Balance in Ephesians.

by Charles H. Welch

In our book entitled The Testimony of the Lord’sPrisoner, the literary structure of Ephesians is preceded by a diagram in the form of a pair of balances, wherein is poised on the word ‘worthy’ (Eph. 4:1) the sevenfold doctrinal portion (Eph. 1:3 to 3:13) in correspondence with the sevenfold practical section (Eph. 4:1 to 6:20). The doctrinal portion is assessed in the language of chapter 2:6 ‘seated together’, while the practical section is summed up under the words of chapter 4:15 ‘growing up unto Christ’.

This balance of subject matter we have also set out in the form of a fruit tree* having seven branches on either side, and bearing three fruits on each branch (for each branch, the fruits: (a), (b), and (c), are exhibited on page 7). The tree is seen to be ‘rooted and grounded in love’, and is culminated by the prayer that leads on to ‘all the fulness of God’.

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(From IN HEAVENLY PLACES page 17).

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The Pleroma (19a) - Charles H. Welch

No.19a. The title Head, and 

its relation to the Fullness. 

The next reference to the Headship of Christ, and its relation to the ‘Fullness’ is found in Col. i. In this passage two creations come into view, the old and the new, and in both, Christ has the pre-eminence. This twofold feature is not only true of Col. i., but of the epistle as a whole, as will be made manifest if the corresponding sections Col. i. 13-23 and iii. 5-15 are set out before the eye: 

i. 13 - 23 and iii. 5 - 15.

G | i. 15, 16. The Creator. The Image. 

   H | i. 20. Reconciliation of heaven and earth. 

      I | i. 17, 18. Christ pre-eminent. All in Him. 

        J | i. 20. Peace and forgiveness of sins. 

          K | i. 22. Holy, blameless, unreproveable. 

BEWARE—Col. ii. 4 - 23. 

G | iii. 10. Created after the Image. 

   H | iii. 11. Reconciliation of Jew and Greek. 

      I | iii. 11. Christ is all and in all. 

        J | iii. 13-15. Peace. Forgive quarrel. 

          K | iii. 9, 12. Put off, put on, holy and beloved. 

The reader will realize that a complete structure which would avoid transposing Col. i. 20 as we have done, would necessitate a much more elaborate framework, but would not be of any greater assistance to us in our present enquiry. The two sections obviously echo one another, and that is all we desire to demonstrate at the moment. When we come to build a doctrine upon a structure of any passage, then any such accommodation is ruled out there must never be the remotest suspicion that any verse or feature has been displaced for ulterior motives. Consequently before we go further we must present the actual literary structure of Col. i. 13-23 without reference to the evident parallels that exist in chapter iii. 

Christ is set forth in verse 15 under two figures “Image” and “Firstborn”. He is the Image of the invisible God, which is a revelation of truth similar, even if more advanced, to that found in John i. 1-18, where as ‘The Word’ He declares Him Whom no man hath seen at any time. He is set forth as the ‘Firstborn of all creation’ because He is the Creator of all things even as in John i. 1-8, as ‘The Word’ He made all things. 

We have already seen that ta panta ‘the all things’ indicates the universe as redeemed and reconciled, and may not necessarily include ‘all things’ panta, that indicate the universe without reservation of any kind. This recognition compels us to stop at Col. i. 16. The A.V. reads “For BY Him, were all things created”, but the R.V. reads “For IN Him were all things created”. Some have objected to the ‘pantheism’ that permitted this rendering to enter the R.V. but such an objection can hardly be laid to the charge of Alford or Bishop Lightfoot who follow the R.V. here. 

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(From The Berean Expositor vol. 43, page 160).

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Ephesians, set out under the figure of a great house.

by Charles H. Welch

With this present book we present another attempt to set forth the general disposition of the subject matter of this great epistle, this time in the form of a great mansion, having two wings, one on either side of the central tower, each wing having seven rooms, to correspond with the sevenfold character of the doctrinal and practical sections of the epistle as exhibited earlier.

This mansion is conceived of as being under the care of a steward, Paul, who as surely has the keys of the Church as Peter had the keys of the kingdom of heaven.

Let us, in imagination, put ourselves under the care of the apostle Paul, while he conducts us round the building, and gives us some indication of the purpose of each chamber that we shall visit.

The Doctrinal Portion

Chamber 1 — The Muniment Room*

(Eph. 1:3-14)

In this room is deposited the deeds, the will, the title to the inheritance, the documents that reveal the basis of our emancipation, all sealed with the seal of the holy Spirit of promise ‘until the redemption of the purchased possession’. The manuscripts in this chamber are priceless. Some go back to a period before human history, and some will not be effective until we reach the day of redemption. In a later epistle Paul charges Timothy to keep that good deposit which had been entrusted to him (2 Tim. 1:14) which would include the documents so jealously guarded in this muniment room.

*A muniment room is where documents are kept as evidence of rights or privileges etc.

Chamber 2 — The Chapel of Acknowledgment

(Eph. 1:15-19)

Here, the great threefold theme of Ephesians 1:3-14 is the subject of prayer, and much turns upon the word translated ‘knowledge’ in verse 17, which we render ‘acknowledge’. When we come to the exposition of this passage we shall see that ‘the spirit of wisdom and revelation’ is given to the believer ‘in the acknowledgment of Him’. The fact that the Chapel of Acknowledgment adjoins the Muniment Room is therefore timely and of supreme importance.

