Ephesians 2:18

Eph_2:18

For through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

The doctrine of the Trinity

The doctrine of the Holy Trinity, which the apostle implies in these words, is the centre of a group of Christian doctrines which may fairly be said not to have been explicitly known antecedently to the teaching of our Saviour and His apostles. More than even other doctrines, this had hardly been guessed at by heathen speculation, hardly understood by Jewish inspiration. It stands in majestic isolation from other truths, a vision of God incomprehensible, the mystery of mysteries. We can find analogies and explanations of other doctrines in the world of nature, physical or moral, but of this we can discover none. When we pass from the work to the Agent, from the government of God to the nature of God, we are lost in mystery; speculation is well nigh hushed before the overpowering glory of the Eternal. We pass from the earth to the heaven, we enter the shrine of the Divine presence. We contemplate in spirit the mystery hidden of old, the mystery of the trinal existence of Him who is the source of all power, the first cause of all creation; Him who, in the depths of a past eternity, existed in the mysterious solitude of His Divine essence, when there was still universal silence of created life around His throne, and who will exist ever in the future of eternity, from everlasting to everlasting, God. Speculation is, on such a subject, vain; yet a reverent attention to that which has been made known to us is our fitting duty. And nothing will more completely prepare us for considering the subject in a proper temper than the reflection that this great doctrine is not revealed to us in the Scripture to gratify our curiosity, but as a practical truth deeply and nearly related to our eternal interests, not in its speculative but in its practical aspects. Our Lord and His apostles taught that the Divine nature consists of three distinct classes of attributes, or (to use our human expression) three personalities; and that each of these three distinct Persons contributes separate offices in the work of human salvation; God the Father pardoning; God the Son redeeming; God the Holy Ghost hallowing and purifying sinful men. The fact that this doctrine involves a mystery, is so far from constituting a fair ground for its rejection, that it agrees in this respect with many of the most allowed truths of human science. For the distinction is now well understood between a truth being apprehended and its being comprehended. We apprehend or recognize a fact when we know it to be established by evidence, but cannot explain it by referring it to its cause; we comprehend or understand it when we can view it in relation to its cause. A thing which is not apprehended cannot be believed, but the analogy of our knowledge shows that we believe many things which we cannot explain or resolve into a law. We know the law of attraction which regulates the motions of the visible universe; but no one can yet explain the nature of the attractive power which acts according to this law. Or, to add an example from the world of organized nature, we may see the same truth in the animal or vegetable kingdoms. We know not in what consist the common phenomena of sleep or of life; and we are equally ignorant of the final causes which have led the Creator to lavish His gifts in creating thousands of species of the lower orders of animals with few properties of enjoyment or of use; or to scatter in the unseen parts of the petals of flowers, the profusion of beautiful colours. In truth, the peculiarity of modern inductive science is, that it professes to explain nothing. It rests content with generalising phenomena into their most comprehensive statement, and there it pauses; it in no case connects them with an ultimate cause. And if truths are thus received undoubtingly in science when yet they cannot be explained, why must an antecedent determination to disbelieve mystery in religion be allowed to outweigh any amount of positive evidence which can be adduced to substantiate those mysteries? We are to believe that the Divine nature exists under three entirely distinct classes of relations, which, through poverty of language, we call existence in three persons. We must be careful, however, when we assert this, not to reduce the Divine nature to similarity with the human; not to commit, in fact, almost the very error into which men of old fell in supposing that the God whom the heaven of heavens cannot contain, is like to birds and beasts and creeping things. The Divine Being is three persons; but by this we only mean that the personal element in man is the analogy under which God has been pleased to convey to us ideas of His own nature and of the relations which He sustains to us. Just as we do not attribute to God a body or human passions, but merely mean that He acts to us as though He possessed them; so when we attribute to Him thought or personality, we must not narrow down the idea of His omniscient intuition by supposing it contracted within the limits of inference which govern mans finite intelligence, or gifted with that limited independence which appertains to human personality. The discoveries of science ought to teach us that we really can scarcely form any positive idea of Gods nature. If we track the infinity of creation, we see that each increased power of our instruments reveals to us illimitable profusion in creation; the telescope revealing the troop of worlds stretching to an infinity of greatness, and the microscope a world of more and more minute life, stretching to an infinity of minuteness; or when we turn from the infinite in space to the infinite in time, if we look backward we see written in the rocks of the world the signs of creative life stretching through ages anterior to human history; or if we look forward, we can detect by delicate mathematical calculation, an amazing scheme of Providence providing for the conservation of harmony in the attractions of the heavenly bodies in cycles of incalculable time in the distant future. And when, having pondered all these things, we think of the Being that has arranged them by His providence and conserves them by His power, what notion can we really form of His nature? What notion of the wonderful originality evinced in the conception of creation, what of the profusion shown in the execution of it, what of the power in its conservation? His nature is not merely infinite, it is unlike anything human, and we must turn away with the feeling that when we compare that infinite Being with man, and confine our ideas of His illimitable vastness and His inscrutable existence by the notion of the narrow personality which is delegated to us finite creatures who live but for a day on this small spot of earth, lost amid the millions of worlds which glitter in creation, we may be sure that the Divine nature as really transcends the earthly description of it, as the universe exceeds this world; and though we may thankfully accept the description of God as having three personalities as the noblest to which we can attain as men, and as enough for our present wants in this world, yet let us never doubt that really the Divine nature is vastly nobler; and let us bow with adoring thankfulness in meditating on the idea which we are permitted to attain, imperfect though it be, of that mysterious essence. Yet though the idea of God in three Persons may be held to be thus speculatively imperfect, let us never forget that it is practically all-sufficient for us. For it teaches us the great truth that He acts to us as though He did literally sustain the characters of three wholly distinct persons, and that He demands from us the duties which would belong to us if He were so. If we are thus to believe of God, what is the lesson which this great doctrine that God exists and acts to us as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, ought to convey to us? It is mainly the wondrous thought that this glorious Being is willing to stoop to be our Friend, that He whose happiness is complete in its own infinity, is moved by His own pure eternal love to win us to Himself. Restless (to speak after the manner of men) to secure our happiness, all these blessed Persons of the glorious Godhead are engaged to secure it. It is God the Father whom we have grieved by our sins; and yet He loves us as a Father still; and to rescue us from our misery He has designed the great scheme of salvation, and sent God the Son to dwell on this earth as a man, as a man of sorrows and of poverty, to remove by His atoning death the impediments which, secret perhaps to us, stand in the way of our salvation, and to exhibit the pattern of a faultless human being, that we may follow His steps; and lastly, after God the Son had withdrawn from the earth, God the Spirit, the ever blessed Comforter, has descended to dwell constantly in the hearts of all men that invite His presence, cheering their guilty spirits, stirring them up to the love of holiness, hallowing them for a meetness for the inheritance of heaven. Behold what manner of love God has shown to us! Behold the Triune God engaged in the salvation of each one of ourselves! And can you delay to yield to Him your hearts, your wills, your affections? If you have sinned, or are tempted to sin, either in deed, or word, or thought, remember that it is not merely sin against a law, but that you are verily grieving a loving father, even the Father, God; if you are living a careless, half-religious life, remember that you are perpetrating the ingratitude of making the sufferings of the Eternal Son void as regards your souls; if you are neglecting prayer, neglecting earnest supplications to heaven for holiness, you are declining to avail yourself of that unspeakable gift of the Spirits help which is for all that ask. God the Father loves us, God the Son has redeemed us, and the Holy Spirit will, if we will ask Him, turn us from sin, and doubt, and half-heartedness, to the love of Himself, and will fit us for that heaven where, no longer trammelled by sin and darkened by ignorance, we shall enjoy the beatific vision, and find our everlasting happiness in communing with the Divine Being face to face. (Canon A. S. Farrar.)

