Holy spirit access to the father

HOLY SPIRIT ACCESS TO THE FATHER
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Ephesians 2:18 18Forthrough him we both have
access to the Father by one Spirit.
Amplified: For it is through Him that we both
[whether far off or near] now have an introduction
(access)by one [Holy] Spirit to the Father [so that we
are able to approachHim]. (Amplified Bible -
Lockman)
NLT: Now all of us, both Jews and Gentiles, may come
to the Father through the same Holy Spirit becauseof
what Christhas done for us. (NLT - Tyndale House)
Phillips:And it is through him that both of us now can
approachthe Father in the one Spirit. (Phillips:
Touchstone)
Wuest:because through Him we have our entree, the
both of us, by one Spiritinto the presence of the
Father.

Young's Literal:because through him we have the
access -- we both -- in one Spirit unto the Father.
PRECEPTAUSTIN RESOURCES
Amplified: Forit is through Him that we both [whether far off or near] now
have an introduction (access)by one [Holy] Spirit to the Father [so that we
are able to approachHim]. (Amplified Bible - Lockman)
NLT: Now all of us, both Jews and Gentiles, may come to the Father through
the same Holy Spirit because ofwhat Christ has done for us. (NLT - Tyndale
House)
Phillips: And it is through him that both of us now can approachthe Father in
the one Spirit. (Phillips: Touchstone)
Wuest: because through Him we have our entree, the both of us, by one Spirit
into the presence of the Father.
Young's Literal: because through him we have the access -- we both -- in one
Spirit unto the Father.
FOR THROUGH HIM WE BOTH HAVE OUR ACCESS:hoti di' autou
echomen(1PPAI) ten prosagogenoiamphoteroi:
Ep 3:12; John 10:7,9;14:6; Romans 5:2; Hebrews 4:15,16;7:19; 10:19,20;
1Peter1:21; 1Peter3:18;1John 2:1,2
Ephesians 2 Resources -Multiple Sermons and Commentaries
Ephesians 2:11-22 Our Biography In Brief - Steven Cole

Ephesians 2:16-22 The Unity of the Body, Part 3 - John MacArthur
Through (1223)(dia) defines Christ as the "Channel" (and the only One)
through which believing Jews and Gentiles could come into the presence of
God. The benefits of our salvationcome through Christ, our Mediatorand
GreatHigh Priest. We enter in and draw near through Him, for He is the
"Author of salvation" (Heb 2:10-note). He is the Forerunner (Heb 6:20-note),
having enteredHimself through "the veil" (His Flesh - see below)that we
might now have a new and living way into the Holy of Holies, the very
presence ofGod the Father!
Click the following links to study parallel passagesregarding Christ our
"Meditator", the channelof blessing and channel of access -- "through
Christ", "through Jesus Christ" cf "through Him" (see also John 10:9, 14:6)
In a parallel thought John records…
Jesus therefore saidto them again, "Truly, truly, I sayto you, I am the door
of the sheep. "All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep
did not hear them. "I am the door; if anyone enters through (dia) Me, he shall
be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. (John 10:7-9)
Jesus (responding to Thomas'question of how the disciples could know the
way where He was going)said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the
life; no one comes to the Father, but through (dia) Me. (John 14:6)
By this the love of God was manifestedin us, that God has sent His only
begottenSon into the world so that we might live through (dia) Him. (1John
4:9)
In an illustration of Jesus as "the way through" we read the following
devotional…
Dwight Slater, who is a retired missionary doctor, told me that while serving
in Africa he had trained a brilliant but unschooledman to serve as his
surgicalassistant. Kolo was a quick learner, and soonhe was able to perform
surgeries. A team of doctors from the United States was in Africa to provide
some short-term help. They were performing operations whenthey came

across a condition rare in the US but common in Africa. When they weren't
sure what to do, Kolo took the surgicalinstruments, cut through layers of
tissue and ligaments, and correctedthe problem. When the amazeddoctors
beganquizzing Kolo on the specifics ofthe complicated procedure, he
answeredsimply, "I do not know the terms; I just know the way." Many
Christians may not be able to define complex theologicalterms like
redemption, justification, and propitiation, but they canstill be effective
witnesses because theyknow Jesus, who is the way to God (Jn14:6).
Unbelievers need the simple gospel-thatJesus died for their sin and that they
must acceptHim by faith. You don't need to be afraid to witness. If you know
the "WayShower", you canshow others the way-Jesus Christ! Daily Bread
6/27/00
Christ is now the believer's Great High Priest, the writer of Hebrews
recording that
we do not have a high priest who cannotsympathize with our weaknesses, but
One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Let us
therefore draw near (implied that this drawing near is "through Him") with
confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find
grace to help in time of need. (see notes Hebrews 4:15; 4:16)
Hence, also, He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through
Him, since He always lives to make intercessionfor them. (see note Hebrews
7:25)
Since therefore, brethren, we have confidence to enter the holy place by the
blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through
the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a greatpriest over the house of
God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance offaith, having
our hearts sprinkled cleanfrom an evil conscienceandour bodies washed
with pure water. (See notes Hebrews 10:19; 10:20;10:21; 10:22)
Comment: Matthew 27:50 records that at the end of the crucifixion "Jesus
cried out againwith a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit." which was
contemporaneous with "the sun being obscured;and the veil of the temple
was torn in two" as Luke 23:43 relates. The point is that the rent flesh of Jesus

