Ephesians 3:1 - Meaning and Application

Here Paul explains to the Ephesians who he is and what God has made him to do as the apostle to the Gentiles. He begins by telling them about the troubles and sufferings he went through in that work, in Ephesians 3:1.

The first words, “For this cause,” connect back to the last chapter. They can mean, “Because I preached the truth you have just heard, and because I said that the gospel blessings belong not only to Jews, but also to believing Gentiles, even though they are not circumcised, I am now a prisoner.” In that case, he is saying he is a prisoner of Jesus Christ, suffering for Christ’s cause and still under Christ’s care, even in prison.

There is comfort in that. Christ’s servants, if they become prisoners, are still his prisoners, and he does not despise them. He does not think less of them because the world treats them badly or calls them names. Paul stood with Christ, and Christ stood by Paul when he was in prison.

The words can also mean, “For this cause, since you are no longer strangers and outsiders, but are joined to Christ and received into his church, I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ, pray that you may live in a way that fits these blessings.” Paul comes back to this thought in Ephesians 3:14 after the section that follows. Those who have received grace and great gifts from God still need prayer, so they can grow and keep living as they should.

Paul’s own suffering did not turn him inward. Even while he was in prison, he prayed for the Ephesians. That teaches us that our own troubles should not keep us from bringing other people before God. In Ephesians 3:13 he asks them not to lose heart because of his suffering for them, since it was for their glory. He was in prison for their sake, but he did not want them to be discouraged. God had done great things for them through his ministry.

What tender care Paul shows here. He seems more concerned that they might grow weak in faith over his troubles than that he himself might suffer in prison. He reminds them that his sufferings were part of their honor and benefit. If they thought about it rightly, they had reason to rejoice, because God valued them so much that he sent his apostles not only to preach to them, but even to suffer for them and confirm the message by persecution.

We should learn from this that both faithful ministers and the people they serve have special reason to rejoice when the gospel is carried forward through suffering. Hardship for Christ’s work can become a mark of honor, not shame.

Paul then explains that God appointed him to this office and specially fit him for it by revealing the truth to him. He says, “If indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you” (Ephesians 3:2). He is not speaking uncertainly. He means, “Since you have heard about it.” He calls the gospel the grace of God because it is God’s free gift to sinful people, and because all its good news comes from his kindness.

Paul says this grace was given to him for the Ephesians. That means God authorized and sent him to bring the gospel to the Gentiles, especially to them. He says the same thing again in Ephesians 3:7, where he calls himself a minister of the gospel. He did not make himself a minister. God made him one, and he did so according to the gift of his grace. God also supplied him with the gifts he needed and gave him strength to carry out the work. This power was at work in Paul himself, and also in many who heard him, as God blessed his ministry.

The lesson is simple: when God calls someone to a work, he also equips that person for it. The power that comes with God’s grace is real and effective.

Paul was also specially qualified by a revelation from God. He speaks both of the mystery that was revealed and of the revelation itself. The mystery was that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ through the gospel (Ephesians 3:6). That means believing Gentiles would share the same heavenly inheritance as believing Jews, belong to the same spiritual body, be received into Christ’s church, and enjoy the promises of the gospel, especially the promise of the Holy Spirit.

All of this is in Christ, because all God’s promises are fulfilled in him. It is also through the gospel, either because these are the gospel times, or because the gospel is the means God uses to create faith in Christ. This was the great truth shown to the apostles, that God would save Gentiles through faith in Christ, apart from the works of the law.

Paul speaks of this revelation in Ephesians 3:3-5. The joining of Jews and Gentiles in one gospel church was a great mystery. God had planned it before the world began, but people could not fully understand it for many ages. Only when it was carried out did the prophecies about it become clear.

It is called a mystery because its details, its timing, its manner, and the way it would be carried out were hidden in God’s own mind until he revealed them directly to his servant. See (Acts 26:16-18). It is called the mystery of Christ because Christ revealed it (Galatians 1:12), and because it is so closely tied to him.

The apostle has already given hints about this earlier, that is, in the chapters before this one. “When you read,” or, as the words may also mean, “when you pay attention to them,” you can understand my knowledge of the mystery of Christ. We should not only read Scripture, but also pay attention to it and take it seriously. Then we can see how God equipped Paul to be an apostle to the Gentiles, which should be a clear sign of his divine authority.

Paul says this mystery was not made known in past ages to the sons of men as it is now revealed to God’s holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit (Ephesians 3:5). In other words, it was not shown as fully or clearly before Christ as it now is to the New Testament prophets, who are directly inspired and taught by the Spirit. We should notice that the conversion of the Gentile world to faith in Christ is a wonderful mystery, and we ought to thank God for it.

