Eph-80-81 - Lesson 24 - Ephesians 2: 6-8
Publication Date: 03-18-1981
Victor Paul Wierwille (December 31, 1916 – May 20, 1985) dedicated his life to the research and teaching of the Bible. In his quest for truth he consulted and worked with some of the most outstanding individuals in Biblical studies and Christian living; including Karl Barth, Joseph Bauer, Glenn Clark, Karl J. Ernst, Joseph Friedli, Louis C. Hessert, Elmer G Homrighausen, E. Stanley Jones, George M. Lamsa, Richard and Reinhold Niebuhr, K. C. Pillai, Paul Tillich, Ernst Traeger, and many others.
Dr. Wierwille received his Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Theology degrees from present day Lakeland College, and conducted graduate studies at the University of Chicago and Princeton Theological Seminary. It was at Princeton that Wierwille earned the Master of Theology degree in Practical Theology. He later completed his Doctor of Theology degree at Pike's Peak Bible Seminary and Burton College in Manitou Springs, Colorado.
Dr. Wierwille was the author of numerous books in the field of Biblical research, including Are the Dead Alive Now?; Receiving the Holy Spirit Today; Jesus Christ Our Passover; and Jesus Christ Our Promised Seed. Additionally, he developed and taught several comprehensive classes directed toward helping people to understand the Bible and to increase the power of God in their lives, such as the Power For Abundant Living series, Living Victoriously, and the University of Life courses. Dr. Victor Paul Wierwille was the founder and president of a world-wide Biblical research, teaching, and fellowship ministry for forty years; as well as the founder and president of several Biblical research centers, colleges, leadership training, and Christian outreach programs associated with it.
Victor Paul Wierwille served the Lord with unending joy all the days of his life as he travelled continuously throughout the world to hold forth the Word of God. He reached thousands of people during his lifetime through his live presentations, numerous radio and television broadcasts, film and video classes, and recorded teachings. And countless others continue to enjoy and be enriched by his books and hundreds of hours of recorded works, many of which are available in the public domain. A detailed listing of his work, as well as more information about his life and teachings can be found at Eternally Blessed (www.eternallyblessed.org).
Ephesians 3:6, tonight. The King James reads as follows, That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs , and of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel.
I think one of the things that I want to explain to the Corps, which I assumed was axiomatic, but I'm getting to the place that, whenever I assume something, I might as well forget it. But, I assumed that the Corps knew that these literal translations according to usage that I do for the Corps, I have an absolute right to do. I think sometimes even better than some of the men who may be accepted as the great authorities on translations. And that ' s not because of just who I am, but because of my Research Department, and the tremendous knowledge they have of Aramaic and Greek and texts, other texts.
And that they're able to help greatly; that helps me then to give you a ' literal according to usage' that is, I think sometimes, better than anything else.
But, here in this verse six. You see, I have seven different translations in front of me here of each' one of these verses. And these translations that I have in front of me here, are what the world considers, or at least some of the people in the world, many of them, millions of them, consider to be the best translations of the verse. And well ... just changed my mind.. .I don' t think I'm going to read them to you now. I may read it to you after I give you my literal of verse six tonight, and my expanded one.
I think the expanded verses that I'm giving to the Corps are just ' out of this world,' many of them. They' re just so far beyond what anybody has ever shared with people along the line of these verses in Ephesians, and expanded , so that you get a comprehensive knowledge of what that verse really says. And every one of those expanded ones, I' m sure my research people could, and I know I can, handle from the text to show you why I have expanded it. Why those words are used.
' Of the same body ' in this verse six. Those words ' of the same body,' in the Aramaic they appear after the words 'and partakers.'
The Greek word for ' of the same body' is kaisussoma , s-u-s-s-o long-o -m-a. This may mean, ' body together,' ' same body,' ' joint body,' ' fellow body.' And this is the only occurrence of this word in the New Testament. Literally it means ' equality of membership.'
Those words in verse six, ' fellowheirs,' ' of the same body,' ' partakers.' Those words are real significant in this section because they are a figure of speech spelled. ..I need the ah... Backroom, I need the copy that was typed and then cut in half. Nobody gave me a copy and I didn ' t bring one... That ' s what I need. Thank you.
The word. ..the figure of speech is h-o-m-o, that' s ' homo,' ha ha, e-p-r-o-p-h-e -r-o-n, where successive words begin with the same letter or syllable.