A Trinity Sunday sermon

The doctrine of the Trinity is the description of what we know of God. We have no right to say that it is the description of God; for what there may be in Deity of which we have no knowledge, how can we tell? We are only sure that the Divine life is infinitely greater than our humanity can comprehend; and we are sure, too, that not even a revelation in the most perfect form, through the most perfect medium conceivable, could make known to the human intelligence anything in God save that which has relationship to human life. Man may reveal himself to the brutes, and the revelation may be clear and correct so far as it can go, but it must have its limit. Only that part of man can cross the line and show itself to the perception of that lower world which finds in brutedom some point which it can touch. Our strength may reveal itself to their fear; our kindness to their power of love; some part of our wisdom, even, to their dim capacity of education; but all the while there is a vast manhood of intellect, of taste, of spirituality, of which they never know. And so I am sure that the Divine nature is three Persons, but one God; but how much more than that I cannot know. That deep law which runs through all life, by which the higher any nature is, the more manifold and simple at once, the more full of complexity and unity at once, it grows, is easily accepted as applicable to the highest of all natures--God. In the manifoldness of His being these three personal existences, Creator, Redeemer, Sanctifier, easily make themselves known to the human life. I tell the story of them, and that is my doctrine of the Trinity.

1. The end of the human salvation is access to the Father. That is the first truth of our religion--that the source of all is meant to be the end of all, that as we all came forth from a Divine Creator so it is into divinity that we are to return and to find our final rest and satisfaction, not in ourselves, nor in one another, but in the omnipotence, the omniscience, the perfectness, and the love of God. God is divine. God is God. And no doubt we do all assent in words to such a belief; but when we think what we mean by that word God; when we remember what we mean by Father, namely, the first source and the final satisfaction of a dependent nature; and then when we look around and see such multitudes of people living as if there were no higher source for their being than accident, and no higher satisfaction for their being than selfishness, do we not feel that there is need of a continual and most earnest preaching by word and act, from every pulpit of influence to which we can mount, of the divinity of the Father. Why, take a man who is utterly absorbed in the business of this world. How eager he is; his hands are knocking at every door; his voice is crying out for admittance into every secret place and treasure house; he is all earnestness and restlessness. He is trying to come to something, trying to get access, and to what? To the best and richest of that earthly structure from which his life seems to himself to have issued. Counting himself the child of this world, he is giving himself up with a filial devotion to his father. He is the product in his tastes and his capacities of this social and commercial machinery which seems to be the mill out of which mens characters are turned. It is the society and the business of the world that have made him what he is, and so he gives up all that he is to the society or the business that created him. Now to such a man what is the first revelation that you want to make. Is it not the divinity of the Father? This is the divinity of the end. We come from God and we go to God.

2. And now pass to the divinity of the method. Through Jesus Christ. Man is separated from God. That fact, testified to by broken associations, by alienated affections, by conflicting wills, stands written in the whole history of our race. Analogies, I know, are very imperfect and often very deceptive, when they try to illustrate the highest things. But is it not as if a great strong nation, too strong to be jealous, strong enough to magnanimously pity and forgive, had to deal with a colony of rebels whom it really desired to win back again to itself? They are of its own stock, but they have lost their allegiance and are suffering the sorrows and privations of being cut off from their fatherland and living in rebellion. That fatherland might send its embassy to tempt them home; and, if it did, whom would it choose to send? Would it not take of itself its messenger? The embassy that is sent is of the country that sends it. That is its value, that is its influence. The fatherland would choose its choicest son, taking him from nearest to its heart, and say, Go and show them what I am, how loving and how ready to forgive, for you are I and you can show them. Such was the mission of the Messiah. The ambassador was of the very land that sent Him, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten not made, being of one substance with the Father. My friend says God sends Christ into the world, and therefore Christ is not God. I cannot see it so. It seems to me lust otherwise. God sends Christ just because Christ is God. The ambassador, the army is of the very most precious substance of the country that despatches it. This is the meaning of that constant title of our Master. He is the Son of God. The more truly we believe in the Incarnate Deity, the more devoutly we must believe in the essential glory of humanity, the more earnestly we must struggle to keep the purity and integrity and largeness of our own human life, and to help our brethren to keep theirs. It is because the Divine can dwell in us that we may have access to divinity. We and they must, through the Divine method, come to the Divine end where we belong, through God the Son to God the Father.

3. And now turn to the point that still remains. We have spoken of the end and of the method; but no true act is perfect unless the power by which it works is worthy of the method through which and the end to which it proceeds. The power of the act of mans salvation is the Holy Spirit. Through Christ Jesus we all have access by one Spirit unto the Father. What do we mean by the Holy Spirit being the power of salvation? I think we are often deluded and misled by carrying out too far some of the figurative forms in which the Bible and the religious experience of men express the saving of the soul. For instance, salvation is described as the lifting of the soul out of a pit and putting it upon a pinnacle, or on a safe high platform of grace. The figure is strong and clear. Nothing can overstate the utter dependence of the soul on God for its deliverance; but if we let the figure leave in our minds an impression of the human soul as a dead, passive thing, to be lifted from one place to the other like a torpid log that makes no effort of its own either for cooperation or resistance, then the figure has misled us. The soul is a live thing. Everything that is done with it must be done in and through its own essential life. If a soul is saved, it must be by the salvation, the sanctification of its essential life; if a soul is lost, it must be by perdition of its life, by the degradation of its affections and desires and hopes. Conclusion: When this experience is reached then see what Godhood the soul has come to recognize in the world. First, there is the Creative Deity from which it sprang, and to which it is struggling to return--the Divine end, God the Father. Then there is the Incarnate Deity, which makes that return possible by the exhibition of Gods love--the Divine method, God the Son; and then there in this Infused Deity, this Divine energy in the soul itself, taking its capacities and setting them homeward to the Father--the Divine power of salvation. God the Holy Spirit. To the Father through the Son, by the Spirit. If we recur a moment to the figure which we used a while ago, God is the Divine Fatherland of the human soul; Christ is like the embassy, part and parcel of that Fatherland, which comes out to win it back from its rebellion; and the Holy Spirit is the Fatherland wakened in the rebellious colonys own soul. He is the newly living loyalty. When the colony comes back, the power that brings it is the Fatherland in it seeking its own; So when the soul comes back to God, it is God in the soul that brings it. So we believe in the Divine power, one with the Divine method and the Divine end, in God the Spirit one with the Father and the Son. This appears to me the truth of the Deity as it relates to us. I say again, as it relates to us. What it may be in itself; how Father, Son, and Spirit meet in the perfect Godhood; what infinite truth more there may, there must, be in that Godhood, no man can dare to guess. But, to us, God is the end, the method, and the power of salvation; so He is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is in the perfect harmony of these sacred personalities that the precious unity of the Deity consists. Let us keep the faith of the Trinity. Let us seek to come to the highest, through the highest, by the highest. Let the end and the method and the power of our life be all Divine. If our hearts are set on that, Jesus will accept us for His disciples; all that He promised to do for those who trusted Him, He will do for us. He will show us the Father; He will send us the Comforter; nay, what can He do, or what can we ask that will outgo the strong and sweet assurance of the promise which we have been studying today: Through Him we shall have access by one Spirit unto the Father. (Phillips Brooks, D. D.)

