Understanding Ephesians 3: Paul's Message of Hope, Grace, and Purpose

Introduction

This is our Absolute Beginner Bible Study for Ephesians 3.

As we did for chapters 1 & 2, we will follow the section headings in the Christian Standard Bible (CSB). They are as follows:

Paul’s Ministry To The Gentiles (Eph. 3:1–13)
Prayer For Spiritual Power (Eph. 3:14–21)

Ephesians 3 is actually quite simple. It is the culmination of the previous two chapters. Ephesians 3 both depends heavily on chapters 1–2, and it also neatly brings the ideas Paul has been discussing to a clean end. There are three threads of thought from chapters 1–2 that we want to bring with us into chapter 3. They are:

Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ(Eph. 1:3);
All people (both Jews and Gentiles) are saved by grace through faith in Jesus. Gentiles are equal members of God’s household (ch. 2)
There is a mysterious relationship between Christ and the Church, and God has plans for His people beyond “getting saved” (chs. 1–2).

With these three thoughts in mind, let us turn to our first section.

Side note / helpful tip: You will notice Scripture references in parentheses with the letters “cf.” preceding the reference. The book of the Bible is often abbreviated. The letters “cf.” mean compare / confer with. It tells the reader that the writer has those verses in mind while making his / her point. Here is an example: “God created the earth (cf. Gen. 1:1).”

Paul’s Ministry To The Gentiles (3:1–13)

1 For this reason, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles—²assuming you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that he gave me for you. ³The mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have briefly written above. ⁴By reading this you are able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ. ⁵This was not made known to people in other generations as it is now revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: ⁶The Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and partners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. ⁷I was made a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by the working of his power.
Ephesians 3:1–7

The CSB breaks this section into 2 paragraphs, and we will follow that structure here.

The first paragraph spans Eph. 3:1–7. Once again, we see Paul begin a paragraph with a transition that indicates his next topic relates to his previous one. For this reason (3:1) refers to the content of ch. 2, particularly verses 11–22.

Two things are of note in this paragraph. First, Paul is again driving home the idea that the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and partners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel (Eph. 3:6). He explained this in Eph. 2:11–22, but he feels it is important to reiterate it. This type of repetition is a signal to us that this topic is seriously important to Paul– which means it should be seriously important to us as well.

Second, the equal inclusion of the Gentiles is described by Paul as the mystery of Christ (3:4). He referred to this mystery in Eph. 1:8–10. Paul tells the Ephesians in 3:1–7 that:

he was given the duty of the administration of God’s grace for them (3:2);
the mystery was made known to Paul by revelation (3:3);
the mystery of Christ was not made known to people in other generations as it is now revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit (3:4–5);
Paul was made a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace that was given… by the working of his power (3:7).

This points us back to the idea that humanity’s salvation is part of God’s larger plan of redeeming all of creation. Ephesians 3:5 tells us that God has been implementing and revealing His plan over the course of time, and He chose to proclaim this revelation through His prophets and apostles. Remember the opening lines of Ephesians 1:1– Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will. The apostles played an incredibly important role in our salvation and the implementation of God’s plan of redemption. Jesus’ ministry, His death, resurrection & ascension, the formation of the Church, the spreading of the gospel message– all of it further implements God’s plan of redemption (which is summarized in Eph. 1:7–10).

⁸This grace was given to me—the least of all the saints—to proclaim to the Gentiles the incalculable riches of Christ, ⁹and to shed light for all about the administration of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things. ¹⁰This is so that God’s multi-faceted wisdom may now be made known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavens. ¹¹This is according to his eternal purpose accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. ¹²In him we have boldness and confident access through faith in him. ¹³So, then, I ask you not to be discouraged over my afflictions on your behalf, for they are your glory.
Ephesians 3:8–13

The second paragraph spans verses 8–13. Paul describes himself as the least of all the saints (3:8) because he used to persecute Christians before Jesus appeared to him on the road to Damascus (cf. Acts 8:1–4; 9:1–2; 22:4–5).

