Ephesians 1:23 Study Bible: which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

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◄ Ephesians 1:23 ►

which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

which is His body
This phrase identifies the Church as the body of Christ. The Greek word for "body" is "sōma," which implies a living organism, not just a static structure. In the historical context of the early Church, this metaphor would have been powerful, emphasizing unity and interdependence among believers. The Church, as Christ's body, is called to be His hands and feet on earth, actively participating in His mission. This concept underscores the intimate connection between Christ and His followers, suggesting that the Church is not merely an institution but a living, breathing extension of Christ Himself.

the fullness of Him
The term "fullness" comes from the Greek word "plērōma," which conveys the idea of completeness or totality. In a theological sense, this suggests that the Church is meant to embody the complete presence and attributes of Christ. Historically, this would have been a radical idea, as it implies that the divine presence is not confined to a temple or a specific location but is manifest in the collective body of believers. This fullness indicates that the Church is equipped with all it needs to fulfill its divine purpose, reflecting the character and mission of Christ in the world.

who fills all in all
The phrase "fills all in all" speaks to the omnipresence and omnipotence of Christ. The Greek verb "plēroō" means to fill or to make complete. This suggests that Christ is the source of all spiritual blessings and that He permeates every aspect of creation. Historically, this would have been a profound statement against the backdrop of pagan religions, which often depicted gods as limited to specific domains. In contrast, Christ's filling "all in all" emphasizes His sovereignty and the comprehensive nature of His reign. For believers, this is an assurance that Christ is actively involved in every part of their lives and the world, working to bring about His purposes.

Persons / Places / Events

1. Paul the Apostle
The author of the letter to the Ephesians, Paul was a key figure in the early Christian church, known for his missionary journeys and theological teachings.

2. The Church in Ephesus
The recipients of the letter, the church in Ephesus was a significant early Christian community located in a major city of the Roman province of Asia.

3. Jesus Christ
Referred to as "Him" in the verse, Jesus is central to the passage as the one who fills all in all and whose body is the church.

Teaching Points

The Church as Christ's Body
The church is not just an organization but a living organism, the body of Christ, called to represent Him on earth.

The Fullness of Christ
Christ fills the church with His presence and power, enabling believers to live out their faith effectively.

Unity and Diversity in the Body
Just as a body has many parts, each with a unique role, so does the church. Every believer has a purpose and function within the body.

Christ's Sovereignty and Sufficiency
Jesus, who fills all in all, is sovereign over the universe and sufficient for every need of the church.

Living as Part of the Body
Believers are called to live in harmony, supporting one another and working together to fulfill the mission of the church.

Bible Study Questions

1. How does understanding the church as the body of Christ change your perspective on your role within your local church community?

2. In what ways can you contribute to the unity and diversity of the church, as described in 1 Corinthians 12:12-27?

3. Reflect on a time when you experienced the fullness of Christ in your life. How did it impact your faith and actions?

4. How can the concept of Christ filling "all in all" encourage you in times of personal or communal challenges?

5. Considering Romans 12:4-5, what specific gifts or talents do you have that can be used to serve the body of Christ? How can you begin to use them more effectively?

Connections to Other Scriptures

1 Corinthians 12:12-27
This passage elaborates on the metaphor of the church as the body of Christ, emphasizing unity and diversity within the body.

Colossians 1:18-19
These verses also speak of Christ as the head of the church and the fullness of God dwelling in Him, reinforcing the concept of Christ's preeminence and the church's role.

Romans 12:4-5
Paul discusses the church as one body with many members, each having different functions, highlighting the interconnectedness of believers.

