Ephesians 3:12

In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(12) This verse returns to the idea of Ephesians 2:18, as though St. Paul, after the wide sweep of thought far beyond the earth in Ephesians 3:10-11, desired, as usual, to bring his readers back to the practical and personal aspects of their Christianity.

In whom we have (our) boldness and (our) access with confidence.—“Boldness” is, properly, boldness of speech (as in Ephesians 6:19), though used in a derivative sense for confidence and frankness generally. Probably here it is suggested in its original sense by the reference in the preceding verse to the charge of proclaiming the mystery of God, and accordingly means that boldness of thought and utterance before men and angels which Christians, in virtue of that charge, ought to assume. The “access (see Ephesians 2:18) in confidence” is, on the other hand, that confidence before God, as presented to Him in the Lord Jesus Christ, which belongs to Christians as no longer servants but sons. (On this confidence see 2Corinthians 3:4-6.) Both these gifts depend on “faith in Him:” in the one case, faith in His teaching and grace; in the other, faith in His atonement and His gift of the new life.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

3:8-12 Those whom God advances to honourable employments, he makes low in their own eyes; and where God gives grace to be humble, there he gives all other needful grace. How highly he speaks of Jesus Christ; the unsearchable riches of Christ! Though many are not enriched with these riches; yet how great a favour to have them preached among us, and to have an offer of them! And if we are not enriched with them it is our own fault. The first creation, when God made all things out of nothing, and the new creation, whereby sinners are made new creatures by converting grace, are of God by Jesus Christ. His riches are as unsearchable and as sure as ever, yet while angels adore the wisdom of God in the redemption of his church, the ignorance of self-wise and carnal men deems the whole to be foolishness.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

We have boldness - The word used here - παῤῥησίαν parrēsian - means, properly, boldness of speaking; 2 Corinthians 7:4; John 7:26; Acts 4:13, Acts 4:29, Acts 4:31. Here it seems to mean "freedom of utterance;" and the idea is, that we may come to God now in prayer with confidence through the Lord Jesus; see Hebrews 4:16.

And access - see notes Ephesians 2:18.

By the faith of him - By faith in him. The sense is, that we may now come confidently and boldly to the throne of grace for mercy in the name of the Redeemer. Boldness is not rashness; and faith is not presumption; but we may come without hesitating, and with an assurance that our prayers will be heard.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

12. Translate, "our boldness and our access (Eph 2:18) in confidence through our faith in Him." Alford quotes as an instance, Ro 8:38, &c. "THE access" (Greek) implies the formal introduction into the presence of a monarch.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

In whom; or by, or through whom, or into whom being ingrafted and incorporated.

We have boldness, or freeness of speech. It signifies that liberty and spiritual security, whereby we come to God as to a Father, in the freedom of children, not the fear of slaves, Romans 8:15 Galatians 4:6 1Jo 3:21.

And access; not only in prayer, but all the communion we have with God by faith in Christ, 1 Peter 3:18.

With confidence; either securely without fear, (as before), or with confidence of acceptance with God, and obtaining what we ask.

By the faith of him; i.e. faith in him, as Romans 3:22: see the like, Mark 11:22.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

In whom we have boldness and access,.... Into the holy of holies, to the throne of grace there, and to God the Father, as seated on it: Christ is the way of access; union to him gives right of access; through his mediation his people have audience of God, and acceptance with him, both of person and service: and this access is with boldness; which denotes liberty of coming, granted by God, and a liberty in their own souls to speak out their minds plainly and freely; and an holy courage and intrepidity of soul, being free from servile fear, or a spirit of bondage; which is owing to the heart being sprinkled from an evil conscience, to an act of faith, on the person, blood, and righteousness of Christ, and to a view of God, as a God of peace, grace and mercy: and this access may be had

with confidence by the faith of him; with confidence of interest in the everlasting love of God; of relation to him, as a covenant God and Father; of his power, faithfulness, and willingness to fulfil his promises; of his hearing and answering prayer; of the fulness of Christ, the prevalence of his mediation, and of the acceptance of persons and performances through him; and of the work of grace being carried on till the day of Christ; and of entrance at last into the heavenly glory: and this access is not local but spiritual; it is by faith, and so is peculiar to believers; and the confidence with which it may be had, arises from its being by the faith of Christ; not that faith which Christ himself had, and exercised as man, but that of which he is both the object and author; or that by which souls believe in him for acceptance, for righteousness, for pardon, for every supply of grace, and for eternal life and happiness.

