3:17 = so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; Eph. Thats why, when I heard of the solid trust you have in the Master Jesus and your outpouring of love to all the followers of Jesus, I couldnt stop thanking God for youevery time I prayed, Id think of you and give thanks. Acts 26:18+ to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.. My hope is built on nothing less Or if you are so afraid of robbers that you cannot really enjoy it? His faith that God will strengthen me Both views are theologically sound, but the second seems more consistent with Pauls emphasis in Eph 1:11 and Eph 1:14. The man was powerfully built, and Fuller visualized how he must have looked in the ring. I'm taking this message from this phrase in Ephesians 1:19: "the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe." . Thus power unto salvation (Ro1:16): the kingdom coming in power (Mk 9:1): God himself called powerthe right hand of the power (Mt. Rab. He is able! You may unsubscribe from Bible Gateways emails at any time. Will Pauls prayer be answered in your life? Riches (4149) (ploutos) refers to the abundance of earthly goods, but here refers to spiritual abundance. The, the definite article. Ephesians 3:20+ Now to Him Who is able (dunamai) to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power (dunamis) that works (energeo- present tense - continually working) within us. Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Accusative 2nd Person Plural. 10:13; Eph. 1:10). In the NT klesis is used metaphorically of an invitation to enter the kingdom of God by grace through faith. When her teacher finally did let her discover for herself that she would one day be Queen of England, Victorias response was, Then I will be good! Her life would be controlled by her position. And not just for the time being, but forever. But by Gods grace the word of God may change your mind and your heart. This is why Paul prayed for the eyes of their hearts to really understand these truths. 4:1; Song 2:7; 3:5; 5:8; 8:4; Is. Harold Hoehner -In Eph 1:14 Paul wrote that the Christians inheritance is their final redemption from the presence of sin. When we are saved we receive all of Gods grace and all of His power, and that assures us of the realization of our eternal hope. Be diligent to pray and spend time in the Word so that your spiritual progress will be evident to all (1 Tim. Of course, all these blessings are only for those who meet the conditions set forth in Eph 1:1-2 (ED: THOSE WHO BELIEVE). God can. Perhaps you can remember three words to capture this message: resurrection power now. This was true for the Ephesians, and it is true for us today. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) And what is he attempting to describe? 1:18). He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son. God the Father gave the world to Adam. One might think of ischus as God's latent power. On the way home, the father asked the boy why he didn't reach his own hand into the jar. Prolonged from a primary kar; the heart, i.e. After the service, he drove to nearby Hollywood and stopped his car in the shade of a eucalyptus tree in Franklin Park. 6:5; 22:18; 24:2, 4; 1 Ki. It is from from which we get theocracy, the rule of God; autocracy, absolute rule; democracy, the rule of the people; and plutocracy, the rule of the wealthy. This down payment from God is the first installment on whats coming, a reminder that well get everything God has planned for us, a praising and glorious life. Glory (1391) (doxa) in this context seems to refer to the splendour, brightness or the brightness, shining or radiance. We live in a day when denominations, Churches, and religious organizations are running on man-made programs, social agendas, and orders handed down from denominational headquarters. There's more than enough power to break the hold of all sinful habits; more than enough to give deliverance from temptation; more than enough to enable the believer to live above circumstances. Sign up now for the latest news and deals from Bible Gateway! In addition to a holy calling, saints also have a high ("upward") calling (Php 3:14+) and a heavenly calling (Heb 3:1+). Yes, God's Word promises us great richestreasures that we cannot even attempt to purchase with any amount of money. Ask Him to impress on your heart the blessings and responsibilities of your calling. That's why Calmen was disappointed when her aging teacher responded with a handwritten note that said, "I was aware of the fact that you were intelligent, but I never thought that someday I would be reading articles from your pen in the newspaper." Eph 3:16+ that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man. Proverbs 20:27The spirit of man is the lamp of the LORD, Searching all the innermost parts of his being. 1:1819). With his natural mind, man cannot understand the things of God. Luke used ophthalmos figuratively in recording Christ's charge to Paul that He was sending him to the Gentiles to open (anoigo) their eyes so that they may turn (epistrepho) from darkness (cf "prince of the power of the air" in Eph 2:2+) to light (cf Col 1:13, 14+) and from the dominion of Satan to God, in order that they may receive forgiveness (sending away) of sins and an inheritance (for which they were predestined before the foundation of the world, Ep 1:5+) among those who have been sanctified (set apart - here referring to the initial act of belief although more commonly in NT referring to the ongoing day to day salvation of the believer = sanctification, which is also by faith) by faith in Me. (Lehman Strauss Commentary Devotional Studies on Paul's Letters to the Galatians and Ephesians- online), THOUGHT -May our great, grace filled Father grant each of us His grace to ponder this incredible truth so that it might motivate us, enabledby HisSpirit, to walk worthy of the calling to which we have been called in Christ. (John 13:7). The eye on yours is dusty. He cleaned it and the problems disappeared. Paul knows that as a man thinks in his heart, his spiritual interior, will determine how he walks (cf Pr 23:7). Don't miss out on this "once in a lifetime" opportunity! This expectation of seeing Jesus, our "Blessed Hope" [see below] and being like Him is entertained equally by both Jewish and Gentile believers. A ministry that is College-trained but not Spirit-filled works no miracles. They will give us the strength to persevere in godliness. That we might sense and experience the working of His incomparably great power for us who believe (Ep 1:19a). Seeking the Gospel in Malachi, the Last Book of the Old Testament. Try Bible Gateway Plus free today! 