Sermons

Believers are the Body of Christ	Paul Bayne.	Ephesians 1:23
Christ's Body	W. Grant.	Ephesians 1:23
Christ's Fulness	M. Rainsford, B. A.	Ephesians 1:23
Christ's Fulness	A. Barry, D. D.	Ephesians 1:23
Communion with Christ	C. H. Spurgeon.	Ephesians 1:23
In What Respects the Church is Christ's Fulness	W. Alves, M. A.	Ephesians 1:23
The Church as the Body and the Fullness of Christ	W.F. Adeney	Ephesians 1:23
The Church is Christ's Body	F. Guthrie, D. D.	Ephesians 1:23
The Connection Between Christ and the Church	John Eadie, D. D.	Ephesians 1:23
The Freshness and Fulness of Christ	C. H. Spurgeon.	Ephesians 1:23
The Head and the Body	F. Guthrie, D. D.	Ephesians 1:23
The Witnessing Church	Reuen Thomas.	Ephesians 1:23
Apostolic Philanthropy	D. Thomas	Ephesians 1:15-23
Paul's First Prayer for the Ephesians	R.M. Edgar	Ephesians 1:15-23
Prayer for the Ephesians	R. Finlayson	Ephesians 1:15-23
Christ's Headship	T. Croskery	Ephesians 1:22, 23

People

Ephesians, Paul

Places

Ephesus

Topics

Body, Complete, Completeness, Everywhere, Filleth, Filling, Fills, Full, Fullness, Fulness, Measure, Universe

Dictionary of Bible Themes

Ephesians 1:20-23

2345 Christ, kingdom of

Ephesians 1:22-23

     2063   Christ, perfection
     4942   fulness
     5409   metaphor
     7142   people of God, NT

Library

The True Christian Life
TEXT: "My beloved is mine, and I am his."--Sol. Song 2:16. "I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine."--Sol. Song 6:3. "I am my beloved's and his desire is toward me."--Sol. Song 7:10. These three texts should be read together, and the significant change found in each text as the thought unfolds should be studied carefully. They remind one of three mountain peaks one rising higher than the other until the third is lifted into the very heavens. Indeed, if one should live in the spirit of this …
J. Wilbur Chapman—And Judas Iscariot

Saints and Faithful
'The saints which are at Ephesus and the faithful in Christ Jesus.'--Eph. i. 1. That is Paul's way of describing a church. There were plenty of very imperfect Christians in the community at Ephesus and in the other Asiatic churches to which this letter went. As we know, there were heretics amongst them, and many others to whom the designation of 'holy' seemed inapplicable. But Paul classes them all under one category, and describes the whole body of believing people by these two words, which must …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians, Peter,John

The Earnest and the Inheritance
'The earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession.'--Eph. i. 14. I have dealt with a portion of this verse in conjunction with the fragment of another in this chapter. I tried to show you how much the idea of the mutual possession of God by the believing soul, and of the believing soul by God, was present to the Apostle's thoughts in this context. These two ideas are brought into close juxtaposition in the verse before us, for, as you will see if you use the Revised …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians, Peter,John

The Hope of the Calling
'That ye may know what is the hope of His calling.'--Eph. i. 18. A man's prayers for others are a very fair thermometer of his own religious condition. What he asks for them will largely indicate what he thinks best for himself; and how he asks it will show the firmness of his own faith and the fervour of his own feeling. There is nothing colder than the intercession of a cold Christian; and, on the other hand, in no part of the fervid Apostle Paul's writings do his words come more winged and fast, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians, Peter,John

God's Inheritance in the Saints
'That ye may know what is the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.'--Eph. i. 18. The misery of Hope is that it so often owes its materials to the strength of our desires or to the activity of our imagination. But when mere wishes or fancies spin the thread, Hope cannot weave a lasting fabric. And so one of the old prophets, in speaking of the delusive hopes of man, says that they are like 'spiders' webs,' and 'shall not become garments.' Paul, then, having been asking for these …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians, Peter,John