In the Greek, all three of these words in Ephesians 3:6, that is the words: ' fellowheirs,' ' same body,' ' partakers.' All three of these start with s-u-n.
Sort of shook me that I didn ' t have this copy before me earlier to double check it and triple check. I worked this all out today because the Research Department had given it to me and then I worked on it and I thought I had it all together, but it doesn' t... doesn ' t look right to me. So I'll forget it. Didn' t have time to check it. Didn' t take time to check it. Forgot it. Darn it. Makes me mad at myself because I do stupid things like that. But I get caught up on the last minute. You see, at least one or two hours before I teach, I' ve got to have it all together or I get nervous like an athlete. And I just can' t stand last minute stuff, but I still have to stand it occasionally. But that's not, not right ... something here, I don' t like. Could be right, but I don' t have time to check it right now. And I'm in the ballgame and you ain ' t got time to study the darn rule book when you' re in the ball game. The refs do that. So, we' ll do without it.
It' s still a figure of speech and very important figure of speech. Talking about the words or to... of the words ' of His promise ' in that verse. Partakers of His promise is a metonymy of cause. A noun is replaced by a second noun which stands in some relation to the first noun. Here, ' promise' is considered ' the cause' which results in ' the effect,' which is ' the blessing.' The word ' promise,' you know is epangelia, e-p-a-n-g-e- l-i-a. And I said in the previous Ephesians class, and it' s still true today. It' s a proclamation denoting both the fact of the proclamation and that which is proclaimed or declared.
This promise or what was. .. we' re speaking here of the Mystery .. .F.F. Bruce says, What was not foreseen in the Old Testament times was the fact that these promised gospel blessings would invol ve the creation of one new man, Ephesians 2:5, by the incorporation of Jewish and Gentile believers alike on the common ground of divine grace as fellow members of the Body of Christ.
' In Christ,' many of the texts have ' Christ Jesus.'
The words ' by the gospel,' my research people at Headquarters , you made the statement in the
- material you submitted to me, that this was The word for ' gospel' awngloyon,
a-w-n-g-l-o-y-o-n is borrowed from the Greek, e-u-a-n-g- e-l-i-o-n. I do not believe that. I believe the Greeks borrowed it from the Aramaic. Much more logical.
I do not believe it' s necessary for me to explain the Mystery any further. .. the word ' mystery' any further to the Corps, except to say that: Whenever in Greek religion they were introduced into the highest order of that Greek religious stuff, it was always a mystery celebration. And the whole mystic ritual was performed. The word is musterion. The word simply means ' truth which once hidden but is now revealed. '
I' ll·give you the literal according to usage of this verse: That the Gentiles are joint heirs, and joint partakers, and joint members of His (God' s) promise in Christ by the Gospel.
That the Gentiles are joint heirs, joint partakers, and joint members of His (God' s) promise in Christ by the Gospel.
I could have just as easily gone from an English point of view on: fellow heirs, fellow partakers, fellow members. But the reason I didn ' t go that way, because I think in our culture, at our time, ' joint heirs,' ' joint partakers' and ' joint members ' is the greatest I know.
A joint heir is not one in a will who shares equally. In other words, if my brother and I would be joint heirs in a will, where our father left us 500 acres of land. A joint heirship does not mean that I get 250
acres and my brother gets 250. Joint heirship means we share fully in the whole thing. That' s joint heirship, legally. That ' s why I believe my literal here is so dynamic. The Gentiles are what? Joint heirs. That means they don' t divide it up, they share what? [Fully] Fully in everything. They are joint what? [Heirs] Partakers. They partake of everything the Church has equally with every other person in it. And they are joint members of God' s promise in Christ by the Gospel.
Now my expanded one that I did, I think is just, at least in my mind , answers every question. If you write it out, write,
The Gentiles are:
Now underneath that phrase put: Joint heirs together with the Judeans. Joint heirs together with the Judeans.
Under that phrase put: Joint partakers together with the Judeans. You can use tracks underneath the words.
Next line, Joint members together with the Judeans.
Now the next line, in the center underneath 'Joint members together with the Judeans,' in line with your first line: That the Gentiles are:
Now underneath this: Of the same body.
Now when you look at that, you got Gentiles at the top, same Body at the bottom. Right?
Gentiles of the same Body. And they are joint heirs together with the Judeans; Joint partakers with the Judeans; Joint members together with the Judeans. They are joint heirs, joint partakers, joint members. What a fantastic truth.