Who would have imagined that people who had long lived in darkness and at such a distance from God would be given the light of the gospel and brought near? From this we should learn not to lose hope for the worst people, or for the worst nations. Nothing is too hard for divine grace. No one is so undeserving that God cannot choose to give great grace to them.

How deeply this concerns us. It matters not only because we live in the time when this mystery has been revealed, but also because we ourselves belong to the nations. In earlier times, those nations were foreigners and strangers, living in deep idolatry. Now we have been enlightened by the everlasting gospel and made partakers of its promises.

Paul then explains how he carried out this ministry, especially toward the Gentiles, and also toward all people. With respect to the Gentiles, he preached to them the unsearchable riches of Christ, (Ephesians 3:8). Notice how humbly he speaks of himself, and how highly he speaks of Jesus Christ.

He speaks humbly of himself when he says, “I am less than the least of all saints.” Paul, who was the chief of the apostles, calls himself less than the least of all saints because he remembers that he once persecuted Christ’s followers. In his own view, he was as small as possible. What can be less than the least? To make himself as small as he can, he says he is less than the least.

We should notice that when God lifts people up to honorable work, he also makes them humble and low in their own eyes. Where God gives grace to be humble, he gives all other grace as well. Notice too the different way Paul speaks of himself and his office. While he honors his work, he lowers himself. A faithful minister of Christ may be very humble and think little of himself, even while he speaks highly of his sacred calling.

Paul also speaks very highly of Jesus Christ when he calls them the unsearchable riches of Christ. There is a great store of mercy, grace, and love in Christ Jesus, for both Jews and Gentiles. Or Paul may be speaking of the riches of the gospel, meaning the riches Christ purchased and gives to all believers. They are unsearchable riches, because we cannot reach the bottom of them. Human wisdom could never have found them, and people could know them only by revelation.

This was Paul’s work and calling, to preach these unsearchable riches of Christ among the Gentiles. He saw it as a great favor and an honor beyond words. “To me this grace was given,” meaning God granted this special kindness to such an unworthy person as he was. And it is a great favor to the Gentile world that the unsearchable riches of Christ are preached to them. Many may still remain poor and not be enriched by them, but it is still a mercy to hear them offered. If people are not enriched by them, the fault is their own.

Paul’s work also included making all people see, that is, making the whole world know, what the fellowship of the mystery is. That mystery is that the Gentiles, who had long been strangers to the church, are now welcomed into fellowship with it. This mystery was hidden in God from the beginning of the world, kept secret in his purpose, the God who created all things by Jesus Christ (John 1:3). Since all things were made by him, and nothing was made without him, it is no surprise that he saves Gentiles as well as Jews. He is the common Creator of both, so we may be sure he is able to carry out their redemption, since he already carried out the greater work of creation.

The first creation, when God made all things out of nothing, and the new creation, by which sinners are made new people through converting grace, are both from God by Jesus Christ. Paul adds that this was done so that now, through the church, the rulers and authorities in heavenly places might learn the many-sided wisdom of God (Ephesians 3:10). One reason God revealed this mystery was to teach the holy angels, who have high rank in ruling the kingdoms and powers of the world and great power to carry out God’s will on earth, although their usual home is heaven.

From what happens in the church, and through the church, these angels see the many-sided wisdom of God, that is, the great variety in the ways God wisely orders things. They see his wisdom shown in the many methods he uses in governing his church through the different ages, especially in receiving the Gentiles into it. The holy angels, who look closely into our redemption through Christ, could not help noticing this part of the mystery, that the unsearchable riches of Christ are preached among the Gentiles.

All this is according to the eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord (Ephesians 3:11). Some translate the phrase as, “according to the fore-planning of the ages which he made,” and Dr. Whitby and others follow that reading.

In the first age, this writer says, God wisely gave the promise of a Savior to fallen Adam. In the second age, he showed that Savior to the Jews through holy people, rituals, and sacrifices. In the age of the Messiah, the last age, he revealed him to the Jews and preached him to the Gentiles.

Others take this, as our translation does, to mean God’s eternal purpose, which he planned to carry out in and through Jesus Christ. Everything God has done in the great work of saving people was in line with that eternal plan. The apostle then adds this about Christ: “In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him” (Ephesians 3:12).

That means that through Christ we are free to open our hearts to God as to a Father. We also have a sure confidence that he will hear us and receive us. This comes through our faith in Christ, who is our great mediator, one who stands between God and us, and our advocate, one who pleads for us with the Father. We may come with humble confidence to hear from God, because the threat of the curse has been removed. We may expect good and comforting words from him. We may also come boldly to speak to God, because we have such a mediator between God and us, and such an advocate with the Father.