Commentary - Ephesians 3:14-21

Bird's-eye view

In this portion of his letter, the apostle Paul, having just touched on the glorious mystery of the gospel that unites Jew and Gentile, breaks into a profound prayer. This is not a throwaway introduction or a polite closing. This is the very heart of the matter. Paul has spent three chapters laying out the glorious indicatives of the gospel, the mighty things God has done for us in Christ. Now, before he moves to the imperatives of how we are to live, he stops to pray that the reality of these truths would actually take root and explode within the believers at Ephesus. Human language, even inspired language, strains under the weight of the glory being described here. Paul is praying for nothing less than the total saturation of the believer by the living God. He prays for spiritual power, for the indwelling of Christ, for a deep comprehension of a love that defies mere intellectual grasp, and for the saints to be filled up to the very fullness of God Himself. It concludes with a doxology that rockets into the stratosphere, reminding us that our God is a God of superabundant overflow, able to do far more than we can even think to ask.

Outline

Clause-by-Clause Commentary

v. 14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,

Paul picks up the thread he started back at the beginning of the chapter. He had said "For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles," and then got gloriously sidetracked for thirteen verses. Now he returns to his point. The "reason" is the magnificent reality of the mystery he has just unfolded: that Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus. This isn't just a theological point to be filed away; it is a reality that drives a man to his knees. The posture of bowing the knees is one of humble adoration and earnest supplication. In a world where many prayed standing, this posture signifies a particular intensity and reverence. He is coming before the Father not as an equal, but as a creature before his Creator, a child before his Father, overwhelmed by the grace he has just described.

v. 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,

This is a staggering claim. The word for family here, patria, is directly related to the word for Father, pater. Paul is making a profound theological point with a bit of wordplay. God is not just a father; He is the archetypal Father. Every concept of family, every clan, every tribe, whether it is the angelic families in the heavenlies or the human families on earth, derives its name and its very essence from Him. He is the originator of fatherhood itself. This means our understanding of fatherhood must not be defined by our flawed earthly experiences, but rather our earthly fatherhood must be seen as a dim reflection of His perfect Fatherhood. When we pray, we are coming to the source of all identity and belonging.

v. 16 that He would give you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,

Here is the first petition. Paul asks that God would give, but notice the standard of giving: "according to the riches of His glory." He is not asking God to give out of His riches, like a billionaire giving a beggar a hundred-dollar bill. He is asking God to give according to His riches, meaning a gift that is proportional to the vast, inexhaustible wealth of His own glorious character. And what is this gift? It is to be strengthened with dunamis, raw power, by the Holy Spirit. This is not about outer strength, bigger muscles, or a more commanding personality. This is power in the "inner man." The inner man is the regenerate you, the new creation in Christ. It is the control room of your soul. Paul is praying for a radical reinforcement of our true selves, the part of us that has been made alive in Christ, so that we are not tossed about by sin, temptation, or affliction.

v. 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being firmly rooted and grounded in love,

This strengthening has a purpose, a "so that." The goal is that Christ may dwell in your hearts. Now, doesn't Christ already dwell in every believer? Yes, but the word here for "dwell" means to settle down and be at home. It's the difference between having a guest in your spare room and having your whole house become their permanent, comfortable residence. Paul is praying that Christ would not just be present, but that He would be the resident Lord of the entire house, permeating every room, every thought, every affection. And this happens "through faith." Faith is the channel through which this indwelling becomes an experienced reality. The result of this is that we become "firmly rooted and grounded in love." He mixes his metaphors here, one from agriculture and one from architecture. We are to be like a great tree with deep roots in the soil of God's love, and like a massive building with a solid foundation laid in that same love. This love is not our love for God, but His love for us, which then becomes the stable reality from which we live and grow.

v. 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,

Being rooted in love enables something extraordinary. It gives us the power, together "with all the saints," to begin to comprehend something. This is not an individualistic pursuit. We need the whole body of Christ to even begin to grasp this. And what are we comprehending? The dimensions of... what? Paul leaves it tantalizingly open. The breadth, length, height, and depth. He is gesturing toward the sheer immensity of the love of Christ. It is as wide as the world, as long as eternity, as high as the heavens, and as deep as the lowest pit of our sin from which He saved us. It is a four-dimensional love, a love that fills all things, a love that cannot be contained in a neat little box. We are being invited to explore the vastness of a love that has no limits.

v. 19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.

Here is the great paradox. Paul prays that we might "know" the love of Christ, and then immediately says this love "surpasses knowledge." This is not a contradiction. He is distinguishing between intellectual head-knowledge (gnosis) and a deep, experiential, relational knowing. You can know facts about the President, but you don't know him. Paul wants us to know the love of Christ in a way that goes beyond mere facts and figures, to experience it in the warp and woof of our lives. This love is too vast for our finite minds to ever fully catalog, but it is not too great for our hearts to experience. And the ultimate goal of this knowing, this experiencing, is "that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God." This is the pinnacle. The prayer is that we would be so filled with the life and character of God Himself that we become vessels overflowing with His presence. This is the purpose of our salvation: not just to be saved from hell, but to be filled with God.

v. 20 Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or understand, according to the power that works within us,

After such breathtaking petitions, Paul erupts into doxology. He has asked for impossible things: to be filled with all the fullness of God, to know a love that surpasses knowledge. And now he reminds us of the God to whom he is praying. This God is able to do not just what we ask. Not just more than we ask. Not just abundantly more than we ask. But "far more abundantly beyond" all that we can ask or even think (nooumen, understand or conceive). Our grandest requests and wildest imaginations are pathetically small compared to what God is able to do. And this is not some abstract power far away. It is "according to the power that works within us." The same resurrection power of the Holy Spirit that is strengthening our inner man is the guarantee that God can and will answer these prayers in ways that shatter our categories.

v. 21 to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.

Therefore, all the glory goes to Him. Where is this glory to be displayed? "In the church." The gathered people of God are the primary theater for the display of God's glory in this age. And it is also "in Christ Jesus," because the Church has no glory apart from her union with her Head. This glory is not a temporary thing. It is for "all generations forever and ever." The Greek piles on the phrases for eternity, making it emphatic. This is an unending, ever-increasing cascade of glory directed to the Father, through the Son, in the midst of His people. And to this, all the saints can only say, "Amen." So be it.