Chamber 3 — The Throne Room

(Eph. 1:19 to 2:7)

The supreme exaltation of Christ ‘far above all’ is sufficiently stupendous to fill this chamber with its glory, but the overwhelming fact emerges, that the Lord shares that throne with His redeemed people. Some have resisted such an idea out of loyalty to the pre-eminence of the Saviour, but Revelation 3:21 would still remain true, and ‘joint heirship’ with Christ is as clearly taught in Romans 8:17. We shall find much to ponder over in this chamber but the greatest feature of all will be the overwhelming consciousness of abounding grace that can so link the Church with the Lord, as to invest it with the title ‘the Fulness of Him that filleth all in all’.

Chamber 4 — The Almonry

(A room in which gifts were distributed to the poor)

(Eph. 2:8-10)

This is the smallest section of this epistle, for it deals with the gospel of salvation, and those to whom Ephesians was written are already saints and faithful in Christ Jesus. Nevertheless in this small chamber priceless treasures are stored, in particular ‘salvation by grace through faith’ which we shall discover is ‘the gift of God’. This is among the unique things of this epistle, for while this particular word ‘gift’ doron is found elsewhere, it is always a gift brought by man to God or by man to man, in this place alone is the case reversed, here it is God coming forward and bringing His gift to man. Associated with this salvation by grace is a worthy walk, but as this belongs to the practical section, its full development is deferred until we come to the longest section of the whole epistle, namely Ephesians 5:1 to 6:9.

Chamber 5 — The Audience Chamber

(Eph. 2:11-19)

In most houses of the great, where audience is sought, there are often many humiliating restrictions. Here, the Gentile who was by nature so very far off, so alien, so strange, is made nigh and given an access that is without compare in any other dispensation. Here we are in the presence of a new creation, ‘of the twain’ He has ‘created’ (ktizo) one new man. Here the atmosphere is one of peace, peace by the blood of His cross, peace that is the consequence of ‘reconciliation’. Here the enmity that is evident in such passages as Acts 15 is for ever banished.

Chamber 6 — The Living Room

(Eph. 2:19-22)

The title of this section may at first seem misleading and appear to belittle the glorious figure that is here introduced, namely that of a holy temple. We shall miss the essential truth, however, of this passage if we intrude into its teaching the imagery of Ark, Altar, Incense, Cherubim, Lampstand, Priest and Levite. These were shadows all of which are absorbed, fulfilled and replaced by the finished work of Christ. The ultimate purpose of the tabernacle of Moses, and the temple of Solomon, was that it should be possible for God to ‘dwell’ among His people, and this is the expressed purpose in Ephesians 2:22 ‘an habitation of God (Christ, Revised texts) in spirit’.

Chamber 7 — The Secret Chamber

(Eph. 3:1-13)

In many ancient houses there is to be found secret chambers, secret passages, places designed to facilitate escape from military search or religious inquisition. Here, however, though the ‘mystery’ is the central feature, there is nothing mysterious about the truth, it simply means that until God revealed this phase of His purpose it was a complete secret which no amount of searching and pondering could discover.

This concludes the inspection of the doctrinal wing of the building. Under the guidance of the apostle we cross the vestibule over which the central tower is erected — which corresponds with Ephesians 3:14-21, and to which we return at the close of this tour of inspection — and make our way to the practical wing where once again seven chambers await our presence.

The Practical Portion

Chamber 1 — The Guard Room

(Eph. 4:1-6)

The sevenfold doctrinal teaching of Ephesians 1 to 3 is balanced by the sevenfold practical response of Ephesians 4 to 6, and the exhortation which covers the whole practical section is ‘walk worthy’. The first practical effort is not directed to ministry, preaching or other forms of service, but of ‘keeping’ as a sacred trust, the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. This unity is itself sevenfold, the central member being the ‘one Lord’.

Chamber 2 — The Ministry of Measures

(Eph. 4:7-19)

After the exhortation to keep the unity of the spirit, the apostle proceeds to personal ministry, which embraces ‘every one’ as well as including those gifts to the church as apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. It will be discovered that there are three ‘measures’ spoken of in this section relating ministry to the gift of Christ, to the stature of the fulness of Christ, and to every member of the body.

Chamber 3 — The Robing Room

(Eph. 4:20-32)

Clothing in the Scriptures is used as a symbol of Salvation, of Righteousness, as also indicating an office or a frame of mind. We read of the garments of salvation, of the robe of righteousness, of the garments of glory and of beauty worn by the High Priest of Israel, of filthy garments, of garments of shame, of mourning and of humility. The words ‘put off’ and ‘put on’ employed by the apostle here imply the putting off and putting on of clothing. Here are garments of glory and beauty indeed, nothing second hand, all made to measure and all provided as freely as was the wedding garment of the parable.

Chamber 4 — Ambulatory and Social Room

(Eph. 5:1 to 6:9)

This is the largest portion of the epistle, and this chamber occupies proportionately more space than others. There is ample room for ‘walking’, and here wives and husbands, children and parents, servants and masters, may mingle and learn how in their several spheres they may shadow forth the relationship and love of Christ in the Church, sanctifying the home and daily business, placing all human relationships on this higher plane.

