the flesh, but in Christ. Therefore the apostle commences to speak of this new position with the words, “But now in Christ ... ”, and proceeds to draw a contrast with the former position in the flesh. In connection with the flesh, the Gentile was outwardly far off from God, and the Jew, though outwardly near, was morally as far off as the Gentile. Speaking to the Jews, the Lord has to say, “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth ... but their heart is far from Me” (Matthew 15: 8).
The apostle then proceeds to show how God has wrought to form the church. Firstly, believers are “made nigh by the blood of Christ”, the Gentiles being brought from the place of distance, in which sin had put them, into the place of nearness set forth in Christ. This is not a mere outward nearness by means of ordinances and ceremonies, but a vital nearness that is seen in Christ Himself, risen from the dead and appearing before the face of God for us. Thus it is said, “In Christ Jesus ye … are made nigh by the blood of Christ.” Our sins put us far off; the precious blood of Christ washes away our sins and makes us nigh. The blood of Christ declares the enormity of the sin which demanded such a price to take it away; it proclaims the holiness of God that could be satisfied with no less a price, and reveals the love that could pay the price. It is not only that the believer can draw nigh to God, but that in Christ he is “made nigh”.
(V. 14). Secondly, Jewish and Gentile believers are “made both one”. None can overestimate the importance of being made nigh by the blood; but, for the formation of the church, more is needed. The church is not simply a number of believers “made nigh”, for this will be true of every blood-bought saint from every age: it is formed of believers from among Jews and Gentiles “made both one”. This Christ has accomplished by His death. In a double sense “He is our peace.” He is our peace between God and the believer; and He is our peace between Jewish and Gentile believers.
(V. 15). In His death Christ removed “the law of commandments” which was the cause of distance between God and man, and between Jew and Gentile. The law, while promising life for those who kept it, condemned those who broke it. Seeing that all have broken the law, it inevitably brought condemnation to those under it, and thus put men at a distance from God. Moreover, it raised a sharp barrier — a middle wall — between Jew and Gentile. Until this barrier was removed there could be neither peace between God and men nor between Jew and Gentile. In the cross the condemnation of the broken law has been borne, and thus the enmity between men and God, and Jew and Gentile, has been removed. The peace that is the result is set forth in Christ; He is our peace. We look back to the cross and see that everything between God and our souls — sin, sins, the curse of a broken law and judgment — was there between God and Christ, our Substitute; we look up and see Christ in the glory with nothing between God and Christ but the everlasting peace He has made, and therefore nothing between God and the believer. Our peace is set forth in Christ, who is “our peace”.
Moreover, Christ represents both Jewish and Gentile believers; therefore He is our peace as between ourselves: we are made one. In the cross Christ has entirely abolished the law of ordinances as a means of approach to God, and made a new way of approach by His blood. The Jew who approaches God on the ground of the blood has done with Jewish ordinances. The Gentile is brought from his place of distance from God, the Jew away from his dispensational nearness, and both are made one in the enjoyment of a common blessing before God never before possessed by either. The Gentile believers are not raised to the level of Jewish privileges, nor are the Jews degraded to the Gentile level; both are brought on to entirely new ground on an immeasurably higher plane.
Thirdly, believers from Jews and Gentiles are made into “one new man”. We have already seen that they are “made both one”, but this does not express the full truth of the church. Had the apostle stopped here, we should indeed have seen that believers are made nigh by the blood, and made one as having all enmity removed, but we might have been left with the thought that we are made one company in happy unity. This indeed is blessedly true, but it is far short of the full truth as to the church. So the apostle proceeds further and tells us not only that we are “made nigh”, and “made both one”, but that we are made “one new man”. The expression “new man” tells of a new order of man, marked by the beauty and heavenly graces of Christ. No one Christian is adequate to set forth the graces of Christ; it requires the whole church to set forth the new man.
(V. 16). Fourthly, there is the further truth that believers are formed into “one body”. Believers, from Jews and Gentiles, are not only united to set forth the graces of the new man, Christ characteristically in all His moral excellencies, but they are also formed into one body. This is more than a company of people in unity: it is a company of people in union. They are united to one another by the Spirit in order that they may be a corporate body on earth to set forth the new man. Thus, not only have Jewish and Gentile believers been reconciled to each other, but, as formed into one body, they are reconciled to God. It would not suit the heart of God for the Gentile to be far off, nor for the Jew to be outwardly near; but God can rest with delight as having formed Jewish and Gentile believers into one body by the cross, which has not only removed all that caused enmity between Jewish and Gentile believers, but also enmity towards God.
(V. 17). All this blessed truth has been brought to us by the Gospel of peace preached to the Gentiles who were far off, and to the Jews who were dispensationally near. We can understand why the preaching is introduced at this point in a passage that speaks of the formation of the church. The apostle has just spoken of the cross, for without the cross there could be no preaching, and without the preaching there could be no church. Christ is looked at as the Preacher, though the Gospel He preaches is proclaimed instrumentally through others.
