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Selected Verse: Ephesians 3:17 - King James
| Verse |
Translation |
Text |
| Eph 3:17 |
King James |
That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
| A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
That--So that.
dwell--abidingly make His abode (Joh 14:23). Where the Spirit is there Christ is (Joh 14:16, Joh 14:18).
by faith--Greek, "through faith," which opens the door of the heart to Jesus (Joh 3:20). It is not enough that He be on the tongue, or flit through the brain: the heart is His proper seat [CALVIN]. "You being rooted and grounded in love" (compare Eph 3:19), is in the Greek connected with this clause, not with the clause, "that ye may be able to comprehend." "Rooted" is an image from a tree; "grounded" (Greek, "founder," "having your foundations resting on"), from a building (compare Notes,, see on Eph 2:20-21; Col 1:23; Col 2:7). Contrast Mat 13:6, Mat 13:21. "Love," the first-fruit of the Spirit, flowing from Christ's love realized in the soul, was to be the basis on which should rest their further comprehension of all the vastness of Christ's love. |
| Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith - see the notes, Eph 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 Joh 14:23, note; Co1 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 earth.
And grounded - θεθεμελιωμένοι tethemeliōmenoi - "founded" - as a building is on a foundation. The word is taken from architecture, where a firm foundation is laid, and the meaning is, that he wished them to be as firm in the love of Christ, as a building is that rests on a solid basis.
In love - In love to the Redeemer - perhaps also in love to each other - and to all. Love was the great principle of the true religion, and the apostle wished that they might be fully settled in that. |
| Vincent's Word Studies, by Marvin R. Vincent [1886] |
May dwell (κατοικῆσαι)
Settle down and abide. Take up His permanent abode, so that ye may be a habitation (κατοικητήριον) of God. See on Eph 2:22. The connection is with the preceding clause: "to be strengthened, etc., so that Christ may dwell, the latter words having at once a climactic and an explanatory force, and adding the idea of permanency to that of strengthening.
By faith (διὰ τῆς πίστεως)
Through your (the article) faith, as the medium of appropriating Christ. Faith opens the door and receives Him who knocks. Rev 3:20. |
| Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
| Dwell - That is, constantly and sensibly abide. |
| Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith - In this as well as in many other passages, and particularly that in Eph 2:21 (note), the apostle compares the body or Church of true believers to a temple, which, like that of Solomon, is built up to be a habitation of God through the Spirit. Here, as Solomon did at the dedication of the temple at Jerusalem, Ch2 6:1, etc., Paul, having considered the Church at Ephesus completely formed, as to every external thing, prays that God may come down and dwell in it. And as there could be no indwelling of God but by Christ, and no indwelling of Christ but by faith, he prays that they may have such faith in Christ, as shall keep them in constant possession of his love and presence. God, at the beginning, formed man to be his temple, and while in a state of purity he inhabited this temple; when the temple became defiled, God left it. In the order of his eternal mercy, Christ, the repairer of the breach, comes to purify the temple, that it may again become a fit habitation for the blessed God. This is what the apostle points out to the believing Ephesians, in praying that Christ κατοικησαι, might intensely and constantly dwell in their hearts by faith: for the man's heart, which is not God's house, must be a hold of every foul and unclean spirit; as Satan and his angels will endeavor to fill what God does not.
That ye, being rooted and grounded in love - Here is a double metaphor; one taken from agriculture, the other, from architecture. As trees, they are to be rooted in love - this is the soil in which their souls are to grow; into the infinite love of God their souls by faith are to strike their roots, and from this love derive all that nourishment which is essential for their full growth, till they have the mind in them that was in Jesus, or, as it is afterwards said, till they are filled with all the fullness of God. As a building, their foundation is to be laid in this love. God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, etc. Here is the ground on which alone the soul, and all its hopes and expectations, can be safely founded. This is a foundation that cannot be shaken; and it is from this alone that the doctrine of redemption flows to man, and from this alone has the soul its form and comeliness. In this, as its proper soil, it grows. On this, as its only foundation, it rests. |
21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.
6 And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.
7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
1 Then said Solomon, The LORD hath said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.
21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: