All the Saints

The epistle to the Ephesians contains perhaps the most profound revelations of the New Testament, especially concerning the church in the present dispensation.

There is an expression in this epistle which is very revealing of the apostle's broad and inclusive attitude towards the church, and which is the attitude expected of the children of God in the time of the end. The expression is "all the saints". It appears for the first time in 1:15: "...of your love for all the saints". The Ephesians have reached a level of spiritual maturity, which is demonstrated in their love for all the saints.

The second is in 3:9: "...and of enlightening all". Here the "all" implies "all the saints". Paul says that he has received the commission from God to make clear to all the saints the mystery hidden from the ages in God. And this mystery, he will tell us in Colossians 2:2, is Christ.

The third time it appears is in 3:18: "Be fully able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height...". The measures of Christ's heavenly dimension can only be understood with all the saints. No one individually can gain that understanding.

The fourth is in 4:6: "One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in all". Here we are told that God is the Father of all believers. The Trinity is implied here in the following way: The Father is over all; the Son by all, and the Holy Spirit in all. There is, then, no distinction: all God's children have been objects of the grace of the triune God - as is also evident from the first 14 verses of the epistle.

The fifth is in 4:13: "...until we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God". Here again the word "all" is implying all the saints. What happens to them? All the saints are to come to that level of unity and knowledge. The work of the ministry and the building up of the body of Christ is a matter for all the saints, and the goal of this is that all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God.

Finally, the sixth is in 6:18: "...with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints". As a consequence of all the above, the apostle asks the Ephesians to pray for all the saints.

This consequence is absolutely logical: If they love all the saints; if they understand that all the saints have been reached by the revelation of the mystery; if it takes all the saints to know the fullness of Christ; if the triune God is involved in the lot and blessing of all the saints; if God's goal is that all the saints become a perfect man; then it is necessary to pray for all the saints.

The revelation, the attitude and the task of believers today must be as broad and precious as that of the Ephesians.

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