(V. 18). There is the further truth of great blessedness that by one Spirit we both (Jew and Gentile) have access to the Father. The distance is not only removed on God's side; it is also removed on our side. By the work of Christ on the cross God can draw near to us preaching peace; and by the work of the Spirit in us we can draw near to the Father. The cross gives us our title to draw nigh; the Spirit enables us to use our title and practically draw near to the Father. If access is by the Spirit, then, clearly, there is no room for the flesh. The Spirit excludes the flesh in every form. It is not by buildings, or ritual, or organs, or choirs, or through a special class of men, that we gain access to the Father. It is by the Spirit, and further it is by “one Spirit”, and therefore in the Father's presence all is of one accord.
We see, then, in this great passage, firstly, the two classes of which the church is composed, those who were once outwardly near and those who were once far off. Secondly, we see that God has made them one new man, and He has made them into one body. Thirdly, we learn the way in which God has accomplished this great work — by the blood of Christ, “by the cross”, by the preaching, and by the Spirit.
(Vv. 19-22). Thus far we have viewed the church as the body of Christ, but in the ways of God on earth the church is viewed in other aspects, two of which are brought before us in the closing verses of the chapter. Firstly, the church is viewed as growing unto “an holy temple in the Lord”; secondly, as “an habitation of God”.
In the first aspect the church is likened to a progressive building, growing unto an holy temple in the Lord. The apostles and prophets form the foundations, Christ Himself being the chief Cornerstone. Throughout the Christian dispensation, believers are being added stone by stone until the last believer is built in, and the completed building displayed in glory. This is the building of which the Lord says in Matthew 16, “I will build My assembly, and hades' gates shall not prevail against it.” Christ is the Builder, not man, hence all is perfect, and none but living stones form part of this holy structure. Peter gives us the spiritual significance of this building when he tells us that the living stones are built up a spiritual house to offer up spiritual sacrifices to God, and to shew forth the excellencies of God (1 Peter 2: 5, 9). In Revelation 21 John sees a vision of the completed building descending out of heaven from God, radiant with the glory of God. Then, indeed, from that glorious building unceasing sacrifices of praise will rise up to God, and a perfect testimony to the excellencies of God will go forth to man.
Then the apostle, still using the figure of a building, presents another aspect of the church (verse 22). After having viewed the saints as being built into a growing temple, he then views them as forming a house, already complete, for a habitation of God through the Spirit. All believers on earth, at any given moment, are looked at as forming the habitation of God. Jewish and Gentile believers are “builded together” to form this habitation. The dwelling place of God is marked by light and love. Therefore, when the apostle comes to the practical part of the Epistle, he exhorts us to “walk in love” and to “walk as children of light” (Ephesians 5: 2, 8). The house of God is thus a place of blessing and testimony, a place where saints are blessed with the favour and love of God, and, as so blessed, they become a testimony to the world around. In Ephesians the habitation of God is presented according to the mind of God, and therefore only what is real is contemplated. Other Scriptures will show, alas, how, in the hands of men, the habitation has been corrupted, until at last we read that “judgment must begin at the house of God” (1 Peter 4: 17).
We have, therefore, in the chapter a threefold presentation of the church:
Firstly, the church is viewed as the body of Christ, composed of Jewish and Gentile believers united to Christ in glory, thus forming one new man for the display of all that Christ is as the risen Man, the Head over all things. Let us remember that the church is not only “one body”, but it is “His body”, even as we read, “the church, which is His body”. As His body, the church is His fulness, filled with all that He is in order to express all that He is. The church, His body, is to be the expression of His mind, just as our bodies give expression to what is in our minds.
Secondly, the church is presented as growing unto a temple composed of all the saints of the whole Christian period, wherein sacrifices of praise ascend to God, and the excellencies of God are displayed to men.
Thirdly, the church is viewed as a complete building on earth, composed of all saints at any given moment, forming the habitation of God for blessing to His people and testimony to the world.
4
God's Way in Making Known His Purpose
(Ephesians 3)
We have seen that Ephesians 1 presents the counsels of God as to the church, while Ephesians 2 presents the work of God in and with believers to fulfil His counsels. Ephesians 3 presents the administration of the truth of the church, or the way that God has taken to make known the truth to the Gentiles through the instrumentality of the apostle Paul.
Comparing Ephesians 3: 1 with Ephesians 4: 1, it will be clearly seen that Ephesians 3 is parenthetical. Ephesians 2 presents the doctrine and Ephesians 4 the practice consistent with the doctrine. Between the doctrine and the practice we have this important digression in which the Holy Spirit presents the special administration, or service, committed to the apostle. In the second verse this service is referred to as “the dispensation of the grace of God”, and in verse 9 as “the fellowship of the mystery”. In both verses the word is the same in the original language. The best translation is “administration”, an administration being a particular service. This service was to proclaim the Gospel and make known the truth among the saints. In the course of this parenthesis we have the presentation of further great truths in connection with the church.