Chamber 5 — The Power House

(Eph. 6:10-13)

The words ‘having done all’ katergazomai of Ephesians 6:13 literally mean ‘to work out’ as they do in Philippians 2:12. They are the practical outcome of the mighty power ‘worked in’ which is explained in Ephesians 1:19 to 2:7. It is nothing less than the power both of resurrection and of ascension. It is the only power that is provided and, in view of the nature of the calling of this church, its position, its ministry, and its foes, no other power is of any service.

The fact that we are free to translate katergazomai literally in Ephesians 6:13 shows what a valuable instrument of translation and of interpretation the ‘structures’ can be, for the structure forces the relation of the two passages into prominence.

Chamber 6 — The Armoury

(Eph. 6:14-18)

This chamber is unlike most armouries that are on exhibition today where the armour exhibited is ancient and no longer of use. The weapons of warfare change with the changing years, and with them, the defensive armour provided. This is not the case however in this chamber where up-to-date armour is provided. The one weapon ‘The Sword of the Spirit’ is the only effective weapon in the fight of truth, the shield of faith bears a guarantee that it will quench every form of incendiary aimed by the foe. There is a notice in this chamber which indicates the nature and character of the enemy, and there is also a notice drawing attention to ‘the evil day’ for which this armour is provided.

Chamber 7 — The Room of Remembrance

(Eph. 6:19,20)

Here is the balance of the chapel of acknowledgment found in the other wing. There Paul prayed for the Ephesians, here he asks prayer for himself that he may with all boldness make known the wondroustruth entrusted to his care, on account of which he said, literally, ‘I conduct an embassy in a chain’. This leads to the central tower, which is also a great prayer:

The Central Tower — The Pleroma

(Eph. 3:14-21)

Here by three stages (indicated by the Greek particle hina ‘in order that’) we climb up into the glorious light of the mystery, and attain its goal, ‘that we may be filled unto (not "with") all the fulness of God’. This tower is a prayer, and upon examination we shall find much to learn as we compare it with the petition given in Ephesians 1:15-19.

This brings our tour of inspection to a close — but if it be true that after a day’s conducted tour around such places as The British Museum, The Tower of London, South Kensington Museum and the like, we are very conscious that much if not most of the exquisite detail, the enthralling interest, the beauty and the significance of all that has passed before us, still await hours of the most painstaking scrutiny, how much more may we not believe that a survey such as this of these sections of such an epistle can be but the prelude only of revelation that will be sufficient to occupy every hour of our waking thoughts, every ounce of our renewed energy, and call forth our utmost adoration as we bow in the presence of Him Who quietens the protests of our overwhelmed hearts by assuring us that He is ‘able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us?’

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(From IN HEAVENLY PLACES, page 20).

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The Pleroma (18) - Charles H. Welch

No.18. The title Head, and 

its relation to the Fullness. 

The largest section of the Epistle to the Ephesians is in the practical portion, and occupies the whole of chapter v., and nine verses of chapter vi. This great section falls into two parts. (1) A threefold walk; (2) A threefold relationship. 

       The threefold walk 

a | v. 2. Walk in love. 

   b | v. 8. Walk as children of light. 

      c | v. 15. Walk circumspectly. 

       The threefold relationship 

a | v. 22, 23. Wives and husbands. 

   b | vi. 1-4. Children and parents. 

      c | vi. 5-9. Servants and masters. 

The first thing to observe is that if Eph. v. 22-33 teaches that the church is “The Bride” or “The Wife”, then by parity of reasoning, w must continue the analogy and say that the church is also a ‘child’ and a ‘servant’, but that would be untrue in this connection, for while individuals believers are ‘children of God’ and many of the Lord’s children are also His ‘servants’ that is very different from teaching that the church in its dispensational aspect is itself either child or servant. This is not true. The church of the Mystery is categorically called in the doctrinal section “The Church which is His Body, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all”, and to forget that Eph. v. and vi. deals with the practical outworking of the truth in the daily life of the individual believer is to make an initial mistake, the consequences of which are far reaching. While we are dealing with this aspect of the subject, let us deal with another, which is allied. It is sometimes taught that seeing that the word ‘Church’ is feminine that Eph. v. 25 should be translated ‘As Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for HER’, but this is to confuse gender with sex. In many languages both ancient and modern, things are often expressed in either the masculine or the feminine gender, but this is in reference to the language employed, not the thing itself. The very word we have before us “The Head” is the Greek kephale which is feminine, consequently the same argument that demands ‘her’ in Eph. v. 25 would demand that we use ‘she’ when speaking of Christ the Head! Peace and forgiveness are feminine, but blessings and will are masculine. This has reference only to their grammatical form. The reference to “The Head” which is the reason for turning to Eph. v. is found in verse 23: 

“For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church; and He is the saviour of the body.” 

It is evident that this passage is part of an argument, an argument that develops from the closing statement of verse 21: 

“Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God (or of Christ).” 

Observe that it does not say, wives submit to husbands, or husbands submit to wives, but ‘submitting yourself one to another’. This ‘submission’ flows out of the position of the Lord and the Church’s relationship with Him. The Greek word hupotasso ‘to submit’ or ‘to be subject’ is used in Eph. i. 22 where we read ‘And hath put all things under His feet’. It is evident, however, from the same passage that the Church which is His Body, is not put in subjection under His feet, for the near context speaks of this same company as ‘seated together’ in the heavenlies. The first occurrence of the Greek word hupotasso is Luke ii. 51, where it speaks of Christ as a lad of twelve years of age, who returned with His parents to Nazareth ‘and was SUBJECT unto them’. Can we not enter into the next sentence “But His mother kept all these sayings in her heart”? The last reference to hupotasso so far as fulfillment is concerned is I Cor. xv. 28: 

“And when all things shall be subdued unto Him, then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him that put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.” 

