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Ephesians 3

KJV · Chapter 3/6

1For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,

2If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:

3How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,

4Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)

5Which 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;

6That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:

7Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.

8Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;

9And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:

10To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,

11According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:

12In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.

13Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.

14For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

15Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,

16That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;

17That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

18May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;

19And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

20Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

21Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Paul explains his special role in revealing the mystery, once hidden, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs together with the Jews in the promise of Christ. He prays fervently that the Ephesians would be strengthened in their inner being and grasp the immensity of Christ's love.

Explanation

Paul describes himself as “the prisoner of Jesus Christ” (not merely of Rome), emphasizing that his imprisonment had a greater spiritual purpose. The “mystery” he reveals — something once hidden but now made known — is the full inclusion of the Gentiles as heirs together with Israel in the promise of Christ, a plan Paul describes as prepared from eternity but only revealed with the coming of Christ. The powerful prayer that closes the chapter asks for inner strengthening by the Spirit, so that Christ would dwell in believers' hearts through faith, and that they might grasp, even without fully exhausting it, the “breadth, and length, and depth, and height” of Christ's love. The practical application today is to seek to experience that love ever more deeply, recognizing that it “passeth knowledge” — surpassing all rational understanding.

Fun facts

  • The phrase 'unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages' (v.21) is one of the earliest doxologies (formulas of praise) directed specifically at the church as an instrument of God's glory, rather than at God alone.
  • The concept of 'mystery' in Ephesians (also used in chapters 1, 5, and 6) reflects vocabulary common to the Greco-Roman mystery cults of the time, but Paul completely redefines it as a truth now publicly revealed by God, not a secret reserved for initiates.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Ephesians 3:1Paul describes himself as “the prisoner of Jesus Christ” for the sake of the Gentiles, linking his imprisonment directly to the mission of bringing them the gospel, a theme he returns to throughout the chapter.
  2. Ephesians 3:2Paul assumes the Ephesians have already heard of the specific role God gave him, administering this grace directed toward the Gentiles, even without being sure how much detail they knew.
  3. Ephesians 3:3Paul writes this letter while imprisoned, probably in Rome, and calls “mystery” something that was once hidden but has now been revealed to him — not a mystery in the sense of a puzzle, but a plan of God only now made public.
  4. Ephesians 3:4Paul invites his readers to notice, from the letter itself, that he has a true understanding of this “mystery of Christ” that he is describing.
  5. Ephesians 3:5Paul explains that this mystery, the full inclusion of the Gentiles, had not been clearly revealed in past generations, and has only now been shown by the Spirit to the holy apostles and prophets.
  6. Ephesians 3:6The “mystery” is explained directly here: the Gentiles became “fellowheirs” with the Jews in God’s promise, something that would have sounded shocking to any Jew of the time used to thinking of the covenant as exclusive to Israel.
  7. Ephesians 3:7Paul credits his role as a minister of this gospel not to his own merit, but to a gift of God’s grace, which works in him with power.
  8. Ephesians 3:8Paul describes himself with exaggerated humility, “less than the least of all saints,” right before highlighting the size of the task he received: preaching among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.
  9. Ephesians 3:9Paul spells out the goal of his ministry: to show publicly how this plan, hidden in God from the beginning, is finally revealed through the church made up of Jews and Gentiles.
  10. Ephesians 3:10‘Principalities and powers in heavenly places’ picks up the language of spiritual hierarchies from chapter 1. Here Paul says that the very existence of the church, Jews and Gentiles united, serves as a demonstration, even to these spiritual forces, of God’s manifold wisdom.
  11. Ephesians 3:11Paul reinforces that all of this is neither chance nor a recent plan: it is part of an eternal purpose God always had in Christ.
  12. Ephesians 3:12Paul describes the practical result of this plan for believers: direct, confident access to God, made possible only through faith in Christ, without barriers or intermediaries.
  13. Ephesians 3:13Paul asks the Ephesians not to be discouraged by the tribulations he faces for their sake, and turns the argument around: this suffering is actually a reason for glory on their behalf.
  14. Ephesians 3:14Paul physically describes his posture of prayer, kneeling before the Father, marking the seriousness and intensity of the request he is about to make.
  15. Ephesians 3:15Paul makes a wordplay in the original Greek between “Father” (pater) and “family” (patria): every family, in heaven and on earth, receives its name and identity from Him.
  16. Ephesians 3:16Paul asks that God strengthen the Ephesians on the inside, in the “inner man,” through the power of His Spirit, and not only in outward circumstances.
  17. Ephesians 3:17Paul continues the request: that Christ may dwell in their hearts through faith, creating a solid foundation of love, like deep roots and a firm base.
  18. Ephesians 3:18‘The breadth, and length, and depth, and height’ of Christ’s love do not describe a literal measurement, but use architectural language of dimensions to express something too immense to fit into a single word.
  19. Ephesians 3:19Paul asks that they know the love of Christ even while knowing that this love surpasses anything human understanding can fully grasp, so that they may be filled with all the fulness of God.
  20. Ephesians 3:20Paul describes God’s power as able to do far more than anyone asks or imagines, because that power is already at work within believers themselves.
  21. Ephesians 3:21Paul closes this long prayer with a doxology: all glory returns to God, through the church and through Christ, throughout all the generations still to come.

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