(1) The effect of ministering the truth of the church
(Vv. 1, 2). The apostle tells us that the immediate effect of ministering the truth of the church was to bring the one who proclaimed it into reproach with the religious world. This great truth aroused the special hostility of the Jew, inasmuch as it not only viewed Jew and Gentile in the same position before God — dead in trespasses and sins — but it in no wise exalted the Jew to a place of blessing above the Gentile. Moreover, as the truth of the church set aside the whole Jewish system, with its appeal to the natural man by means of an outward worship in temples made with hands, it raised the opposition of those who upheld that system. As then, so now, the maintenance of the truth of the church as revealed to, and ministered by, the apostle Paul will involve reproach and opposition from those who seek to maintain an outward religious profession, or an ecclesiastical system after the Jewish pattern.
It was, then, the carrying out of this special service, which proclaimed the Gospel of the grace of God to the Gentiles, that raised the malice of the prejudiced Jew and brought the apostle into prison. In the estimation of the Jew, a man who could talk of going to the Gentiles was not fit to live (Acts 22: 21, 22). Paul, however, did not view himself as a prisoner of men for any wrong-doing, but as a prisoner of Jesus Christ because of his service of love in making known the truth to the Gentiles.
(2) The truth of the church made known by revelation
(Vv. 3, 4). In order that we may receive the great truth of the church on divine authority, the apostle is careful to explain that he acquired his knowledge of “the mystery” of the church, not through communications from men, but by direct revelation from God, even as he says, “By revelation He made known unto me the mystery.” This meets a difficulty that may rise in connection with the truth of the mystery. When Paul preached the Gospel in the Jewish synagogues he invariably appealed to the Scriptures (see Acts 13: 27, 29, 32, 35, 47; Acts 17: 2, etc.), and the Jews of Berœa are expressly commended inasmuch as they searched the Scriptures to see if the word preached by Paul was in accord with them. But directly the apostle ministered the truth of the church, he could no longer appeal to the Old Testament for confirmation. It would be useless for his hearers to search the Scriptures to see if these things were so. The unbelief of the Jews made it difficult for them to accept many truths that were in their Scriptures, even as Nicodemus failed to grasp the truth of the new birth, but to accept something that was not there, and which set aside the whole Jewish system that was there and had existed with the sanction of God for centuries, was to the Jew, as such, an insuperable difficulty.
Many Christians can hardly appreciate this difficulty, inasmuch as the truth of the church is largely obscured in their minds, or even totally lost. Viewing the church as the aggregate of believers through all time, they have no difficulty in finding what they believe to be the church in the Old Testament. That this has been the thought of godly men is amply proved by the headings that have been given to many Old Testament chapters in the Authorised Version. Accept, however, the truth of the church as unfolded in the Epistle to the Ephesians, and at once we are faced with this difficulty which can only be met by the fact that the truth of the church is an entirely fresh revelation.
(V. 5). This great truth, which Paul received by revelation, he speaks of as “the mystery”, and again in verse 4 as “the mystery of the Christ”. In using the term “mystery” the apostle does not wish to convey the thought of anything mysterious — a purely human use of the word. In Scripture a mystery is something which has hitherto been kept secret, that could not be otherwise known than by revelation, and when revealed can only be apprehended by faith. The apostle proceeds to explain that this mystery was not made known to the sons of men in the Old Testament days, but now is made known by revelation unto Christ's “holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit”. The prophets referred to in this verse are clearly not Old Testament prophets, but rather those referred to in Ephesians 2: 20. In both cases the order is “apostles and prophets”, not “prophets and apostles”, as might be expected had the reference been to prophets of the Old Testament. Moreover, the apostle is speaking of what is “now” revealed, in contrast with what was formerly revealed.
(3) The truth of the church thus revealed
(V. 6). Having shown that the truth of the church was made known by revelation, the apostle, in a brief passage, sums up the truth of the church, and explains why it is referred to as “the mystery”. Clearly the mystery is not the Gospel, which was not hidden in other ages, for the Old Testament is full of allusions to the coming Saviour, however little these allusions were understood.
What, then, is the mystery? We are plainly told, in verse 6, that this new revelation is that the Gentiles “should be joint heirs, and a joint body, and joint partakers of His promise in Christ Jesus by the glad tidings.” The Gentiles are made joint heirs with the Jews, not only in Christ's earthly kingdom, but in the inheritance that includes both things in heaven and things on earth. And more, the Gentile believers are formed with Jewish believers into a joint body of which Christ is the Head in heaven. Moreover, they jointly partake of God's promises in Christ Jesus. The Gentile is not raised to the Jewish level on earth, nor is the Jew brought down to the Gentile level, both are taken off their old standing and raised to an immeasurably higher plane, united to one another on entirely new ground, even heavenly ground in Christ. All this is brought to pass by the Gospel which addresses both on one common level of guilt and utter ruin. The three great facts referred to in this verse have already come before us in Ephesians 1. The promise in Christ includes all the blessings unfolded in the first seven verses of that chapter, the inheritance is opened out before us in verses 8 to 21, and the truth of the “one body” in verses 22 and 23.