The doctrine of the Trinity

In this text we have a declaration of the Holy Trinity; there can be no doubt as to that. Here are all three Persons together: the Father, unto whom we have access or introduction; the Son, by or through whom we are introduced; the Holy Spirit, in whom, in whose communion, we enjoy that access. But what is remarkable about the text is not the mere declaration of the three Persons, which is often to be met with in St. Pauls Epistles, but the practical nature of the declaration. We both have access, says the apostle, unto the Father--and for this word both we may substitute all, since the great distinction of that day between Jew and Gentile has been obliterated, and only those numerous minor distinctions remain which race and clime and colour make within the fold of Christ. We all have access unto the Father--this is the great and blessed fact, the practical sum of our religion; and this is the answer of the gospel to all the seeking and questing of the natural man since the world began. He, who is both God and man--He, the daysman desired of Job--He, who is equally at home both on earth and in heaven, who was in heaven--He, who hath reconciled us unto God, and atoned us, making us one with God by vital union with Himself;--He shall introduce us; by Him we shall have that long sought for, long despaired of access to the Father of our souls--He shall take us (as He only can) by the hand, and lead us (as He only may) into that dread presence. But, again, there is a further questing and seeking of the natural man, when he longs and yet dreads to find his way home to the Father. For after that first difficulty, Who shall lead us to the Father? there comes another question quite as hard to answer, and it is this: If we attain unto Him, how shall we bear ourselves in His presence? how shall we, defiled, stand in that holy place? how shall we, blear-eyed, face that uncreated light? and even if we were safe through our Saviour from any wrath of God, yet how could we escape the bitter sense of contrast, of unfitness, of intrinsic distance intensified by outward nearness? Now, the practical answer to such questing of the natural man is the revelation of the Spirit. In Him, the Spirit of God, who is also the Spirit of Jesus Christ, who ministers the gifts and graces and perpetuates the life of Jesus within the Church--in Him, who proceedeth from the Father and receiveth of the Son; who being one with the Father and the Son yet dwelleth in us, in our inmost centre of life and thought, and influenceth the secret springs of will and action--in Him, who, dwelling in all, bindeth all into one body with the Son of God, and reproduceth the character of Jesus in the saints;--in Him, the Lord, the Giver of life, the Sanctifier, shall we have true access unto the Father. Taking these two things together, by the Son, in one Spirit, we see that they leave nothing unprovided. Here is afforded us both outward approach to God and inward correspondence with God; both the way to heaven and the power to traverse the way; both the joy of our Lord and the capacity of entering into that joy. I suppose that if man had never fallen, God would never have been known as the Three in One. In the ages of the past each blessed Person lay undistinguished in the brilliance of the Godhead until the eternal love moved them to come forth from that obscurity of light for mans salvation. We know the Son by finding Him in mortal guise in our midst, displaying even amidst the cares and sufferings of a human life the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father. We know the Spirit by perceiving His presence in our own souls, by recognizing His abiding influence in the Church of God. (R. Winterbotham, M. A.)

The nature and beauty of gospel worship

I. We obtain this privilege as a fruit, and upon account of the reconciliation made by the blood of Christ (see Heb_9:8; Heb_10:19-22). Peter also gives us the same account of the rise of this privilege (1Pe_2:4-5). That which is ascribed unto believers is, that they offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable unto God by Jesus Christ. That is the worship whereof we speak.

II. The worship of God under the gospel is so excellent, beautiful, and glorious, that it may well be esteemed a privilege purchased by the blood of Christ, which no man can truly and really be made partaker of, but by virtue of an interest in the reconciliation by Him wrought. For by Him we have an access in one Spirit unto God. This I shall evince two ways. First, Absolutely. Secondly, Comparatively, in reference unto any other way of worship whatever. And the first I shall do from the text. It is a principle deeply fixed in the minds of men, yea, ingrafted into them by nature, that the worship of God ought to be orderly, comely, beautiful, and glorious.

1. The first thing in general observable from these words is, that in the spiritual worship of the gospel, the whole blessed Trinity, and each Person therein distinctly, do in that economy and dispensation, wherein they act severally and peculiarly in the work of our redemption, afford distinct communion with themselves unto the souls of the worshippers.

2. The same is evident from the general nature of it, that it is an access unto God. Through Him we have an access to God. There are two things herein that set forth the excellency, order, and glory of it.

(1) It brings an access.

(2) The manner of that access, intimated in the word here used, it is προσαγωγή, a manuduction unto God, in order, and with much glory. It is such an access as men have to the presence of a king when they are handed in by some favourite or great person. This, in this worship, is done by Christ. He takes the worshippers by the hand, and leads them into the presence of God. There are two things that hence arise, evidencing the order, decency, and glory of gospel worship.

1. That we have in it a direct and immediate access unto God.

2. That we have access unto God as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and ours in Him. Before I come to consider its glory comparatively, in reference to the outward solemn worship of the temple of old, I shall add but one consideration more, which is necessary for the preventing of some objections, as well as for the farther clearing of the truth insisted on; and that is taken from the place where spiritual worship is performed. Much of the beauty and glory of the old worship, according to carnal ordinances, consisted in the excellency of the place wherein it was performed: first, the tabernacle of Moses, then the temple of Solomon, of whose glory and beauty we shall speak afterward. Answerable hereunto, do some imagine, there must be a beauty in the place where men assemble for gospel worship, which they labour to paint and adorn accordingly. But they err, not knowing the Scriptures.

There is nothing spoken of the place and seat of gospel worship, but it is referred to one of these three heads, all which render it glorious.

1. It is performed in heaven; though they who perform it are on earth, yet they do it by faith in heaven.

2. The second thing mentioned in reference to the place of this worship is the persons of the saints: these are said to be the temple of the Lord (1Co_6:19).

3. The assemblies of the saints are spoken of as Gods temple, and the seat and place of public, solemn, gospel worship (Eph_2:21-22). Here are many living stones framed into an holy house in the Lord, an habitation for God by His Spirit. God dwells here: as He dwelt in the temple of old, by some outward carnal pledges of His presence; so in the assemblies of His saints, which are His habitation, He dwells unspeakably in a more glorious manner by His Spirit. Here, according to His promise, is His habitation. And they are a temple, a holy temple, holy with the holiness of truth, as the apostle speaks (Eph_4:24). Not a typical, relative, but a real holiness, and such as the Lords soul delighteth in. Secondly, proceed we now in the next place to set forth the glory and beauty of this worship of the gospel comparatively, with reference to the solemn outward worship, which by Gods own appointment was used under the Old Testament; which, as we shall show, was far more excellent on many accounts than anything of the like kind; that is, as to outward splendour and beauty, that was ever found out by men.

1. The first of these was the temple, the seat of all the solemn outward worship of the old church; the beauty and glory of it were in part spoken to before; nor shall I insist on any particular description of it; it may suffice, that it was the principal state of the beauty and order of the Judaical worship, and which rendered all exceeding glorious, so far, that the people idolized it, and put their trust in it, that upon the account of it they should be assuredly preserved, notwithstanding their presumptuous sins. But yet, notwithstanding all this, Solomon himself, in his prayer at the dedication of that house (1Ki_8:27), seems to intimate that there was some check upon his spirit, considering the unanswerable: ness of the house to the great majesty of God. It was a house on the earth, a house that he did build with his hands, intimating that he looked farther to a more glorious house than that. And what is it, if it be compared with the temple of gospel worship? Whatever is called the temple now of the people of God, is as much beyond that of old as spiritual things are beyond carnal, as heavenly beyond earthly, as eternal beyond temporal.

2. The second spring of the beauty of the old worship, which was indeed the hinge upon which the whole turned, was the priesthood of Aaron, with all the administrations committed to his charge. The high priest under the gospel is Christ alone. Now I shall spare the pains of comparing these together, partly because it will be by all confessed that Christ is incomparably more excellent and glorious; and partly, because the apostle on set purpose handles this comparison in sundry instances in the Epistle to the Hebrews, where anyone may run and read it, it being the main subject matter of that most excellent Epistle.

3. The order, glory, number, significancy, of their sacrifices was another part of their glory. And indeed, he that shall seriously consider that one solemn anniversary sacrifice of expiation and atonement, which is instituted (Lev_1:1-17, will quickly see that there was very much glory and solemnity in the outward ceremony of it. But now, saith the apostle, we have a better sacrifice (Heb_9:23). We have Him who is the high priest, and altar, and sacrifice all Himself; of worth, value, glory, beauty, upon the account of His own Person, the efficacy of His oblation, the real effect of it, more than a whole creation, if it might have been all offered up at one sacrifice. This is the standing sacrifice of the saints, offered once for all, as effectual now any day as if offered every day; and other sacrifices, properly so called, they have none. (J. Owen.)

