The Messenger 18
Introduction
In the first fourteen verses of chapter 1 Paul has provided his readers with this remarkable insight into the glorious treasures of salvation. Blessing upon blessing are available to all who are in Christ. However, while these are a present possession to those in Christ, their full potential will only be realised in the future.
“Dear friends now we are the children of God, and what we shall be has not yet been made known. But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as he is. Everyone who has this hope purifies himself” (1 John 3: 2-3).
We are…. we shall be! We are the children of God and we shall one day be like Him. The full potential of what the Spirit has imparted to us in salvation will only be realised in eternity. That does not mean, however, that now we sit back and do nothing. The Scriptures exhorts us “to press on to take hold of that for which Christ took hold of us” (Phil 3:12-14).
The goal is before us. Nothing can compare to the ultimate glory that awaits us in Christ. Whatever we have to go through now to reach God’s goal; whatever valleys, whatever trials we may have to face in this life, “our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glories that will be revealed in us” (Rom 818).
Praise and prayer
If praise marks the opening of the first half of the chapter, Paul’s prayer for the believers marks the second half of the chapter.
Once we begin to examine the contents of Paul’s prayer, we will see the connection between the praise and the prayer sections.
The prayer section begins with this note of thanksgiving:
“For this reason, ever since I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers” (vv 13-14).
The people to whom Paul was writing had obviously been, in the words of the old evangelicals, ‘roundly and soundly converted.’ Their faith in the Lord Jesus was no mere tokenism, no mere outward profession that lacked inner substance. Their conversion to the faith was clearly an authentic work of the Holy Spirit. That in itself would be enough to bring joy and thankfulness to the heart of any pastor.
The Scriptures make plain that faith in the Lord Jesus and love for all the saints are inseparably linked. We cannot claim to love God without our also possessing a love for our brothers and sisters who also claim to be followers of Jesus. John in his epistle writes:
“We know we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers” (1 Jn 3:14).
Despite the many things that conspire to divide believers from one another in this world, there is a greater reality that unites us – the reality of our being in Christ. No wonder Paul was filled with gratitude and could not stop thanking God for what he had heard about the believers. Their commitment to Christ and to one another clearly indicated their having grasped the greater reality of being in Christ.
In a book entitled Evangelical Essentials – A Liberal Evangelical Dialogue, David Edwards and John Stott debate on some fundamental issues affecting the Christian’s attitude to the Bible. It is not just the contents of the book that I found interesting but the whole spirit of the debate. Diverse as their respective views were, neither at any stage resorted to rancour or gave way to a spirit of judgementalism in the debate. In particular, it is John Stott’s final words that I found so inspiring and encouraging:
I thank you again David for initiating this dialogue, and for giving me the opportunity to respond to what you have written. For myself I believe that some useful clarifications have emerged. You have my continuing, warm good wishes. Yours for ever, John.
In a world where there is so much bitterness, antagonism and rancour, even in the church, doesn’t that make you want to thank God? What a witness to the power of the Gospel. And if you can understand that then you will understand why Paul writes “Ever since I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and you love for all the saints I have not stopped giving thanks for you.”
I see, however, another reason why the imprisoned Paul would have been so eager to thank God for the good news brought to him about the believers. Whether or not Ephesians was intended as a circular letter aimed at the Christians in Asia Minor rather than just at the church in Ephesus, Ephesus would still have been one of the principle cities. Its role in the spread of the Gospel would have been strategic.
David Maltsberger highlights some of the facts that would have made Ephesus so strategic in the spread of the Gospel:
“Ephesus served as the primary trading centre of all Asia Minor. The large port facility provided ample anchorage for ships carrying goods east from Greece and Italy, as well as for those which took to Rome the wares brought overland from Asia and the Far East. A well-laid road linked the post facilities at Ephesus with Tarsus to the east. As the chief port and city of Asia, Paul’s choice of Ephesus as a centre of ministry provided the perfect base from which the Gospel could be spread throughout the Roman world.”
Paul’s time of preaching and teaching in Ephesus, and you can read about it in Acts 19, had obviously resulted in a good foundation being laid among the believers. The fruit of it was seen in their life and witness.
This witness of the believers who were really living out their faith would have left its mark. Many of the traders coming to Ephesus from all parts of the Roman world would undoubtedly have been impacted by that witness. It was a very effective way of spreading the good news, and no one would have appreciated that more than Paul. And that would have been a good reason to give thanks.
Let me close with this prayer by John Stott, minister, writer, theologian: “May your Word be our rule, your Spirit our teacher, and your greater glory our supreme concern, through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
If you have a question or a comment about this series please feel free to write to me, Brian, at
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