if it is so that you have heard of the administration of that grace of God which was given me toward you,
Parallel Translations
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if it is so that you have heard of the administration of that grace of God which was given me toward you,
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Yf ye have hearde of the ministracion of the grace of god which is geven me to you warde.
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If ye haue heard of the dispensation of the grace of God, which is giuen me to you warde,
Cross-references (25)
Passages linked to Ephesians 3:2 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 Timothy 1:11 according to the Good News of the glory of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.
- Colossians 1:25-27 of which I was made a servant according to the stewardship of God which was given me toward you to fulfill the word of God, the mystery which has been hidden for ages and generations. But now it has been revealed to his saints, to whom God was pleased to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
- Romans 1:5 through whom we received grace and apostleship for obedience of faith among all the nations for his name’s sake;
- Galatians 1:15-16 But when it was the good pleasure of God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through his grace to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I didn’t immediately confer with flesh and blood,
- 2 Timothy 1:11 For this I was appointed as a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.
- Ephesians 4:7 But to each one of us, the grace was given according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
- 1 Corinthians 4:1 So let a man think of us as Christ’s servants, and stewards of God’s mysteries.
- 1 Corinthians 9:17-22 For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward. But if not of my own will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me. What then is my reward? That when I preach the Good News, I may present the Good News of Christ without charge, so as not to abuse my authority in the Good News. For though I was free from all, I brought myself under bondage to all, that I might gain the more. To the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain those who are under the law; to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law. To the weak I became as weak, that I might gain the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some.
- Galatians 1:13 For you have heard of my way of living in time past in the Jews’ religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the assembly of God and ravaged it.
- Ephesians 1:10 to an administration of the fullness of the times, to sum up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth, in him.
- Acts 9:15 But the Lord said to him, “Go your way, for he is my chosen vessel to bear my name before the nations and kings, and the children of Israel.
- Acts 13:2 As they served the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Separate Barnabas and Saul for me, for the work to which I have called them.”
- Acts 13:46 Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, and said, “It was necessary that God’s word should be spoken to you first. Since indeed you thrust it from yourselves, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.
- Acts 22:21 “He said to me, ‘Depart, for I will send you out far from here to the Gentiles.’”
- Acts 26:17-18 delivering you from the people, and from the Gentiles, to whom I send you, to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
- Romans 15:15-16 But I write the more boldly to you in part, as reminding you, because of the grace that was given to me by God, that I should be a servant of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, serving as a priest of the Good News of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be made acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
- Romans 11:13 For I speak to you who are Gentiles. Since then as I am an apostle to Gentiles, I glorify my ministry;
- Romans 12:3 For I say through the grace that was given me, to every man who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think reasonably, as God has apportioned to each person a measure of faith.
- Galatians 2:8-9 for he who worked through Peter in the apostleship with the circumcised also worked through me with the Gentiles— and when they perceived the grace that was given to me, James and Cephas and John, those who were reputed to be pillars, gave to Barnabas and me the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcision.
- Ephesians 3:8 To me, the very least of all saints, was this grace given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,
- Ephesians 4:21 if indeed you heard him, and were taught in him, even as truth is in Jesus:
- Colossians 1:4 having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love which you have toward all the saints,
- 1 Timothy 1:4 and not to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which cause disputes, rather than God’s stewardship, which is in faith—
- 1 Timothy 2:7 to which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle—I am telling the truth in Christ, not lying—a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
- Colossians 1:6 which has come to you, even as it is in all the world and is bearing fruit and growing, as it does in you also, since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth,
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (18 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 2. If ye have heard. There is reason to…
2. If ye have heard. There is reason to believe, that, while Paul was at Ephesus, he had said nothing on these subjects, no necessity for doing so having arisen; for no controversy had taken place among them about the calling of the Gentiles. If he had made any mention of them in his discourses, he would have reminded the Ephesians of his former statements, instead of referring generally, as he now does, to common report and to his own Epistle. He did not, of his own accord, raise unnecessary disputes. It was only when the wickedness of his adversaries made it necessary, that he reluctantly undertook the defense of his ministry. Dispensation (οικονομια) means here a divine order or command, or, as it is generally expressed, a commission
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 2 If ye have heard of the dispensation of…
2 If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:
Ver. 2. Of the dispensation] Gr. economy. The Church is God’s house, 1Ti 3:15. Paul was faithful therein as a steward, Mat 24:45.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain If ye have heard; this doth not imply doubting,…
If ye have heard; this doth not imply doubting, but rather the apostle takes the thing for granted; q.d. Seeing ye have heard; and so some render it. See the like, 1Pe 2:3.