The true God is to be worshipped as existing in Three Persons

I. The unity of the deity. It is much easier to prove from the light of nature that there is one God than to prove the impossibility of there being any more than one. Though some plausible arguments in favour of the unity of the Deity may be drawn from the beauty, order, and harmony apparent in the creatures and objects around us, and from the nature of a self-existent, independent, and perfect Being, yet these arguments fall far short of full proof or strict demonstration. To obtain complete and satisfactory evidence that there is but one living and true God, we must have resort to the Scriptures of truth, in which the Divine unity is clearly and fully revealed. God has always been extremely jealous of His unity, which has been so often disbelieved and denied in this rebellious and idolatrous world. He has never condescended to give His glory to another, nor His praise to false and inferior deities.

II. The one living and true God exists in three distinct persons. It is generally supposed that the inspired writers of the Old Testament give some plain intimations of a plurality of persons in the Godhead. But we find this, like many other great and important doctrines, more clearly revealed by Christ and the apostles, than it had been before by the prophets. Christ said a great deal about the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. He commanded His apostles and their successors in the ministry to baptize visible believers in the name of this sacred Trinity. After His death, His apostles strenuously maintained and propagated the same doctrine.

III. This leads us to inquire why we ought to address and worship the one true God, according to this personal distinction in the Divine nature.

1. The first reason which occurs is, because we ought, in our religious devotions, to acknowledge everything in God which belongs to His essential glory. Much of His essential glory consists in His existing a Trinity in Unity, which is a mode of existence infinitely superior to that of any other being in the universe.

2. We ought to address and worship God according to the personal distinction in the Divine nature, because we are deeply indebted to each Person in the Godhead for the office He sustains and the part He performs in the great work of redemption.

3. We ought to address and worship the true God according to the personal distinction in the Divine nature, because this is necessarily implied in holding communion with Him. It is owing to Gods existing a Trinity in Unity that He can hold the most perfect and blessed communion with Himself. And it is owing to the same personal distinction in the Divine nature that Christians can hold communion with each and all the Persons in the Godhead.

4. We are not only allowed, but constrained, to address and worship the true God according to the personal distinction in the Divine nature, because there is no other way in which we can find access to the throne of Divine grace. This important idea is plainly contained in the text. As it was Christ who made atonement for sin, so it is only through Him that we can have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Sinful creatures cannot approach to the Father in the same way that innocent creatures can.

The holy angels can approach to the Father directly, without the mediation or intercession of Christ.

1. This discourse teaches us that the doctrine of the Trinity is one of the essential and most important articles of Christianity.

2. It appears from what has been said, that we ought to regard and acknowledge the Father as the head of the sacred Trinity, and the primary object of religious homage. The Father is the first in order, and the supreme in office; and for this cause we ought to present our prayers and praises more immediately and directly to Him than to either of the other Persons in the Godhead.

3. Since God exists in three equally Divine Persons, there appears to be good ground to pay Divine homage to each Person distinctly. Though the Father is most generally to be distinctly and directly addressed, yet sometimes there may be a great propriety in addressing the Son and Spirit according to their distinct ranks and offices.

4. If we ought to acknowledge and worship the true God according to the personal distinction in the Divine nature, then we ought to obey Him according to the same distinction. We find some commands given by the Father, some by the Son, and some by the Holy Ghost. Though we are equally bound to obey each of these Divine Persons, in point of authority, yet we ought to obey each from distinct motives, arising from the distinct relations they bear to us, and the distinct things they have done for us. We ought to obey the Father as our Creator, the Son as our Redeemer, and the Holy Ghost as our Sanctifier. This distinction is as easy to be perceived and felt, as the distinction between creating goodness, redeeming mercy, and sanctifying grace. (N. Emmons, D. D.)

Access to God

1. Access to God always follows the prevailing of the Word.

2. By Christ alone have we access with boldness to God.

3. It is the Spirit which enables us to come to God in prayer. (Paul Bayne.)

Access to God by Christ

I. Nearness to God the Father is the highest and sweetest privilege which any of the human race can possibly enjoy. The word access in the text means liberty of approach, as every one acquainted with its use in Scripture will admit. Sin alienates the mind of man from Jehovah, and raises a bar in his way to blessedness. But a method has been devised for bringing back those who are banished. We have access to the Father! What a significant and endearing name! The first thing requisite for us is access to the Eternal Father. This being granted, it must, I think, be manifest that our happiness will increase just in proportion to our nearness to God. But could the veil which hides the heavenly world be removed, how would this truth blaze upon us with noontide splendour!

II. We can enjoy the privileges of access to the Father only through the mediation of Christ, and by the agency and grace of the Holy Spirit.

1. Here, then, are we clearly taught that the mediation of Christ is the only means of approach to and acceptance with God. This doctrine forms the grand distinguishing peculiarity of the gospel. But to enter fully into the spirit of our text, Christ must be contemplated in the character which He sustains as the great High Priest of the Church. It is not enough to own that He paid down a ransom price, and offered an atoning sacrifice of unspeakable value; but we must look to His perpetual and all-prevailing intercession. Nearly related both to the Father with whom He intercedes, and to us for whom intercession is made; the nature of each is joined in His Person. As a brother He has a lively sympathy with man, and as a prince He has power with God and prevails.

2. We enjoy this high privilege by the agency of the Holy Spirit.

From the subject which has been brought before you, the following inferences may be fairly drawn.

1. If nearness to God be the highest happiness, then distance from Him, or dislike to His will, is the greatest misery.

2. If it is through Christ only that we find free approach to the Father, how thankful ought we to be for such a Mediator. In Him all excellencies, human and Divine, are united.

3. If the influence of the Holy Spirit is necessary to bring us into communion with the Father, as we have shown, then this influence should be earnestly sought and highly prized.

4. If the doctrine here taught is true, Christians of every name, nation, and tribe have substantial grounds of union. In the Church there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free; but Christ is all and in all. (Essex Congregational Remembrancer.)

Christian prayer a witness of Christian fellowship

The whole power and meaning of that glorious exclamation, Ye are no more strangers and foreigners, depend on the truth expressed in the previous verse: We have access by one Spirit to the Father. Paul has told the Gentile Ephesians that they are no longer outcasts from the grand privileges of the Jew; he has asserted that they are actually in fellowship with the prophets and apostles, and the universal Church of the holy; but all the magnificence of the assertion rises out of the principal fact that in Christ they come by one spirit to God. In short, he finds the proof end pledge of Christian citizenship in the power and freedom of Christian prayer. Our subject, then, becomes--The citizenship of the Christian: its foundation; its nature; its present lessons.

I. Its foundation. In access to the Father--in the power of approaching Him in full, free, trustful prayer--lies the foundation proof that we are fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God. We have to see how that conviction rises in the praying soul--how the very fact of Christian prayer contains the proof and pledge that we are citizens of an eternal kingdom. In doing this let us glance at two principles that are here involved.

1. Christian prayer is the approach of the individual soul to God as its Father. By access to God, Paul means the approach to God in which the human spirit comes near to Him as a real Divine Presence, to worship Him in full, free, trustful love; hence it is evident that a man may often have prayed, and yet never have realized this idea of prayer.

2. That prayer of the individual soul must lead it to the united worship of Gods Church. We come by one Spirit unto the Father. Paul has been speaking of atonement and reconciliation. He knew that these were individual; but he seems to imply that until Greek and Jew were united in worship the worship was incomplete. Note one or two facts on this point which are very significant. We cannot always pray alone. God has so made us that our power of praying needs the help of our brethren. There are times when the deep emotions of our nature will not utter themselves, and we groan, being burdened. We need the help of some other soul that has the divine gift of uttering the want we cannot utter, that it may bear us upon its wings of holy sympathy towards the throne.

II. The nature of our citizenship. Taking the points we have just noticed, and combining them, let us see how they point to a fellow citizenship with the Church of all ages.

1. Prayer a witness to our fellowship with the Church of all time. Realizing Gods Fatherhood in the holy converse of prayer, we are nearer men. Our selfishness--our narrow, isolating peculiarities begin to fade. In our highest prayers we realize common wants. No man ever poured out his soul to God, under the sense of His presence, who did not feel that he was nearer the family of the Father. To take the most obvious illustration, is it not when the cries of confession, of unrest, of aspiration, of hope, mingle in worship that we feel it? Are we not, then, fellow pilgrims, fellow sufferers, fellow warriors? Then our differences vanish, and we know, in some measure, how we belong to the household of God. But it stays not there. The past claims kindred with us in prayer.