Between the first occurrence and the last, we have the death, resurrection and ascension of Christ, with all things being placed under His feet, first as Head of the Church of the one Body (Eph. i. 22, 23), then over ‘the world to come’ whereof Paul speaks in Hebrews (Heb. ii. 5-8), of which the heavenly section is dealt with in this epistle, and the earthly in such prophecies as Psa. ii. and Psa. cx., and Rev. xi. 15. These successive subjections were set forth in type when Adam was created, given dominion, and commanded not only to replenish the earth but to ‘subdue’ it (Gen. i. 28). In the light of the age-purpose, in the light of the submission of the Son of God Himself, all resentment, all sense of humiliation, all argument concerning equality or rights or any other objection that arises in the human breast, falters and dies in the presence of such utter devotion to the glorious purpose of redeeming love. What husband or what wife, having seen such a grace and condescension manifested for their salvation and peace, would not gladly and willingly co-operate with such love that passes knowledge, and count it a joy and a privilege to have the smallest place in the outworking of such a purpose? Both the husband and the wife are in the first place types and shadows. The husband is a type of the Headship of Christ, the wife a type of the Church which is His Body. Neither the one nor the other is superior or inferior, both are essential to the completion of the figure. Wives are called upon to submit themselves unto their own husbands ‘as unto the Lord’. Husbands are called upon to love their wives ‘even as Christ loved the church’. This is an entirely different plane than that of human affection. In the ordinary way of life one expects a husband to love his wife, and where there is such love, there is usually no argument as to who is head of the family. This is taken for granted in Eph. v. The Apostle is not instructing husbands and wives in things they already know and feel, he is concerned with the type ‘as unto the Lord’, ‘As Christ also loved’. In verse 23, there is an addition or clause. After the parallel is complete “for the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the Church” the Apostle adds “And He is the Saviour of the body”. There is but one reference to the Saviour in Ephesians, and but one in Philippians, and both deal with the Body. In Ephesians, the Body, the Church is in view; in Philippians (iii. 21) the transfiguration of the body of the believer in resurrection is in view. The words appear to be added in Eph. v. 23 for several reasons: 

(1) No human husband can be called ‘The saviour of the body’ whether ‘the body’ refers to himself, his wife, the church, or the resurrection. 

(2) The reference to ‘the body’ seems to be included here, and in verses 28 and 30, to prevent the idea forming in the mind that the church here can be looked upon as the ‘wife’. The husband is to love his wife as his own body. 

(3) The quotation from Gen. ii. 24 follows, but lest we should think that Gen. ii. is speaking of that which was a mystery at that time ‘hid in God’ and so be self contradictory, the Apostle adds: 

(4) “This is a great mystery”, i.e. the fact that in true marriage a man and wife become ‘one flesh’. 

(5) This he differentiates from the relationship of Christ in the Church by saying immediately ‘But I speak concerning Christ and the church’. Then leaving once again the type, the Apostle returns to the obligations which devolve upon both husband and wife saying ‘Nevertheless, let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself, and the wife see that she reverence her husband’. 

The fact that the exhortation to husband and wives are an integral part of a threefold exhortation that includes children and parents, servants and masters, must be kept before the mind throughout the reading of this chapter. Even if there had been no revelation which indicated the relationship of the church with Christ, it would still have been necessary to remind husband and wives of their relationship one to another, and to the need to express in their mutual love and relationship the doctrine already given. That relationship having been given as that of a ‘Body’ with the ‘Head’ cannot be altered simply because some believers in that company happened to be married, any more than the constitution of the one Body could be modified, simply because other believers in that company were masters or slaves. The blessed truth which can easily be lost sight of in this argument is that the highest revelation of doctrine, the highest of all callings, the most wonderful of all spheres of blessing, are not too high but that they may be exemplified in the daily life in home and business of the humblest member. The exhortations of Eph. v. and vi. are but a part of the demand made by the Apostle that all believers should walk worthy of the vocation wherewith they had been called, the ‘walk in love’ with which Eph. v. opened, being most clearly exemplified by the love of the husband to the wife. If every Christian home could but be run on these lines what a witness it would be both to men and to angels. In the light of the Saviour’s own selfless love, and subjection for our sakes, such relationships should be nothing more than our ‘reasonable service’. 

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(From The Berean Expositor vol. 43, page 157).

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The Pleroma (17) - Charles H. Welch

No.17. The title Head, and 

its relation to the Fullness.

The highest title ascribed to Christ in any dispensation other than that of the Mystery is that of “A Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec”. This Priesthood is superior to that of Aaron. It functions at the right hand of God, its sphere is the true Tabernacle which God pitched and not man, namely “heaven itself”, and it combines the two offices of King and Priest. Just as water cannot rise above its own level, so no calling can rise above that set by Christ, and thus the calling that recognizes Him as King-Priest is itself ‘a kingdom of Priests’, “A holy nation and a royal priesthood”. It is significant that throughout the Prison Epistles Christ is never called either ‘King’ or “Priest’, even as it is equally true that the church of that calling is never called a kingdom although not outside the Kingdom of God or a priesthood, but is called the Body of Christ. Argument from the absence of terms, like arguing from a negative is in most cases suspect, but in this particular it cannot be said that a ‘kingdom’ is never mentioned in the Prison Epistles. We read in Eph. v. 5 of “The kingdom of Christ and of God”, in Col. i. 13 and iv. 11 of “The kingdom of His dear Son” and of “The kingdom of God”, and in II Tim. iv. 1 and 18, “His appearing and His kingdom”, and “His heavenly kingdom”. 

