PAUL’S DESIRE FOR THE BELIEVERS
Ephesians 1:17-18
Paul’s thanksgiving prayer flows over into
supplication. He makes his request known for
the believers in this prayer. The prayer centers on enlightenment. It may seem
strange that this is the heart of Paul’s prayer for the saints in Ephesus.
However, the context seems to be centered upon the items of grace. This is
brought out strongly by the opening phrase: “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory (Eph. 1:17).
The word “That” indicates purpose
(cf. 2:7), while also indicating content. The word refers the words “may give[1]….” What is given
is the source of God. He is the giver, we are the receivers. What Paul wants us
to receive are:
Spirit of wisdom and revelation. The first thing we are met with is
what are the words a spirit referring
to? Bible students are divided here on whether
this refers to the Holy Spirit or the human spirit. Able men are on both sides
of the issue. Some think it is the spirit or attitude we are to have (cf. 1
Cor. 4:21).[2] Others
say it is a reference to the Holy Spirit.[3]
Wallace has a point when He says the word wisdom and revelation are to be seen
as attributed genitives. They are qualitative words, thus the word spirit as
qualitative is most natural. He suggests the grammatical and exegetical context
favors the translation of “spiritual” wisdom and revelation.[4] This does
two things: First, it does away with the idea that Paul is praying to give the readers
the Holy Spirit. Second, it still upholds that the view that it is the work of
the Holy Spirit, not the human spirit that is the spoken of here. The Holy
Spirit is to grant unto these believers a spiritual wisdom and revelation or
disclosure. It fits well into the context of enlightenment which is the object
of Paul’s prayer.
Knowledge
of Him.
This wisdom and revelation are to be “in
the knowledge of Him.” The word knowledge
has the meaning of the full and accurate knowledge. It speaks of the sphere in
which wisdom and revelation are to work.
The verse clearly is speaking of the perceiving of knowledge of Him (cf. 1 Cor.
2:10-16).
Enlighten “The eyes of
your heart may be enlightened” (Eph.
1:18). There
is a debate on how to render this text syntactically. Hoehner boils the
controversy down to two major alternatives.[5]
One is to take it to part of the request, as does our translation (NASB, NIV,
NEB). The second major alternative makes it an ancillary thought to the request, “the eyes of your understanding being enlightened” (KJV, NKJV), as a
stated fact that has already occurred. While many commentaries opt for the
second alternative, but Lincoln admits “the
syntax is not clear.”[6] What is
clear is the subject is enlightenment. Paul is praying not for the emotion by
using the word heart, but the enlightenment of the intellect (or mind). The heart must be taken as the center of
personality and the thought process which is to be enlightened. The word means
to give light, illuminate. Revelation is the method of operation of the Spirit;
enlightenment is the fruit of His work. Enlightenment is a perfect participle,
indicating a completed act which carries continuing results. This means once of the moment of insight comes, it
continues. It is not just insight and enlightenment of facts, but that of insight
in knowing Christ personally and intimately as one is enlightened and grows in
the knowledge of Him. Thus, this enlightenment is that of sanctification, not
salvation. Salvation is only the start of this sanctification or enlightenment.
This comes not simply through the facts
of the Word but by the Holy Spirit’s insight
and disclosure in conjunction with the knowledge of Christ in His Word.
Our understanding is to include:
Hope. “So
that you will know what the hope of His
calling is…” (1:18b). The aim[7] or purpose
of the Spirit’s work is to enlighten in the knowledge of the hope of His
calling. The word for knowledge means
to perceive; to come to know; to comprehend or apprehend; to recognize. The
emphasis of knowledge is on hope. The
hope is the key concept in this phrase. The word for hope has the meaning a
confident or sure expectation. It has the sense
of assurance. “Hope rests on faith in the act of salvation (Romans 8:24-25) and
is sustained by the Spirit (Romans 8:26-27)” notes Bultmann.[8] Hope here
is objective, not subjective. It built upon expectation; trust in God, and
patient waiting for hope’s consummation.
Paul shows in Ephesians that they as Gentiles were
once without hope (2:12), but no longer so. Our hope is tied up with His
calling, which now includes Gentiles. The call of God can be defined as “the actualization in history
of his electing purpose and involves God’s initiative in bringing a person into
a relationship with Himself.”[9] The
Gentiles experience the actualization of being able to come into relationship
with God, apart from Israel, due to the call of the Apostle Paul and the
revelation of the Mystery (Eph. 3:1-10) to him at an appointed time in history.
The hope of the Gentiles is tied with the call of God to them and their
response to the Gospel of Grace. Paul again ties hope and calling in Ephesians
4:4. Hope here should not be limited to one aspect or detail but entails hope
in its entirety. This hope is laid up for us in heaven (Col. 1:5) and is present with us now for “Christ in you,” defined as “the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27). Thus, we
wait until the appearing of our Savior
when He “will transform the body of our
humble state into conformity with the body of His glory” (Phil. 3:21). The
effectual call of God through the Gospel of Grace provides confident, assuring
hope. This confidence comes from the
enlightening of our understanding by the Holy Spirit.
