The Pulpit Commentary — Ephesians — Section 31

, J. OoR TITLE To IT. It is'' a purchased possession" (ver. 14), the price being the blood of Christ. 'l'he death of the Testator was necessary that "they which are called might n·ceive the promise of eternal inheritance" (Heh. ix. 15). II. IT. Is A RICH INHERITANCE, God is rich in mercy, rich in grace, rich in love, rich in powe..:, rich in goodness and forbearance; but as to heaven, he is rich in glory. It is theri:, emphatically he will make many rich. Both here and there it will be delightfully true : "My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Phil. iv. 19). The rich glory of the New Jerusalem is described in the Revelation (Rev. xxi.). Its riches lio essentially in the perpetuity of it.!! blessedness-it is" an eternal inheritance." III. IT IS A GLORIOUS nraEmTANCE. "The righteous shall shine as the sun" (Matt. xiii. 43), because they are received to the glory of God (Rom. xv. 7), and called to his kingdom and glory (1 Thess. ii 12). 'l'he glory of God himself is to be the light of heaven (Rev. xxi. 11). IV. IT IB A FATHER'S INHERITANCE. And therefore he is here called" the Father of glory." We are heirs of God as we are children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God bath prepared for them that love him." V. IT IS FOR THE SAINTS. "He that overcometh shall inherit all things, and I will be his God" (Rev. xxi. 7). We need to have "the eyes of our heart enlightened," that we may know all the· fulness of glory and blessing involved in these five suggestive considerations.-T. C. Ver. 19.-The power of God .in salvation. "The exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe." '!'his is the third thing the apostle wished them to know "for their furtherance and joy of faith." • I. 'fHE• BPHEBE OF •TBIB WORKING. "To usward who believe." Power will always excite our admiration, .but it will not ·inspire comfort unless it is exerted on our behalf. The devils know the power of God, but its exercise inspires them with no comfort. This power is manifested in the various parts of Christian life, both in grace and in glory, from conversiou to glorification., It provides all things that pertain to life and godliness. It is God's saving power. 1. At the beginning of Christian life-in our conversion. God "hath delivered us from the kingdom of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son" (Col. i. 13). The apostle speaks of this power in. relation to his own conversion and apostleship: "Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effectual working of bi~ power" (eh. iii. 7). 'l'he gospel is the instrument of Divine power. It is" the powc 7 of God unto salvation" (Rom. i 16); for "our gospel came unto you, not in word only, but in power" (l '.l'hess. i. 6). 2. In its progress-in ottr sanctification. The thought of preserving grace is, perhaps, uppermost in the passage. Believers are "kept by the power of God unto sa.lvation '! (1 Pet. i. 5). Therefore the apostle prays that God would "fulfil all the good .pleasure of his goodness aud the work of faith with power " (2 Thess. i. 11). God "is able to do exceeding abundantly above all we ask or think " (eh. iii. 20). The apostle prays for himself that ·he may know "the power of his resurrection" (Phil. iii. 10). There is power everywhere at work in our salvation ; for it is thus that" the whole body increaseth with the increase of God by the effectual working in the measure of every part" (eh. iv. 16). 3. At our final glorification. "Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like to his own glorious body, nccording to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself" (Phil. iii. i1). II. 'l'HE .NATURE OF THIS POWER. "'fhe exceeding greatness of his power." It was power that could overcome all obstacles. "If God be for us, who can be against us '!" (Rom. viii. 31); "My Father is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hands" (John x. 29). W tl argue from his power to his forgiveness, and, therefore, in the Lord's Prayer, after we have asked for the forgiveness of our sins, we plead for it on the ground, "Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory." Let us not hesitate to accept the fulness of Biblical teaching through any fear of trenching on the free-will of man. Man's freedom works freely within the sphere of God's power. But the apu~tle docs not content himself with merely piling up a succession of phrases 28 THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. CoB, 1. 1-23.