(4) The truth revealed to and ministered by Paul
(V. 7). Not only was the mystery revealed to Paul; he was also made the minister of the truth. The mystery was also revealed to the other apostles (verse 5) but to him was committed the special service of ministering this truth to the saints. Hence, only in the Epistles of Paul do we find any unfolding of the mystery. The grace of God had given this ministry to the apostle; the power of God enabled him to exercise the gift of grace. God's gifts can only be used in God's power.
(V. 8). Moreover, the apostle tells us the effect that this great truth had upon himself. In the presence of the greatness of God's grace he sees that he is the chief of sinners (1 Timothy 1: 15): in the presence of the immense vista of blessing unfolded by the mystery he feels that he is less than the least of all saints. The greater the glories that are opened to our vision, the smaller we become in our own eyes. The man who had the largest apprehension of this great mystery, in all its vast extent, was the man who owned that he was less than the least of all saints.
In order to fulfil his ministry, the apostle not only proclaimed the irretrievable ruin of man, but the unsearchable riches of Christ, riches beyond all human computation, carrying blessings that have no limit.
(5) The end in view in the ministry of the truth
(Vv. 9-11). The preaching of the Gospel was in view of the second part of Paul's service — to enlighten all with the knowledge of the mystery, to show all men how the counsel of God from eternity to eternity is brought about in time by the formation of the assembly on earth, and thus to bring to light that which has hitherto been hidden in God from the foundation of the world.
Further, not only would God have all men enlightened as to the formation of the assembly on earth, but it is His intent that now all the heavenly beings should learn in the church His manifold wisdom. These heavenly beings had seen the creation come fresh from the hand of God, and, as they beheld His wisdom in creation, they shouted for joy. Now in the formation of the church they see “the all-various wisdom of God”. Creation was the most perfect expression of creatorial wisdom, but in the formation of the church God's wisdom is displayed in every form. Before the church could be formed, God's glory had to be vindicated, man's need met, sin put away, death abolished, and the power of Satan annulled. The barrier between Jew and Gentile had to be removed, heaven be opened, Christ be seated as Man in the glory, the Holy Spirit come to earth, and the Gospel be preached. All this and more is involved in the formation of the church. These various ends could only be attained by the all-various wisdom of God, wisdom displayed, not only in one direction, but in every direction. Nor has the failure of the church in its responsibilities altered the fact that in the church the angels learn the wisdom of God. On the contrary, it only makes more manifest the marvellous wisdom that, rising above all man's failure, overcoming every obstacle, at last brings the church to glory “according to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
(6) The practical effect of ministering the truth
(Vv. 12, 13). The apostle turns aside from the unfolding of the mystery to give a brief word as to its practical effect. These wonders are not unrolled before our vision simply to be admired, admirable indeed as they are. The mystery is also exceedingly practical when rightly apprehended and acted upon. To act in the light of the truth will make us at home in God's world, but will put us outside man's world. As the blind man of John 9, when cast out by the religious world, finds himself in the presence of the Son of God, so the apostle, while in man's prison on earth, has access to the Father's presence in heaven.
Christ Jesus, the One through whom all these eternal purposes will be fulfilled, is the One by whom we have access to the Father with confidence. If this great truth gives us boldness and makes us at home in the Father's presence, in the world it will lead to tribulation. This Paul found, but he says, “Faint not at my tribulations.” To accept the truth of the mystery — to walk in the light of it — will at once put us outside the religious world. Act upon this truth, and at once we shall meet with opposition from the Christian profession. It will be, as it was with Paul, a continual conflict, and especially with all that judaizes.
Opposition there must be, for these great truths entirely undermine the worldly constitution of every man-made religious system. Is the truth of the mystery, with the knowledge of which Paul sought to enlighten all men, proclaimed from the pulpits of Christendom, holiness conventions, or even from evangelical platforms? Is the truth of the mystery, involving the total ruin of man, the utter rejection of Christ by the world, the session of Christ in the glory, the presence of the Holy Spirit on earth, the separation of the believer from the world, and the calling of the saints to heaven — is this great truth proclaimed, or acted upon, in the national churches and religious denominations of Christendom? Alas! it has no place in their creeds, their prayers or their teaching. Nay, more, and worse, it is denied by their very constitution, their teaching and their practice.
(7) The prayer that these truths may be made good in the believer
(Vv. 14-21). The great truths unfolded in these chapters very naturally lead to the second prayer of the apostle. In the second chapter of the Epistle the apostle has unfolded the great truth that believers, from amongst Jews and Gentiles, have been builded together to form the dwelling place of God. In the third chapter the apostle has presented the truth of the mystery, showing that believers, also taken from Jews and Gentiles, are brought on to entirely new ground to form a joint-body in Christ. We then learn that this mystery has been disclosed to the intent that the manifold wisdom of God should now be displayed, according to the eternal purpose which God purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord (Ephesians 3: 10, 11).