In the epistles of Paul other than the four great prison epistles, a “kingdom” is mentioned nine times, but the only passage where Christ can be said to have the title King is I Tim. vi. 15, where however the exhibition of the title is spoken of as a future event “Which in His times He shall show, Who is that blessed and only potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords”, yet even this passage can only be spoken of as of Christ by inference. The epistles to the Ephesians and the Colossians contain passages that seem to demand the work of a Priest, such as ‘acceptance’, ‘access’, ‘made nigh’, ‘offer’, yet there is not a single reference outside of Hebrews to Christ as a Priest. In epistles before and after Acts xxviii., Christ is represented as ‘seated at the right hand of God’, yet never, outside of Hebrews is the office of priest mentioned. If a ‘dominion’ and a ‘coronation’ are indications of the presence of a king, then Adam was a king. The ‘dominion’ given to him is the translation of the Hebrew radah, a word translated elsewhere ‘reign’ and ‘rule’ and used of Christ “the King’s Son” in Psa. lxxii. 8. The word translated ‘crowned’ in Psa. viii. 5 is the Hebrew atar, which is the verb form of atarah “the king’s crown” (II Sam. xii. 30). Adam, however, is never once spoken of as a king. He was a figure of Him that was to come, and can be spoken of with propriety as HEAD of the human race, and as such he embraced all that kingship can mean, but much more. Noah not only had dominion in his degree (Gen. ix. 2) but he offered sacrifices with acceptance (Gen. viii. 20, 21). The word ‘sweet’ which is used of the savour of the sacrifice offered is employed throughout the O.T. to indicate the ‘savour’ or ‘odour’ of sacrifice. We should therefore not be surprised to find that Noah was called a priest. Yet he is never so called. He can be, however, designated as Adam was before him, head of the race of which those delivered from the flood were the progenitors. Abraham was the father of ‘kings’ (Gen. xvii. 6) and even of THE KING, the Lord Himself, Who was, according to the flesh, both son of Abraham and son of David, yet Abraham himself is never called a king. 

Abraham not only built an altar at the beginning of his pilgrimage upon which the only sacrifices permitted would have been those taken from the herd or the flock. He came nearer to the heart of all true sacrifice when he was called upon to offer his only begotten son Isaac, yet Abraham is never called a priest. Like Adam and Noah, Abraham is more than king, more than priest, he is the father of Israel, to which he stands without contradiction as head. Even when we leave the chosen people, and turn our attention to the first great king whose reign commenced the times of the Gentiles—Nebuchadnezzar, he too is spoken of by Daniel as “This head of gold” (Dan. ii. 38). Each one of the great outstanding figures that have foreshadowed the pleroma, or fullness, were ‘heads’ and in this they foreshadowed more than the office of King, Priest or Prophet alone, or together, could set forth. Even though Christ be never called either Prophet, Priest or King in the epistles of the Mystery, the church of the One Body loses nothing if Christ is its Head. He is more than King and Priest and Prophet to the church, for headship covers all. 

With this preparation, let us turn to the Epistles of the Fullness, the prison epistles of Paul, and observe the way in which this title is employed. The Greek word kephale is used here seven times, and the verb anakephalaioomai once. Let us look at the usage of this verb, which means ‘to head up’. It occurs in Eph. i. 10 where it is translated ‘to gather together in one’ in the A.V., ‘to sum up’ in the R.V., and in Weymouth’s translation “of restoring the whole creation to find its one Head in Christ”, and by J. N. Darby, ‘to head up all things in Christ’. It is in connection with the pleroma of the seasons that the figure of ‘heading up’ is used, no other term being so appropriate or so complete. When that ‘fullness’ arrives, Christ will be infinitely more than King or Priest, He will be “Head”. The references to Christ as ‘Head’ in the prison epistles are limited to Ephesians and Colossians (Eph. i. 22; iv. 15; v. 23; Col. i. 18; ii. 10; ii. 19). 

These six references to kephale, expand the promise of Eph. i. 10, the church of the present dispensation being the most complete foreshadowing of the goal of the ages that the Scriptures contain. To turn back to the types and shadows employed in earlier Scriptures is to turn by comparison from substance to shadow, although the substance here must necessarily be but in its turn a shadow of the reality yet to come. The first passage brings us back from the day when all things in heaven and earth shall be headed up in Christ, to the present period when in a day of rejection, confusion and darkness, an elect company acknowledge that Christ is to them, what He will be universally in the future. 