Of the dispensation of the grace of God: either by grace he means his apostleship, as Rom 1:5; Gal 2:9; or the free grace of God for salvation revealed in the gospel which he was to preach; and then by dispensation we must understand his commission or ordination of God to that work, via. to publish that grace whereof the ministers of the gospel are the dispensers, 1Co 4:1.
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Which is given me to you-ward; to you Ephesians and other Gentiles, for whom particularly I am appointed an apostle, Act 9:15; 26:17,18; Ga 2:7.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain Observe here, 1. The title given to the gospel,…
Observe here, 1. The title given to the gospel, it is styled the grace of God; partly because the glad tidings which the gospel brings are the effect and product of God’s grace and favour, and partly because the gospel is the instrument and means of working peace in the souls of persons.
Observe, 2. The title given to St. Paul’s apostleship; he styles it the dispensation of the grace of God, because God had commissioned him to declare and dispense the gospel of grace to them; Christ’s ministers are the dispensers of his mind to the children of men.
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Observe, 3. The title here given to the calling of the Gentiles: he styles it a mystery. The calling of the Gentiles to salvation by faith in Christ, without the works of the law, was a mystery hid from ages.
Observe, 4. The way and manner how St. Paul came by the knowledge of this mystery: it was by divine revelation from heaven, Eph 3:3 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery. The mystery of man’s redemption in general, and of the calling of the Gentiles in particular to the participation of that grace, was made known by divine revelation to the apostles by God himself. The truth is, the redempton of a lost world, by the incarnation, death, and passion, of the Son of God, is so stupendous and surprising, so wonderful and amazing, that the very thoughts of it had been the highest blasphemy, if God himself had not revealed it.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain If ye have heard of the dispensation of the…
If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God,.... Not the free love and favour of God in his heart towards his people; nor internal grace wrought in the heart of the apostle; but either the gift of grace, as in Eph 3:7 qualifying him for the work of the ministry; and so the Ethiopic version renders it, "if ye have heard the gift of the grace of God"; or rather the doctrine of grace, the Gospel, the subject matter of which is the grace of God; it is a declaration of the free grace of God in the salvation of men; and it is the means of conveying the grace of God into their hearts. Now the apostle had a dispensation to preach this Gospel committed to him; he acted by authority, and as a steward of the mysteries of God; and which he faithfully dispensed to the family of Christ, who appointed him to this service: this the Ephesians had heard of, from the relations of the apostle, and others, and knew it themselves, having often heard him preach, for he was with them for the space of three years; wherefore this is not said as if he questioned, whether they had heard or not, but as taking it for granted that they had: "if", or "seeing ye have heard", &c.
which is given me to you-ward; it was not for his own private use, that the Gospel was committed to him, or gifts were given him to qualify him for the dispensation of it, but for the sake of others, especially the Gentiles, and particularly the Ephesians.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain The dispensation of the grace of God given me…
The dispensation of the grace of God given me in your behalf - That is, the commission to dispense the gracious gospel; to you gentiles in particular. This they had heard from his own mouth.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 2. If ye have heard of the dispensation]…
Verse 2. If ye have heard of the dispensation] The compound particle ειγε, which is commonly translated if indeed, in several places means since indeed, seeing that, and should be translated so in this verse, and in several other places of the New Testament. Seeing ye have heard of the dispensation of God, which is given me to you-ward: this they had amply learned from the apostle during his stay at Ephesus, for he had not shunned to declare unto them the whole counsel of God, Ac 20:27, and kept nothing back that was profitable to them, Ac 20:20. And this was certainly among those things that were most profitable, and most necessary to be known.