Then underneath ' the same Body,' the lines. .. Here' s the reason for it: Due to the promise of God in Christ Jesus by means of the good news of the greatest of all truth previously hidden, but now revealed and known.
The Gentiles are:
Joint heirs together with the Judeans Joint partakers together with the Judeans Joint members together with the Judeans
Of the same Body.
Due to the promise of God in Christ Jesus by means of the good news of the greatest of all truth previously hidden, but now revealed and known.
That the Gentiles are joint heirs together with the Judeans; joint heirs together , with partakers, with the Judeans, joint members together with the Judeans, of the same Body due to the promise of God in Christ Jesus. Not just due to the promise of God in Jesus Christ. That' s too low. It' s due to the promise of God in Christ Jesus, not Jesus Christ, but in Christ Jesus.
To get to the ' Christ Jesus' you have to have the humiliated one, resurrected , and ascended. And you could not have the One Body until after the ascension. That's why I put it there: In Christ Jesus by means of the good news. By means of the good news. That' s gospel. The good news of the greatest of all truth. That's the Mystery, previously hidden, but now revealed and known.
Here is Murdock ' s translation of verse six. That the Gentiles should be sharers of his inheritance and partakers of his body and of the promise which is given in him by the gospel.
This is Lamsa. That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs and partakers of his body and of the promise which is given through him by the gospel.
This is the Revised Standard. To wit that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members of the Body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. That is a pretty good translation.
Here is the New English. That through the gospel the Gentiles are joint heirs with the Jews, part of the same body, sharers together in the promise made in Christ Jesus.
Here' s Weymouth. I mean the truth that the Gentiles are joint heirs with us Jews and that they form one body with us and have the same interest as we have in the promise which has been made good in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
Here's Weymouth ... no this is... that fifth one was Weymouth . The sixth one I'm reading you is Rotherham' s. That they who are of the nations should be joint heirs and of a joint body and joint partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through means of the glad message. Not too bad.
And the seventh one is Darby ' s. Darby is the one that has that great translation that I used in the Foundational Class, of Acts, ' as of a heavy breathing.' That' s Darby. Here his translation of this verse is, And they who are of the nations should be joint heirs and a joint body and joint partakers of His promise in Christ Jesus by the glad tidings.
This is how I translated it: That the Gentiles are joint heirs and joint partakers and joint members of His, God' s promise in Christ by the gospel.
Verse seven. Whereof! was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of His power.
The word ' minister' is diakonos, d-i-a-k-o-n-o-s. It means ' a deacon,' ' a servant,' ' an attendant,' ' a waiter on tables.' It is literally ' a service that's rendered to another,' ' a beloved one,' 'a faithful one,' ' a committed ministe r.'
This Greek word diakonos, was probably derived from the obsolete root of diako, d-i-a-k-o, long-a. And I believe it was. Which means ' to run,' as if you' re ' running an errand. '
The duty of the servant was to run to serve the master and his bearing and composure in his master ' s presence was for the purpose of carrying out the master ' s will. He always stood at an appointed place so as to be able to see the master at all times, so that he could give his full attention to the master.
And only a slight gesture from the master was necessary to send the servant on his errand. Words were not necessary, as generally the servant understood his master ' s wishes from his previous
experience and association with him. And another thing, this servant would always have his loins girded so that he could just run that errand immediately without his garments hindering him. His shoes were always on his feet so that he could be able to respond to the master on an instance notice.
And these servants had certain characteristics. They were to be intelligent, obedient, honest, diligent, and above all, absolute loyalty to their master. Any servant would be expected to lay down his life for his master, if necessary. And the master shared everything with his servant. This is that fantastic word, Corps, ' minister' in verse seven.
The word ' gift' in this verse is the word dorea. And you' ll remember Walter Cummins' great teaching on ' Gifts of God' where he puts all those... analyzes all those ' gifts.' This dorea gift is a gift which benefits the receiver. The receiver first has to be benefitted before you can be benefitted. And here in verse seven, it' s the receiver that's being benefitted, ' the gift' which benefits the receiver.
That word doma , d-o-m-a, also translated ' gift' that's used in verse eight... that gift, doma, is a gift that benefits others. Benefits you horizontally.
' Given unto me' in that verse seven. Most of the manuscripts have this in the genitive case modifying ' grace.' And the question always is ' Was it the gift or the grace that was here given to Paul?' Most of the critical Greek texts think that the participle ' given' modifies ' grace.' I do not believe that. I believe it was the ' gift.' Show you why when I get into the literal of this, and the expanded.
