Ephesians 3:17
17 That Christ [Christos] may dwell
[katoikeo] in [en] your [humon] hearts [kardia] by [dia] faith; [pistis] that [hina] ye, being
rooted [rhizoo] and [kai] grounded [themelioo] in [en] love, [agape] KJV-Interlinear
17 so
that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted
and grounded in love, NASB
Dwell, ‘katoikeo,’ means
to house permanently, to reside, to occupy.
Hearts, ‘kardia,’ is a
reference to the functioning aspect of your soul. In the physical body, the heart is the pump
that maintains a continuous movement of the circulatory system. Likewise the symbolic aspects of the heart in
the soul, refers to the continuous movement of thoughts within your soul.
By faith, ‘pistis,’ is
the reference to the non-meritorious thought process within your soul.
Rooted and grounded, ‘rhizoo,’
and themelioo,’ refers the deep roots or the established thoughts within your
soul, whereas grounded refers to the sound architecture or design and structure
of that thought information within your soul.
Now, Christ is the name
of the, living God, the deity in heaven who has lived forever and where there
has never been a time when Christ did not live.
Son, is the title taken
by one of the members of the Godhead, which title establishes a conduit of
contact with the Father, another distinguishing title, such that any and all arrogance
and thus sin due to that arrogance, cannot take credit nor even achieve a relationship
with God.
This distinguishes the
work of God as a better work, than the work of man.
Christ is also referred
to as the written word, or the content of Gods truth.
And thus, this verse does
not refer to the indwelling of the person of Christ, but the dwelling of the
content of the written word as it resides within the soul due to its being
learned and understood and utilized. Thus
the reference to the heart or the activity of the soul due to the scriptural content
of the soul.
Scripture, which we
generally call Bible doctrine, is that which has been studied, and learned, and
understood, and utilized, and thus is well established, grounded, rooted,
within the soul.
If you speak a language,
then that language is most likely well-grounded within your mind and thoughts. You know the alphabet, you know the words,
you can converse, and write, and read, and so forth, and you do it almost
without thinking because it is so engrained within your mind.
And so too, doctrine that
has been studied daily, sooner or later, becomes entrenched within your soul
and therefore is readily and easily available to your thoughts, such that there
isn’t a time when you are not thinking of some aspect of doctrine on a daily
basis. You can see life all around you, you
understand life, you can see Gods handiwork in life and mans failure within God
plan, and you see how it all fits together.
This is Christ in you.
In love, ‘agape,’ is the
reference to the nuts and bolts of the details of doctrine. These are Gods principles and mandates, and precepts
and categorical organization and so forth of Gods Word.
Of the four words used
for love, this word, agape, is the reference to the principles of doctrine.
And from the previous
verse, this doctrine you learn, is learned by means of the Spirit. Thus you learn and function spiritually only when
you are in fellowship. Fellowship, is
attained by means of confession of ones sins, to God the Father, and to no one
else.
That power you obtain
within you, comes from doctrine within your soul. Doctrine that you have learned.
And of course you can
only learn, if you are engaged within a dedicated and daily study.
Most folks do not study,
they do not see the need. Most folks do
not study, they are not interested. Most
folks do not study, they do not take Gods word seriously. Most folks do not study, they are convinced
that what they do or believe, is quite sufficient and acceptable to God.
But our Church Age has
been entered into history as we studied back in verse ten, so that even angels
can see how it all fits together, even if most people never figure it out.
Our dispensation is the
most unique period in all of human history.
We have the privilege and benefit of the most phenomenal blessings,
without the need for direct interaction with God or angels, either by dreams or
visions or conversation.
Gods word alone, is more
than sufficient to sustain our lives and history for many centuries, despite
all of the handicaps that have fallen upon humanity during those many
centuries.
And to that end, you are
the most privileged person, and you have the greatest opportunity to succeed in
this most unique age. You need only study
and learn and therefore grow up in order to attain that phenomenal success and
achievement.
But, most will not
succeed, because they reject the importance of Gods word over their own
opinions.
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