Ephesians 3:1-7
NO DISCRIMINATION AND
NO EXCUSES
3:1 For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for
you Gentiles,
Paul never referred to himself as a prisoner
of the Jews or of the Romans but as a prisoner of the Lord. The account of how
he came to be imprisoned in Rome is found in Acts chapters 21-25. When he
appealed to Caesar, he was transferred to Rome to await trial. Since the reason
he was arrested in the first place was that he was preaching the gospel of
Jesus Christ, he considered that the Lord had orchestrated his imprisonment and
would use it for His glory, and He certainly did. Also, the Jews had falsely
accused him of bringing Gentiles into the temple area because of his being known
for preaching to the Gentiles, so in that sense, his concern for the Gentiles
and the Lord’s commission that he preach to them had landed him in prison. God ordained Paul’s imprisonment, perhaps in part to allow him
to write the letters that would become a major part of our New Testament. God
knew He would use them to spread the gospel to the ends of the earth. The
spread of Paul’s teachings, like ever expanding ripples on the water, helped to
disseminate the gospel of Jesus Christ throughout Asia Minor, Europe, and
beyond as they are still expanding today.
Ephesians 3:2 If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of
God which is given me to you-ward:
By “dispensation” Paul is referring to his
work, the stewardship or administration of the gospel to the Gentiles. God’s
grace extended to all people groups, not exclusively to the Jews. Paul preached
the message of inclusion of the Gentiles as ordained by God through the work of
Jesus on the Cross. Not only did Paul preach this, but John, the beloved
disciple, included all kinds of people when he wrote, “For God so loved the
WORLD” in John 3:16.
Ephesians 3:3 How that by revelation he made known unto me
the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, 4 Whereby, when ye read, ye may
understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)
Paul had alluded to this mystery of the
Gentiles being co-heirs with the Jewish believers in Ephesians 1:9-10. Now he
is expounding upon this. The message of this mystery is the main reason the
Jews wanted to put him on trial, he appealed to Caesar, and was at this time a
prisoner in Rome. The following is part of his testimony before King Agrippa:
Acts 26:22-23 (NIV) But God has helped me to
this very day; so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying
nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen— 23 that the
Messiah would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would bring the
message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles.”
The “mystery,” in part, is the creation of
the church, Jesus’ bride, Christians. We are new people in the sense of each of
us being individually reborn through our relationship with Jesus; but we are
also new people as a group, people who are neither Jew nor Greek. God’s forever
family has no cultural, racial, or economic divisions – we are one in the body
of Christ.
Ephesians 3:5 Which in other ages was not made known unto
the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by
the Spirit; 6 That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body,
and partakers of his promise in Christ by the
gospel:
Isaiah 49:6 (ESV) he says: “It is too light a
thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to
bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
The covenant God made with Abraham included
the fact that all nations would be blessed through him; and the verse above
speaks of salvation reaching to the ends of the earth, but the Jews did not
understand this to mean that Gentiles would share in their inheritance as the
chosen people of God.
Genesis 26:4 (NIV) I will make your
descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these
lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed,
Gentile believers would not only be blessed
but would be adopted into His forever family as daughters and sons of God and
brothers and sisters together with the Jewish believers. There will be no
prejudice at all in Heaven!
1 Corinthians 12:12-13 For just as the body
is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are
one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into
one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one
Spirit.
All believers have the river of the Holy
Spirit flowing through them (John 7:38). Therefore, we all look forward to our
inheritance with Jesus in Heaven.
Ephesians 3:7 Whereof I was made a minister, according to
the gift of the grace
of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.
We are all called to be witnesses and to
minister to one another. The Lord Jesus himself, addressed
the apostles in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-19) telling them to witness
and to make disciples, and this applies to us as believers as well. However, a minister does not choose ministry as a profession for
themselves. They are set apart by the Lord for this purpose. I struggled with
the validity of own “calling” for several years; but the Lord persisted until I
surrendered. Even after I surrendered to be God’s megaphone, I questioned the
Lord at times and reminded Him of all the reasons I did not feel qualified
(cerebral palsy, being a woman, limited use of my hands, insecure about public
speaking, etc.) Ultimately, it is not our own
worth that causes God to place us in ministry but what He empowers us to do
despite our weaknesses and imperfections. I do not know who first said this, but I have heard it quoted
many times: “God does not call the equipped. He equips the called.” It was God’s grace and power working through Paul that made him
a minister and a witness to the Gentiles as well as the Jews.
Application:
1. God’s gracious gift of salvation is available for all kinds of
people, not just one race or class.
2. When God calls you to a specific task, He will empower you to
carry it out.
3. We are not to be prejudiced toward others whom the Lord has
saved by His grace.
4. We must not discount God’s ability to use us to spread the good
news due to factors such as our own race, economic status, “disabilities,” or
lack of formal education. NO EXCUSES!
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