Verse seven literal: Of which Mystery, of which Mystery ... Now just think for a moment. You already know that the revelation of this Mystery was given to whom? [Paul] That revelation given to Paul was the gift. That' s why this literal, I translated ' Of which,' verse seven, (Mystery) of which what. .. ' Of which what' ... simple... the Mystery, I became a minister according to the gift of God' s grace.
The reason I know this people, and I know I'm right, is because grace is to everybody. God is no more gracious to you than He is to me. No more gracious to me than He is to you. Grace to everybody. Right?
But here is a specific gift of grace. The gift is what' s being emphasized. The gift of grace. The gift is the revelation of the Mystery. I became a minister according to the gift of God' s grace which (gift) which gift... not which ' grace,' which ' gift' . That' s why I believe we' re right when we work the whole thing in context. Which ' gift' was given to me by His (God energizing the potential power).
See God gave him the revelation and He energized it. Just giving him the revelation would be like the gift of pnuema hagion in you. It' s potential. It becomes kinetic when you use it, and then God has to energize it.
Here' s the expanded: Of which I became His, God' s minister, running His, God' s errands as a servant according to the gift I received by grace from God. That gift was given to me by the energizing of God' s power. That last phrase could also be translated ' that gift was given to me and is energized by God.'
Now take a look at the greatness and the accuracy of that. See, in verse six, you closed with ' but now revealed and known.' Talking about the Mystery, joint heirs, partakers, all that. The greatest of all truth previously hidden, but now revealed, made known.
{Expanded translation of verse 7}: ' Of which,' of which I became His, God' s minister, running His, God' s errands as a servant according to the gift I received by grace from God. That gift was given to me by the energizing of God' s power, or was given to me and is energized by God.
Now your whole section of Ephesians continues to build and fit together and explain itself so beautifully.
Verse eight. Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.
The word ' unsearchable' means ' untrackable.' Some things you can track like a rabbit running across the snow, you can track. But in spiritual things, the greatness of this Mystery in Christ, the riches of Christ, the abundance of God, it' s just untrackable. Even though you cannot track them does not mean you cannot enjoy it. See, the Word of God, the written Word, you and I can track. But the ways of God cannot be tracked. The riches of the glory of God in Christ Jesus... can' t track it.
The word ' least' in verse eight is the figure meiosis, m-e-i-o-s-i-s, where one thing is lessened or demeaned in order to magnify another thing by contrast. It' s a belittling of a thing to magnify another, to intensif y the contrast.
The word ' preach' is the word meaning ' evangelistic' or ' evangelize.'
The word ' unsearchable' in the Aramaic appears after the words ' the riches of Christ.' And I think that is singularly significant.
The ' riches of Christ' is a three-fold figure here. Right now I cannot, nor today could I, think of any other three-fold figure I know; I suppose they' ll come up, but...
First of all it is heterosis, h-e-t-e-r-o-s-i-s. It' s an exchange of accidence, a-c-c-i-d-e-n-c-e. And that ' s why it emphasizes the word ' riches.'
It is also an idiom. An expression in common usage which has a literal meaning different from the actual word. See, ' riches ' does not necessarily just refer to money, but an abundance ofl ove, children, anything else.
Thirdly, it is anthropopatheia. Riches of Christ. Where it is spoken of as possessing great wealth or money which actually would apply to a man, but not to Christ or to God. Anthropopatheia. Bringing God down to the level of man, or bringing Christ down. The ' riches of Christ' could not apply to the material because the foxes have holes, the birds of the air have what? [Nests] Son of man didn 't own property. Didn't need it.
Now we' ll go to the literal according to usage of this verse: To me who is less than the least of all saints was this grace given that I should evangelistically... Somebody took my coat, [Laughter] Gathering together, huh? [Laughter] They just felt sorry for me, throwing a coat on the floor. Well, I love you. Bring me what's in the left hand outside pocket. [More laughter] The riches of Christ. ..Did I say ' declare among the Gentiles the... [No] Why didn' t I? I should evangelistically declare among the Gentiles the untrackable riches of Christ. That's it. I'll have some coffee. Not out of the right hand pocket. [Laughter]
To me, verse eight, who is less than the least of all saints, was this grace given that I should evangelistically declare among the Gentiles the untrackable riches of Christ.