Geneva Study Bible

In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

Ephesians 3:12. Ἐν ᾧ κ.τ.λ.] gives the experimentally (ἔχομεν) confirmatory proof for the just stated ἣν ἐποίησεν ἐν Χ. Ἰ. See on Ephesians 1:7.

τὴν παῤῥησίαν] denotes not the libertatem dicendi, as at Ephesians 6:19, since not merely the apostle’s (Vatablus) experimental consciousness, but that of the Christian is, in harmony with the context, expressed by ἔχομεν; and the limitation to prayer (Bengel, Holzhausen) is entirely arbitrary. It is rather the free, joyful mood of those reconciled to God, in which they are assured of the divine grace (the opposite: fear of God’s wrath). Comp. Hebrews 3:6; Hebrews 4:16; Hebrews 10:19; Hebrews 10:35; 1 John 2:28; 1 John 3:21; 1 John 4:17; 1 John 5:14; also Wis 5:1, and see Grimm in loc.; Bleek on Hebr. II. 1, p. 416 f. This παῤῥησία κατʼ ἐξοχήν is denoted by the article.

καὶ τὴν προσαγωγήν] See on Ephesians 2:18. Likewise a formally consecrated notion.

ἐν πεποιθήσει] Fundamental disposition, in which we have, etc. For without confidence (see, as to πεποίθ., on 2 Corinthians 1:15) the παῤῥησία and the προσαγωγή are not possible. How gloriously is this πεποίθησις on the part of the apostle expressed at e.g. Romans 8:38 f.!

διὰ τῆς πίστεως αὐτοῦ] Causa medians of the ἔχομεν κ.τ.λ. Christ is the objective ground on which this rests, and faith in Christ is the subjective means for its appropriation and continued possession, Romans 5:1-2. In αὐτοῦ there is implied nothing more than in εἰς αὐτόν (see on Romans 3:22; Galatians 3:22), and what Matthies finds in it (the faith having reference to Him alone) is a sheer importation.

Expositor's Greek Testament

Ephesians 3:12. ἐν ᾧ ἔχομεν τὴν παρρησίαν καὶ τὴν προσαγωγήν: in whom we have boldness and access. The second τήν, which is inserted by the TR, has the support of some good authorities, [301] [302]3 [303] [304] [305], Chrys., etc.; but is not found in [306] [307] [308] 17, etc., and is to be omitted (with LTTrWHRV). As the παρρησία and the προσαγωγή meet in one idea the τήν does not require to be repeated. The article before the nouns has much the force of “our boldness and access”. The παρρησίαν is not to be limited to freedom of speech, freedom in preaching, or boldness in prayer, but is to be taken in the large sense which it has in Php 1:20; 1 Timothy 3:13; Hebrews 10:19; and especially in 1 John 2:28; 1 John 3:21; 1 John 4:17; 1 John 5:14—freedom of spirit, cheerful boldness, “the joyful mood of those reconciled to God” (Mey.). The conjunction of the προσαγωγή with the intrans. παρρησία makes the intrans. sense of access more appropriate here than the trans. sense of introduction; cf. under Ephesians 2:18.—ἐν πεποιθήσει: in confidence. The noun πεποίθησις belongs to late Greek (Joseph., Philo., Sext. Empir., etc.). In the LXX it occurs once (2 Kings 18:19); in the NT it is found only in Paul (2 Corinthians 1:15; 2 Corinthians 3:4; 2 Corinthians 8:22; 2 Corinthians 10:2; Php 3:4, and here). It indicates the disposition in which the παρρησία and προσαγωγή are made good.—διὰ τῆς πίστεως αὐτοῦ: through our faith in Him. The αὐτοῦ is best taken as the gen. objecti; cf. Romans 3:22; Galatians 2:16. Thus, as the ἐν ᾧ expresses the fact that Christ is the ground of our παρρησία and προσαγωγή, and the ἐν πεποιθήσει the state of mind in which we enjoy these blessings, so this clause declares the means by which they become our actual possession. The whole verse, moreover, is not so much a simple addition to the preceding statement as rather an indirect appeal to personal experience, in confirmation of what was said of the fulfilment of God’s eternal purpose in Christ Jesus our Lord, the ἐν ᾧ having, as Ell. explains it, much the same force as ἐν αὐτῷ γάρ.