accomplishedthe rending of the veil separating the Holy Place from the Holy
of Holies, thus providing full accessto the throne of God. All those who are
now in Christ have unhindered accessto God's holy throne!
Through Him (Christ our GreatHigh Priest) then, let us continually offer up
a sacrifice ofpraise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His
name. (see note Hebrews 13:15)
A Simple Study…
Through Him
Considerthe following simple study - observe and recordthe wonderful truths
that accrue through Him - this would make an edifying, easyto prepare
Sunday Schoollesson - then take some time to give thanks for these great
truths by offering up a sacrifice ofpraise… through Him.
Jn 1:3 [NIV reads "through Him"], Jn 1:7, John 1:10, Jn 3:17, Jn 14:6, Acts
2:22, 3:16, Acts 7:25, Acts 10:43, Acts 13:38, 39, Ro 5:9 [note], Ro 8:37 [note],
Ro 11:36 [note]; 1Co 8:6, Ep 2:18 [note], Php 4:13 [note], Col1:20 [note], Col
2:15 [note], Col 3:17 [note], Heb 7:25 [note], Heb 13:15 [note], 1Pe 1:21[note],
1John4:9
Would you like more study on the wonderful topic of through Him? Study
also the NT uses of the parallel phrase through Jesus (or similar phrases -
"through Whom", "through our Lord", etc) - John 1:17, Acts 10:36, Ro 1:4,
5- note; Ro 1:8-note, Ro 2:16-note, Ro 5:1-note; Ro 5:2-note Ro 5:11-note, Ro
5:21-note, Ro 7:25-note, Ro 16:27-note, 1Cor15:57, 2Cor1:5, 3:4, 5:18, Gal
1:1, Eph 1:5-note, Php 1:11-note, 1Th 5:9-note; Titus 3:6-note, He 1:2-note;
He 2:10-note, Heb 13:21-note, 1Pe 2:5-note, 1Pe 4:11-note, Jude 1:25)
All things are from Him, through Him and to Him. To Him be the glory
forever. Amen.
From a practicalstandpoint, how do we know that we now have peace with
God? Is it not because we cannow have bold accessto our Father's throne of
grace anytime and any place? Do you take advantage of this incredible
privilege beloved? Probably few of us do enough! May His Spirit so incline

our hearts that they lean more and more in the direction of the waiting ear of
our Fatherin heaven. Amen.
Both (297)(amphoteros from ámpho = both, the two) refers to eachof two.
We both near and far, both Jew and Gentile.
Have (2192)(echo)means to possesswiththe present tense defining this as
every believer's continuous possession. In the Old Testamentlet us not forget
that no Jew save the High Priesthad the privilege of entree into the Holy of
Holies, and that but only once per year on the Day of Atonement. The Cross of
Christ has opened the floodgates ofgrace so that now every believer has
continual access!
As John Eadie in his classiccommentaryon Ephesians eloquently highlights
every believer's high privilege writing that…
now the most distant Gentile who is in Christ really and continuously enjoys
that augustspiritual privilege, which the one man of the one tribe of the one
nation on the one day of the year, only typically and periodically possessed.
(John Eadie, D., LL.D. The Epistle of St Paul to the Ephesians - Online)
William MacDonaldapplies the truths in this passageto prayer writing that…
Through prayer any believer can enter the throne room of heaven, kneel
before the Sovereignof the universe, and address Him as Father. The normal
order to be followedin prayer is given here. First, it is through Him (the Lord
Jesus). He is the one MediatorbetweenGod and man. His death, burial, and
resurrectionremoved every legalobstacle to our admission to God’s presence.
Now as Mediator He lives on high to maintain us in a condition of fellowship
with the Father. We approach God in His name; we have no worthiness of our
own, so we plead His worthiness. The participants in prayer are we both—
believing Jews and believing Gentiles. The privilege is that we have access.
Our Helper in prayer is the Holy Spirit—by one Spirit. “The Spirit helps in
our weaknesses. Forwe do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but
the Spirit Himself makes intercessionfor us with groanings which cannot be
uttered” (Ro 8:26-note).