Verses 9–11 are incredibly important. God graced Paul with the task of proclaiming the riches of Christ to the Gentiles (3:7–8) to shed light for all about the administration of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things (3:9). Again, this mystery refers back to the inclusion of Gentiles as equal members of God’s household (cf. Eph. 2:11–22). The proclamation of the mystery is so that God’s multi-faceted wisdom may now be made known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavens (3:10). The formation of God’s chosen people (cf. Gen. 12:1–3), and the gracious expansion of that chosen people to include members from every nation and tribe testifies to God’s multi-faceted wisdom, particularly to the rulers and authorities in the heavens (3:10). The phrase rulers and authorities in the heavens is a loaded topic. At this stage, suffice it to say that God’s plan of redemption testifies to spiritual beings in the unseen realm– both those loyal to God and those in rebellion against God– about God’s wisdom. There are unseen evil forces who influence humanity (cf. Eph. 2:1–3), and the Christians’ battle is against these forces as opposed to other humans (cf. Eph. 6:10–12).

Finally, God’s plan– the inclusion of Abraham and his family into God’s family; the expansion of God’s family to include all nations; the way in which His plan is implemented; the way His wisdom is made known– is according to his eternal purpose accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord (3:11). God is implementing His sovereign plan through Christ.

Prayer For Spiritual Power (3:14–21)

¹⁴For this reason I kneel before the Father ¹⁵from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. ¹⁶I pray that he may grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through his Spirit, ¹⁷and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, ¹⁸may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love, ¹⁹and to know Christ’s love that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

²⁰Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us—²¹to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Ephesians 3:14–21

The second section of chapter 3 is another prayer for the Ephesians. Actually, it is the continuation of the prayer Paul began in Eph. 1:15–19. Paul ‘interrupted’ himself to explain God’s power in Christ, and this explanation spans from Eph. 1:20–3:13. Now, in 3:14, Paul continues and finishes his prayer for the Ephesians.

The contents of Paul’s prayer includes:

To be strengthened with power in your inner being through his spirit (3:16)
Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith (3:17)
That they may grow from a foundation of love in the following ways:
- Comprehending the full measure of God’s love (3:18)
- Knowing Christ’s love so that they may be filled with all the fullness of God (3:19)

Concluding Thoughts

That’s chapter 3!

Paul continues his point about the inclusion of the Gentiles into God’s household, and he pivots to explain that this act of God is part of His eternal plan and also points to His wisdom. Finally, Paul resumes the prayer he began all the way back in chapter 1. His prayerful concern is that they are strengthened with God’s Spirit and that they would firmly understand God’s love.

Here are some takeaways from chapter 3

God is implementing His sovereign plan to redeem creation. He is not frantically reacting to what happens in the world. He is at work. He is saving. He is redeeming. This brings us comfort.
God reveals more about Himself and His plan as He implements His plan. The mystery of the Gentiles was not made fully known prior to Christ and the proclamation of the Apostles. Knowing this mystery now, we can see God’s wisdom, love, and grace in deeper ways, which results in thanksgiving and worship.
The purpose of the church is to make God’s wisdom known. This elevates the weight and meaning of my personal salvation. My salvation includes more than just going to heaven. Faith in Christ makes us members of Christ’s universal church. Christ’s universal church is tasked with making God’s wisdom known. Therefore, my new life in Christ has a deep and profound purpose.
The task of the Church does not minimize me to a cog in a machine. In him we have boldness and confident access through faith in him (3:12). I am a member of God’s household with profound purpose, and God’s plan of salvation proves His love towards me (cf. Eph. 1:7–10; 2:1–22).
One of our focusses in Christ should be spiritual formation and strength through his Spirit (3:16)
Our growth and maturity in Christ should flow from the foundation of God’s and Christ’s love.
Our objective of spiritual growth is to be filled with all the fullness of God (3:19). This is not quantifiable. God is infinite. We should seek this objective in prayer and meditation.