By the dispensation of the grace of God we may understand, either the apostolic office and gifts granted to St. Paul, for the purpose of preaching the Gospel among the Gentiles, see Ro 1:5; or the knowledge which God gave him of that gracious and Divine plan which he had formed for the conversion of the Gentiles. For the meaning of the word economy, See Clarke on Eph 1:10.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain If ye have heard - Εἴ-γε Ei-ge “If at…
If ye have heard - Εἴ-γε Ei-ge “If at least, if indeed, if so be, spoken of what is taken for granted.” “Robinson;” compare 2Co 5:3; Gal 3:4; Eph 4:21; Col 1:23, for the use of the particle. The particle here is not designed to express a doubt whether they had heard of it or not, for he takes it for granted that they had. Doddridge renders it, “since I well know you have heard,” etc. He had informed them of his being called to be the minister to the Gentiles Eph 3:3, but still there was a possibility that they had not received the letter containing the information, and he goes, therefore, into another statement on the subject, that they might fully comprehend it. Hence, this long parenthetical sentence - one of the longest that occurs in the writings of Paul, and expressed under the impulse of a mind full of the subject; so full, as we would say, that he did not know what to say first.
Hence, it is exceedingly difficult to understand the exact state of mind in which he was. It seems to me that the whole of this long statement grew out of the incidental mention Eph 3:1 of the fact that he was a prisoner for the Gentiles. Instantly he seems to have reflected that they would be grieved at the intelligence that he was suffering on their account. He goes, therefore, into this long account, to show them how it happened; that it was by the appointment of God; that it was in the evolving of a great and glorious mystery; that it was in a cause adapted to promote, in an eminent degree, the glory of God; that it was according to an eternal purpose; and he, therefore Eph 3:13, says, that he desires that they would not “faint” or be unduly distressed on account of his sufferings for them, since his sufferings were designed to promote their “glory.” He was comforted in the belief that he was making known the glorious and eternal plan of God, and in the belief that it was for the welfare of mankind; and he, therefore, entreated them also not to be troubled inordinately at his sufferings.
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The dispensation - Greek “economy;” rendered “stewardship,” Luk 16:2-4; and “dispensation,” Eph 1:10; Eph 3:2; Col 1:25; see the notes at Eph 1:10. It means here that this arrangement was made that he should be the apostle to the Gentiles. In the assignment of the different parts of the work of preaching the gospel, the office had been committed to him of making it known to the pagan.
Of the grace of God - In the arrangements of his grace.
Which is given me to you-ward - Toward you who are Gentiles. Not to the Ephesians particularly, but to the nations at large; see the notes at Gal 2:7.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain If yet [1] you have heard. If yet doth…
If yet [1] you have heard. If yet doth not imply a doubt, but is the same as, for you have heard the dispensation.[2] This word, dispensation, is divers times taken by St. Paul to signify the manner by which a thing is done, or put in execution; the sense therefore here is, for you have heard how by the grace of God I have been made your apostle. (Witham)
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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]
Si tamen audistis, Greek: eige, &c. Si tamen and Greek: eige do not here express a doubt, but an affirmation, the same as in Latin, si quidem. See St. John Chrysostom on the next chapter, ver. 21. Greek: log. ig. p. 829. Greek: eige ouk amphiballantos esti, alla kai sphodra diabebaioumenou.
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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]
Dispensationem, Greek: oikonomian, rei gestæ administrationem.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain If--The Greek does not imply doubt: "Assuming (what I…
If--The Greek does not imply doubt: "Assuming (what I know to be the fact, namely) that ye have heard," &c. "If, as I presume," The indicative in the Greek shows that no doubt is implied: "Seeing that doubtless," &c. He by this phrase delicately reminds them of their having heard from himself, and probably from others subsequently, the fact. See Introduction, showing that these words do not disprove the address of this Epistle to the Ephesians. Compare Act 20:17-24.
