So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
In verse 16 Paul had prayed that the people would be strengthened with power in their inner being through the working of the Holy Spirit.
Now in verse 17, he gives the reason. He says, “So that…” What is the reason he prays for this inner strengthening? It is so that Christ (the Messiah) would dwell in our hearts through faith.
I’ve been thinking a lot about what faith is. So many people speak of faith in the abstract. It’s like faith in faith. Just believe. But the question needs to be asked, Believe in what?
In the Christian teaching, faith doesn’t stand alone. Faith believes some things to be true. Paul said in Acts 27:23, “ So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told.”
In Romans 4, speaking of Abraham, Paul says that he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. (Romans 4:20-21)
The teaching of Christianity is that we are saved by faith, by believing what God says. God says He will give eternal life to those who believe Him. You either believe Him or you don’t. It’s not the prayer, the profession, or the obedience that saves. It is the believing. All of those other things follow.
So back to verse 17. We believe, and Christ dwells in our hearts. Then comes another “so that….” So that you may have the strength to do something (verse 18). We’ll get to that next time. But first, what is the condition for having the verse 18 strength?
Paul is praying that we would be rooted and grounded in love. When a plant is well-rooted, it is difficult to pull up. It’s foundation in the soil is firm. Grounded means established. The foundation is strong. Both words give different pictures of the same thing. Something that is rooted and grounded is firmly established. Such things are difficult to dislodge. It’s the opposite of sitting loosely on top of a pile of sand that the wind and water can erode and undermine.
The Spirit strengthens our inner man with power so that Christ will dwell in our hearts by faith. That will result in our being firmly established in love so that we are not easily shaken or moved from that position. Having been firmly placed in love, we then have the strength to do what verse 18 speaks about.
Exported from Logos Bible Software, 10:53 AM December 14, 2020.