Having this great end in view, the apostle turns to the Father in prayer, that the saints may be in a right spiritual condition to enter into the fulness of God. To bring about this spiritual condition in the saints we see, in the course of the prayer, that every divine Person is engaged in connection with the saints. The Father is the source of all blessing, the Spirit strengthens us that the Christ may dwell in us to fill us with the fulness of God, so that God may be glorified by being displayed in the saints now, and throughout all ages.
(V. 14). As the prayer has in view the eternal purpose which has been “purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord”, it is addressed to “the Father” who is the source of these eternal counsels. For the same reason there is no mention of death or resurrection in the prayer. The eternal counsels were all settled before death came in, and the complete fulfilment of these counsels, to which the prayer looks on, will be in a scene where death can never enter.
(V. 15). This new scene of glory being in view, we are told that in this coming world of blessing every family in heaven and earth will be named of the Father. In the first creation all the animals were passed before Adam, who gave them names that set forth the distinguishing characteristics to be displayed in each family. So in connection with the eternal counsels for the new creation, every family in heaven and earth — angelic beings, the church in heaven, and the saints on earth — will be named of the Father, and thus each family has its distinguishing character according to the eternal counsels of the Father.
The prayer is therefore in view of all that will be brought to light in eternal ages, according to the counsels of God before the foundation of the world — a scene of which the Father is the source of all, the Son the centre of all, and every family in heaven and earth displays some special glory of the Father.
(V. 16). The first request is that the Father would grant us according to the riches of His glory to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man. The apostle does not say “according to the riches of His grace”, as in Ephesians 1: 7, but “according to the riches of His glory”, because the prayer is not connected with meeting our need, but rather with the fulfilment of the counsels of the Father's heart.
In the prayer of chapter 1 the request is that we may know the power of God toward us; here it is that we may have the power in us to strengthen us in the inner man. The outer man is the visible, natural man by which we are in touch with the things of the world. The inner man is the unseen and spiritual man, formed by the work of the Spirit in us, and by which we are in touch with unseen and eternal things. Just as the outer man needs to be strengthened by material things of this life, so the inner man needs to be strengthened by the Spirit to enter into the spiritual blessings of the new world of God's counsels.
(V. 17). The second request is that the Christ may dwell in our hearts by faith. The first request leads to the second, for only as we are strengthened by the Spirit will Christ dwell in our hearts by faith. The effect of the Spirit, who has come from the Father, working in our souls, will be to fill us with the Father's thoughts of Christ — to think with the Father about the Son.
The request is not that we may be strengthened with might to perform some miracle, or to undertake some arduous work, but that a spiritual condition may be wrought in our souls by Christ dwelling in our hearts by faith. The power of the world around us, of the flesh within us, and the devil against us, is so great, that, if Christ is to have His true place in our hearts it will only be as we are strengthened by the Spirit in the inner man.
Moreover, the prayer is that the Christ may “dwell” in our hearts. We are not to treat Him as a visitor to be entertained on some special occasion, but as One who has an abiding place in our hearts. This can only be by faith, for faith looks out to Christ, and as He is before us as an object He will have a dwelling-place in our hearts. The One who is the centre of all God's counsels will thus become the centre of our thoughts. As one has said, “The supreme object to God becomes the supreme object to us.” What a witness for God we each should be if our lives were governed by one engrossing object, and that object Christ! Too often we are like Martha of old, distracted with “much serving”, and “careful and troubled about many things”. “One thing” only is “needful”, to have Christ as the sole Object of our lives, then service and all else will follow without distraction. May we, like Mary, choose this “good part”.
The result of Christ dwelling in the heart is to root and ground us in love. If Christ, the One in whom, and through whom, all the love of the Father has been made known, is dwelling in our hearts, He will surely fill the heart with a knowledge and enjoyment of divine love.
(V. 18). Christ dwelling in the heart prepares the way for the third great request, that we may be “fully able to apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height.” God teaches us through our affections, so that the way to this apprehension is not only by faith, but by “being rooted and grounded in love”. Through the work of the Spirit, Christ dwells in our hearts by faith; dwelling there by faith He fills our hearts with love, and love prepares us to apprehend. Further, this love leads us to embrace “all saints”, for the more we enjoy the love of Christ, the more our hearts will go out to all who are loved by Christ.
Then the apostle desires that we may apprehend “the breadth, and length, and depth, and height”. This would appear to be the whole range of God's “eternal purpose”, already referred to in verse 11. This eternal purpose in its breadth embraces “all saints”, in its length stretches into the age of ages, in its depth reached down to us in all our need, and in its height brings us into a scene of glory.