the dispensation--"The office of dispensing, as a steward, the grace of God which was (not 'is') given me to you-ward," namely, to dispense to you.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 2. If ye have heard—The best commentators, as Meyer,…
2. If ye have heard—The best commentators, as Meyer, Alford, Ellicott, Eadie, etc., agree that the Greek for this if implies no doubt of their having heard, but rather assumption that they had, namely, from Paul himself during his two years’ ministry at Ephesus.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 2. If ye have heard of] Lit. if so…
2. If ye have heard of] Lit. if so be that ye heard of. This phrase occasions the question, Could this Epistle have been addressed to a Church familiar with St Paul? And it has thus seemed, to some extreme critics, an argument against the genuineness of the Epistle, a lapsus plumœ on the part of a fabricator; and, in very different quarters, an argument against the special destination to Ephesus (see Introduction, ch. 3). Not here to notice the anti-Pauline inference it is enough to say of the anti-Ephesian that it proves too much. What was known of Paul in the Ephesian Church would practically be known of him throughout the missions of Asia (see Act_19:10; Act_19:26), so that the phrase remains as difficult as before. The true account of it, surely, is that it is a phrase of almost irony, an allusion to well-known fact under the disguise of hypothesis. His Gentile commission was no new thing, and was widely known, when this clause was written; but a natural and beautiful rhetoric prefers to treat it as if possibly obscure or forgotten.—That St Paul had never been silent at Ephesus on the subject appears from Act_19:8-9, where we see him withdrawing the converts from the synagogue.
the dispensation] The stewardship. For the figure, cp. 1Co_4:1-2; 1Co_9:17; Col_1:25; 1Pe_4:10.
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the grace of God which is given me] Such is the grammatical connexion; not the “stewardship” but the “grace” is the thing given. And the “grace” is explained by Rom_1:5 (“grace and apostleship”) and below, Eph_3:7-8. It was the loving gift of commission and inspiration to preach Christ among the Gentiles.—For similar allusions to his life-work cp. Act_22:21; Act_26:17-18; Rom_1:5; Rom_11:13; Gal_2:2; Gal_2:9.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (2) If ye have heard.—The original word rendered “if”…
(2) If ye have heard.—The original word rendered “if” (the same used below, Eph_4:21, and in 2Co_5:3; Gal_3:4; Col_1:23) conveys, in such collocation as this, a supposition which is only a supposition in form—a half-ironical reference to a thing not doubtful. The sense is “if (that is),” or “if, as I suppose,” “ye heard the dispensation,” &c. The passage bears on the question whether the Epistle was an encyclical letter, or one addressed to the Ephesian Church. The argument which has been drawn from it in the former direction is not so strong as appears in the English; for the original implies no doubt that the readers of the Epistle had heard, and the hearing might have been not about St. Paul, but from St. Paul himself. Still, there is a vague generality about the expression, which suits well an address to the Asiatic churches generally, but could hardly have been used to a church so well known and beloved as Ephesus, where “the signs of an Apostle” had been wrought abundantly.
The dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward.—The descriptive clause, “which is given me to you-ward,” is seen in the original to belong to the word “grace,” not (as our version might suggest) to “dispensation.” The grace of God is spoken of as given to St. Paul, not so much for his own sake, as for ministration to them of the dispensation described in the next verse. We find there that the revelation of salvation to the Gentiles was the “dispensation,” that is (much as in Eph_1:10), the peculiar office in the ministration of the grace of God to the world, assigned to St. Paul by His wisdom. (Comp. 1Co_1:17-24, “God sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel . . . We preach Christ crucified . . . unto them that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”)
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(2) Eph_3:14-19 contain a prayer, addressed with special emphasis to the Father of all, that by the strengthening grace of the Spirit and the indwelling of Christ, accepted in faith and deepened by love, they may, first, know the mystery already described in all its greatness; and, next, learn by experience the unsearchable love of Christ, as dwelling in them, and so filling them up to “the fulness of God.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain If ye have heard of the dispensation of the…
If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God. Here begins the digression. The words, "if ye have heard," etc., do not denote an uncertainty, but are a delicate reminder. Doubtless they had heard of the matter when he was at Ephesus, and, as he remarks in ver. 3, he had already written briefly on it. Grace is here used in a more restricted sense than in Eph_1:2 in the sense of Divine favor, honor, privilege the same as in ver. 8, "To me... is this favor given." Which is given me to you-ward. The grace or favor meant is that whereby Paul was constituted the apostle of the Gentiles. Deeply though he felt his being sent away from preaching to his countrymen, (Act_22:18) he took kindly to the new sphere allotted to him, and magnified his office. (Rom_11:13)
Vers. 2-5.