“And gave Him to be Head over all things TO THE CHURCH” (Eph. i. 22). Christ is not yet recognized as ‘Head over all things’. The day is future when ‘every knee shall bow and every tongue confess’, but what will be true then in its widest sense is true now ‘to the church which is His Body’. In the glorious future God will be all in all (I Cor. xv. 28), but that day has not yet come. Today “Christ is all and in all” (Col. iii. 11). In the glorious future ‘all things’ are put under His feet (I Cor. xv. 27) but as in Hebrews, even though we say today “we see not yet all things put under Him” (Heb. ii. 8), we can recognize that His ascension ‘far above all principality and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come’, and the fact that He is already Head over all things to the church, is a most glorious anticipation of this universal subjection of all to Him. This Eph. i. 22 demonstrates by joining together the two themes: 

(1) “And hath put all things under His feet.” 

(2) “And gave Him to be the Head over all things to His church.” 

This church is in a unique position. It anticipates as no other calling and company has or can, the goal of the ages. It is meet therefore that this should be set forth, and the Apostle follows the passage already quoted by revealing that the Body of Christ is something more; it is ‘the fullness’ of Him, Who in His turn is the One that ‘filleth all in all’ (Eph. i. 23). All the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him bodily, the church which is His Body and in Whom He dwells (Eph. ii. 22’ iii. 17) is His fullness. What Christ is to the invisible God, this church is to Christ. What Christ is to the whole purpose of the ages, the church of the One Body is in the heavenly realm. Eph. i. 10 is here illustrated, foreshadowed and anticipated, and this of itself is a glorious position to occupy, quite apart from all the other wonders of grace and glory that are associated with this high calling of God in Christ Jesus. 

Rotherham translates Eph. i. 23: 

“Which indeed is His body, the fullness of Him Who the all things in all is for Himself filling up.” 

Moffatt reads: 

“Filled by Him Who fills the universe entirely.” 


Possibly the rendering given by Cunnington is nearest the truth. 

“The fullness of Him Who all in all is receiving His fullness.” 

The fullness of Him that filleth all in all is the most blessed anticipation of the day when God shall be all in all (I Cor. xv. 28). 

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(From The Berean Expositor vol. 43, page 154).

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The Father’s Motive. In Love.

by Charles H. Welch

Some believers, who hold the Calvinistic doctrine of the decrees, are so antagonistic to the suggestion which we have earlier put forward, namely that the Divine foreknowledge which could see beforehand whether a free moral agent would or would not believe the gospel, that one of them, after reading the article entitled The epistle to the Romans in The Berean Expositor Volume 27, page 33, stooped to attack us by means of ‘an open letter’, but if we will but read to the conclusion of Ephesians 1:4 we shall discover that the initial cause of our election and salvation, is neither the sovereign decree of the Most High, nor the foreseen faith of the poor human recipient, but simply and solely the promptings of divine Love, which is the root and cause of the whole purpose of redeeming grace.

‘In love’.— This we shall find is true of other callings than that of Ephesians:

‘Thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto Himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not set His love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were ... but because the Lord loved you’ (Deut. 7:6-8).

Blessed ‘arguing in a circle’ ! The Lord loved you ... because He loved you. Here we meet with ‘choice’, a ‘special people’, ‘above all’, in connection with this earthly calling, which reflects the high glories of the super-heavenly calling. Yet, however diverse these callings may be, whatever dispensational differences are apparent, however great the contrast between law and gospel, one thing remains constant, the prime cause of all causes is Love.

This phrase (‘In love’) occurs six times in the epistle, namely in 1:4; 3:17; 4:2,15,16 and 5:2. The first occurrence deals with pure doctrine, speaking of the choice of the Father before the foundation of the world; the second occurrence reveals this love to be the root and the ground from which all Christian graces spring; the remaining occurrences have to do with Christian walk and practice, ‘forbearing in love’, ‘speaking the truth in love’, ‘edifying in love’ and ‘walking in love’.

Those who have had the responsibility of translating the Scriptures into the tongue of a people who have hitherto entertained very depraved conceptions of God, or of moral virtue, will appreciate the problem that was before the writers of the New Testament when the time came for the Gospel of God’s love to be written. Paul was about to declare of that trinity ‘faith, hope and love’, that the greatest of these is ‘love’. John was to write that golden verse ‘John 3:16’, and in his epistle was to reveal that ‘God is Love’. While the Greek language contained three words all translatable by the one word ‘love’, two of them, by reason of human frailty could not justly bear the new burden imposed by the true conception of the love of God manifested in the gift of His Only Begotten Son.

The three Greek words which are translated by the word ‘love’ are agapao, phileo, and erao. Of these, erao, and its derivatives eros and erastes were rendered impossible by reason of the sensual associations which clung to the word. A statue to Eros the god of love may be a thing of beauty as viewed from the standpoint of art, but when translated into terms of the moral and spiritual, anything tainted by eroticism must for ever be forbidden.

Phileo, and its derivatives, while free from the corrupting taint that spoiled the first word, was unsuitable owing to its confessed limitations. Phileo is used of affection generally, and when joined with the words to stomati, meant ‘to kiss’, even as philema means ‘a kiss’. So in the New Testament philanthropia, which is once translated as ‘love of God towards man’ (Titus 3:4), is rather benevolence, and ‘philanthropy’ has become a fully accepted English word. Philos occurs twenty-nine times and each occurrence is translated ‘friend’. There remained therefore agapao and its derivatives. Agape, which is the word selected by the inspired writers, is unknown in classic Greek literature. The conception of love that the highest human culture had reached before Christ was exhausted in the terms erao and phileo. It must surely be an evidence of Divine Inspiration, that without the possibility of consultation and collaboration, every writer in the New Testament was constrained (1) to avoid altogether the word erao; (2) to use phileo in its broad human sense of benevolence and friendship, and (3) to seize upon the obscure and practically unknown agape, to bear the new image and superscription of the God of love.

