LifeWay Explore the Bible Series for October 3: God’s power comes by grace

LifeWay Explore the Bible Series for October 3: God’s power comes by grace focuses on Ephesians 3:1-13.

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God can use you no matter where you are or what your situation might be. He can make any situation into an opportunity to serve him. This opportunity, when given, is an offer of God’s grace.  

In our text, the Apostle Paul offers encouragement and provides an example of following the Lord’s leadership and accepting the opportunities he gives, no matter the circumstances. In these opportunities, we are able to see God’s grace and expressions of his power.

Paul is the great illustration of how the God can use someone in prison. Paul had been arrested for fulfilling God’s calling on his life. It was his faithful preaching—stating Jew and Gentile believers had equal standing before God—that resulted in Paul’s incarceration.

He does not say he is a prisoner of the Jews or Romans, but states he is a “prisoner of the Christ Jesus because of my preaching to you Gentiles” (Ephesians 3:1). Paul knew he was where he was supposed to be, in the middle of God’s will. He recognized his ministry to the Gentiles and his imprisonment were expressions of God’s grace. The same grace he was called to proclaim.

Victor Frankl, the noted psychotherapist, survived the Holocaust. From his experience in that dark time, he maintained people can endure any “what” as long as they have a “why.” Paul could persevere in the face of the loss of his freedom and, later, his life because he had a “why” for the “what”—the grace of God. It is this grace that gives hope, comfort and help to everyone who fulfills God’s call upon their lives. The challenges, struggles and rewards that come when one is faithful to the Lord’s leadership, finds the “why,” the love and grace of God, and can continue no matter the “what.”

In 3:2-6, Paul digresses as he explains more fully his ministry to the Gentiles. First, God had revealed his eternal plan to Paul and to the others concerning the gospel of Jesus Christ and the inclusion of the Gentiles the life of the church.

He describes to his readers this inclusion in three terms. They are “heirs together.” The Jews and Gentiles are adopted into the same family which makes them brothers and sisters who share equally in salvation.

Next, Paul says they are “members together of one body.” They are united into one unit under the Head, Jesus Christ. Paul uses a word that had never been used in Greek literature before which means “co-body.” The Jewish and Gentiles were indivisible.

Last of all, he says they are “sharers together in the promise.” Jews and Gentiles alike will share the blessings promised in God’s kingdom. This unity is activated “through the gospel” message when they believe. It transcends race, culture, gender, age or any thing else that divides people. It is this holy amalgamation of differences that God’s Spirit uses to strengthen the testimony of the individuals that bring unity to Christ’s body, the church, which shows a nonbelieving world the difference faith in Christ makes. This faith allows one not to look at a fellow believer’s differences, but to see a family resemblance they share with their older brother, Jesus.


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Is there anything more enjoyable than to be able to share good news with people who have no or little hope? Paul shares with his readers in 3:7-10 the joy he has experienced in carrying out the commission the Lord had given him. That calling was to tell the Gentiles the great news about the treasures available to them in Jesus Christ. He was given the opportunity to share how God extended his eternal plan carried out by his Son, Jesus. In this obedience to God’s call, Paul experienced God’s grace and saw the power of God change the lives of those who accepted Christ by faith as they responded to his proclamation of Jesus.  

When we are given the opportunity to serve God, we see his power of grace working through us. We find joy in our obedience as we surrender to his purpose. That purpose is to meet the needs of people in the name of Jesus. It is not always seen as a victory to others who observe the outward struggles we face. However, Paul reminds us it is our place to remain faithful and give God the opportunity to demonstrate his power through willing witnesses.

In our last three verses, Paul declared his imprisonment in Rome benefited his Gentile readers, and they should not feel discouraged or threatened. In verse 12, he gives us the reason. Because of our faith in Jesus, we may “approach God with freedom/boldness and confidence.” The word for “freedom/boldness” in the original language was used to describe dialogue that would occur between close friends. This communication is often open, frank, and confident.  

As believers, we have the right to approach God. We have the ability to come to him as a close friend with the freedom to be honest and candid. In the difficult times, as well as the good times, God is looking for relationship with his children. It is in those moments, we find the joy of his presence and a relationship that is transparent, candid and comforting.

Paul delighted in the many opportunities God gave him. These were seldom easy and enjoyable. However, Paul believed those situations were used by God to show his grace and express his power. As believers, we need to be sensitive to the people and places God puts us. In these encounters, we find opportunities to allow God to show his grace and power through us. If we are not careful in our busy and self-absorbed lives, we can cheat ourselves of great experiences with God and of his grace and power.  Many times, ministry and its sacrifice can be tedious and frustrating. However,  when we remember Frankl’s observation that no matter the “what,” we can make it if we understand the “why.” We can obey God’s will because the “why” is to bring glory to God  through Jesus Christ.


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