The One we approach is the Father. No OT saint ever knew God as Father.
Before the resurrectionof Christ, men stoodbefore God as creatures before
the Creator. It was after He rose that He said, “Go to my brethren and say to
them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and
your God’.” (John 20:17). As a result of His redemptive work, believers were
then able for the first time to address God as Father.
In verse 18 all three Persons ofthe Trinity (see note) are directly involved in
the prayers of the humblest believer: he prays to Godthe Father, approaching
Him through the Lord Jesus Christ, in the powerof the Holy Spirit.
(MacDonald, W & Farstad, A. Believer's Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson)
Access (4318)(prosagogefrom pros = toward + ago = bring) literally means
"a bringing near" or providing access(freedom, permission and/or the ability
to enter). It describes a continuous and unhindered approach to God, One
Whom we could never approachin our unredeemed, unholy, sinful state.
Prosagogewas usedto describe the introduction to or audience which one is
permitted to have with a king or other person of high rank. This introduction
or audience must be effectedthrough an officer of court to whom the duty is
entrusted.
Prosagogecarries the idea not of possessing accessin our ownright but of
being granted the right to come to God with boldness, knowing we will be
welcomed. It is only through our Savior’s shedding of His blood in sacrificial
death on Calvary and by faith in Him that we have union in His Holy Spirit
and have access to the Father. The Spirit is at work to draw us continually to
God (Ro 8:15, 16, 17-notes;Gal. 4:6, 7). Both and one spirit emphasize again
the commonality of Jew and Gentile.
MacArthur sums up the significance ofprosagogewriting that…
Those who once were sociallyand spiritually alienatedare in Christ united
with God and with eachother. Because theyhave Christ they have both peace
and access inone Spirit to the Father. They have an Introducer who presents
them at the heavenly throne of God, before whom they can come at any time.
They can now come to God as their own Father, knowing that He no longer

judges or condemns but only forgives and blesses.EvenHis discipline is an act
of love, given to cleanse and restore His precious children to purity and
spiritual richness. (MacArthur, J: Ephesians. Chicago:MoodyPress)
In a parallel passagein Romans regarding Jesus as our way "through" to
God, Paul writes…
Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ, through (dia) Whom also we have obtained our
introduction (prosagoge)by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we
exult in hope of the glory of God. (see notes Romans 5:1; 5:2)
The other use of prosagoge in Ephesians declares that…
in (Christ) we have boldness and confident access (prosagoge)throughfaith in
Him. (see note Ephesians 3:12)
Notice that prosagogealways refers to the believer’s accessto God through
Christ. What was unthinkable to the Old TestamentJew is now available to
all who come to Christ by grace through faith.
To summarize, from the 3 NT uses of prosagogeobserve that…
1. We have accessinto grace (Ro 5:2-note) God’s throne is the throne of grace
(Heb 4:16-note).
2. We have accessto the Father(Ep 2:18-note). Though He is sovereign, we
can still approach Him as a child does a father (Luke 11:11, 12, 13, Ro 8:15-
note).
3. We have accessthrough Jesus Christ(1Ti 2:5). The blood gives us boldness
(Heb 10:19).
4. We have accessby our faith (Ro 5:2-note; Ep 3:12-note). The essential
ingredient is prayer (Heb 10:22-note).
Prosagogealso pictures fellowshipand communion (see communion,
fellowship) available with the Fatherthrough Christ for all who have been
redeemedby His blood! The French word for this is entree meaning freedom
of entry or access. And that is exactlywhat our Lord Jesus Christ provides for

a believing sinner. He clothes him with Himself as his righteousness, cleanses
him in His precious blood, and brings him into the full unmerited favor
(grace)of God the Father. This is a believers entree. It is a priceless boon to
have the right to go to some lovely and wise and saintly person at any time, to
have the right to break in upon him, to take our troubles, our problems, our
loneliness, our sorrow to him. That is exactly the right that Jesus gives us in
regard to our Father, the All Wise God.
Prosagogepictures provision of accessinto the presence ofOne Whom we
would normally be restrictedfrom approaching. In the Orient, one who came
to see a king neededboth access—the rightto come and an introduction—the
proper presentation. You couldn't just waltz into a king's presence. To do so
would invite death. In fact the Persianroyal court actuallyhad an official
calledthe prosagogeuswhose function was to introduce people who desiredan
audience with the king.
There is an Old Testamentstoryin the book of Estherwhich is a beautiful
illustration of prosagoge. Esthersoughtto plead with King Ahasuerus for the
safetyof her Jewishcountrymen but she knew what fate might awaither for
approaching the King without an introduction (see Esther4:11). Estherrisked
her life by doing this, not knowing beforehand whether Ahasuerus would
grant her an "introduction." Fortunately for her, he granted her grace. Ray
Stedman fills in the details writing that…
"There is a beautiful picture in the book of Esther that illustrates this:
Remember Esther, that lovely Jewishmaiden, a captive in the land of Persia?
The king, seeking a bride, found her and made her his queen. After Esther
ascendedto the throne as queen, a plot was hatched againstthe Jews. The
king, unwittingly, signed a decree that meant death for all Jews in the land of
Persia. Esther's godlyuncle, Mordecai, saidit would be necessaryfor her to
go to the king and tell him what he had unwittingly done. Esther knew that
was a dangerous thing, because it was the law of the Medes and Persians that
no one could come before the king without first being summoned by him. It
meant death for anyone to dare come before the king in that manner. There
were no exceptions -- even for a queen -- for this was the law of the Medes and
the Persians andcould not be changed. Unless the king extended his golden