[301] Codex Ephraemi (sæc. v.), the Paris palimpsest, edited by Tischendorf in 1843.

[302] Codex Claromontanus (sæc. vi.), a Græco-Latin MS. at Paris, edited by Tischendorf in 1852.

[303] Codex Mosquensis (sæc. ix.), edited by Matthæi in 1782.

[304] Codex Angelicus (sæc. ix.), at Rome, collated by Tischendorf and others.

[305] Codex Porphyrianus (sæc. ix.), at St. Petersburg, collated by Tischendorf. Its text is deficient for chap. Ephesians 2:13-16.

[306] Codex Vaticanus (sæc. iv.), published in photographic facsimile in 1889 under the care of the Abbate Cozza-Luzi.

[307] Codex Sinaiticus (sæc. iv.), now at St. Petersburg, published in facsimile type by its discoverer, Tischendorf, in 1862.

[308] Codex Alexandrinus (sæc. v.), at the British Museum, published in photographic facsimile by Sir E. M. Thompson (1879).

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

12. in whom we have] Here (see last note) is the realization. It was “purposed in Him” that we His saints should be unspeakably near to the Father; and so we now are, and angels see it.

boldness] Lit., the (or our) freedom of speech, the boldness of intimate intercourse. Here and there (perhaps Colossians 2:15, where A. V. “openly”; Hebrews 10:35; 1 John 2:28; where A. V. “confidence”) the original word seems to lose its special reference to speech; but certainly not here. The saint (Hebrews 4:16) “comes with free utterance to the throne of grace”; to speak a child’s every thought, desire, and fear.—On the definite article here (“the boldness”) Monod remarks that it indicates “une hardiesse bien connue”, a familiar characteristic of experience.

access] Better, introduction; see on Ephesians 2:18.

with confidence] Lit., and better, in. This holy confidence with God is illustrated often in the Acts, and in the Epistles. Meyer refers to Romans 8:38 &c. Still more in point is the passage just following this, and St Paul’s other prayers for his converts.

by the faith of him] So lit, but the better English equivalent for the Greek is (R. V.) through our faith in Him. The same construction with the same meaning occurs Mark 11:22 (“have faith of God”); Romans 3:22; Galatians 2:16; Galatians 2:20; Php 3:9. See too Colossians 2:12 (“faith of the operation of God”).

Observe the persistent recurrence of the idea of faith. The entrance into one-ness with Christ is, on our side, by faith (Ephesians 2:8), and (here) the life lived in that sacred one-ness is realized in the exercise of faith.

Bengel's Gnomen

Ephesians 3:12. Τὴν παῤῥησίαν, liberty) of the mouth, in praying.—τὴν προσαγωγὴν ἐν πεποιθήσει, access, admission in confidence) in reality and with the heart.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 12. - In whom we have our boldness and access. Παῥῤησία literally means "boldness" or "freedom of speech," but is used here in a more ample sense for want of restraint, ease of feeling, comfortable self-possession, in our access to God. Contrast with Adam hiding himself among the trees of the garden, and the lost calling on the mountains to fall on them, and the rocks to cover them. The "we" in this verse includes both Jews and Gentiles. The "access," or introduction (see Ephesians 2:18), is like that of the high priest into the holy of holies - we have boldness to enter into the holiest of all (Hebrews 10:19). In confidence through the faith of him. The confidence of being welcomed and accepted when we go into God's presence springs from our faith in him. We believe in him as the Propitiation, as our Peace, as the Reconciler, and we go before God with confidence. The clause, "through faith in him," influences the whole verse. And, as before, we have at the beginning of the verse, "in whom" - an express-ion denoting generally our union with Christ, and at the end, "through the faith of him" - a specification of the instrument by which flint union is formed and by which it operates. Ephesians 3:12

Vincent's Word Studies

Faith of Him (τῆς πίστεως αὐτοῦ)

As often, for faith in Him.