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Dispensational privileges of the Gentiles.
The apostle recurs to a subject already treated in few words" in the first chapter words which he requests them to read, that they may fully understand his meaning respecting the new position of the Gentiles in the kingdom of God. Their position was determined by a dispensation, that is, by an arrangement organized in all its parts in relation to space and time; for God works by order in grace as well as in nature. Consider
I THE ORIGIN OF THIS DISPENSATION. "The grace of God given to me to you-ward." It was an act of Divine favor to select the apostle as the person through whom "the mystery" of the dispensation was to be, not only revealed, but applied in its redeeming effects to the Ephesian heathens. It was not the honor or the authority involved in it that made it precious in his eyes; it was the privilege of making known the unsearchable riches of Christ. Thus, as a good steward of the mysteries of God, it was the delight of his life to dispense them in all their gracious manifoldness to the family of God.
II THE MYSTERY THAT SHROUDED THE DISPENSATION" FOR AGES.
1. It is called the mystery of Christ," not because he is its Author, but because he is the Center or Subject of it; for it included far more than the truth that the Gentiles were fellow-citizens of the saints. Christ is the Mystery of godliness, as he is God manifest in the flesh, but he is emphatically so as "Christ the Hope of glory" for the Gentiles. (Col_1:27)
2. It was hidden for ages from the sons of men, both Jew and Gentile. A mystery is either something which has been concealed, perhaps for ages, and which probably would never have been discovered unless the voice of revelation had proclaimed it; or something which, even when revealed, transcends the power of the human faculties to comprehend it. Now, the Incarnation is a mystery in this double sense; but the call of the Gentiles, as part of "the mystery of Christ," is a mystery only in the first-named sense. It was known to the Jews for ages that the Gentiles would share in the blessings of the Messiah"s kingdom and the Apostle Paul quotes Old Testament predictions to prove the fact; (Rom_9:25-33) but it was not known that the Gentiles would be included within the circle of religious privilege by the complete sacrifice of the Hebrew theocracy and the reconstitution of religion on a perfectly new basis, designed equally for all mankind, under which the old distinctions of Jew and. Gentile would be done away. There was to be no further room for Jewish particularism. The dispensation which was to carry the world to its last destinies was to be as universal as that embodied in the first promise made to our first parents.
3. The revelation of the mystery. So far as it involved a mission to the Gentiles, it was revealed first to the Apostle Paul at his conversion; for when Christ appeared to him on his journey to Damascus, he said, "I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness... delivering thee from the people, and. from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God". (Act_26:16-18) But the fuller exhibition of Gentile privilege is made in this glorious Epistle as well as elsewhere. It was a revelation made by the Lord himself. (Gal_1:12) But it was made especially to "apostles and prophets," both of them belonging to the new dispensation the only class of inspired men connected with it who received special information from the Holy Spirit, who searches the deep things of God, respecting the new development of the kingdom. The revelation was, indeed, one of facts as well as of truths. The calling of the Gentiles was made manifest in the Spirit"s falling upon Cornelius, and in the widespread success of the gospel among the Gentiles, so that the logic of facts beautifully reinforced the more formal revelations of "apostles and prophets.
4. The substance of the revelation. "That the Gentiles are fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel." These are the three points of Gentile privilege. They were not to receive the blessings of the Messiah"s kingdom by being merged as proselytes into the old theocracy, which was to abide in all its narrow ritualism.
(1) The Gentiles are fellow-heirs. Possession by inheritance involves the ideas of right, certainty, and inalienableness. All that is involved in the benefits of the covenant of grace is our inheritance. Now, the Gentiles are "heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ" as well as the Jews, just because they are "children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." They cannot be heirs unless they are children; they cannot be children unless they have faith. And because they have faith, they are Abraham"s seed. "And if ye be Christ"s, then are ye Abraham"s seed, and heirs according to the promise". (Gal_3:29) The Gentile interest in the inheritance may be recent, but it is entire and beyond cavil. Jews and Gentiles have an equal share in all the blessings of the inheritance.