scepterto that person, he must die. Yet Esther knew that she had to dare to
take her life in her hands and go before the king. The story tells us that she
fastedfor three days and three nights before she went. I am sure that was to
prepare her heart and her courage. It doesn't saywhat else she did during
that time, when she was getting ready to come before the king. With a wife,
four daughters, and a mother-in-law in my home, I've observedwomen
getting themselves ready for some years now. I'm sure that what Estherwas
doing was fixing her hair. It probably took three days and three nights to get
ready! Then we are told that she dressedherselfin robes of beauty and glory.
When she was all ready, she stepped into the audience hall of the king,
appearing all alone before him. The king was so smitten with her beauty that
his heart went out to her. He stretched forth his scepterand acceptedher. She
had access to the king. Dressedin robes of beauty and glory that do not belong
to us -- for they are the garments of Jesus -- we have accessto the King, to
receive from him all that we need to handle any threat that has come into our
lives. We have continual acceptance before him." (excerpt from Rejoicing in
Hope)
F B Meyer writes that…
Prayer assumes a new complexionso soonas we properly appreciate God's
Fatherliness. Grantedthat it must always be through Jesus, and by the Holy
Spirit, yet, ultimately, it is access to the Father. The first thought of a little
child in any need is Mother, Father. There is instant movement of eyes, and
feet, and voice, towards the one dear source of help and comfort. And so,
when we have learnt to know the Father, as revealedin Jesus, our heart will
be constantly going out towards Him. The Father's heart has twelve gates,
that one of them may be contiguous to every conceivable positionin which his
children may be placed. Of course there will be times when we shall
deliberately bow our knees unto the Father; but there will be many more
when we shall have accessto Him in a swift-wingedthought, a tearhastily
brushed away, a yearning, an ejaculation(a short sudden emotional
utterance), a loving, restful glance of mutual understanding. Strange that we
make so little of these wonderful opportunities of accessto the Father!
(DevotionalCommentary of Ephesians)

One (1520)(heis) refers to a single entity.
Spirit (4151)(pneuma) is the Holy Spirit as determined from the context (and
not just because the translation capitalize it!)
Father (3962)(pater) refers of course to God our FatherWho art in heaven.
Note the activity of all three persons of the Godheadin reference to the peace
associatedwith our salvation. We have access to the Father only through faith
in the Son and by the implementing work of the Spirit.
Non-Trinitarians argue that God is not a Trinity. Their weak argument
againstthe existence of the Trinity is based upon the fact that the Bible does
not use the word "Trinity" (which is true). Such an argument fails to take
note of such clearpassages like Ephesians 2:18 which speak of Father, Son
and Holy Spirit, working as One God!
S Lewis Johnson writes that…
it is through the instrumentality of the Sonin the sphere of the Holy Spirit
that we are brought to the place where we have accessto the Father. All the
persons of the Trinity working in beautiful concert:the Son, laying down his
life; the Holy Spirit applying the ministry; and it is the Father who has chosen
us as he said in the beginning and has determined the whole means by which
the program shall be carried out. So that the electing Father, the atoning Son,
the administrating Holy Spirit – all work toward the same end, and that is
that the people of God may have access.That’s why to me, the doctrine of the
sovereigngrace ofGod in our salvationis so beautiful: the whole Trinity
working togetherin beautiful unison, in beautiful harmony…
What does it mean to have access?He’s saying here that it’s not just salvation,
in a narrow sense, that is the aim of the Trinity in salvation. But access – what
does that mean? What’s implied in that? Well now, of course, it’s a great
thing to have the forgiveness ofsins. It’s a greatthing to know the penalty for
sin, past, present and future, has been paid for by our substitute. But that is a
means to an end. In fact, if you just lookedat it from the standpoint of heaven