Thank you.
Here' s the expanded: Yes, to me, the most unworthy of the worthless of all the saints was given grace so that I will announce and declare among the Gentiles evangelistically the riches of Christ, that which is not trackable.
Sometimes in life men run out of fluid, don' t they? Ha ha. What a night for Corps night! [Laughter] I should have stayed in Ohio, or Indiana, or Kentucky, or gone for a fishing trip.
Boy, I understand this verse. Paul, you know, was highly educated He had an ego that was as big as a balloon. Down there in Jerusalem, member of the Sanhedrin, everything else. But he ran into fellas like Stephen, a few others, while Paul was heading up one of the synagogues. He was the man who got the orders from the high priest to go someplace to Damascus. He cast his vote against Stephen.
He just had Christian after Christian killed, incarce rated, everything else. And one day on the road to Damascus, he met the Master. That' s why he could say, ' the most unworthy of the worthless .' That ' s why I used it.
King James and most of the rest use, which is okay, ' less than the least.' But my mind understood it better, ' unworthy of the worthless.' Maybe because I like the song, ' Unworthy was I of the grace that was given.' Of all the saints was given grace, so that I will announce .. .not only announce, but I'm going to declare. He' s going to open it up and then he' s going to push it on, declare among the Gentiles. Peter, it says, was the apostle to the Jews, or whatever it says. And then Paul, to the Gentiles. That' s why I put that in here.
And the word ' evangelistically,' because it' s just not the good news, but it' s the announcing and declaring of the good news to people who have never heard it, so that they can get born again. That' s evangelism. An evangelist is one who speaks to the people who have not been born again the truth of the magnitude and the greatness, the announcement, and declaring of God' s Word that they get born again. And in order to be the proper evangelist , you have to preach the riches of Christ. That which is not trackable.
You know something, ' not trackable.' Any of you want to explain the new birth? Are you born again? [Yes] Why don't you track it? It' s what? Untrackable. I told you, you could enjoy it. You just cannot comprehend it. You cannot explain it. All I said you could do is what was written. And it said, If thou wilt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, believe in thine heart that God hath raised him form the dead, thou shalt be what? [Saved] For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; with the mouth confession is made unto what? [Salvation] And then Colossians, no it isn' t. .. where one says... Christ in you, Colossians 1:27, isn ' t it, see. Then you have Christ in you. Who tracked it? It' s untrackable. Still true, but it' s untrackable. You and I can still enjoy it and be blessed with it, but we just cannot explain it in fullness. That' s the riches of Christ.
Once more. Yes, to me, the most unworthy of the worthless, ha ha... I feel like that, see. Like tonight again, teaching the Corps the greatness of the Word, see. I know I'm not worth it, yet I do it, see. Feel like that time and time, hundreds and thousands of times I have felt that way. I'm just not a good enough man to know the greatness of this Word like I know it. That's what Paul was saying, too.
He was the most unworthy of all the worthless birds that ever lived . That' s how I feel in my own heart. Yet there was given what? [Grace] Grace. On the road to Damascus, grace. And that's why he said, I will announce and declare. Evangelistically to win them. . .the riches of Christ, that which is not trackable.
Well, I think that' s all I' m going to do tonight. We' ll see if we can get some of this stuff put together for next week, because, there are nine things that I know are right-on here. And I was. .. maybe I'll have this all printed up for next week and give...send it out to all the Corps. Maybe I won' t. But if I don' t, I'll give it on Corps night, and write it out yourself, and print it at all your campuses when I'll get it put together like I want it.
But there are nine things that really are ours in Christ Jesus that are listed in Ephesians. And all of those nine begin with the s-u-n. All of them.
Made alive together with Christ, is one. Raised together with Christ, is another.
Seated in the heavenlies together with Christ, is the third. Citizens together with the Judeans, is the fourth.
Fitly framed as a temple together with the Judeans, is the fifth. Builded as a habitation of God together with the Judeans, is the sixth. Fellow heirs together with the Judeans, is the seventh.
A Body together with the Judeans, is the eighth.
And the ninth is, Partakers of the promises together with the Judeans.
Those are nine fantastic truths that are in the Book of Ephesians. And all nine of those begin with that prefix s-u-n, meaning ' together with.'
Well, by next week I'll have all that stuff ready for you. But that ' s all I'm going to do tonight.
Thank you, Father, for your love , your grace, your mercy, and your goodness in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Good night. God bless.