Ephesians 3:17 - Forerunner Commentary

Ephesians 3:17

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Articles, Bible studies, and sermons that contain The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Ephesians 3:17:

Ephesians 3:14-21
Excerpted from: The Paradox of Terror and Rejoicing

So according to the apostle Paul, now that the Ephesian Christians have been "rooted and grounded in love," they "may be fully 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."

Here in this section of his epistle, Paul is not dealing with our love for God, Christ, and one another, but with His love for us. But before we examine the nature and character of that knowledge, we must consider the knowledge itself and find out what can be known about the love of God.

Here (in Ephesians 3), Paul sets this before us in an extraordinary manner. The terminology used by Paul in and of itself suggests vastness. And there is no doubt that he chose to describe it in this four-dimensional manner to give that very impression. It is interesting to speculate why he decided to do this.

He probably still had in mind what he had been saying at the end of the second chapter of Ephesians before he began on the digression in the 13 verses of this chapter. There, he had been describing the church as a holy temple in the Lord, as a great building that God uses as His dwelling place, and it is probably still in his mind at this time. And as he thought about the vastness of the church as an enormous temple, he saw it as a good way of describing the love of Christ to the brethren. It is similar to the width, the length, the depth, and the height of such a great building.

So Paul was certainly concerned about highlighting the vastness of Christ's love. In doing so, he almost contradicts himself by using a figure of speech known as an oxymoron.

He prays that we may know the love of Christ which passes knowledge. How can you know something that cannot be known? How can you define something so vast that it cannot be measured? What is the point of discussing measurements if it is immeasurable and eternal?

But of course, there is no contradiction here.

What Paul is saying is that, although this love of Christ is beyond all calculation and comprehension and can never be fully measured, it is still our duty to learn as much as we can and to receive as much of it as we can hold.

Therefore, it is fitting and essential for us to examine this description of Christ's love that Paul provides, and we are about to explore something so glorious and infinite that it will be the focus of all the saints' contemplation, not only in this world but also in the world to come. We will spend eternity in all of it. Yet it is our duty to begin trying to understand it here and now, in this life.

The word "comprehend" here is significant when compared with the English word "apprehend." Both comprehend and apprehend stem from the Latin word prehendere, which means "to grasp." We say that a monkey has a prehensile tail and that is its tail can grasp a tree limb and hold on.

Our word comprehend carries the idea of mentally grasping something, while apprehend suggests laying hold of it for yourself. In other words, it is possible to understand something but not really make it your own.

And Paul's concern is that we lay hold of the vast expanses of the love of God. He wants us to think and live in four dimensions.

But there is a paradox here. Paul wants us to know the love of Christ personally, which passes knowledge. There are dimensions, but they cannot be measured. "The love of Christ which passes knowledge" parallels "the unsearchable riches of Christ," mentioned in Ephesians 3:8. We are so rich in Christ that our spiritual riches cannot be calculated even with the most sophisticated computer.

No Christian ever has to worry about having inadequate spiritual resources to meet the demands of life. If we pray for spiritual strength and spiritual depth, we will be able to apprehend, that is, get our hands on all the resources of God's love and grace.

Paul recognizes, of course, that he is trying to measure the unmeasurable and therefore paradoxically prays that the … . . .

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The Goodness and Severity of God
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All in All (Part 1)
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Faith and the Christian Fight (Part 3)
Prayer Makes a Difference
Uniqueness and Time
Potential for Good
All in All
Pentecost and the Holy Spirit
Pentecost and the Book of Ruth
Abraham's Sacrifice (Part Five): Promises Confirmed
The Beauty of God's Law
Impediments to Sanctification

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