and the life of the future, you would see that the atoning work is simply a
means to an end. Now, it’s something we’ll always remember, for he’s the
lamb of God who leads the flock to ever lengthening pastures throughout all
eternity. But, what about in the meantime? Access.
Now access means that we have the remarkable, glorious privilege of carrying
on a relationship with our Father by virtue of what Christ has done through
the Holy Spirit, in all of the days and months and years that transpire between
the time of our salvation and the time of our catching up to be with the Lord
Jesus. Daily, our life is a life of access.We’re able, at night, to get down by our
bedside, or in our beds, as we may pray, and lift our voices and say,
“Father, we thank Thee for this day, that you’ve preservedus and kept us,
that you’ve used us, that you’ve provided for us.”
And then in the morning, you may offer your prayers as you read the
Scripture. And throughout the day, in the experiences oflife, you have a
companion, one who is always with you. Every day for the believer is the
Emmaus road experience. We travel with the Lord Jesus by our side.
Now it is true that for many of us, He is about as unknown to us in our daily
life as He was to his two disciples (on the Emmaus Road), until he revealed
himself. They turned to Him – here He is walking along with them, the Lord
Jesus, aboutWhom they were speaking – they said to Him, “Haven’t You
heard what happened in Jerusalemover the weekend?” WhyHe was the One
to Whom it had happened! And it was not until their eyes were opened that
they saw Him for what He was. That’s one beautiful picture of the life of a
Christian; it’s an Emmaus road experience from conversionto translationto
heaven. Access. We have access. We cancallGod, Father. We cansay, “Our
Father.”
We don’t have any recordof any individual Jewishman until the days of the
Lord Jesus, lifting up his voice to heavenand saying, “Father.” The Lord
Jesus is the first One Who used that term in the individual sense, so far as we
know. Isn’t that amazing? We take it for granted. Don’t we pray in our
churches,

“Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name”?
Yes, we do. That’s what’s calledsaying the word of God and not really
hearing it. I saidthat many times in our Presbyterianchurch, and I didn’t
even know what it meant. You can say goodScripture words and not know
what they mean. Don’t say the word “access”andnot come to know what it
means.
Access:the opportunity and privilege to enter into the presence of this God
Who is no potential, provisional Savior, but a definite Savior and Lord.
Access.
I guess one of the most vivid things, an illustration, was the experience of the
Apostles on the Sea of Galilee when the sea arose. Thatwonderful time when
the miracle of the walking on the watertook place. I don’t want to go into the
exposition of it, because youare very familiar with it. But you’ll remember
that after the Lord Jesus had walkedon the water, and after Peterhad walked
on the waterand after he had begun to sink, the Lord Jesus had takenhis
hand and saved, that they both came to the boat and the wind ceased. And
then they that were in the boatcame and worshiped Him, saying of the truth,
“Thou art the Sonof God.”
That’s the proper response, to worship. Access. Oh, what a privilege it is to
have access to the Father. (pdf)
A Brief Excursus on The Trinity
As an aside observe the work of the "Trinity" in the following passages…
In our redemption and forgiveness
How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit
offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your consciencefrom dead
works to serve the living God? (Hebrews 9:14)
In our baptismal testimony
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19)

In our experience of regeneration
And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our
hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" (Galatians 4:6)
In our assurance andfellowship
The grace ofthe Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowshipof
the Holy Spirit, be with you all. (2 Corinthians 13:14)
In witnessing
"When the Helper comes, whomI will send to you from the Father, that is the
Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness of Me
(John 15:26)
In teaching
"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Fatherwill send in My name, He
will teachyou all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.
(John 14:26)
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
Our Access To The Father
Ephesians 2:18
T. Croskery
For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. If the
enmity had not been slain there could not have been accessto the Divine

presence. BothJews and Gentiles enjoy this accesson a footing of grace and
mercy to the throne of God.
I. THE APPROACHIS TO THE FATHER. It is not to a stern Judge or a
God wielding terrible poweragainstus, but to a gracious Father, we have
access in virtue of Christ's atoning work. It is the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ who is representedin this Epistle as having blessedus with all
spiritual blessings;it is the Father who has made knownto us his purpose to
reconcile all things to himself in Christ; it is the Fatherwho has made peace
through the blood of the cross. We must ever seek the true origin of our
salvation, not in the suffering of the cross, but in the bosomof the eternal
Father.
II. OUR ACCESS TO HIM IS THROUGH CHRIST.
1. We are brought near to God through his blood (ver. 13).
2. Through his intercession.
Jesus, as Mediator;Advocate, Forerunner, takes us, as it were, by the hand,
and presents us to God. This is the doctrine of the Epistle to the Hebrews,
which introduces the era of the better hope, under which we draw nigh to God
with true heart, in full assuranceoffaith, because we have such an High Priest
over the house of God. But our Savior is more than High Priest; he is
Forerunner; he is not merely Representative ofbelievers, as the high priest of
Judaism was representative of the theocratic people, but he is Forerunner,
entered within the veil, whither his people can follow him to the very place
which he has gone before to prepare for them. There is no longer a restriction
upon our access to God. It is a free access, anopen access, anaccessthatmay
well inspire confidence, because it is in Christ: "We have boldness and access
with confidence by the faith of him" (Ephesians 3:12).
III. THE ACCESS IS BY ONE SPIRIT.
1. It is by his influence we are first brought home to the Father. It is by him
we are baptized into one body.