29:1113). Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, were a free peoplefree of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. Now Paul deals with the third area, that is, the greatness of his power which God directs toward believers (for a structural layout of the prayer, see 1:16b). That ye may know what is the hope of His calling Eph. But not content with this, in the following year he pushes his fences back further into the depth of prairie or forest, and again renews his efforts to compel the land to yield him her secret stores. In conclusion, is supernatural power that is in actual operation. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might. Put those deficiencies together and you have the reason why we are dissatisfied and empty. 1112)? Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 2nd Person Plural. To each the conception of looking onward is attached; to the "calling" "hope," to the "inheritance" "glory," to the "power" the exaltation of Christ (and of us with Him; see Ephesians 2:6) to the right hand of God. After all, what good is it to have wealth if you are too weak to use it? Look from the place where thou art, northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward; for all this land is given to thee! Philippians The power of God in our lives is the result of being Spirit filled and we are commanded to be filled with the Spirit. Article Images Copyright 2023 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. Note however that Paul did not pray for power to be given to believers. James He makes a circuit of its bounds; he ascends its loftiest hills; he crosses and recrosses it, that he may know all that has come into his ownership. 8.247; Justin Martyr, Apology 1.61.12; Dial 39.2; 122.1; cf. If the Christian message is true, the world is on the way not to dissolution but to consummation. ", etc (See 5W/H questions). The power of God we experience in our lives is the same power by which God raised Jesus Christ from death. 5:1; 15:20; 17:36; 19:3; 23:25; 24:14; 1 Chr. So the dynamo of Christian living is within the believer because God is within the believer. it is the satisfaction of God's people to believe in this exalting truth that he chooses their inheritance for them. Amen. No matter where she was, Victoria was governed by the fact that she sat on the throne of England. Even so, we will reign with Christ! I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened- Physical eyes (or ears) cannot see (hear) these deeper truths. Jesus, You have given us freedom Emotions are important, but they must be guided and controlled by an enlightened mind. Sublimal Messages Don't Work - Americans spend $50 million a year on subliminal message tapes designed to help them do everything from improve their self-image to stop smoking. Luke In Ephesians 1:1820, Paul prays for believers to experience Gods resurrection power through a personal, intimate relationship with God. (cf Dt 32:9+) And thats what we are. I go to prepare a place for you (John 14:12). Now, I'm no longer bound by sin and darkness We have been called by grace, to glory. They propagate self-effort and introspective meditation, but spiritual enlightenment doesnt come through such means. Wiersbe - In the prison prayers of Paul (Eph. To run an organization needs no God. What we can get from God rather than what we can be to God is our continued concern. The American Standard Version reads: the eyes of your heart, not mind. Jon Courson- That ye may know what is the hope of his calling Ephesians 1:18. See more belowon what it means to be called by God. On the other hand, in the OT the hope of the righteous is directed toward the eternal God who will protect and ultimately deliver if not now, certainly in the future. Genesis The "heart" in Scripture speaks of the very center and core of one's life, the seat of thoughts and moral judgments. 3 John Proud member Comment: The fact that Paul qualifies this "hope" as "one hope" emphasizes that there is the same ultimate, glorious reality for all of the church, whether Jew or Gentile! The soul, as is written, The soul of man is the lamp of the Lord (Prov. Hoehner on kratos -In the NT it is used twelve times, four times by Paul, twice in Ephesians (1:19; 6:10) and it always has reference to supernatural power: once of the devil (Heb 2:14), and the other eleven times of God. This is the power of God that is available to believers. This day is as a thousand years because in your day of difficulty and dilemma, pressure and pain, sadness and sorrow, you have the unique opportunity to share the fellowship of the Lords suffering and to pray for others in a way you never would have been able to otherwise. In Ephesians 1:3-14 Paul had just summed up what their calling involved. Some take it to mean, the riches of the glory of the inheritance that comes from God and is enjoyed among the saints. In other words, they take it to be a prayer that we would come to know all of the spiritual blessings that God has given to us. 1:19; Eph. The second dealt with the future when God will gain his inheritance at the coming of Christ. Dr. Hammond thinks it was written about the year 58, and Dr. Lightfoot places it in 59, and the fifth year of Nero. We do not ask for it we were born into its blessed privilege. Lehman Strauss - The prayer continues: " The eyes of your understanding being enlightened " (1:18). 