Peter required a vision to remove his (Acts 10:28). And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. More than this, his very imprisonment was made useful by him in setting agencies in operation for the extension of the gospel among the Gentiles. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website. The same was in the beginning with God. When Paul wrote this, he was awaiting trial under Nero, and in all probability fully aware of the ultimate martyrdom that awaited him; but there is no word of complaint here. His loss of liberty arose from no violation of law on his part: it was solely in prosecuting his mission that he was apprehended and confined; for he was in fetters-, ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν τῶν ἐθνῶν—“on behalf of you Gentiles,” a common sense of the preposition, which is repeated in Ephesians 3:12. For you Gentiles; for your cause and salvation; having preached and declared the grace of God to be free, and to belong to you Gentiles as well as to the Jews, (the middle wall of partition being taken away), and so equalled you with them. Since Paul writes from his imprisonment in Rome, it is important the Ephesians do not misunderstand his suffering or be discouraged by it. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, The Pulpit Commentary, Electronic Database. "Commentary on Ephesians 3:1". 3. They had been “dead in transgressions and sins,” (2:1), but God in his mercy “made (them) alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (2:5-6). Ephesians 3:1-10, "Growing in Our Commitment," is part 1 of 6 parts of The Bible Teaching Commentary that provides four reasons we should place more confident in the Gospel message and as a result grow in our commitment to God and His high calling for our lives: The Gospel's Value (3:1), The Gospel's Reliability (3:2-5), The Gospel's Glory (3:6-7) and The Gospel's Calling (3:8-10). (3-6) The work of God the Father. For this cause; in view of all that has been said concerning your introduction through Christ, to the household of faith. Others have regarded the discourse as broken off, and have found the resumption either at Ephesians 3:8 (Oecumenius, Grotius), or at Ephesians 3:13 (Zanchius, Cramer, Holzhausen), or at Ephesians 3:14 (Theodoret, Luther, Piscator, Calixtus, Cornelius a Lapide, Estius, Homberg, Schöttgen, Bengel, Baumgarten, and others, including Flatt, Lachmann, Rückert, Winer, Matthies, Harless, Olshausen, Bisping, Bleek; de Wette, characterizing this construction as “hardly Pauline”), or only at Ephesians 4:1 (Erasmus Schmid, Hammond, Michaelis in note to his translation). 1871-8. He thought of himself as suffering and being imprisoned for the sake of Christ. Here he seems to be afraid lest the fact of his imprisonment should be regarded as bringing discredit on his Gospel. This Epistle is supposed to have been written when Paul was at Rome, confined with a chain. Put it into a hothouse, separate it from the world, surround it with luxury, hedge it in from every opposition, and you take the surest means of killing it. And this was to call them everywhere to salvation, because God had so determined this from the beginning, although he deferred a great while the manifestation of his counsel. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/vnt/ephesians-3.html. BibliographyHodge, Charles. "The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge". So Tyndale renders it, “For this cause I, Paul, the servant of Jesus, am in bonds.” So also Locke, Rosenmuller, Doddridge, Whitby, Koppe, and others understand it. (Acts 28:16,30.). He could say, “I can do all things in Him that strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:13). In behalf of you Gentiles ... Beare denied that this could be "a real mode of address" by Paul;[4] but such an opinion betrays ignorance of what Paul was saying. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. From these words the digression of Ephesians 3:2-13 starts, bringing out the reality and greatness of that mission. 2 Corinthians 11:23. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bnb/ephesians-3.html. As the gospel is the means of bringing the Gentiles to this fellowship with the saints, Paul was, by the special grace and almighty power of God, converted and made a minister of the gospel, Ephesians 3:7, Ephesians 3:8. So the Syr., Chrys., Mey. In chapter 2, Paul talked about the Gentile Christians in Ephesus. "Commentary on Ephesians 3:1". The special truth, now more plainly revealed than ever before, was the union of the Gentiles with the Jews as joint partakers of the promise of redemption, by means of the gospel, Ephesians 3:5, Ephesians 3:6. And in all his allusions to this experience he is careful to distinguish the Divine from the human. To not witness so that we aren"t spoken ill of, or so that we aren"t thought ill of is not the trait of a believer that is to be the light of the world. The tabernacle and temple were holy, because they were set apart as the dwelling places of God. (a) These words, the prisoner of Jesus Christ, are taken passively, that is to say, I, Paul, am cast into prison for maintaining the glory of Christ. See Acts 21:21-28, etc. 1832. 2 Timothy 1:8; Philemon 1:9, as also Ephesians 4:1. Apokalypsis is sometimes used for the turning on of a light, as in Luke 2:32, which speaks of “a light for revelation (apokalypsis) to the nations” (ethnos—nations or Gentiles). Notice the article, the Christ, and see on Ephesians 2:13. "Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible". Pastors of churches—especially pastors of large churches—will bless their congregations by being honestly humble. Talmage. Paul and the other New Testament writers further expanded our wisdom. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bul/ephesians-3.html. 3. is not part of a parenthesis, but a paragraph complete within itself; nor at Ephesians 3:13, which is of too limited scope and fails to meet the full force of the τούτου χάριν; but at Ephesians 3:14, where the τούτου χάριν is repeated.