2. The indwelling of the Spirit is necessaryto the perpetuation and powerof
"our fellowship with the Father and the Son."
3. It is the Spirit especiallywho helps our infirmities in prayer (Romans 8:26).
Thus we see how the three Persons ofthe Trinity are concernedin our
salvation. - T.C.
Biblical Illustrator
For through Him we both have accessby one Spirit unto the Father.
Ephesians 2:18
The doctrine of the Trinity
Canon A. S. Farrar.
The doctrine of the Holy Trinity, which the apostle implies in these words, is
the centre of a group of Christian doctrines which may fairly be said not to
have been explicitly known antecedentlyto the teaching of our Saviour and
His apostles. More thaneven other doctrines, this had hardly been guessedat
by heathen speculation, hardly understood by Jewishinspiration. It stands in
majestic isolationfrom other truths, a vision of God incomprehensible, the
mystery of mysteries. We can find analogies and explanations of other
doctrines in the world of nature, physical or moral, but of this we can discover
none. When we pass from the work to the Agent, from the government of God
to the nature of God, we are lost in mystery; speculationis well nigh hushed
before the overpowering glory of the Eternal. We pass from the earth to the
heaven, we enter the shrine of the Divine presence. We contemplate in spirit
the mystery hidden of old, the mystery of the trinal existence of Him who is
the source ofall power, the first cause of all creation;Him who, in the depths
of a past eternity, existedin the mysterious solitude of His Divine essence,
when there was still universal silence of createdlife around His throne, and
who will exist everin the future of eternity, from everlasting to everlasting,
God. Speculationis, on such a subject, vain; yet a reverent attention to that
which has been made known to us is our fitting duty. And nothing will more

completely prepare us for considering the subject in a proper temper than the
reflectionthat this greatdoctrine is not revealedto us in the Scripture to
gratify our curiosity, but as a practicaltruth deeply and nearly related to our
eternal interests, not in its speculative but in its practical aspects. OurLord
and His apostles taught that the Divine nature consists of three distinct classes
of attributes, or (to use our human expression)three personalities;and that
eachof these three distinct Persons contributes separate offices in the work of
human salvation;God the Fatherpardoning; God the Sonredeeming; God
the Holy Ghosthallowing and purifying sinful men. The fact that this doctrine
involves a mystery, is so far from constituting a fair ground for its rejection,
that it agrees in this respectwith many of the most allowedtruths of human
science. Forthe distinction is now well understood betweena truth being
apprehended and its being comprehended. We apprehend or recognize a fact
when we know it to be establishedby evidence, but cannot explain it by
referring it to its cause;we comprehend or understand it when we can view it
in relation to its cause. A thing which is not apprehended cannotbe believed,
but the analogyof our knowledge shows thatwe believe many things which we
cannot explain or resolve into a law. We know the law of attractionwhich
regulates the motions of the visible universe; but no one can yet explain the
nature of the attractive powerwhich acts according to this law. Or, to add an
example from the world of organized nature, we may see the same truth in the
animal or vegetable kingdoms. We know not in what consistthe common
phenomena of sleepor of life; and we are equally ignorant of the final causes
which have led the Creatorto lavish His gifts in creating thousands of species
of the lowerorders of animals with few properties of enjoyment or of use; or
to scatterin the unseenparts of the petals of flowers, the profusion of
beautiful colours. In truth, the peculiarity of modern inductive science is, that
it professes to explain nothing. It rests content with generalising phenomena
into their most comprehensive statement, and there it pauses;it in no case
connects them with an ultimate cause. And if truths are thus received
undoubtingly in science whenyet they cannot be explained, why must an
antecedentdetermination to disbelieve mystery in religion be allowedto
outweighany amount of positive evidence which canbe adduced to
substantiate those mysteries? We are to believe that the Divine nature exists
under three entirely distinct classesofrelations, which, through poverty of