(V. 19). All this scene of blessedness is secured for us by the love of Christ — the One who “loved the church, and gave Himself for it.” Hence the fourth request is that we may “know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge.” It is a love that can be known and enjoyed, and yet it passes knowing. If we cannot measure the height of glory from which Christ came, or fathom the depth of sorrow into which He has been, still less can we measure the love that has wrought for us, that takes in the vast host of the redeemed, small and great, that is caring for us in our passage through time, and that is coming for us to bring us into the home of love to be there with Him, and like Him, for the gratification of His heart of love. Such love can be known, and yet will forever remain a love that passes knowing.
The fifth request is that we may be filled with all the fulness of God. The fulness of God is all that God is as revealed and made known in Christ. The Son has fully declared the Father in His love and holiness, in His grace and truth; and the apostle desires that we should receive, in full measure, of the divine fulness that it may be displayed in the saints.
(V. 20). The sixth request is that all the apostle has been praying for the saints may be wrought in them by the power of God. God is, indeed, able to do exceeding abundantly “for us”, as is often said. Here, however, where the leading thought throughout the prayer is the spiritual condition of the saints, it is neither what God can do for us or with us that is in view, but rather His ability and willingness to work “in us” in answer to these requests, and to do this “above all that we ask or think”.
(V. 21). The seventh and last desire is that there may be glory in the church unto God by Christ Jesus throughout all ages. Every request in the prayer leads up to this wonderful thought that through all the ages the saints should set forth the fulness of God, and thus be for His glory. The whole prayer clearly shows that it is God's desire that what will be true of the saints throughout the eternal ages should mark them in their passage through time — that all that God is should shine forth in His people.
5
The Believer's Walk in Relation to the Assembly
(Ephesians 4: 1-16)
The last three chapters of the Epistle form the practical portion in which the apostle exhorts to a walk worthy of the great truths presented in the first three chapters. It will be noticed that, as believers, we are exhorted to conduct consistent with our privileges and responsibilities in three different connections:
Firstly, we are exhorted to a worthy walk in view of our privileges in relation to the assembly as being members of the body of Christ, and as forming the dwelling place of God by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4: 1-16).
Secondly, we are exhorted to practical godliness as individuals who profess the Name of the Lord while passing through an evil world (Ephesians 4: 17-5: 21).
Thirdly, we are exhorted to a consistent walk in connection with the family and social relationships that belong to the order of creation (Ephesians 5: 22-6: 9).
(V. 1). On account of his testimony to the grace of God to the Gentiles, and to the great truth of the Mystery — Jewish and Gentile believers formed into one body, and united to Christ as Head — the apostle had suffered persecution and imprisonment. He uses his sufferings on account of the truth as a motive to exhort believers to walk worthy of their great privileges. Our walk is to be consistent with our calling. In order, then, to profit by these exhortations we need to have a clear understanding of our calling. In the first chapter of the Epistle we have the calling presented according to the counsels of God before the beginning of the world, without reference to how far it has actually been fulfilled in time or realised in our souls. It is God's purpose that believers should be “holy and without blame before Him in love” for His good pleasure and glory. In Ephesians 2 we see how God has wrought to bring this calling into actual existence in this world in view of its complete fulfilment in the ages to come.
Two great truths are implied in the calling of God: firstly, that believers are formed into one body of which Christ is the Head; secondly, that they “are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.” Further, we learn in the Epistle God's present purpose in these two great truths. In connection with the church, viewed as the body of Christ, we read that His body is “the fulness of Him that filleth all in all” (Ephesians 1: 23). Again, in verse 13 of this chapter, we read of “the fulness of Christ”; and in Ephesians 3: 19 we read of “the fulness of God”. It is, then, the purpose of God that, as the body of Christ, the church should set forth all the moral excellencies that form the beautiful character of Christ as Man — His fulness. Then, as the house of God, the church is to set forth the holiness, grace and love of God — His fulness.
This, then, is the high privilege to which we are called — to represent Christ by setting forth His excellence, and to make God known in the fulness of His grace.
In Ephesians 3 we learn that the suited condition of soul for realising the greatness of our calling is only possible as Christ dwells in the heart by faith, and as God “worketh in us.” If Christ has His place in our hearts we shall esteem it a great privilege to be here to set forth His character. If God works in us, we shall delight to witness to the glory of His grace.
Christ is in heaven as a glorified Man, our risen Head, and the Holy Spirit, a divine Person, is on earth dwelling in the midst of believers. As realising the glory of Christ and the greatness of the Person that is dwelling in us, it becomes us to walk in a worthy way.
(Vv. 2, 3). In verses two and three the apostle sums up the walk that is worthy of our calling. If walking in the realisation of our privileges to represent Christ, and as being in the presence of the Spirit, we should be marked by these seven qualities — lowliness, meekness, long-suffering, forbearance, love, unity and peace.
The conscious sense of being before the Lord and in the presence of the Spirit must of necessity lead to lowliness and meekness. If we have our brethren before us, we may seek to make something of ourselves, but with God before us we realise our nothingness. In His presence we should be marked by lowliness that does not think of self, and by meekness that gives place to others.