The following is the way in which the occurrences of the phrase ‘in love’ group themselves in Ephesians:‘in love’ in Ephesians

A 1:4. The Father’s motive.

   B 3:17. Rooted and grounded (figures of growth and building).

      C 4:2. Forbearing one another in love.

      C 4:15. Being true in love.

   B 4:16. Increase and edification (figures of growth and building).

A 5:2. The children’s walk (‘be ye imitators of God’ 5:1).

The Father’s motive must be the children’s example. How can we ever hope to attain such selfless love in this life? Even with the aid of the Spirit and all abounding grace, such love seems beyond us. But the very recognition of this will but separate and exalt the great primary cause of all causes, the Father’s love.

Chapter 5:1,2 makes it clear that the Father’s love, which was before all time, and the love of Christ, which manifested itself in its fulness when He gave Himself for us, are associated together as purpose and means are associated. Again, when once the apostle was assured of the love of the saints one to another, he could pray for their further enlightening. The benediction with which the epistle closes, is ‘love with faith’; the rich mercy of God towards us flows from His great love (Eph. 2:4), and the climax prayer (Eph. 3:14-21) reaches out to ‘the love of Christ which passeth knowledge’.

One of the most precious titles of the Saviour in the epistles is ‘The Beloved’ (Eph. 1:6), in Whom we are accepted. The only other occurrences of agapao in Ephesians are found in 5:25-33.

Whatever our business and whatever the circumstance, let us remember ‘His great love’, reminding ourselves that we can only love Him, because He first loved us. Our acceptance, even as our calling, originates in love, and a loveless walk can only belie our calling. The Father’s all-comprehensive motive should in measure be the motive of His children, it should be in love.

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(From 'The Threefold Charter of the Church' (IN HEAVENLY PLACES, page 71).

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The Pleroma (16) - Charles H. Welch

No.16. “The fullness of the Gentiles” 

(Rom. xi. 25). 

We have seen that the promise to Abraham concerning his seed has followed the same pattern that has characterized the earlier moves in the outworking of the purpose. Their failure came to a head just before the Babylonian captivity, and with Nebuchadnezzar, ‘the times of the Gentiles’ began. 

The testimony of Daniel 

The times of the Gentiles begin (Dan. i. 1, 2). 

“In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God: which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god” (Dan. i. 1, 2). 

With these words the book of Daniel opens, and it may not be too much to say that they are only paralleled by the words of Acts xxviii. in their burden of crisis and dispensational change. With such vast issues hanging upon these momentous words, vast because they cover the whole sweep of Gentile dominion and vaster still because they lead steadily on to the kingdom of Christ which is to last for ever, with such issues and such a burden, no pains should be spared in acquainting ourselves with all that God has written for our learning in relation to this crisis in the history of man. Space will not permit of the full quotation of Jer. xxv. 1-26. We can but point out one or two features that connect this passage with the opening words of Daniel. 

The reader will be struck by the fact that whereas Dan. i. 1 speaks of the ‘third’ year of Jehoiakim, Jer. xxv. 1 speaks of the ‘fourth’ year of that same king in connection with the coming of Nebuchadnezzar against Jerusalem. This apparent discrepancy has not passed unnoticed by the critic, and is one of his many ‘proofs’ of the untrustworthiness of the book of Daniel. 

The Hebrew word translated ‘came’ in Dan. i. 1 is bo, and it frequently has the sense of ‘went’ or ‘marched’. This, however, has been denied. Dr. Samuel Davidson says: “The verb bo does not mean to set out . . . . . but to arrive at” (Introduction to the O.T. Vol. III, page 181), and when men of such standing and authority speak thus, who are we to oppose them? Humility is indeed a grace to seek and preserve, but while Gal. ii. remains for our encouragement, we may still dare to bring all statements to the touchstone of the Word. Dr. Davidson’s statement but illustrates the uncritical character of so-called ‘higher criticism’, for it has been computed that the Hebrew word bo is used in the sense of ‘to set out’ in each of the five books of Moses, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and six out of the twelve minor prophets. 

Let us look at Jonah i. 3 and translate it as Dr. Davidson would have it: “And Jonah . . . . . went down to Joppa, and he found a ship arriving at Tarshish.” If this could be sense, then in some miraculous way Jonah would have no sooner set foot on board at Joppa than he would have ‘arrived’ at Tarshish. Doubtless this would have made the journey far more pleasant than it actually was, but the simple fact is that the Hebrew word bo does mean that the ship was ‘going’ or ‘setting out’ for Tarshish. The plain fact of Dan. i. and Jer. xxv. is that the former writer tells us the year in which Nebuchadnezzar ‘set out’ from Babylon, while the latter tells us when he arrived. Moreover, Jeremiah tells us what occupied Nebuchadnezzar on his journey from one capital to the other: 

“Against Egypt, against the army of Pharaoh-necho king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon smote in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah” (Jer. xlvi. 2). 

Instead therefore of discovering a discrepancy in the narrative of Scripture, we have the obvious fact that Nebuchadnezzar took time to accomplish his march from Babylon to Jerusalem, and was obliged to meet and overcome Pharaoh at Carchemish by the Euphrates before he could arrive. 