2. Prayer a witness to our fellowship with the Church of eternity. This is harder to be realized, because of our earthliness--we see so dimly through the material veil. But the household of God implies this fellowship.

III. Its lessons.

1. Live as members of the kingdom.

2. Expect the signs of citizenship. The crown of thorns; the Cross.

3. Live in hope of the final ingathering. Pauls words point to this. From this hope our efforts and aspirations derive their greatest power; and we feel that our fellow citizenship is incomplete till we pass from the earthly tabernacle into the eternal home of the Father. (E. L. Hull, B. A.)

Access to God

I. The great work of salvation in its process.

II. The greatness of the agency employed in the work of salvation.

III. The work of salvation in the universality of its law. The same course must be trodden by all. (T. J. Judkin.)

Access to the Father, through the Son, by the Spirit

I. Access to the father. The access of the text is the access of reconciliation and peace; all enmity is removed, all differences cleared up. But it is more than this--access to the Father; He is seen. In the case of servitude, servants have access to their master; but here is access, with boldness, of those led by the Spirit of God, who are the sons of God. This is access of sons in whom the Father is well pleased--of those who are made heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ--of those who, as you see in the nineteenth verse, are fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God. This access, my brethren, is more than touching the golden sceptre with the hand of faith; it is the mutual embrace with the arms of love; it is the access of a loving son to a loving father.

II. But how can we obtain admission into the presence of the Father? Whence this access? Here, by nature, practice, habit, disposition, we are far from our Fathers land. We are strangers and foreigners (Eph_2:19). Who can tell if He is willing to receive us? And if He will receive us, who is to bring us to Him? These questions are answered by the expression in the text, through Him, that is, through Christ. Without introduction, there is no admission; and he who introduces another is in general answerable for the manner and conduct of the person introduced. Now, if you look to the context, you will see how Christ introduces us to the presence of the Father. You are enemies, rebels; the first thing, then, to be done is to make peace. He has made peace, as you will see in the fifteenth verse; that is, He settled the terms of peace; He abolished in effect the enmity which existed between us and God. He slew that enmity upon the Cross. But then we were afar off, in a distant country, strangers and foreigners: therefore He came, as you see in the seventeenth verse, to preach peace to you that were afar off. He tells us what He has done, both in the courts of heaven and upon the heights of Calvary.

III. The remaining expression in the text brings us to the work of the Holy Ghost. By the Holy Spirit we have access to the Father, through Jesus Christ. Thus you see we have the doctrine of the Trinity brought before us in this short verse. It is highly important always to bear in mind that the three Persons in the Trinity are equally concerned in the work of the sinners salvation. Now, how is it we possess the privilege of access to the Father through the Son? We must recollect that would be no privilege unless there were the capacity to enjoy the same. Bring a blind man to the most attractive sight, and he is unable to behold or to enjoy it. Let heaven ring with a concert of the most angelic music, and the deaf man will not be animated by it. And give a man without the Spirit the privilege of access to the Father, and he has no part in it; he is entirely incapable of appreciating the Divine enjoyments of His presence; he would feel himself afar off, although he were brought very nigh. Change of place is not enough; there must be a change of heart. Now here comes in the work of the Spirit. Secondly: The Spirit teaches us how to behave ourselves in the presence of the Father; He not only conducts, but teaches and instructs. Without the Spirits teaching, we could never learn Abba; we should never frame our speech aright. (G. A. Rogers, M. A.)

Bold access to the Father

It is the boldness of the little child that, unabashed by anyones presence, climbs his fathers knee, and throws his arms around his neck--or, bursting into his room, breaks in on his busiest hours, to have a bleeding finger bound, or some childish tears kissed away; that says if any threaten or hurt him, I will tell my father; and, however he might tremble to sleep alone, fears neither ghosts, nor man, nor darkness, nor devils, if he lies couched at his fathers side. Such confidence, bold as it seems, springs from trust in a fathers love; and pleases rather than offends us. (T. Guthrie D. D.)

The confidence of children

I remember seeing a man in Mobile putting little boys on the fence posts, and they jumped into his arms with perfect confidence. But there was one boy nine or ten years old who would not jump. I asked the man why it was, and he said the boy was not his. Ah, that was it. The boy was not his. He had not learned to trust him. But the other boys knew him and could trust him. (D. L. Moody.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2:18 Because of Christ’s sacrifice for sins, both Jewish and Gentile believers receive the Holy Spirit, which makes it possible for them to approach God openly (see 3:12; cp. Acts 10:34-37, 44-48; 1 Pet 3:18).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Eph 2:18. Ὅτι, because)—Πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα) to the Father, as to [our] Father. In this verse mention is made of Christ, of the Spirit, of the Father, in the same order in which Christ, the Spirit of promise, and God, are referred to at Eph 2:12; [comp. ch. Eph 1:3; Eph 1:5]. In a different order [the Three Divine Persons are mentioned] in Rev 1:4-5.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Eph_2:18. Proof from an appeal to fact for what has just been said: εὐηγγ. εἰρήνην ὑμῖν τ. μακρ. κ. εἰρ. τοῖς ἐγγύς. In this case the main stress of the proof lies in οἱ ἀμφότεροι ἐν ἑνὶ πνεύμ. If, namely, through Christ, both in One Spirit have the προσαγωγή to the Father, to both must the same news, that of peace, have been imparted by Him. This is the necessary historic premiss of that happy state of unity now actually subsistent through Christ. He must have proclaimed εἰρήνη to the one as to the other; of this Paul now gives the probatio ab effectu. Others hold that ὅτι introduces the contents of the message of peace (Baumgarten, Koppe, Morus, Flatt). But the contents is fully expressed in the εἰρήνη itself, agreeably to the context; hence, too, we may not say, with Rückert, that the essence of the εἰρήνη is explained. According to Harless, the truth of that proclamation is shown from the reality of the possession. But in this way a subsidiary thought (namely, that the proclamation was true) is introduced not merely arbitrarily, but also unsuitably (for the truth of that which has been proclaimed was self-evident).

τὴν προσαγωγήν] Christ is not conceived of as door (Joh_10:7; Beza, Calvin), which is remote from the context, but as bringer; in which case there may be an allusion to the Oriental custom of getting access to the king only through a προσαγωγεύς (see on Rom_5:2), but not to sacrificial processions in accordance with Herod. ii. 58 (Meier), which would be an unsuitable comparison. Before Christ had reconciled men with God, communion with God was, on account of the wrath of God (Eph_2:3; Rom_5:10), denied to them; Christ by His ἱλαστήριον removed this obstacle, and thus became the προσαγωγεύς, through the mediation of whom (διʼ αὐτοῦ) we now and henceforth have the bringing near (Thuc. i. 82; Polyb. ix. 41. 1, xii. 4. 10; Xen. Cyr. vii. 5. 45) unto God. In substance the having the προσαγωγή to God is not different from the εἰρήνη πρὸς τὸν Θεόν (Rom_5:1), and from the filial relationship of the reconciled. It is the consequence of the atoning death of Jesus; the peaceful relation of believers towards God, brought about through this death. Comp. 1Pe_3:18. Here, moreover, as at Rom_5:2, the notion of bringing towards, which the word has, is not to be interchanged with that of approach or access (as still by Rückert, Harless, Bleek), as though πρόσοδον were written in the text. Christ by the continuous power and efficacy of His atoning act is the constant Bringer to the Father. Comp. Eph_3:12.

ἐν ἑνὶ πνεύματι] for the Holy Spirit is to both one and the same element of life (comp. on Rom_8:15), apart from which they cannot have the προσαγωγή to God. The referring of it to the human spirit (ὁμοθυμαδόν, Anselm, Homberg, Zachariae, Koppe, Morus, Rosenmüller) ought to have been precluded by taking note of the Divine Trias in our passage (διʼ αὐτοῦ, ἐν ἑνὶ πνεύματι, πρὸς τὸν πατέρα); comp. Eph_2:12; Eph_2:22.