language, we callexistence in three persons. We must be careful, however,
when we assertthis, not to reduce the Divine nature to similarity with the
human; not to commit, in fact, almostthe very error into which men of old fell
in supposing that the God whom the heaven of heavens cannot contain, is like
to birds and beasts and creeping things. The Divine Being is three persons;
but by this we only mean that the personalelement in man is the analogy
under which God has been pleasedto convey to us ideas of His own nature
and of the relations which He sustains to us. Just as we do not attribute to God
a body or human passions, but merely mean that He acts to us as though He
possessedthem; so when we attribute to Him thought or personality, we must
not narrow down the idea of His omniscient intuition by supposing it
contractedwithin the limits of inference which govern man's finite
intelligence, or gifted with that limited independence which appertains to
human personality. The discoveries ofscience oughtto teach us that we really
can scarcelyform any positive idea of God's nature. If we track the infinity of
creation, we see that eachincreasedpowerof our instruments reveals to us
illimitable profusion in creation; the telescope revealing the troop of worlds
stretching to an infinity of greatness, andthe microscope a world of more and
more minute life, stretching to an infinity of minuteness; or when we turn
from the infinite in space to the infinite in time, if we look backwardwe see
written in the rocks ofthe world the signs of creative life stretching through
ages anteriorto human history; or if we look forward, we candetect by
delicate mathematicalcalculation, an amazing scheme of Providence
providing for the conservationofharmony in the attractions of the heavenly
bodies in cycles ofincalculable time in the distant future. And when, having
pondered all these things, we think of the Being that has arranged them by
His providence and conserves them by His power, what notion canwe really
form of His nature? What notion of the wonderful originality evinced in the
conceptionof creation, what of the profusion shown in the execution of it,
what of the powerin its conservation? His nature is not merely infinite, it is
unlike anything human, and we must turn away with the feeling that when we
compare that infinite Being with man, and confine our ideas of His illimitable
vastness and His inscrutable existence by the notion of the narrow personality
which is delegatedto us finite creatures who live but for a day on this small
spot of earth, lost amid the millions of worlds which glitter in creation, we

may be sure that the Divine nature as really transcends the earthly
description of it, as the universe exceeds this world; and though we may
thankfully acceptthe description of God as having three personalities as the
noblest to which we can attain as men, and as enough for our present wants in
this world, yet let us never doubt that really the Divine nature is vastly nobler;
and let us bow with adoring thankfulness in meditating on the idea which we
are permitted to attain, imperfect though it be, of that mysterious essence. Yet
though the idea of God in three Persons may be held to be thus speculatively
imperfect, let us never forgetthat it is practically all-sufficient for us. For it
teaches us the greattruth that He acts to us as though He did literally sustain
the characters ofthree wholly distinct persons, and that He demands from us
the duties which would belong to us if He were so. If we are thus to believe of
God, what is the lessonwhich this greatdoctrine that God exists and acts to us
as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, ought to convey to us? It is mainly the
wondrous thought that this glorious Being is willing to stoop to be our Friend,
that He whose happiness is complete in its own infinity, is moved by His own
pure eternal love to win us to Himself. Restless(to speak afterthe manner of
men) to secure our happiness, all these blessedPersons ofthe glorious
Godheadare engagedto secure it. It is God the Father whom we have grieved
by our sins; and yet He loves us as a Fatherstill; and to rescue us from our
misery He has designedthe greatscheme of salvation, and sent God the Sonto
dwell on this earth as a man, as a man of sorrows and of poverty, to remove
by His atoning death the impediments which, secretperhaps to us, stand in
the wayof our salvation, and to exhibit the pattern of a faultless human being,
that we may follow His steps; and lastly, after God the Son had withdrawn
from the earth, God the Spirit, the everblessedComforter, has descendedto
dwell constantly in the hearts of all men that invite His presence, cheering
their guilty spirits, stirring them up to the love of holiness, hallowing them for
a meetness for the inheritance of heaven. Behold what manner of love God has
shown to us! Behold the Triune God engagedin the salvationof eachone of
ourselves!And can you delay to yield to Him your hearts, your wills, your
affections? If you have sinned, or are tempted to sin, either in deed, or word,
or thought, remember that it is not merely sin againsta law, but that you are
verily grieving a loving father, even the Father, God; if you are living a
careless, half-religious life, remember that you are perpetrating the