'All Spiritual Blessings'
'Blessed be God ... who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.'--Eph. i. 3. It is very characteristic of Paul's impetuous fervour and exuberant faith that he begins this letter with a doxology, and plunges at once into the very heart of his theme. Colder natures reach such heights by slow degrees. He gains them at a bound, or rather, he dwells there always. Put a pen into his hand, and it is like tapping a blast furnace; and out rushes a fiery stream at white …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians, Peter,John

'According To' --II.
'According to the riches of His grace.'--Eph. i. 7. We have seen, in a previous sermon, that a characteristic note of this letter is the frequent occurrence of that phrase 'according to.' I also then pointed out that it was employed in two different directions. One class of passages, with which I then tried to deal, used it to compare the divine purpose in our salvation with the historical process of the salvation. The type of that class of reference is found in a verse just before my text, 'according …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians, Peter,John

God's Inheritance and Ours
'In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, ... the earnest of our inheritance.'--Eph. i. 11, 14. A dewdrop twinkles into green and gold as the sunlight falls on it. A diamond flashes many colours as its facets catch the light. So, in this context, the Apostle seems to be haunted with that thought of 'inheriting' and 'inheritance,' and he recurs to it several times, but sets it at different angles, and it flashes back different beauties of radiance. For the words, which I have wrenched from their …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians, Peter,John

The Measure of Immeasurable Power
That ye may know ... what is the exceeding greatness of His power to usward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ.'--Eph. i. 19, 20. 'The riches of the glory of the inheritance' will sometimes quench rather than stimulate hope. He can have little depth of religion who has not often felt that the transcendent glory of that promised future sharpens the doubt--'and can I ever hope to reach it?' Our paths are strewn with battlefields where we were defeated; …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians, Peter,John

'According To' --I.
'According to the good pleasure of His will, ... According to the riches of His grace.'--Eph. i. 5, 7. That phrase, 'according to,' is one of the key-words of this profound epistle, which occurs over and over again, like a refrain. I reckon twelve instances of it in three chapters of the letter, and they all introduce one or other of the two thoughts which appear in the two fragments that I have taken for my text. They either point out how the great blessings of Christ's mission have underlying …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians, Peter,John

Twenty-Fifth Day. Holy and Blameless.
Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe.--The Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, to the end He may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His holy ones.'--1 Thess. ii. 10, iii. 12, 13. 'He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before Him …
Andrew Murray—Holy in Christ

A Sight of the Crowned Christ
(Revelation, Chapter i.) "Since mine eyes were fixed on Jesus, I've lost sight of all beside, So enchained my spirit's vision, Looking at the Crucified." "The Lord Christ passed my humble cot: I knew him, yet I knew him not; But as I oft had done before, I hurried through my narrow door To touch His garment's hem. "He drew me to a place apart From curious crowd and noisy mart; And as I sat there at His feet I caught the thrill of His heart-beat Beyond His garment's hem. "Rare was the bread He broke …
by S. D. Gordon—Quiet Talks on the Crowned Christ of Revelation

Redemption through Blood, the Gracious Forgiveness of Sins
READ THE CHAPTER, and carefully note how the apostle goes to the back of everything, and commences with those primeval blessings which were ours before time began. He dwells on the divine love of old, and the predestination which came out of it; and all that blessed purpose of making us holy and without blame before him in love, which was comprehended in the covenant of grace. It does us good to get back to these antiquities--to these eternal things. You shake off something of the dust of time, as …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 37: 1891

Blessing for Blessing
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ: according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love."--Ephesians 1:3, 4. God blesses us; let us bless him. I pray that every heart here may take its own part in this service of praise. "O thou, my soul, bless God the Lord, And all that in me is, Be stirred up his holy name To magnify …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 38: 1892

The Treasure of Grace
There are no ministers who contend so fully and so unflinchingly for free, sovereign, unconditional grace, as those who before their conversion have revelled in gross and outrageous sin. Your gentleman preachers who have been piously brought up, and sent from their cradle to school, from school to college, and from college to the pulpit, without encountering much temptation, or being rescued from the haunts of profanity--they know comparatively little, and speak with little emphasis of free grace. …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 6: 1860

