The Results of Preaching (2)

Ephesians 3:11-12 give us two results of preaching and learning. First, verse 11 declares the Divine side there, which is God’s eternal purpose, His glory.

Second, in verse 12—In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him—we see the human side, man’s portion, which is his good. This verse is one of comfort. God here reassures us with what all this means to us personally. We have seen many awesome truths in Ephesians, truths that humble us and show us how depraved and low we are. But God gives an encouragement, a reassurance. He says that these truths, which we shall understand more and more as we preach their depths, give us boldness, access, and confidence.

The Greek behind boldness (parresia) doesn’t mean “presumptuous,” where we come barging into God’s presence demanding what we want, as prayer is sometimes viewed. Rather it means “freedom or frankness in speech.” The word is actually made up of two words, pas (all) and resis (the act of speaking), so the most literal idea is “to tell all.” In other words, we can come before our Father with total freedom of speech, pour out our hearts, and tell Him everything. What a privilege!

The word access (prosagoge), which we noted back in 2:18, is found only in these two verses and Romans 5:2. It literally means “to open a way of access.” A similar word was used in ancient times to describe a person who gave someone else admittance to see the King. Therefore, while we have no right to come before God, we have been granted the privilege by a proper introduction and know that we will be welcome.

Finally, confidence (pepoithesis) comes from peitho, “to persuade.” It comes from the perfect participial form which refers to a past process of being completely persuaded, with the present result that we are in a confirmed and settled state of utter confidence.

What a picture we have when we put all three of these words together! Because of Jesus Christ, we have been formally introduced to our Father-King and are welcomed into His very presence, where we may tell Him everything, having full confidence that He will listen, understand, and respond in love.

Preacher and commentator John Phillips captures a practical application. Picture yourself walking up to the door of your earthly father’s house, only to have a guard barring the door. You say, “Excuse me please,” but the guard brusquely asks, “Where do you think you’re going?” “I’m going in to see my father,” you answer, incredulous. But he defiantly responds, “No, you can’t do that! I’ll take your message to him. You can only approach him through me.” Fed up with this foolishness, you say, “Get out of my way, mister. My father loves me, and I’m his son, so I sure don’t need you or anyone else to come between us.” Likewise, neither do we need nor should we allow any person to come between us and our Father in Heaven. We have boldness, access, and confidence.

In closing this installment, let us observe that verse 12 is so important that it not only ends the first half of Ephesians 3 (The Explanation of the Mystery), but it also begins the second half (The Encouragement to the Saints). This verse actually begins Paul’s further thoughts on prayer and introduces the second prayer he offers for these believers.

Dear Christian, preaching is increasingly deemphasized today. I pray that we understand just how infinitely important preaching really is. Whether you are a preacher or a layman, may you be committed to the preaching ministry; if you’re a preacher, practice it; if you’re a layman, submit to it.