RICHES OF
THE GLORY OF HIS INHERITANCE “What are
the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints” (1:18c).
The second concept Paul wants us to be enlightened about is our wealth. The Greek word here is ploutos and is singular, not plural, thus wealth would be a better translation. Here the wealth is said to be “the glory of His inheritance in the saints.” This may be taken in two ways. There are strong valid cases for each view. Both views are possible, and it is hard to be dogmatic one way or the other.
The second concept Paul wants us to be enlightened about is our wealth. The Greek word here is ploutos and is singular, not plural, thus wealth would be a better translation. Here the wealth is said to be “the glory of His inheritance in the saints.” This may be taken in two ways. There are strong valid cases for each view. Both views are possible, and it is hard to be dogmatic one way or the other.
- First, it could mean the inheritance of which God is the author of our inheritance.[10] In this case, it refers to the inheritance which God is preparing in the saints. It is looked upon as the object or substance of our hope.[11] The Greek word[12] is always indicative of the inheritance intended for believers. There is no question that the Greek word has the main idea of possession. The crux of the case is found in the phrase “in the saints.” They hold that the preposition in, can be taken as “in the case of,” in the person of the saints.[13] Lenski views this as the solution, saying, “Ev is quite often used with persons and refers to what is mentioned as pertaining to them: “in their case.”[14] This certainly fits well with 1 Corinthians 2:19.
- Second
is the view that the saints are God’s inheritance. In this case,
inheritance is God’s, not that of believers. This view holds that the
possessive pronoun “His” designates that the inheritance belongs to God. The
inheritance of God is located in the sphere of the saints.[15] It denotes our value to God. We are “His inheritance.” This seems to me to be the most natural way to
take the text. God’s people are often seen as God’s inheritance (Deut. 9:26;
Psalms 33:12; 61:5). Thus, the glory of which Paul speaks is the glory of us
being God’s own possession, in which He will glorify Himself. It is not because of any glory or
merit we possess. We have nothing. The glory comes from His work in and
through us. “Believers are valuable to God
because he purchased them in order to inherit them”
observes Hoehner.[16] Some
hold that the church the body of Christ is unique as God’s inheritance;
however, the reading of Scripture does not seem to uphold this idea. Old
Testament dispels this. The revelation of God’s inheritance is not a
unique one given only to Paul and the Church, the body of Christ. Both
Israel and the Church are God’s inheritance. It must be pointed out and
granted that our inheritance is not the same. Israel’s inheritance centers
upon the earth and the Messianic Kingdom, the Church’s centers upon the
heavenly and the rapture (Phil 3:20, Col. 1:5), however, both are said to
be God’s inheritance in Scripture (Eph. 1:18 cf. Deut. 9:26). No doubt
that His inheritance is the glory brought to Him by and through His
people. Both the Church’s (Eph. 5:27) and Israel’s (Isa. 62:3 cf. John
7:22-26) purpose is to glorify God. However, make no mistake; the
immediate context concerns the Church, the Body of Christ.
Lloyd-Jones reminds us that in this
prayer three principles can be induced:
1) We in this life shall always need the enlightening work of the Holy Spirit.
1) We in this life shall always need the enlightening work of the Holy Spirit.
2)
Spiritual knowledge is progressive.
3) We should always pray for the enlightening of our
understanding.[17]
[2] See Thomas Constable, NOTES ON EPHESIANS 17; R.C.H.
Lenski, EPHESIANS, 393; Ernest Campbell, EPHESIANS, 47; Charles Baker, UNDERSTANDING THE BODY OF
CHRIST, 14.
[3] See Harold Hoehner, EPHESIANS, 257-258; Ernest
Best, EPHESIANS, 38-39; Andrew Lincoln, EPHESIANS 57.
[4] Daniel B Wallace, GREEK GRAMMAR: BEYOND THE
BASCIS, (Zondervan, Grand Rapids, 1996), 90-91.
[5] Harold Hoehner, 261-262 for details and
arguments.
[6] Andrew Lincoln, EPHESIANS 47.
[7] John Eadie, EPHESIANS, 89. He points out that
the verse opens with an infinitive of aim.
[9] Andrew Lincoln, EPHESIANS, 59.
[10] A view held by such men as Hodge, Lenski,
Best, Eadie, Wood, and Lloyd-Jones.
[11] Lenski, 396.
[13] A.T. Robertson, GRAMAR, 585.
[14] R.C.H. Lenski, EPHESIANS 397.
[15] Ernest
Campbell, EPHESIANS, 50. This view is held also by Sadler, Wuest, Lincoln,
Baker, and Hoehner.
[17] Martyn Lloyd-Jones, PURPOSE, 366-368.