Observe, further, the difference of meaning between the ἔχομεν (denoting the continuously present possession of the signal benefit) and the ἐσχήκαμεν of Rom_5:2 (see on the latter passage).

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Eph 2:18 . ὅτι διʼ αὐτοῦ ἔχομεν τὴν προσαγωγὴν οἱ ἀμφότεροι ἐν ἑνὶ πνεύματι πρὸς τὸν πατέρα : for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit unto the Father . Some take ὅτι as = that , the mention of the common access being taken as the contents of the εὐηγγελίσατο . But the subject of the preaching has already been given, viz. , εἰρήνη . Hence ὅτι = for , and the verse is a confirmation of the previous statement in the form of an appeal to the experience of those addressed. The fact that we, both of us, are now brought to God through Him is a witness to the truth of what I have just said, viz. , that Christ came and preached peace to both. The privilege referred to is a present and continuing privilege ( ἔχομεν , not ἐσχήκαμεν as in Rom 5:2 ) one to which effect is being given now, viz. , τὴν προσαγωγήν , “the introduction,” or “ our introduction”. This noun denotes, properly speaking, the act of bringing to one , and then the approach or access (Herod., ii., 58; Xen., Cyr. , vii., 5, 45). It is urged by some (Mey., Ell., etc.) that both here and in Rom 5:2 it has the primary trans . sense, and denotes the privilege of being brought to God or introduced to Him. Christ would thus be presented in the character of “Bringer,” perhaps with some allusion to the office of the προσαγωγεύς through whom in Oriental courts one was brought into the royal presence. But the difference in idea between access ( πρόσοδος ) and “admission” (Ell.) or “bringing” ( προσαγωγή ) is slight, and there seems sufficient justification for the intrans. sense. The ἐν ἑνὶ πνεύματι , which is strangely taken by some (Anselm, Rosenm.) as = ὁμοθυμαδόν , “with one mind,” obviously refers to the Holy Ghost. That is made clear both by the mention of the coming and preaching in the Spirit, and by the reference both to Christ and to the Father . The ἐν is not = by , but in , with reference to the element in which alone we have the access. As that right is ours only through Christ ( διʼ αὐτοῦ ), so it is made ours in actual experience only in the Spirit, and Jew and Gentile have it alike because it is one and the same Spirit that works in both. So both have continuous access to God from whom once they were far removed, to Him, too, in the benign character of the Father ( τὸν πατέρα ) whom they can approach without fear.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Eph_2:18

The proof that peace has thus been obtained for both is, that both have equally free access to God. The ὅτι at the beginning of the verse is not to be rendered that, as indicating the nature of the peace; but since, as introducing the evidence that such peace was procured. That evidence is found in the fact that we have access to God. Had not his wrath been removed, Rom_5:10, the enmity been slain, we could have no access to the divine presence. And since Gentiles have as free access to God as the Jews, and upon the same terms and in the same way, it follows that the peace procured by the death of Christ, was designed for the one class as well as for the other.

Access is not mere liberty of approach; it is προσαγωγὴν, introduction. Christ did not die simply to open the way of access to God, but actually to introduce us into his presence and favor. This all Scripture teaches, and this the context demands. Those for whom the death of Christ has procured peace, are declared in what follows to be fellow citizens of the saints; members of the family of God, constituent parts of that temple in which God dwells by his Spirit. It is a real not a mere potential redemption and reconciliation which the blood of Christ effects. He died, the just for the unjust, to bring us nigh unto God. This introduction into a state of grace, Rom_5:3, is not identical with the peace procured by Christ, but the effect or sequence of it. Having made propitiation, or secured peace, he introduces us as our mediator and advocate into the divine presence.

As to this access we are taught that it is

1. To the Father.

2. It is through Christ.

3. It is by the Spirit.

The doctrine of the Trinity as involved in the whole scheme of redemption, evidently underlies the representation contained in this passage. In the plan of salvation as revealed in Scripture, the Father represents the Godhead, or God absolutely. He gave a people to the Son, sent the Son for their redemption, and the Spirit to apply to them that redemption. Hence, in the beginning of this epistle, it is said that God as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings, chose us before the foundation of the world to be holy, having predestinated us to be his children. He, therefore, has made us acceptable in the Beloved, in whom we have redemption through his blood. It is the Father, therefore, as the apostle says, who has made known to us his purpose to reconcile all things unto himself by Jesus Christ. Thus also in Col_1:19, Col_1:20, it is said it pleased the Father that in him all fullness should dwell, and having made peace through the blood of the cross by him to reconcile all things unto himself. In 1Co_8:6, it is said there is to us one God even the Father, by whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we by him. This representation will be recognized as pervading the Scripture. It is the Father as representing the Godhead, to whom we are said to be reconciled, to be brought near, into whose family we are adopted, and of whose glory we are heirs. Secondly, this access is through Christ. This means,

1. As explained in the context, by his blood, his flesh, his cross. That is, it is by his vicarious death. It is by his dying, the just for the unjust, that he brings us near to God.

2. It is by his intercession, for he has not only died for us, but he has passed through the heavens there to appear before God for us. It is, therefore, through him, as our mediator, intercessor, introducer, forerunner, that we draw near to God.

This is a truth so plainly impressed on the Scriptures and so graven on the hearts of believers, that it gives form to all our modes of approach to the throne of God. It is in the name of Christ, all our praises, Thanksgivings, confessions, and prayers are offered, and for his sake alone do we hope to find them accepted.

Thirdly, this access to the Father is by the Spirit. The inward change by which we are enabled to believe in Christ, the feelings of desire, reverence, filial confidence which are essential to our communion with God, are the fruits of the Spirit. Hence we are said to be drawn or led by the Spirit, and the Spirit also as well as Christ is called our advocate, or paraclete; and God, it is said, because we are sons, hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father, Gal_4:6. The words ἐν ἑνὶ πνεύματι, by one spirit, are not to be understood as expressing the inward concord or fellowship of the Jews and Gentiles in drawing near to God, nor simply that we are influenced by a common spirit of life, but the words are to be understood of the Holy Ghost.

1. Because the word πνεῦμα, without as well as with the article so generally refers to the Spirit in the New Testament.

2. Because the obvious reference to the Trinity in the passage, (to the Father, through Christ, by the Spirit,) demands this interpretation. And

3. Because the same office is elsewhere characteristically referred to the Spirit. The other interpretations are included in this.

If Jews and Gentiles are led by the Spirit to draw near to God, it follows that they come with one heart; and are animated by one principle of life. The preposition vj may be taken instrumentally, and rendered by, as in the following verse. Or it may mean in communion with. The Holy Ghost is designated here as one Spirit, in opposition to the two classes, Jews and Gentiles. Both have access by one and the same Spirit. The two, therefore, are not only one body as stated in Eph_2:16, but they are inhabited and controlled by one Spirit. Thus in 1Co_12:11, one and the self-same Spirit, is said to divide to every man severally as he wills; and in Eph_2:12, it is, By one Spirit we are all baptized into one body. Thus has the divine purpose of which the apostle spoke in the first chapter his purpose to unite all his people in one harmonious body been consummated. Christ by his cross has reconciled them, both Jews and Gentiles, unto God; the distinction between the two classes is abolished; united in one body, filled and guided by one Spirit, they draw near to God as his common children.

