Read Ephesians 3

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+3&version=NIV

3:1–7 Paul was a prisoner on the readers’ behalf (3:1). The thought is interrupted from 3:2–13 and resumes in 3:14. Paul wrote this epistle while he was a prisoner in Rome (Acts 28:16). Paul’s “administration” (3:2) was the message of God’s grace given to him as the apostle to the Gentiles (Gal. 2:7). Paul next began to develop the concept of the “mystery” that he introduced in 1:9. Paul made no claim to be the sole recipient of this revelation (3:5). His digression on the place of the Gentiles in Christ stressed their equality in the mystery of Christ. The plan (3:4) was not that Gentiles would someday be included in salvation. That had been known since Genesis 12:3 (“all the families of the earth”). The mystery centered on Gentile status as fellow heirs (3:6) to God’s promises to the Jews. Note the word “together” in 3:6 is used to drive the point of equality home. The mystery was not that Gentiles would receive spiritual blessing (cf. Joel 2:28; Amos 9:12), but that Jew and Gentile would be united on an equal basis in one body, sharing a spiritual inheritance in the promises of God.

3:8–13 Paul went on to point out that sufferings are a glory, not something to be avoided. In light of all that God had done for the believing Gentiles (3:2–12), Paul asked that they not let his problems cause them to lose heart. Instead he enlightened their hearts to the glory hidden in tribulation. Paul also spoke of not losing heart in 2 Corinthians 4:1, 16.

3:14–19 The first section of the epistle (Eph. 1–3) concludes with the apostle’s second prayer for the spiritual lives of the believers. He returned to the themes of power (3:18; cf. 1:19) and the importance of a Christ-indwelling heart (3:19; cf. 1:18). It takes the power of the Spirit to allow the unhindered dwelling of Christ in the heart. Sin is unsettling. To understand (3:18. 19) the love of Christ could only come from the settled presence of Christ in the believers’ lives. That fullness is the purpose of this letter regarding “your heart be enlightened” (1:18).

3:20–21 Paul’s praise of God and his power pushed the perspective of his readers beyond what they could ask and conceive—to the infinite capabilities of God’s power. God can do far more with and through those who believe in him than those people can ask for or even think about.


Discussion and Reflection question

Paul prays another powerful prayer (3:14-21). This is one of my favorite of Paul’s prayers. What part of this prayer speaks to you?