`in order that' again asks for strength, so that the believer

may comprehend with all saints.

The 3rd

`in order that' reaches up to all the fulness of God.

Wonderful therefore as this gracious indwelling of the Saviour must be it is

even more wonderful to realize that it is in its turn a step to something even

higher and richer.  The contemplation of these added wonders awaits us in

subsequent studies.

The habitation of Ephesians 2:19-22 supplies the figure already

considered, the dwelling of Christ in the heart by faith.  It will be remembered

that the apostle had no hesitation in blending the figure of building and

growing in the earlier section `In Whom all the building fitly framed together

groweth' (Eph. 2:21), which growth is seen in the parallel, to be the growth of

the `Body'.  `May grow up into Him ... the whole body fitly joined together ...

unto the edifying (upbuilding) of itself in love' (Eph. 4:15,16).  So, in the

prayer before us, the apostle blends together the two figures `That ye, being

rooted and grounded in love'.  The same double figure meets us in Colossians 2:7

`Rooted and built up in Him'.  Rhiza is well-known as an English equivalent of

`root', there being at least forty-five words, mostly scientific, which use the

word rhiza.  Gardeners are familiar with roots called rhizome, such as those of

the flag or iris.

In the New Testament the root is closely related to growth and fruit

`Because they had no root, they withered away' (Matt. 13:6), and of cause or

origin `The love of money is (a) root of all evil' (1 Tim. 6:10).  Before

speaking of the soil in which the believer is considered to be `rooted', the

apostle adds the word `grounded', the Greek themelioo.  Just as the figure of

growth is borrowed from Ephesians 2:19-22, so is the word `grounded', for

the word `foundation' in Ephesians 2:20 is the Greek themelios.  There are but

six occurrences of themelioo `to be grounded' or `founded' namely Matthew 7:25;

Luke 6:48; Ephesians 3:17; Colossians 1:23; Hebrews 1:10 and 1 Peter 5:10.  The

usage ranges from laying the foundation of the earth to the settling and

stablishing of the believer.  In passing we observe that this word `foundation'

does not occur in Ephesians 1:4.  The parallel to Ephesians 3:17 in Colossians

2:7 should be compared with Colossians 1:23.  According to these passages, to be

grounded is to continue in the faith, and not to be moved away from the hope of

the gospel.

The reader will probably have recognized `these three' so often brought

together in the witness of Paul.  `Faith' and `love' are found in Ephesians

3:17; `faith' and `hope' in Colossians 1:23.  In the prayer before us, Paul does

not speak of being rooted or grounded in either faith or hope; these form a

subject of the prayer of the first chapter.  Here love is uppermost, `rooted and

grounded in love', and this leads on to the comprehension of the love of Christ,

which in reality passeth knowledge.  Before reference is made to the love of

Christ, the apostle introduces `breadth, length, depth and height'.

Many and varied have been the explanations offered by writers of all

periods of these words.  Some saw in them the outspread arms of the cross,

combined with the humiliation and exaltation connected with it.  Others see a

reference to the temple of Diana at Ephesus, which was one of the seven wonders

of the world, and combined with this a reference back to the temple already