The lowliness and meekness that make nothing of self lead to long-suffering and forbearance with others. We may find at times that others are not always lowly and meek, and this will call for long-suffering. We may have to suffer rebuffs and insults, and have to bear with those who act in this way. But we are warned that the forbearance is to be exercised in love. It is possible to bear with much in the spirit of pride that treats an offending brother with contempt. If we have to be silent, let it be with love that grieves over unworthy conduct.
Furthermore, we are to use diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace. It is important to distinguish between the unity of the body and the unity of the Spirit. The unity of the body is formed by the Holy Spirit uniting believers to Christ and to one another as members of one body. This unity cannot be touched. There is also “one Spirit” who is the source of every right thought, word and act, so that, in the body, one mind should prevail — the mind of the Spirit.
It is this unity of the Spirit that we are to use diligence to keep. It has been truly said, “Walking according to the Spirit can be done individually; but for the unity of the Spirit there must be walking with others.”
Realising that we are members of “one body” we shall see that we are not to walk merely as isolated individuals, but as related to one another in one body, and, as such, we are to use diligence that we may be controlled with one mind — the mind of the Spirit. This unity of the Spirit is not simply uniformity of thought, nor a unity arrived at by agreement, or by mutual concessions. Such unities may entirely miss the mind of the Spirit.
In the early days of the church we see the blessed result of believers having the mind of the Spirit. Of these saints we read that they were filled with the Spirit, the result being that they were of “one heart” and “one soul”. It is evident that this unity of the Spirit has not been kept. Nevertheless, the Spirit is still here, and the mind of the Spirit is still one, therefore the exhortation still remains that, in the realisation of our membership of the one body, we should endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit. The only way to maintain this unity of the Spirit is for each one to judge the flesh. If we allow the flesh in our thoughts, words and ways, it will at once bring in a jarring element. It has been said, “The principle of the flesh is every man for himself. That does not bring in unity. In the unity of the Spirit it is every man for others.”
Moreover, we are to use diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit “in the uniting bond of peace”. The flesh is ever self-assertive and ready to quarrel with others with whom it may not agree. If we cannot agree as to the mind of the Spirit, let us patiently search the Word of God under the guidance of the Spirit in the spirit of peace. If two believers are not of the same mind it is evident that one, or both, have missed the mind of the Spirit, and the danger is that they may fall to quarrelling. How necessary then that the endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit should be carried out in the spirit of peace that binds us together. Another has said, “What comes from the Spirit is always one. Why are we not always agreed? Because our own minds work. If we had only what we learned from Scripture, we should all be the same.” (J.N.D.)
(Vv. 4-6). The important question naturally arises, What is the one mind of the Spirit that we are to endeavour to keep? It comes before us in verses four to six. The one mind of the Spirit is set forth in these seven unities, the one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father of all. These are the great truths that the Spirit is here to make true to our souls and to maintain. Walking with one another in the light of these truths, we shall keep the unity of the Spirit, while any practical denial of them, or departure from them, will be a breach in the unity of the Spirit. Thus there come before us in these verses the different spheres in which a walk according to the Spirit is to be expressed. This walk is seen in connection with the one body, the one Spirit, and the one hope, in the circle of life, in connection with the Lord in the circle of Christian profession, and in connection with God in the circle of creation.
It is of the first importance to have our thoughts so formed by the word of God that we discern these three circles of unity that actually exist under the eye of God, and thus not only have before us what God has before Him, but also be able to form a just estimate of the solemn departure of Christendom from the truth.
Firstly, the apostle says, “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling.” Here all is real and vital; it is the circle of life. The one body is formed by one Spirit and moves on to the one end — the glory. This unity is in God's keeping. It cannot be kept by our endeavour, or broken by our failure, but we may miss the one mind of the Spirit by a denial of these great truths in practice. This, alas, has been done in the Christian profession, for in the light of the great truth that “there is one body” — not many — all the different bodies of believers formed in Christendom stand condemned, while the “one Spirit” condemns all human arrangements by which the Spirit is set aside. Moreover, the professing church has settled down in the world and become the world, and thus is a denial of the heavenly hope of our calling.
Secondly, there is a wider circle that includes all who profess Christ as Lord (whether real or unreal in their profession). This is the circle of profession marked by one authority, the Lord, one profession of belief, the faith, and into which we are introduced by one baptism. With the Lord is connected authority and administration. The recognition that there is one Lord would shut out the authority of man, and exclude all independent action. If we admit that there is “one Lord” we cannot admit that it is right for an assembly to ignore discipline truly exercised in the Name of the Lord in another assembly. Thus again, by independency, we may miss the one mind of the Spirit by the practical denial of there being “one Lord”.