In Jer. xxv. 3 the prophet reminded Israel that since the thirteenth year of Josiah (see Jer. i. 1, 2) the word of the Lord had come urging them to turn from their evil, and because they had not turned He said: 

“Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the Lord, and Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land . . . . . and this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years” (Jer. xxv. 9-11).

What God therefore had threatened, He brought to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, and the historic record of the captivity of Jehoiakim is found in II Chron. xxxvi., the last chapter of the Hebrew Bible. 

Yet with all this apparent on the surface of Scripture, and needing no more scholarship than ability to read in one’s mother tongue, Kuenen in his Historic Critique de l’Ancien Testament has the audacity to say: 

“We know by the book of Jeremiah that no such event (as the siege of Jerusalem, Dan. i. 1) took place in the reign of Jehoiakim.”

“We know.” We also know that it is written: “Professing themselves to be wise they became fools”, and by such statements they demonstrate that they are but ‘blind leaders of the blind’. 

Jehoiakim was appointed king of Judah by Pharaoh-necho in the place of Jehoahaz (II Kings xxiii. 34). He did evil in the sight of the Lord, and filled Jerusalem with innocent blood. He was succeeded by Jehoiachin. In the reign of the latter, Nebuchadnezzar carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the Lord, whereas Dan. i. 1, 2 tells us that at the first he only carried away a part. 

Jehoiachin or Jeconiah is deprived of the Jehovah element in his name, and as Coniah is utterly rejected by the Lord: 

“Thus saith the Lord, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days; for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah” (Jer. xxii. 30). 

It is evident that Israel is passing; dominion is leaving them and is being transferred for the time being to the Gentiles. This is emphasized by such statements as Dan. i. 2, “And the Lord gave . . . . . into his hand” or Jer. xxv. 1, “The fourth year of Jehoiakim . . . . . that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar”. The times of the Gentiles had therefore begun. And so with Zedekiah the glory departs, and Ezek. xxi. reveals the condition of things that will obtain ‘until He come’: 

“And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end, thus saith the Lord God; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn it: and it shall be no more, until He come Whose right it is, and I will give it Him” (Ezek. xxi. 25-27).

Daniel’s prophecies are occupied with this period of overturning, of the exalting of the base and abasing of the high. “This shall not be the same”, saith the Lord—“This shall not be His” as the Hebrew reads, i.e. Nebuchadnezzar’s dominion and dynasty would not be a real continuance of the throne of David. It would be in character rather a rule and dominion of wild beasts. The words ‘It shall be no more, until He come’ leave us in no doubt that the throne thus vacated shall be occupied by none other than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. 

The times of the Gentiles are characterized by one great feature, marked by the Lord in Luke xxi. 24: “And Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.” The kingdoms that succeeded Babylon may have been larger or smaller, more powerful or weaker, more autocratic or less so, but the one essential characteristic of Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, Turkey, and the present mandatory power, is the Gentile domination of Jerusalem. That is the great distinguishable feature, and will only be removed when “He comes Whose right it is”. 

We have therefore a period of time which fills the ‘gap’ caused by Israel’s failure, which gap is filled by the dynasty started with Nebuchadnezzar and which will persist until, in the Day of the Lord, ‘the stone cut out without hand’ strikes this colossus, and ‘the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ’. One of the characteristics of the times of the Gentiles is the ‘treading down of Jerusalem’. Those times will not end until Jerusalem is free from the yoke of Gentile dominion, surveillance or protection. Each succeeding ruler of the Gentiles has dominated Jerusalem. Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, Turkey, the League of Nations, the British Mandate, the United Nations, and so on to the last Dictator and his ten subservient kings at the time of the end. When Jerusalem is at length free, the times of the Gentiles will be ‘fulfilled’ (pleroo), and ‘the fullness’ (pleroma) of the Gentiles will have come (Luke xxi. 24; Rom. xi. 25). Immediately following this statement concerning the times of the Gentiles, the epistle to the Romans goes on to say ‘and so’ or ‘thus’ “All Israel shall be saved” (Rom. xi. 26). The ‘gap’ in the outworking of the Divine purpose in Israel is stressed in Rom. ix.-xi., because of their failure, but a ‘remnant’ shall be saved at the beginning, and had the Lord not left them a ‘seed’ they would have been like Sodom and Gomorrha. Throughout the period covered by the Acts, ‘all day long’ the Lord stretched out His hands ‘to a disobedient and gainsaying people’ (Rom. x. 21). However low Israel may have fallen during this period, the answer of God to Elijah was a parallel ‘I have reserved unto Myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal’ (Rom. xi. 4). Yet such is the grace of God, the very ‘diminishing of them’ led to the enriching of the Gentiles, and leads the Apostle to ask ‘How much more their fullness’? The figure of the olive tree, with its broken branches but emphasizes the ‘gap’ that is in view, and the fullness of the Gentiles occupies the interval occasioned by Israel’s blindness (Rom. xi. 25). Israel’s failure in the days of Nebuchadnezzar led to the times of the Gentiles speaking nationally, but Israel’s spiritual failure registered in Acts xxviii. led to the present dispensation of Gentile blessing, the church which is called by the wondrous title “The fullness of Him that filleth all in all”. This, however, is so great a theme that it must be considered in a separate study. 

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(From The Berean Expositor vol. 42, page 256).

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