2:89), and we live by grace, through faith (1Cor. (Eph 1:18ESV) Notice how this rendering places the emphasis on God as the One Who "inherits"! What an objective in prayer! Megethos in the Septuagint -Ex. of The heart the seat of the mind and will, and the heart could be taught what the brain could never know (or sadly the converse to know something intellectually but not in one's heart!) The hope that your effectual calling instills is grounded in Gods promises and in Christs accomplishments (1 Peter 1:3), and is characterized by confidently expecting and yet patiently waiting for those promises to be fulfilled. Dunamis is rather ability, faculty: not necessarily manifest, as ischus: power residing in one by nature. And not just for the time being, but. Throughout Ephesians 1 Paul is clearly struck with the magnificence of our inheritance in Christ. 4:20; 7:6; 9:26, 29; 1 Kings 8:51, 53 Ps. Long before he laid down earths foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. But that one in our nature should be exalted to that seat of pre-eminence and power; that the Mediator between God and man should be the man Christ Jesus; that the hands which once were nailed to the cross should now hold the sceptre, and that the feet which once walked on Lake Gennesaret, which were weary and dust-soiled at Jacobs well, which were washed with a sinful womans tears and kissed in penitential grief and love with polluted lipsthat these very feet should now have all things put under them both in heaven and earth, there is the mystery. In this passage energeia describes the active, energetic, productive power of the Spirit of God at work. 15:10-note). This is a wonderful truth. (A Day's Journey: 365 Daily Meditations from the Word), Jon Courson- And what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. And remember that this "spiritual journey" is not an "arrival" in this life but is a life long journey (sanctification), albeit it is a journey which is "motivated" by the hope (guaranteed assurance 1Jn 3:2+) of our final arrival one day in the future in twinkling of an eye (glorification - 1Cor 15:52+). I submit that this argues strongly against so-called evolution in the first creation, as it was certainly not necessary in the second (new birth) creation. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 1:1820). The principle is that we should pray for the promises of God to be realized in our hearts (cf 2Pe 1:4) Only the Spirit can reveal spiritual truth. LXX translates with apokalupto from ap = from + kalpto = cover, conceal which means literally to uncover and so to remove the veil or covering exposing to open view what was before hidden. On the Saturday before, California businessman Charles Fuller read about Raders visit in the newspaper. Habakkuk Ephesians 1:17-18 17 But I do more than thank. But His riches are not in the universes that He possesses, nor in the substance of the earth that is His, but in the saints that He purchased at infinite cost, namely, the precious blood of His only begotten Son (I Pet. The power which raised Christ from the grave, lifted Him to heaven, put all things under His feet and made Him the Head over all to the Church, is to us-ward who believe. When He placed his cross against the wall, and scaled our ramparts, planting on our strongholds the blood-red flag of his omnipotent mercy? KJV And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power. Only when we know who we really are can we live like who we are. Once on the mission field, he is willing to suffer hardships and separation from family and friends because the call of God is his greatest motivation. 1:1523; 3:1421; Phil. (2Pe 1:2-4-notes 2Peter 1:2; 1:3; 1:4). Nu. The fact that God exerted such mighty power to save us implies that His same mighty power will keep us. Ephesians 1:18 I ask that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know the hope of His calling, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, > Ephesians > Chapter 1 > Verse 18 Ephesians 1:18 Context Crossref Comment Greek Verse (Click for Chapter) New International Version The church is Christs body, in which he speaks and acts, by which he fills everything with his presence. What Does It Really Mean That Your Body Is a Temple? That burden was placed there by the Lord as part of His calling. As Paul puts it (2 Tim. We will enjoy perfect happiness in a perfect environment where nothing will be spoiled by sin. Mark But I do more than thank. Spirit, soul, and body must be freely yielded to the great Husbandman. (1Cor 6:19, 20+). Observe that the power which raised Christ from the dead was glorious. So if youre having problems in your Christian life, if things dont seem to be working as they should, maybe its time to go back and read the owners manual! Esther The analogy that we have quoted, however, fails us utterly in its final working out. Your Holy Spirit lives in me Whatever Thou dost get out of us, Thou must first put in. Hebrews 13:21 records the prayer, "Make you perfect [mature] in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight.". How does the Spirit enlighten you? The gospel is dynamic, Gods dynamic, and so is powerful in the transformation of human lives. He gives the worldling husks; but he stops to find out the sweet fruits for his people. How could they have more than what they had? The church, redeemed by the blood of Jesus, is similarly called: You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth (Revelation 5:10). We need not pray for power to evangelize, to witness the gospel to others. Philemon Theyre depressed and discouraged because they dont see the big picture of eternity.