We are sharing a special series about teaching the Book of Ephesians in small groups. If you haven’t read the Introduction to the series, we invite you to read it here.
Whether you are interested in studying Ephesians for the purpose of teaching it to small groups or for your own personal study, we believe you will find this series helpful.
We are currently in the middle of Chapter Three.
Basic Premises for Studying Scripture
- God is worth knowing
- His Word is worth learning and obeying
- Because God is worth knowing and His Word is worth learning, we will follow a proven method of knowing Him and learning His Word.
- We will use the I – M – D – I method of Bible study:
- Inductive – Methodical – Direct – Independent
- Inductive study – “logical, objective, impartial reasoning” … examining specifics of Scripture before reaching conclusions
- Methodical study – “a way or path of transit” (Greek – methodos) … focused on taking the proper path to gaining knowledge about God
- Direct study – “relying on Scripture as the primary tool for learning”
- Independent study – “original thinking combined with Spirit insight”
- Observe (See and Record)
- Question (Ask and Answer)
- Interpret (Determine the Holy Spirit’s Intent)
- Apply (How God’s Truth applies to your life)
Bible Study – The Group Process
We invite you to model the process of observing, asking questions for interpretation, interpreting for meaning, and applying for discipleship for your small group. This process may be new to some of the people in your group, so going through it with them for awhile may help them feel comfortable with how to do it.
One of the biggest mistakes people make in reading the Bible is trying to interpret the meaning of individual verses before observing everything in the verses. Studying in context also helps keep us from making incorrect interpretations. That means starting the observation process at the beginning of each Bible book.
The challenge in studying alone or with the group is trying to determine the meaning of passages in the Bible before assuring that we’ve observed everything in the passages and asked every possible question. We carefully answer all of the questions before reaching a conclusion to the meaning.
Read the Scripture and go through each step with your group. You may be able to cover observation, questions, interpretation and application in one meeting, but don’t rush the process. It takes time to see everything in a text, ask good questions, get good answers to those good questions, interpret the meaning of the text and apply the meaning to life. If it takes two or three meetings to do that for each text, that’s fine! The goal is to rightly divide God’s Word, not finish by a certain date.
Observe – Write what you see
Ephesians 3:17-19
that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
The Apostle Paul has been revealing a ‘secret’ (μυστήριον – mustérion) that he said God gave to him (Paul). Paul wrote at the beginning of Ephesians 3 that he was ‘the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles.’ He wrote about the ‘dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you.’ Paul wrote that ‘by revelation’ God made known to him ‘the mystery,’ which he described as ‘my knowledge in the mystery of Christ.’ Paul wrote that this ‘mystery’ of God concerning Christ was not known to the sons of men ‘in other ages’ as it had been revealed ‘by the Spirit.’ The ‘mystery’ God gave to Paul was ‘that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel.’ That’s a lot to take in, but you can look at previous parts of this series to see how it appears in the Greek.
Ephesians 3 is so pivotal to understanding what God is doing in the Church today, and has been doing since Paul’s ministry, that I outlined it this way –
- Mystery of Christ Revealed (3:1-7)
- Mystery of Christ Explained (3:8-13)
- Mystery of Christ Understood (3:14-21)
We began looking at the Mystery of Christ “understood” in the last part of our study (14-16). We pick up now with verse 17.
Ephesians 3:17 in Greek
that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love … κατοικησαι τον χριστον δια της πιστεως εν ταις καρδιαις υμων
Paul began in verses 14-16 by revealing his prayer for the Ephesians –
For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man …
Paul’s next point is that ‘Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.’ What did he mean by that?
κατοικέω (katoikeó) is a verb that means ‘to settle in, to dwell in, inhabit permanently.’ The idea is of settling down as a permanent resident. That’s what Paul wanted for Christians. Does that mean Jesus might leave us? No, that’s not the meaning or implication of the word.