Thirdly, there is the widest circle of all — the creation circle. There is one God who is the Father, the source “of all”. Moreover it is good for us to know that, whatever the power of created things or beings, God is “above all”. Furthermore, God is working out His plans “through all”, so God can say, “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee” (Isaiah 43: 2). Lastly, God works in the believer to effect His purpose for the believer. The recognition of these great truths would not only lead us to reject the infidel evolutionary theories of men, but encourage us to act rightly in all circumstances and relationships of life which are connected with the creation order.
Alas! in the great Christian profession today we see the practical denial of each of these circles. The Spirit is set aside by human arrangements, the one Lord is set aside by independency, and the one God is set aside by infidel reasonings.
In the verses that follow, the exhortations appear to have special reference to each of these circles. Firstly, we are exhorted as members of the one body in verses 7 to 16; secondly, we are exhorted as to our conduct as owning one Lord in verses 17 to 32; lastly, we are exhorted as to the relationships of life in connection with the circle of creation in Ephesians 5 to Ephesians 6: 9.
(V. 7). Having in these introductory verses laid the ground for a walk worthy of the calling, the apostle proceeds to speak of the provision that has been made in order that the believer may walk rightly in relation to the first circle, the one body, and grow in likeness to Christ the Head.
Firstly, the apostle speaks of the gift of grace: “Unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.” In contrast with that which is common to all, of which the apostle has been speaking, there is that which is given to “every one”. The one Spirit of verse 4, and the one Lord of verse 5, shut out independency; “every one” of verse 7 maintains our individuality. While every member has its special function, all serve the unity and good of the whole body. In the natural body the functions of the eye and the hand are different, yet both act in common for the good and unity of the body. The “grace” is the special service with which each one has been favoured. It is not necessarily a distinct gift, but to all a measure of grace is given that each may serve others in love. This grace is according to the measure in which Christ has given it.
(V. 8). Secondly, to promote spiritual progress and growth, the apostle refers to distinct gifts. The subject is introduced by presenting Christ as ascended on high, for these gifts come from the triumphant and exalted Christ. An allusion is made to the history of Barak to illustrate the sovereign power of Christ in bestowing gifts (Judges 5: 12). When Barak delivered Israel from captivity, he led captive those by whom they had been led captive. So Christ has triumphed over all the power of Satan, and, having delivered His people from the power of the enemy, He is exalted on high and gives gifts to His people.
(Vv. 9, 10). Two parenthetical verses are introduced to set forth the greatness of Christ's victory. At the cross He went into the lowest place in which sin can put a man. From the lowest place where, as our Substitute, He was made sin, He ascended to the highest place in which a man can be set — the right hand of God.
(V. 11). Having led captivity captive by breaking the power of the enemy that held us in bondage, Christ acts in power and makes others the instruments of His power. It is not simply that He gives gifts and leaves us to apportion the gifts among ourselves, but He gives certain men to exercise the gifts. It is not that He gives apostleship, but He gives apostles, and so with all the gifts. Here, then, it is no longer the grace given to “every one”, but “some” given to exercise gifts. Firstly, He gave apostles and prophets, and the church is built upon the foundation of apostles and prophets. The foundation has been laid and they have passed away, though we still have the benefit of these gifts in the writings of the New Testament.
The remaining gifts, evangelists, pastors and teachers, are for the building up of the church when the foundation has been laid. These gifts continue during the whole period of the church's history on earth. The evangelist comes first as the gift by which souls are drawn into the circle of blessing. Being brought into the church, believers come under the gifts of the pastor and teacher. The evangelist brings Christ before the world: the pastor and the teacher bring Christ before the believer. The pastor deals with individual souls: the teacher expounds Scripture. It has been said, “A person may teach without being a pastor, but you can hardly be a pastor without teaching in a certain sense. The two are closely connected, but you could not say they are the same thing. The pastor does not merely give food as the teacher; he pastors, or shepherds, the sheep, leads them here and there, and takes care of them.”
It will be noticed that there are no miraculous gifts mentioned in this passage. They would hardly be in place in a portion that speaks of the Lord's provision for the church. Miracles and signs were given at the commencement to call the attention of the Jews to the glory and exaltation of Christ and the power of His Name. The Jews rejected this testimony and the signs and miracles ceased. The Lord's love to His church, however, can never cease, and the gifts that bear witness to His love continue, as it is written, “No man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church” (Ephesians 5: 29).
(V. 12). Having spoken of gifts, the apostle now brings before us the three great objects for which the gifts have been given. They are given, first, for the perfecting of the saints, or the establishing of each individual believer in the truth. Secondly, they are given for the work of the ministry, which would include every form of service. Thirdly, they are given “for the edifying of the body of Christ”. The blessing of individuals and the work of the ministry have in view the edifying of the body of Christ. Every gift, whether it be evangelist, pastor or teacher, is only rightly exercised as the edification of the body of Christ is kept in view.
(V. 13). In the verses that follow, we learn more precisely what the apostle means by the perfecting of the saints. He is not speaking of the perfection that will be the believer's portion in resurrection glory, but of that spiritual progress in the truth, and the knowledge of the Son of God, which lead to unity and to our becoming fully developed Christians d