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"That (in order that) He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, that ye may be
strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inward man; that Christ may dwell in your
hearts through faith; to the end...(Eph. 3:16, 17 (a) R.V.)
If reference is made to the Englishman's Greek New Testament, it will be seen that
hina (to the end) belongs to verse 18. In both the A.V. and the R.V. the last part of verse
17 needs to be linked with verse 18. So we will continue verse 17 and follow through:
"...to the end that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be strong to apprehend with all the
saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ , which
passeth knowledge" (Eph. 3:17 (b), 18, 19(a).
In Ephesians 1:19 Paul prays that the Ephesians may know what is the exceeding
greatness of His power, according to the working of the strength of His might, which He
wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead. Now, in this central prayer, it is
this mighty power that is envisaged, "that ye may be strengthened with power through
His Spirit in the inward ma". This shows the extent to which we need to be strengthened
if Christ is to dwell in our hearts through faith.
Although this experience would seem to be the highest pinnacle to which we might
aspire, when we examine the next verses and read about the love of Christ, we find that
words can hardly express the greatness of that love. It is a love of four dimensions, and a
love which "passeth knowledge" or it is the "surpassing knowledge".
We are to "apprehend" the breadth, length, depth, and height, and to "know" the love
of Christ which passeth knowledge.
Also, in verse 19, there is a particle te which may be introduced in translation thus:
"to know even that which surpasses knowledge"
Charles Welch discusses the "spiritual fourth dimension" in some detail in the
testimony of the Lord's Prisoner, pages 101 and 102,* but we extract the headings to
indicate the line of thought:
First Sphere
The earth
Two dimensions
Second Sphere
The New Jerusalem Three dimensions
Third Sphere
The Heavenly Places Four dimensions
We are "rooted and grounded" in love. At first sight these two figures seem to be
strangely mixed. Rooted relates to a plan while grounded and founded relate to a
building. If we refer to chapter 2, we find that the holy temple is being built up and the
saints are built upon a foundation, Christ Jesus being the chief corner stone. The stones
are alive, they are living stones similar to what Peter describes in a parallel passage in 1
Peter 2:5. So the two figures are quite suitable.
"...that (in order that) ye may be filled unto all the fullness of God" (Eph. 3:19 (b) R.V.).