The purpose of the strengthening by the Spirit is now given, “that Christ may dwell in your hearts.” The personal presence of the Lord Jesus in the heart of the believer is not in view here. That is taken for granted. The word “dwell” is katoikēsai, made up of oikeó, “to live in as a home,” and kata, thus “to settle down and be at home.” The tense is aorist, showing finality. The expanded translation is; “that Christ may finally settle down and feel completely at home in your hearts.” Professor Kenneth Wuest, Word Studies in Ephesians and Colossians, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1953
The Gr. verb indicates permanent abode. It is akin to the noun, Ephesians 2:22; where see note. See it used 2 Peter 3:13, of the eternal presence of Righteousness in the New Universe. It marks a residence quite different from transient or casual lodgment. The tense is the aorist (infinitive), and the idea of the aorist is singleness of act. Accordingly, the Lord is viewed here as not merely “dwelling,” but, in a definite act, “coming to dwell,” “taking up abode.” Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The word ‘hearts’ is καρδία (kardia). The ancient Greeks understood the word to mean everything from the physical beating heart in our chest to our mind, will, character, and inner self. Some Greek experts have referred to it as the “affective center of our being” and the “capacity of moral preference (volitional desire, choice).”
How does this happen? ‘through faith’ – δια της πιστεως – the same words Paul used in Ephesians 2:8 about how someone is saved. It is through ‘faith.’
Faith is simply the condition of that indwelling of Christ (comp. Ephesians 2:8), the opening of the door to Him that He may enter in. Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
There is ‘saving faith’ and ‘living faith.’ What I mean by that is we are saved by ‘faith’ (total trust) in Christ (Ephesians 2:8). Once a person is saved by grace through faith, then it is time to ‘live out’ that faith. This is what Paul was praying for the Christians in Ephesus and every other church that existed in the Roman world and in our world as well. That’s why Paul placed verse 17 in the context of the preceding verse – “to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man.” It is the Holy Spirit of God who gives us faith to be saved by Christ and it is the Holy Spirit who gives us faith to live for Christ. We cannot, must not, try to live out the Christian life without a full reliance on God’s Holy Spirit who lives within us.
that you, being rooted and grounded in love – ὑμῶν ἐν ἀγάπῃ ἐρριζωμένοι καὶ τεθεμελιωμένοι
This portion is not included in the 1550 Stephanus New Testament, the 1881 Westcott-Hort New Testament, and the 1894 Scrivener New Testament. However, it is included in the SBL Greek New Testament and the Tyndale House Greek New Testament.
The word ‘rooted’ (errizōmenoi) is a perfect participle verb (middle or passive) that indicates “to plant, to cause to take root, firmly establish.” The word ‘grounded’ (tethemeliōmenoi) means “to lay the foundation” for something.
The words, “being rooted” and “grounded,” are perfect tense participles in the Greek text. They are the result of the strengthening by the Spirit and the consequent at-home-ness of the Lord Jesus in the believers heart and His fellowship with him. The word “rooted” has the idea of securely settled, and “grounded” that of deeply founded. Love here is that love which the Holy Spirit produces and with which He floods the heart of the yielded saint.” Professor Kenneth Wuest, Word Studies in Ephesians and Colossians, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1953
In order that ye, having been rooted and grounded in love. Two images are combined to make the idea emphatic – that of a tree and that of a building; denoting what is both the starting-point and the support of the Christian’s life, viz. love. In what sense? The love of Christ is specified afterwards (ver. 19), but this may be as a pre-eminent branch of that manifold love which bears on the Christian life – the love of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; the love of the brethren to one another; and the reciprocal love evoked from the believer by the reception of this love. Evidently it is implied that the Christian life can begin and flourish only in such an atmosphere of love; as warm sunshine is needed to start and advance the life of a plant, so love is needed to start and carry on the life of the soul. Experience of Divine love is a great quickening and propelling power. “One glance of God, a touch of his love, will free and enlarge the heart, so that it can deny all and part with all and make an entire renunciation of all to follow him” (Archbishop Leighton). Pulpit Commentary
Ephesians 3:18 in Greek
may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—εν αγαπη ερριζωμενοι και τεθεμελιωμενοι ινα εξισχυσητε καταλαβεσθαι συν πασιν τοις αγιοις τι το πλατος και μηκος και βαθος και υψος
The Tyndale House Greek New Testament begins with the words ἵνα ἐξισχύσητε, which translates ‘so that you may be fully able.’ Here the Apostle Paul gives us the spiritual reasoning behind what he wrote earlier. He wanted the Ephesians to be able to ‘comprehend’ (καταλαβέσθαι – katalabesthai) with all the other ‘saints.’ The word καταλαβέσθαι means ‘to seize, lay hold of, capture, appropriate, grasp in a firm hold.’ The word ἐξισχύσητε (exischysēte) means ‘to be eminently able, to have full strength.’
