Ephesians Chapter 3 verse 17 Holy Bible
that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; to the end that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
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So that Christ may have his place in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and based in love,
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that the Christ may dwell, through faith, in your hearts, being rooted and founded in love,
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That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
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read chapter 3 in WBT
that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; to the end that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
read chapter 3 in WEB
that the Christ may dwell through the faith in your hearts, in love having been rooted and founded,
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Ephesians 3 : 17 Bible Verse Songs
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 17. - That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith. Reversing the usual order, the prayer begins (ver. 16) by asking the blessing of the Third Person of the Godhead; now we have a cluster of petitions connected with the Second Person. The first of these is for the indwelling of Christ in their hearts, as opposed to mere occasional visits or influences from Christ; the instrument by which this blessing is attained being their faith. Christ exercising a constant power within them, both in the active and passive movements of the heart, giving the sense of pardon and acceptance, molding the will, sweetening the emotions, enlightening and confirming the conscience, purifying the whole springs and principles of action. This to be secured by their faith, opening the door, receiving Christ in all his fullness, resting and living on him, believing his promises, and longing for his appearing the second time. In order that ye, having been rooted and grounded in love. Two images are combined to make the idea emphatic - that of a tree and that of a building; denoting what is both the starting-point and the support of the Christian's life, viz. love. In what sense? The love of Christ is specified afterwards (ver. 19), but this may be as a pre-eminent branch of that manifold love which bears on the Christian life - the love of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; the love of the brethren to one another; and the reciprocal love evoked from the believer by the reception of this love. Evidently it is implied that the Christian life can begin and flourish only in such an atmosphere of love; as warm sunshine is needed to start and advance the life of a plant, so love is needed to start and carry on the life of the soul. Experience of Divine love is a great quickening and propelling power. "One glance of God, a touch of his love, will free and enlarge the heart, so that it can deny all and part with all and make an entire renunciation of all to follow him" (Archbishop Leighton).
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(17) That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.--What that indwelling power is he now indicates, so passing to another Person of the Holy Trinity. It is (see Colossians 1:27) "Christ in you, the hope of glory." The indwelling of Christ (as here the construction of the original plainly shows) is not a consequence of the gift of the Spirit; it is identical with it, for the office of the Holy Spirit is to implant and work out in us the likeness of Christ. So in John 14:16-20, in immediate connection with the promise of the Comforter, we read: "I will not leave you orphaned; I will come to you." "Ye shall know that . . . ye are in me and I in you." Hence the life in the Spirit is described as "To me to live is Christ" (Philippians 1:21); "I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me" (Galatians 2:20). Faith is simply the condition of that indwelling of Christ (comp. Ephesians 2:8), the opening of the door to Him that He may enter in.The prayer is here complete, all that follows being but consequent from it. In accordance with the universal law of revelation, all is from the Father, all is through the Son vouchsafing to tabernacle in our humanity, all is by the Spirit effecting that indwelling of Christ in each individual soul. . . .