Wisdom and Revelation.
"Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him: the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness …
W. H. Griffith Thomas—The Prayers of St. Paul

Of Predestination
Rom. ix. 22.--"What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction." Eph. i. 11.--"In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will." We are now upon a high subject; high indeed for an eminent apostle, much more above our reach. The very consideration of God's infinite wisdom might alone suffice to restrain …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

The Instruction Given Us, However, is not that Every Individual in Particular is to Call...
The instruction given us, however, is not that every individual in particular is to call him Father, but rather that we are all in common to call him Our Father. By this we are reminded how strong the feeling of brotherly love between us ought to be, since we are all alike, by the same mercy and free kindness, the children of such a Father. For if He from whom we all obtain whatever is good is our common Father (Matth. 23:9), everything which has been distributed to us we should be prepared to communicate …
John Calvin—Of Prayer--A Perpetual Exercise of Faith

The Work of God in Our Work.
"And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ."--1 Thess. v. 23. The difference between sanctification and good works should be well understood. Many confound the two, and believe that sanctification means to lead an honorable and virtuous life; and, since this is equal to good works, sanctification, without which no man shall see God, is made to consist in the earnest and diligent …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

Concerning God's Purpose
1. God's purpose is the cause of salvation. THE third and last thing in the text, which I shall but briefly glance at, is the ground and origin of our effectual calling, in these words, "according to his purpose" (Eph. i. 11). Anselm renders it, According to his good will. Peter Martyr reads it, According to His decree. This purpose, or decree of God, is the fountainhead of our spiritual blessings. It is the impulsive cause of our vocation, justification, glorification. It is the highest link in …
Thomas Watson—A Divine Cordial

Brought Nigh
"Riches of His grace."--Eph. i. 7. "Riches of His glory."--Eph. iii. 16. W. R. tr., Emma Frances Bevan, 1899 Rich, our God, art Thou in mercy, Dead in sins were we, When Thy great love rested on us, Sinners, dear to Thee. Blessed path of grace that led us From the depths of death To the fair eternal mansions Quickened by Thy breath. Riches of Thy grace have brought us There, in Christ, to Thee; Riches of Thy glory make us Thy delight to be. Not alone the stream that cleansed us Flowed from Jesus …
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen and Others (Second Series)

Prolegomena. Section i. --The Life.
S. Gregory Nazianzen, called by the Ecumenical Council of Ephesus "The Great," and universally known as "The Theologian" or "The Divine," a title which he shares with S. John the Evangelist alone among the Fathers of the Church, was, like the great Basil of Cæsarea and his brother Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa, by birth a Cappadocian. He was born at Arianzus, a country estate belonging to his father, in the neighbourhood of Nazianzus. This latter, sometimes called Nazianzum, is a place quite unknown …
St. Cyril of Jerusalem—Lectures of S. Cyril of Jerusalem

Introductory Notice.
[From Vol. VII., p. 515 of the Ante-Nicene Fathers.] The first certain reference which is made by any early writer to this so-called Epistle of Clement is found in these words of Eusebius (Hist. Eccl., iii. 38): "We must know that there is also a second Epistle of Clement. But we do not regard it as being equally notable with the former, since we know of none of the ancients that have made use of it." Several critics in modern times have endeavoured to vindicate the authenticity of this epistle. …
Rev. John Keith, D.D.—The Epistles of Clement

Conclusion.
"From Heaven He came and sought her To be His Holy Bride, With His own Blood He bought her, And for her life He died." "The Kingdom of Heaven," what is it? It is the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church of Christ. It is that Kingdom which was prophetically set forth by our Lord in His parables; that Kingdom, the subjects of which were described in His teaching, and redeemed by His Blood to be His own "purchased possession" (Eph. i. 14); that Kingdom which was founded through the coming of the Holy …
Edward Burbidge—The Kingdom of Heaven; What is it?

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