CHAPTER 3

(A.D. 64)

REVELATION

¹For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ (Paul wrote this Epistle from prison in Rome; as well, he didnt consider himself a prisoner of Nero, but rather of Jesus Christ; in other words, for whatever purpose and reason, the Lord wanted him at this time in prison, and thats the way that Paul looked at the situation) for you Gentiles (refers to the beginning of the Church, which was made up mostly of Gentiles, and the giving of the Gospel to the world),

²If you have heard of the dispensation of the Grace of God which is given me to you-ward (presents the Apostle as having oversight or management over the New Covenant, and the proper administration of its presentation):

³How that by Revelation He (Christ) made known unto me the mystery (the Cross, which in essence is the New Covenant, was a mystery before its meaning was given to Paul); (as I wrote afore in few words (evidently the Apostle had written a previous letter to the Ephesians concerning this great Truth, of which we now have no record),

⁴Whereby, when you read (what we are now reading, as it regards this Epistle), you may understand my knowledge in the Mystery of Christ) (The Lord wants us to understand the Mystery of the Cross, as it was given to Paul. In other words, we are not to deviate from what he taught.)

⁵Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men (speaks of the entirety of time, up unto the Apostle Paul), as it is now revealed unto His Holy Apostles and Proph ets by the Spirit (Paul was given this Revelation first [Gal. 1:11-12], with the Spirit of God then using the Message as given to Paul to enlighten other Apostles and Prophets, etc.);

⁶That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs (refers to the fact that all differences between Jews and Gentiles, regarding Redemption, have been erased), and of the same body (everyone in the same Church, i.e., Body of Christ), and partakers of His Promise in Christ by the Gospel (should have been translated, In Christ Jesus by the Gospel, for the best Greek Texts include the Name Jesus; if that latter Name wasnt there, Paul would be saying the Gentiles were fellow-partakers of the Jewish Messianic Promises, which are not true):

⁷Whereof I was made a Minister (refers to one who serves), according to the Gift of the Grace of God given unto me (all of this was granted to Paul strictly according to the Grace of God, which means it was not because of his merit, for he had none) by the effectual working of His power. (This is the Power of the Holy Spirit, made available to us by the Cross and our Faith in that Finished Work [Gal. 1:18].)

⁸Unto me, who am less than the least of all Saints, is this Grace given (humility is made evident here, which can only be made possible by the Cross, through which Grace comes to us), that I should Preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ (the riches of Christ come to us exclusively by and through the Cross, and are inexhaustible, with greater and greater enlargement which will last forever);

⁹And to make all men see (to bring to light something which had previously been hidden) what is the fellowship of the Mystery (could be translated, the fellowship of the dispensation of the Revelation of the Mystery; in other words, the Mystery is no more, having now been revealed), which from the beginning of the world has been hid in God (proclaims to us the fact that this was not a new kind of action on the part of God, forced upon Him by the developments in human history; the Cross was His Plan from before the Foundation of the World [I Pet. 1:18-20]), Who created all things by Jesus Christ (God the Father officiates; God the Son orchestrates; God the Holy Spirit executes):

¹⁰To the intent that now unto the Principalities and Powers in Heavenly places(concerns Righteous Angels) might be known by the Church the manifold Wisdom of God (presents the Church proclaiming to the Angelic Host a part of the Wisdom of God not previously known to the Angels),

¹¹According to the eternal purpose (the purpose of the ages) which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord (God has formed a Plan which is Eternal in reference to the Salvation of men, and the Plan is centered on the Lord Jesus and what He did at the Cross):

¹²In Whom (refers to Christ, but more particularly to what He did at the Cross for us) we have boldness (because of the Cross, we can now have a boldness in our approach to God [Heb. 4:16]) and access (the only way we can have access to the Throne of God is by and through Jesus Christ and His Atoning Work on the Cross) with confidence by the Faith of Him. (The Faith is wrapped up in Jesus Christ and His Cross.)

BLESSINGS

¹³Wherefore I desire that you faint not at my tribulations for you (dont let your Faith weaken because of my imprisonment), which is your glory. (Whatever happens to me will ultimately fall out to a greater proclamation of the Gospel, which will be for your good.)

¹⁴For this cause (the spread of the Gospel) I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (Paul is saying he bows to the Will of God, whatever that Will might be),

¹⁵Of Whom (the Lord Jesus Christ) the whole family (all who have accepted Christ) in Heaven and earth is named (all Believers who have gone on to be with the Lord, and all Believers now alive on Earth),

¹⁶That He (Christ Jesus) would grant you, according to the riches of His Glory (refers to all the revealed perfections of God, not merely His Grace and Power), to be strengthened with might by His Spirit (this will be done, providing our Faith is ever in the Cross, by and through which the Holy Spirit works) in the inner man (the spirit of man);

¹⁷That Christ may dwell in your hearts by Faith (which is accomplished by our Faith in the Cross); that you, being rooted and grounded in love (securely settled and deeply founded),

¹⁸May be able to comprehend with all Saints (means not only to understand, but as well, to lay hold of so as to make ones own) what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height (metaphors used by Paul to explain the vastness of Gods Love for the Saints);

¹⁹And to know the Love of Christ (speaks of knowledge gained by experience), which passes knowledge (the Believer can know the Love of Christ, but cannot exhaust the knowledge of that Love), that you might be filled with all the fulness of God (can come to us only through Christ, and what Christ did for us at the Cross).

²⁰Now unto Him Who is able (presents God as the Source of all Power) to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think (so far beyond our comprehension that the Holy Spirit could give us this explanation only in these terms), according to the power that works in us (the word according refers to the fact that this Power can work in us only as we follow Gods Prescribed Order of Victory, which is the Cross and our Faith in that Finished Work; this then gives the Holy Spirit the latitude to use His Great Power on our behalf),

²¹Unto Him be Glory (Christ and the Church as one Body will be the vehicle of that eternal demonstration) in the Church (the Body of Christ) by Christ Jesus (made possible by our Lord and what He did at the Cross) throughout all ages, world without end (Eternal). Amen.