Charles Hodge — Commentary on Romans (1835), First Corinthians (1857), and Ephesians (1856) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Christ is the gate as it were, by whom we come to the Father, and the holy Ghost is as it were our lodes man who leadeth us.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Translate, "For it is through Him (Joh 14:6; Heb 10:19) that we have our access (Eph 3:12; Rom 5:2), both of us, in (that is, united in, that is, "by," Co1 12:13, Greek) one Spirit to the Father," namely, as our common Father, reconciled to both alike; whence flows the removal of all separation between Jew and Gentile. The oneness of "the Spirit," through which we both have our access, is necessarily followed by oneness of the body, the Church (Eph 2:16). The distinctness of persons in the Divine Trinity appears in this verse. It is also fatal to the theory of sacerdotal priests in the Gospel through whom alone the people can approach God. All alike, people and ministers, can draw nigh to God through Christ, their ever living Priest.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 18. For through him] Christ Jesus, we both-Jews and Gentiles, have access by one Spirit-through the influence of the Holy Ghost, unto the Father-God Almighty. This text is a plain proof of the holy Trinity. Jews and Gentiles are to be presented unto God the FATHER; the SPIRIT of God works in their hearts, and prepares them for this presentation; and JESUS CHRIST himself introduces them. No soul can have access to God but by Jesus Christ, and he introduces none but such as receive his Holy Spirit. All who receive that Spirit are equally dear to him; and, whatever their names be among men, they are known in heaven as children of God, and heirs of eternal glory.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

18. For through him we both have access. This is an argument from the fact, that we are permitted to draw near to God. But it may be viewed also as an announcement of peace; for wicked men, lulled into a profound sleep, sometimes deceive themselves by false notions of peace, but are never at rest, except when they have learned to forget the Divine judgment, and to keep themselves at the greatest possible distance from God. It was necessary, therefore, to explain the true nature of evangelical peace, which is widely different from a stupefied conscience, from false confidence, from proud boasting, from ignorance of our own wretchedness. It is a settled composure, which leads us not to dread, but to desire and seek, the face of God. Now, it is Christ who opens the door to us, yea, who is himself the door. (John 10:9.) As this is a double door thrown open for the admission both of Jews and Gentiles, we are led to view God as exhibiting to both his fatherly kindness. He adds, by one Spirit; who leads and guides us to Christ, and “by whom we cry, Abba, Father,” (Romans 8:15,) for hence arises the boldness of approach. Jews had various means of drawing near to God; now all have but one way, to be led by the Spirit of God.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(18) For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.—In this verse the two meanings again unite. In the original the order is emphatic: “Through Him we have the access, both of us in one Spirit, to the Father.” The greater idea of access to God is still prominent; but the lesser idea of union with each other in that access is still traceable as an undertone. “Access” is properly “the introduction” (used also in Eph_3:12; Rom_5:2), a technical word of presentation to a royal presence. So says Chrysostom, “We came not of ourselves, but He brought us in.” The corresponding verb is found in 1Pe_3:18, “Christ also suffered for sins—the just for the unjust—that He might bring us to God.” It will be noted that we have here one of the implicit declarations of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, so frequent in this Epistle. The unity of the whole Church, as united “to the Father,” “through the Son,” and “in the Spirit,” is here summed up in one sentence, but with as much perfection and clearness as even when it is unfolded in the great passage below (Eph_4:4-6). The ultimate source of all doctrine on the subject is necessarily in the words of the Lord Himself. (See John 14-17, especially Joh_14:6; Joh_14:16-18; Joh_14:23-25; Joh_15:26; Joh_16:13-15; Joh_17:20-21.) For these are the “heavenly things”; and “no man hath ascended into heaven but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man who is in heaven” (Joh_3:12-13).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

18. for] It is possible to render “that,” and so to make this the substance of the message of “peace.” The difference is not important. But it is grammatically better to retain A. V. (and R. V.).

both] Masculine plural, as Eph_2:16, where see note. Both the great groups, in all their individual members, have this access.

access] Better, our introduction; the proper meaning of the original word, reminding the accepted Christian that he owes his freedom of entrance to Another. True, the freedom is present, perpetual, and assured; but it not only was first secured by the Redeemer’s work, but rests every moment on that work for its permanence. We are, thanks be to God, evermore free to and in His presence-chamber, but we are also evermore free there “through His Son,” Who “ever liveth to make intercession for us.”—The word occurs elsewhere Rom_5:2; and below, Eph_3:12.

by one Spirit] Lit. and better, in one Spirit; surrounded, animated, penetrated, by the Spirit. This is undoubtedly the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, so largely in view in this Epistle. Cp. 2Co_13:14; 1Pe_1:2; Judges 20, 21; among other passages, for a similar implicit recognition of the Persons of the Holy Trinity in the Divine harmony of their actions for and relations to the saints.

“One:”—in contrast to the “both.” See Acts 5 for the fact that even to Apostles after Pentecost it was still a discovery that the Holy Ghost should visit and bless Gentiles with the same freedom and fulness as Jews.

the Father] “His Father and our Father;” Joh_20:17. This profound word, rich in life, love, and joy, was indeed a new treasure, in its Christian sense, to “them that were afar off.” No pagan mythology, or philosophy, though the word was not unknown to them, knew the thing; the Divine reality of an eternal and paternal Holy Love. To the Israelite the Lord was indeed known as “like unto a Father pitying his children” (Psa_103:13); “doubtless our Father” (Isa_63:16); but even to him the word would develope into inexhaustible riches when read in the light of the Sonship of the true Messiah.

Observe that the approach of the soul is here, as always, ultimately to the Father. Not that the Son, and the Spirit, are not eternal and Divine; but He is—the Father.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For through him we both have an access, That is, both Jews and Gentiles; the Arabic version reads, "we both factions": being made one, and reconciled unto God, and having the Gospel of peace preached to both, they have through Christ freedom of access and boldness in it:

by one Spirit unto the Father: they may come to God as the Father of spirits, and of mercies, who has made their souls or spirits, and bestowed his mercies on them in great abundance; and as the Father of Christ, and as their God and Father in Christ: and the rather they should consider him in this relation to them, in order to command in them a reverence and fear of him; to secure a freedom and liberty in their approach to him; and to encourage an holy boldness, and a fiducial confidence in him; and to teach them submission to his will: and their access to him is "through" Christ, who has made peace for them, and atonement for their sins; who has satisfied law and justice, and brought in an everlasting righteousness for them; so that there is nothing lies in their way to hinder them; and besides, he takes them as it were by the hand, and leads them into the presence of his Father, and presents their petitions for them, on whose account they have both audience and acceptance with God: and this access is also "by one Spirit"; the "Holy Spirit", as the Ethiopic version reads; and who is necessary in access to God, as a spirit of adoption, to enable and encourage souls to go to God as a father; and as a spirit of supplication, to teach both how to pray, and for what, as they should; and as a free spirit to give them liberty to speak their minds freely, and pour out their souls to God; and as a spirit of faith to engage them to pray in faith, and with holy boldness, confidence, and importunity; and he is said to be "one", both with respect to the persons to and by whom access is had, the Father and Christ, for he is the one and the same Spirit of the Father and of the Son; and with respect to the persons who have this access, Jews and Gentiles, who as they make up one body, are actuated and directed by, and drink into one and the same Spirit: hence this access to God is of a spiritual kind; it is a drawing nigh to God with the heart, and a worshipping him in spirit; and is by faith, and may be with freedom, and should be, with reverence, and ought to be frequent; and is a peculiar privilege that belongs to the children of God; and who have great honour bestowed upon them, to have access to God at any time, as their Father, through Christ the Mediator, and under the influence, and by the direction and assistance of the Holy Spirit: this is a considerable proof of a trinity of persons in the Godhead, of their deity and distinct personality.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

18 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

Ver. 18. We both have an access] With good assurance of success. The Persian kings held it a piece of their silly glory to hold off their best friends, who might not come near them but upon special licence, Ezr 4:11. Not so our king. "Oh, come, for the Master calleth thee!"

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For through him - That is, he has secured this result that we have access to God. This he did by his death - reconciling us to God by the doctrines which he taught - acquainting us with God; and by his intercession in heaven - by which our “prayers gain acceptance” with him.

We both have access - Both Jews and Gentiles; see the notes at Rom 5:2. We are permitted to approach God through him, or in his name. The Greek word here - προσαγωγή prosagōgē - relates properly to the introduction to, or audience which we are permitted to have with a prince or other person of high rank. This must be effected through an officer of court to whom the duty is entrusted. “Rosenmuller,” Alt und neu Morgenland, in loc.

