Ephesians 3:17-19

The Pulpit Commentary - Ephesians 3:18

May be made strong to comprehend with all the saints. The subject to be comprehended is not only beyond man's natural capacity, but beyond the ordinary force of his spiritual capacity. The tiring to be grasped needs a special strength of heart and soul; the heart needs to be enlarged, the mental "hands of the arms" need to be made strong ( Genesis 49:24 ). But the attainment is not impossible—it is the experience of "all the saints;" all God's children are enabled to grasp something of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ephesians 3:18

Love, the root and foundation of spiritual knowledge. "That ye, being rooted and grounded in love," may comprehend and know the love of Christ. The effect of Christ's indwelling in believers is to root them and found them deeply in love—love being the root of the tree of life in the one case, and the foundation of the temple or house in the other; for the soul, ever contemplating Christ within it, is changed into his very likeness. The apostle means that the Ephesian saints would grow in... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ephesians 3:18-19

The comprehension of the love of Christ. The true science for saints is "Christ's love." I. CONSIDER THIS LOVE AS REPRESENTED IN THE PASSAGE as to length, breadth, height, and depth. 1. These dimensions seem to imply infinity . It has been suggested that the apostle speaks as if standing in a center, himself the object of this love, enveloped by an atmosphere of love which stretches away illimitably above, beneath, around. He prays that all saints may stand, as... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ephesians 3:19

And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge. The love here is evidently the love of Christ to us, and this may well be specified as a special matter of prayer. Knowledge of Christ's love, in the sense of an inward personal experience of it—its freeness, its tenderness, its depth, its patience—is the great dynamic of the gospel. This love is transmuted into spiritual force. As the breeze fills the sails and bears forward the ship, so the love of Christ fills the soul and moves it... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Ephesians 3:17

That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith - see the notes, Ephesians 2:22. Expressions like this often occur in the Scriptures, where God is said to dwell in us, and we are said to be the temples of the Holy Spirit; see the John 14:23, note; 1 Corinthians 6:19, note.That ye being rooted - Firmly established - as a tree is whose roots strike deep, and extend afar. The meaning is, that his love should be as firm in our hearts, as a tree is in the soil, whose roots strike deep into the... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Ephesians 3:18

May be able to comprehend with all saints - That all others with you may be able to understand this. It was his desire that others, as well as they, might appreciate the wonders of redemption.What is the breadth, and length, ... - It has been doubted to what this refers. Locke says it refers to the mystery of calling the Gentiles as well as the Jews. Chandler supposes there is an allusion in all this to the temple at Ephesus. It was one of the wonders of the world - exciting admiration by its... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Ephesians 3:19

And to know the love of Christ - The love of Christ toward us; the immensity of redeeming love. It is not merely the love which he showed for the Gentiles in calling them into his kingdom, which is here referred to; it is the love which is shown for the lost world in giving himself to die. This love is often referred to in the New Testament, and is declared to surpass all other which has ever been evinced; see the Romans 5:7-8, notes; John 15:13, note. To know this; to feel this; to have a... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Ephesians 3:17-19

Ephesians 3:17-19. That Christ may dwell in your hearts May be always present with you, and may reside continually in you, by his purifying and comforting influences, so as to direct your judgment, engross your affections, and govern all your passions and tempers. See on John 17:23; Galatians 2:21. By faith By means of a continual exercise of faith in him, and in the truths and promises of his gospel. “The apostle had called the church the temple of God, Ephesians 2:21; here he represents... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Ephesians 3:1-21

God’s wisdom and love displayed (3:1-21)It was because Paul had taken the gospel to the Gentiles that he was imprisoned in the first place (Acts 21:27-36). Yet he feels humbled to think that God should graciously choose him for such a noble work (3:1-2). As a Jew he was once proud of his belief that only Jews were God’s people. Even if some of the ‘far off’ Gentiles believed in God, they were still not God’s covenant people in the sense that Jews were. Now God’s special revelation shows Paul... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Ephesians 3:17

Christ, &c . See Romans 8:9 . dwell . See Acts 2:5 . rooted . Greek. rhizoomai. Only here and Colossians 2:7 . grounded = founded. Greek. themelioo. See App-146 and Matthew 7:25 . love . See Ephesians 2:4 . App-135 . read more

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