What Paul wanted them to eminently able to ‘comprehend’ what was the ‘width and length and depth and height.’
- width – πλάτος – breadth
- length – μῆκος – length
- depth – βάθος – fullness, immensity
- height – ὕψος – dignity, eminence
Of what?
Ephesians 3:19 in Greek
to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God – γνωναι τε την υπερβαλλουσαν της γνωσεως αγαπην του χριστου ινα πληρωθητε εις παν το πληρωμα του θεου
The word υπερβαλλουσαν (huperballousan) means ‘surpassing, excel, exceed, transcend.’ The word γνωσεως (gnōseōs) means ‘knowledge, wisdom, doctrine.’ The word αγαπην (agapēn) means ‘love, to prefer, goodwill, esteem). The words του χριστου (tou Christou) mean ‘of the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One.’
This is why Paul prayed for the Ephesians. He wanted them to experience the fullness of Christ’s perfect love for them. Christianity is not about rituals or routines. It’s about the deepest, widest, longest, highest ‘love’ that anyone in this world can experience – the ‘surpassing love of the Christ.’ He wanted them to ‘grasp’ it with all their spiritual strength.
How powerfully the apostle speaks of the love of Christ! The breadth shows its extent to all nations and ranks; the length, that it continues from everlasting to everlasting; the depth, its saving those who are sunk into the depths of sin and misery; the height, its raising them up to heavenly happiness and glory. Those who receive grace for grace from Christ’s fulness, may be said to be filled with the fulness of God. Should not this satisfy man? Must he needs fill himself with a thousand trifles, fancying thereby to complete his happiness? Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Paul is not finished! He also wants them to be filled with all the fullness of God – ινα πληρωθητε εις παν το πληρωμα του θεου. To be ‘filled’ (πληρωθητε – plērōthēte) means ‘to make full, to complete.’ With what? With ‘all the fullness of God”!
The word πλήρωμα (plērōma) means ‘a full complement, filling to the full.’ Imagine that! Being filled with all the fullness of God. That’s what Paul prayed for the Ephesians.
When Christ dwells in the heart we have first, love perfecting the faith which roots the life in Him; next, a thoughtful knowledge, entering by degrees into the unsearchable riches of His love to us; and, lastly, the filling the soul, itself weak and empty, up to the perfection of likeness to Him, so renewing and deepening through all time and eternity the image of God in our humanity. Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
That they might be strengthened in the inner man so as to have Christ’s living and abiding presence in them, and be lifted thereby to the comprehension of His love and the personal knowledge of that which yet surpasses all knowledge, and at last be filled with all spiritual excellence even up to the measure of the complete perfection that is in God Himself—this is the sweep of what Paul in his prayer desires for these Ephesians so late sunk in heathen hopelessness and godlessness. Expositor’s Greek Testament
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Interpret – What is the Holy Spirit’s intent in these verses?
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Apply – How can you apply these spiritual truths to your life?
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Next Time
We will look at Ephesians 3:20-21 in the next part of our series, Teaching Ephesians.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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