By one Spirit - By the aid of the same Spirit - the Holy Spirit; see notes, 1Co 12:4.

Unto the Father - We are permitted to come and address God as our Father; see the Rom 8:15, note 26, note.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

For through him, as our Mediator and Peace-maker, who hath reconciled us to God,

we both have access, are admitted or introduced,

by one Spirit unto the Father; by the Holy Ghost, who is our Guide to lead us to the Father, as Christ is the way by which we go to him, Joh 14:6. As there is but one Mediator through whom both Jews and Gentiles come to God, so but one and the same Spirit, Eph 4:4.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

18. For—In order to show how this peace is accomplished. It is by having, through him, as mediator, an access or introduction to the common Father of both, thereby rendering them brothers.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For through him both of us have our access by one Spirit unto the Father. Further illustration of identity of position of Jews and Gentiles, and of the work of Christ in bringing it about. Subject of this verse, access to the Father; predicate, this access effected through Christ by the one Spirit. Our having access to the Father is assumed as a matter of spiritual experience; the converted Ephesians knew that in their prayers and other exercises they did really stand before God, and felt as children to a Father. How came this to pass? "Through him." Sinful men have not this privilege by nature; "Your iniquities have separated between you and your. (Isa_59:2) They need a Mediator; Jesus is that Mediator; and through him, both Jews and Gentiles enjoy the privilege. But right of access is not enough; in approaching God and holding fellowship with him there must be some congeniality of soul, a fellow-feeling between God and the worshipper; this is effected through the same Spirit. Some render "in the same spirit, or disposition of mind." This is true, but not all the truth; for the question arises How do we get this suitable disposition? And the answer is It is wrought by the Holy Spirit. As the state of the soul in true intercourse with God is substantially the same in all, so it is brought by the same Holy Spirit. In fact, this verse is one of the characteristic texts of Ephesians, in which Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are brought together.

Our access to the Father.

through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father." If the enmity had not been slain there could not have been access to the Divine presence. Both Jews and Gentiles enjoy this access on a footing of grace and mercy to the throne of God.

I THE APPROACH IS TO THE FATHER. It is not to a stern Judge or a God wielding terrible power against us, but to a gracious Father, we have access in virtue of Christ"s atoning work. It is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who is represented in this Epistle as having blessed us with all spiritual blessings; it is the Father who has made known to us his purpose to reconcile all things to himself in Christ; it is the Father who has made peace through the blood of the cross. We must ever seek the true origin of our salvation, not in the suffering of the cross, but in the bosom of the eternal Father.

II OUR ACCESS TO HIM IS THROUGH CHRIST.

1. We are brought near to God through his blood (ver. 13).

2. Through his intercession.

Jesus, as Mediator; Advocate, Forerunner, takes us, as it were, by the hand, and presents us to God. This is the doctrine of the Epistle to the Hebrews, which introduces the era of the better hope, under which we draw nigh to God with true heart, in full assurance of faith, because we have such a High Priest over the house of God. But our Savior is more than High Priest; he is Forerunner; he is not merely Representative of believers, as the high priest of Judaism was representative of the theocratic people, but he is Forerunner, entered within the veil, whither his people can follow him to the very place which he has gone before to prepare for them. There is no longer a restriction upon our access to God. It is a free access, an open access, an access that may well inspire confidence, because it is in Christ: "We have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him". (Eph_3:12)

III THE ACCESS IS BY ONE SPIRIT.

1. It is by his influence we are first brought home to the Father. It is by him we are baptized into one body.

2. The indwelling of the Spirit is necessary to the perpetuation and power of "our fellowship with the Father and the Son.

3. It is the Spirit especially who helps our infirmities in prayer. (Rom_8:26) Thus we see how the three Persons of the Trinity are concerned in our salvation. T.C.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For through him, we both - Jews and gentiles. Have access - Liberty of approaching, by the guidance and aid of one Spirit to God as our Father. Christ, the Spirit, and the Father, the three-one God, stand frequently in the same order.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

18. We both have access by one Spirit. The Spirit of adoption enables both to cry, “Abba, Father.” Both pray to one Father; hence, all are brethren.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

18. ὅτι διʼ αὐτοῦ κ.τ.λ. This clause explains ‘the way of peace.’ The Father is the source of peace (cf. Eph 1:2). Peace is to be enjoyed only in communion with Him. Through Christ we have obtained the right of entry into the Father’s Presence, and in the power of the one Spirit with which Christ according to His promise fills our hearts we go hand in hand to exercise our privilege.

τὴν προσαγωγὴν. Eph 3:12; Rom 5:2. Cf. 1Pe 3:18.

ἐν ἑνὶ πνεύματι. 1Co 12:13; Php 1:27; corresponding naturally to ἐν ἑνὶ σώματι (Eph 2:16). Notice the ‘dynamic’ force of the phrase. It implies a true ‘possession.’ The Spirit cannot be present and inactive. See Intr., pp. lxv ff.

πρὸς τὸν πατέρα. Cf. Eph 3:14. This use of ὁ πατήρ absolutely as a title for God is rare in St Paul (Rom 6:4; and perhaps Rom 8:15; Gal 4:6; 1Co 8:6). It is common in St John not only in recorded words of our Lord but also in Epp. and in the narrative of Ev.; not in Apoc.

St Paul has now completed his exposition of the bridging of the gulf between Jew and Gentile, and the thought of the worship of the Father in which the restored communion among men culminates leads him on naturally to the thought of the Church as the true Spiritual Temple finding her highest function in providing a true home for God upon earth.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

18. ὅτι διʼ αὐτοῦ ἔχομεν τὴν προσαγωγὴν οἱ ἀμφότεροι ἐν ἑνὶ Πνεύματι πρὸς τὸν πατέρα. “For through Him we both have our access (or introduction) in one Spirit unto the Father.”

Proof of what precedes. The emphasis, therefore, is not on δἰ αὐτο͂, but on οἱ ἀμφ. ἐν ἑνὶ Πν. Since both have their προς. in one Spirit to the Father, it follows that the same good tidings of peace have been brought to both by Him. ὅτι is “for,” not “that,” as if the verse contained the substance of the passage which has been already expressed in εἰρήνη. And it is not the common access as such that is in question, but the peace therein assured (between Jews and Gentiles).

ἔχομεν. Compare Rom 5:2, “διʼ οὗ καὶ τὴν προσαγωγὴν ἐσχήκαμεν … εἰς τὴν χάριν ταύτην ἐν ἧ ἐστήκαμεν. There, the πρ. is into the present condition, and accordingly the perfect is suitable; here, it is the πρ. to the Father, which is a present privilege.

Προσαγωγή in classical writers is usually transitive, but is also found fairly frequently in an intransitive sense.

The word is understood transitively here by Ellicott, Eadie, Meyer, after Chrysostom, οὐκ εἶπεν πρόσοδον ἀλλὰ προσαγωγήν, οὐ γὰρ ἀφʼ ἑαυτῶν προσήλθομεν, ἀλλʼ ὑπʼ αὑτοῦ προσήχθημεν; cf. 1Pe 3:18, ἵνα ἡμᾶς προσαγάγῃ τῷ Θεῷ, and it is supposed that there may be an allusion to the προσαγωγεύς at Oriental courts. Such an allusion would not be in harmony with the context. The ἐν πνεύματι is decidedly against the supposition that the apostle intended this ceremonial figure. Apart from this, the transitive sense is not suitable in 3:12, where the word is used absolutely, and here also the intransitive agrees better with ἔχομεν, especially as the tense is present. προσαγωγή is something we possess.

τὴν προς. “Our access.”

ἐν ἑνὶ Πνεύματι is understood by Anselm (and some moderns) of the human spirit (ὁμοθυμαδόν), against the clear reference to Father, Son, and Spirit, διʼ αὐτοῦ, ἐν ἑνὶ Π., πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Access [προσαγωγην] . See on Rom 5:2. Notice the three persons of the Godhead : through Him (Christ); one Spirit, the Father.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.