(2) The Gentiles are of the same body. This marks a more intimate relationship. They were all Jews and Gentiles alike, baptized into one body by one Spirit, and thus coalesced into one Church-state, with Christ as the Head of both. But while they were thus, as members of one body, partakers of a common life, the Gentile was not there by the permission of the Jew, or the Jew by the permission of the Gentile. They were both equally baptized into it by the Spirit. The union in one body obliterates all previous distinctions of character or culture, and all varieties in dispensational privilege; for there is no schism in the body. The Judaistic section of the Church in the apostle"s day fought strenuously against the doctrine of the one body.
(3) The Gentiles are fellow-partakers of the promise. This refers, not so much to the promise of redemption made first to Adam, repeated to Abraham, and embodied in many Old Testament predictions, as to the promise of the Spirit, who enables us to realize all the blessings involved in this first promise. This was, indeed, the blessing of Abraham which came upon the Gentiles. (Gal_3:14) It was conspicuously realized when, in the words of the Apostle Peter, "the Holy Ghost fell upon them as on us." There is no promise of the new covenant that is not equally sure to Gentile and to Jew. All the three points of Gentile privilege, setting forth apparently the relation to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and represented in a sort of spiritual climax, are realized by union with Christ, made known to us in the gospel. Salvation centers, as its objective ground, in Christ Jesus, and the gospel is the medium by which it is subjectively applied to sinners el mankind. T.C.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain If ye have heard of the dispensation of the…
Eph_3:2
If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward.
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Gods dispensation of grace
The ministerial calling is termed grace, because the designing to it is of grace, and the faculty qualifying us for it is from the free favour of God.
1. This assures ministers that their sufferings are for the good of the people, if they know they have a calling from God.
2. God distributes callings for the good of His Church.
3. As God gives ministers their calling, so also their people toward whom He will bless their labours. Every minister must be
(1) Separated.
(2) Authorized.
(3) Have his pastoral charge assigned him.
When the Lord lights candles, He finds candlesticks on which to set them, and when He gives a calling, He gives a people amongst whom this function should be exercised.
4. People are specially to depend on their own pastor. (Paul Bayne.)
The dispensation of grace
If here might very well be read since, as in Col_1:23; Gal_3:4; 2Co_5:2, where the thing spoken of is not doubtful, but taken for granted. The connection is this: You know then, dear brethren, that I am the Lords prisoner for your sake, since, or forasmuch as, you know the cause of it in my miraculous conversion, and my being called to the apostolic office. For your sakes, too, I have received this grace of God, that I should be the econome or steward of the heavenly house. Here it is the grace; in Col_1:25 it is the dispensation which is given, and the meaning is nearly the same. The office and the qualification are both from God. What is this economy or dispensation? It is the law of the house, the principle and mode of housekeeping--the Haushaltung Gottes, according to the Germans. The idea is beautiful. The house, the household, the father, the family, are the holiest things on the earth. There all sorts of varieties and diversities meet in unity, rule, and obedience, rewards and punishments, hopes and fears. There are varieties of ages, sexes, characters, conditions, temperaments, etc., and the scheme of disciplining and ruling the whole is economy, the house law or dispensation, and the person to whom this is committed is the economist of the house, as Joseph was (Gen_39:4), or the heir, as Eliezer (Gen_15:2; Gen_24:2). (W. Graham, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 2–8. If ye have heard. This is not designed…
2–8. If ye have heard. This is not designed to express doubt, but to remind them that they had heard of the dispensation, or office, that had been given him in reference to the Gentiles. See Acts 22:21.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain Grace (imparted). Eph 3:2-8; Eph 4:7; Eph 4:29; Rom…
grace
Grace (imparted). Eph 3:2-8; Eph 4:7; Eph 4:29; Rom 6:1; 2Pe 3:18.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 3:2-13 Paul interrupts his thought in 3:1 to discuss…
3:2-13 Paul interrupts his thought in 3:1 to discuss his own role in God’s plan. When Paul was first converted, he was given the special responsibility of extending God’s grace to the Gentiles (see Acts 9:15-16; 22:14-15, 21; 26:17-18; Rom 1:5; 11:13-14; 15:15-18; Gal 1:15-16; 2:7-9; Col 1:25-27; 1 Tim 2:7; 2 Tim 4:17).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.