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#46.
"Paul, the Prisoner" (Eph. 3: 1).
pp. 145 - 148
The church of the One Body, reconciled, at peace, blessed far above all the strifes and
distinctions of the flesh, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ
Jesus Himself being the chief corner stone, growing into an holy temple in the Lord and
builded together for an habitation of God in spirit, now becomes a subject of the apostle's
prayer. In order to catch the apostle's line of thought the whole parenthesis of 3: 2-13
must be passed over and the prayer of 3: 14-21 read as a direct outcome of the teaching
of chapter 2: The church is an holy temple, a habitation of God in spirit. "For this cause
I bow my knees unto the Father." Before, however, the apostle reveals the subject matter
of this second great prayer, he is impelled to make a digression by way of explaining his
own peculiar and special relationship with that church.
Here is no merely interested worker or fellow-member, here is one into whose hands
the whole dispensation of the mystery has been placed. Apart from the revelation made
known to Paul, none knew the mind of God for the present interval. Instead therefore of
proceeding straight on with the prayer of his heart, he turns aside at his reference to being
"the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles" to explain and (if need be) defend his title.
That there is something in this description of himself that rises to the level of an official
character appears in this first reference. Paul, the prisoner of the Roman power, and a
prisoner by reason of the hatred of his own kinsmen, nevertheless speaks of himself as
the prisoner of Christ Jesus. Paul views his imprisonment much in the same light that
Joseph viewed the treachery of his brethren:--
"I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. Now therefore be not grieved,
nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to
preserve life" (Gen. 45: 4, 5).
Arising out of the temple character of the church are three themes. The first
occupying, with the parenthesis, chapter 3:, the prayer; the second occupying
chapters 4: 1 6: 9, the walk; and the third occupying the rest of chapter 6:, the
conflict. Now, each of these three themes contains a reference to the apostle as a
prisoner. (1) The PRAYER, with parenthesis concerning the dispensation, "The
prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles" (3: 1), (2) The WALK, "I therefore the
prisoner in the Lord" (4: 1), and (3) The CONFLICT and Mystery, "An ambassador
in bonds" (4: 20). The Epistle to the Philippians speaks of Paul's "bonds in Christ"
(1: 13). The Epistle to the Colossians speaks of Paul as being in bonds for the mystery of
Christ, and bids them in his parting salutation to remember his bonds (4: 3, 18). The
second epistle to Timothy links the testimony of our Lord with Paul His prisoner (1: 8).
Four epistles are marked off from the rest of Paul's writings (excluding the personal
one to Philemon) by this reference to bonds, and by their distinct and exclusive doctrine.
For convenience, we call them the Prison Epistles; they contain the truth concerning the
One Body.