Ephesians 3:2 If you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: "If" here might very well be read "since," as in Colossians 1:23; Galatians 3:4; 2 Corinthians 5:2, where the thing spoken of is not doubtful, but taken for granted. The connection is this: "You know then, dear brethren, that I am the Lord's prisoner for your sake, since, or forasmuch as, you know the cause of it in my miraculous conversion, and my being called to the apostolic office. For your sakes, too, I have received this grace of God, that I should be the econome or steward of the heavenly house. Here it is the grace; in Colossians 1:25 it is the dispensation which is given, and the meaning is nearly the same. The office and the qualification are both from God. What is this economy or dispensation? It is the "law of the house," the principle and mode of housekeeping — the Haushaltung Gottes, according to the Germans. The idea is beautiful. The house, the household, the father, the family, are the holiest things on the earth. There all sorts of varieties and diversities meet in unity, rule, and obedience, rewards and punishments, hopes and fears. There are varieties of ages, sexes, characters, conditions, temperaments, etc., and the scheme of disciplining and ruling the whole is economy, the house law or dispensation, and the person to whom this is committed is the economist of the house, as Joseph was (Genesis 39:4), or the heir, as Eliezer (Genesis 15:2; Genesis 24:2). (W. Graham, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: |
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