in order that he may give you according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power by his Spirit in the inner man;
Paul has just finished setting out the mystery — the deep purpose of God he has been unfolding in this letter. Now he kneels and prays for what words alone cannot give: inward strength from the Spirit, supplied out of the riches of God's glory.
Paul has already said everything he can about the mystery, and in simple words. He prays because words alone cannot do the work.
The Apostle clearly saw that stating the truth in set terms would not achieve God's purpose. It is reached only as the Holy Spirit, in mighty power, gives the believer perception through deep exercise of soul.
Another writer draws a line between what anyone can grasp and what only the Spirit can give:
Our natural ability, even in someone born of God, is of no use for understanding the things that belong to divine counsel. Anyone can understand the gospel preached to the people of the world — repentance and forgiveness of sins. But when we come to the deep things of God, we must have the help of the Divine Spirit. Yet God grants this freely.
The phrase means something real inside the believer. Three passages show what it is.
In Romans 7 the apostle looks into himself. He made that wonderful discovery that one part of him, the flesh, "does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot." But he also found a part of himself that delighted in the things of God. In Romans 7 that inward man is without power. In Ephesians 3 the apostle prays that they might be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man. He does not say it has already happened. What is lacking is strength, and the Spirit of God is there to give that strength. The third reference is in the closing verses of 2 Corinthians 4: "though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day."
So the inner man is not the natural person improved. It comes from God's own work:
The outward man is the physical man — the man who walks, eats, sleeps, and does the ordinary things of life. The inward man belongs only to the Christian. It speaks of a gracious work of God in the soul, beginning with the new birth, the fruit of God's sovereign act.
One commentator notes which word Paul uses here, and which one he does not.
The Apostle does not say "according to the riches of His grace," as in Ephesians 1:7. He says "according to the riches of His glory." The prayer is not connected with meeting our need, but with the fulfilment of the counsels of the Father's heart.
One writer explains why every believer's capacity for truth is still not enough here:
Every believer, as one whom God has worked upon and who has received the Holy Spirit, has the spiritual capacity to receive truth. But this verse shows that special communications from God need special preparation of heart, if they are to be impressed on the heart. Does this not mean that the Holy Spirit forms us to receive the truth of the Father's counsels as we are occupied with the Father's glory? We easily become absorbed in our needs, and perhaps in our service for the Lord too — things we do need to speak to the Lord about. But there should be time for communion with the Father about His things, about His glory and about Him who sits in that glory on the Father's throne.
This is Paul's second prayer in the letter, and it asks for something the first did not.
This is an entirely different line of truth from his prayer in Ephesians 1. There it is a question of standing; here it is of state. In Ephesians 1 he prays that the saints might know their place before God in Christ more fully, with all the privileges of that position. Here it is a question of practical power by the Holy Spirit.
The power Paul asks for has a purpose.
God is indeed displaying His glory in all its fullness. He wants us to grasp this in the heart — but for what purpose? Not so that signs and miracles may display what God is working, but "so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith." How fitting that He should dwell there through faith — not as a Visitor, known now and then and only in part, but truly dwelling there.
- Weakness. The inner man is God's own work in you. Yet in Romans 7 it delights in God without strength: the lack is never desire, always power.
- Prayer. Paul prays instead of explaining. Set words cannot open the deep things of God; only the Spirit can.
- Measure. The supply comes "according to the riches of His glory." It is not just enough to meet a need. It is enough to fulfil what the Father purposed.
- Method. When we are occupied with the Father's glory instead of our own needs and service, the Spirit strengthens the inner man.
- Aim. The power is not for display but for residence — that Christ may dwell in the heart, not visit it.
that the Christ may dwell, through faith, in your hearts, being rooted and founded in love,
Paul is in the middle of a prayer. He asks that Christ Himself would settle in the hearts of his readers. Two questions follow. How is this different from the Spirit already living in every believer? And what has love to do with it?
The verb Paul chose is not the language of a short visit. One writer points to Matthew 2:23, where older translations say Jesus "dwelt" at Nazareth:
In Ephesians 3:17 the Apostle prays that "Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith." The word translated 'dwell' is the same word as in Matthew 2:23, "He came and dwelt at Nazareth." ... The whole word means 'to settle, to dwell.' Some think 'To make one's home' is nearer the true meaning; or, perhaps, 'to settle down.' Either translation seems to bring a lovely thought: "That Christ may make His home in your hearts." When I am in my 'home' every part of the house is open to me: nothing is hidden or closed: all is, in a sense, mine.
Is this just another way of saying the Spirit lives in every Christian? One writer says no:
It is not the Spirit of God dwelling in us; it is just as sure now that He has come and abides, as the work of Christ for us. Because of that work, the Holy Spirit never leaves the Christian. Once He is given, He never departs. But Christ may not be always dwelling in our hearts. Let us take care not to make this part of the believer's standing privilege. It is not. It is a question of spiritual experience, once God has established us in our place before Him.
Kelly draws the same line, pointing to a difference in wording:
There is no question that the Spirit of God always dwells in the Christian. But I am not aware that He is ever said to dwell in our hearts. He may pour out the love of God there. Scripture rather says He dwells in us, making the body God's temple. Here the apostle would have Christ to be more the satisfying object of our affections.
Christ's love can be held as a fact and still leave the heart untouched. Kelly presses for more:
May we never settle for just knowing from the word of God that He loves us, holding it as our security, like a dry paper deed of gift kept in a safe. The gospel comes to the sinner free and full for this reason: that, being sure of the divine fullness of our blessing, our hearts may now be open to enjoy Christ and taken up with His love.
What changes when Christ is at home in the heart? Darby names both a loss and a gain:
"So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith." This is not about having happy feelings or a pleasant character. It is one thing to be safe in the ark on the Ararat of God, and another thing for Christ to dwell in the heart by faith. Oh what a quantity of care goes out when Christ is there! If Christ is the master of the house and lives in it, He does not let the dust and cobwebs pile up. He fills the whole house. And if a sudden shock comes to the heart, you will find not fear, but Christ.
Paul uses two pictures: a plant and a building. Whose love is the soil and the foundation?
The root is that from which the plant draws its nourishment; the foundation is that upon which we build. Every blessing the Apostle speaks of goes back to the heart of God — "His great love with which He loved us" (Ephesians 2:4). Moreover we do well to be "founded in love," building not on our love to God and to Christ, but on divine love to us. "We love Him because He first loved us." It is ever God's way to teach through the affections. Spiritual understanding does not depend on human intelligence. It comes through affection that God Himself works in the soul.
Where does that love lead? One writer traces the chain:
Through the work of the Spirit, Christ dwells in our hearts by faith; dwelling there by faith He fills our hearts with love, and love prepares us to apprehend. Further, this love leads us to embrace "all saints", for the more we enjoy the love of Christ, the more our hearts will go out to all who are loved by Christ.
- Home, not visit. The word means to settle down and make a home; Christ asks for the run of the whole house, not a guest room.
- Sure, then sought. The Spirit never leaves the Christian. Christ dwelling in the heart is not a standing privilege but a matter of spiritual experience.
- Faith, not feeling. This is not a pleasant mood. It is Christ enjoyed as the heart's object — His love held as living, not a deed locked in a safe.
- Root and foundation. The love we are rooted in is God's love to us, not ours to Him; that is what feeds the plant and carries the building.
- Then the widening. Love settles the heart. A settled heart is ready to understand, and it goes out to all who are loved by Christ.