ingratitude of making the sufferings of the Eternal Sonvoid as regards your
souls;if you are neglecting prayer, neglecting earnestsupplications to heaven
for holiness, you are declining to avail yourself of that unspeakable gift of the
Spirit's help which is for all that ask. Godthe Fatherloves us, God the Son
has redeemedus, and the Holy Spirit will, if we will ask Him, turn us from sin,
and doubt, and half-heartedness, to the love of Himself, and will fit us for that
heaven where, no longer trammelled by sin and darkened by ignorance, we
shall enjoy the beatific vision, and find our everlasting happiness in
communing with the Divine Being face to face.
(Canon A. S. Farrar.)
A Trinity Sunday sermon
Phillips Brooks, D. D.
The doctrine of the Trinity is the description of what we know of God. We
have no right to saythat it is the description of God; for what there may be in
Deity of which we have no knowledge,how can we tell? We are only sure that
the Divine life is infinitely greaterthan our humanity can comprehend; and
we are sure, too, that not even a revelation in the most perfectform, through
the most perfectmedium conceivable, couldmake known to the human
intelligence anything in God save that which has relationship to human life.
Man may revealhimself to the brutes, and the revelation may be clearand
correctso far as it cango, but it must have its limit. Only that part of man can
cross the line and show itself to the perception of that lowerworld which finds
in brutedom some point which it cantouch. Our strength may revealitself to
their fear; our kindness to their power of love; some part of our wisdom, even,
to their dim capacityof education; but all the while there is a vast manhood of
intellect, of taste, of spirituality, of which they never know. And so I am sure
that the Divine nature is three Persons, but one God; but how much more
than that I cannotknow. That deep law which runs through all life, by which
the higher any nature is, the more manifold and simple at once, the more full
of complexity and unity at once, it grows, is easilyacceptedas applicable to
the highestof all natures — God. In the manifoldness of His being these three

personalexistences, Creator, Redeemer, Sanctifier, easilymake themselves
known to the human life. I tell the story of them, and that is my doctrine of the
Trinity.
1. The end of the human salvationis "accessto the Father." Thatis the first
truth of our religion — that the source ofall is meant to be the end of all, that
as we all came forth from a Divine Creator. so it is into divinity that we are to
return and to find our final rest and satisfaction, not in ourselves, nor in one
another, but in the omnipotence, the omniscience, the perfectness, andthe love
of God. God is divine. God is God. And no doubt we do all assentin words to
such a belief; but when we think what we mean by that word God; when we
remember what we mean by "Father," namely, the first source and the final
satisfactionofa dependent nature; and then when we look around and see
such multitudes of people living as if there were no higher source for their
being than accident, and no higher satisfactionfortheir being than selfishness,
do we not feel that there is need of a continual and most earnestpreaching by
word and act, from every pulpit of influence to which we can mount, of the
divinity of the Father. Why, take a man who is utterly absorbed in the
business of this world. How eagerhe is; his hands are knocking atevery door;
his voice is crying out for admittance into every secretplace and treasure
house; he is all earnestness andrestlessness. He is trying to come to something,
trying to getaccess, andto what? To the best and richest of that earthly
structure from which his life seems to himself to have issued. Counting himself
the child of this world, he is giving himself up with a filial devotion to his
father. He is the product in his tastes and his capacitiesofthis socialand
commercialmachinery which seems to be the mill out of which men's
characters are turned. It is the societyand the business of the world that have
made him what he is, and so he gives up all that he is to the societyor the
business that createdhim. Now to such a man what is the first revelation that
you want to make. Is it not the divinity of the Father? This is the divinity of
the end. We come from God and we go to God.
2. And now pass to the divinity of the method. "Through Jesus Christ." Man
is separatedfrom God. That fact, testified to by broken associations, by
alienatedaffections, by conflicting wills, stands written in the whole history of
our race. Analogies, Iknow, are very imperfect and often very deceptive,

when they try to illustrate the highestthings. But is it not as if a great strong
nation, too strong to be jealous, strong enough to magnanimously pity and
forgive, had to deal with a colony of rebels whom it really desired to win back
againto itself? They are of its own stock, but they have lost their allegiance
and are suffering the sorrows and privations of being cut off from their
fatherland and living in rebellion. That fatherland might send its embassy to
tempt them home; and, if it did, whom would it choose to send? Would it not
take of itself its messenger? The embassythat is sent is of the country that
sends it. That is its value, that is its influence. The fatherland would choose its
choicestson, taking him from nearestto its heart, and say, Go and show them
what I am, how loving and how ready to forgive, for you are I and you can
show them. Such was the mission of the Messiah. The ambassadorwas ofthe
very land that sent Him, "Godof God, Light of Light, very God of very God,
begottennot made, being of one substance with the Father." My friend says
God sends Christ into the world, and therefore Christ is not God. I cannot see
it so. It seems to me lust otherwise. Godsends Christ just because Christis
God. The ambassador, the army is of the very most precious substance of the
country that despatches it. This is the meaning of that constanttitle of our
Master. He is the Sonof God. The more truly we believe in the Incarnate
Deity, the more devoutly we must believe in the essentialgloryof humanity,
the more earnestlywe must struggle to keepthe purity and integrity and
largeness ofour own human life, and to help our brethren to keeptheirs. It is
because the Divine can dwell in us that we may have accessto divinity. We
and they must, through the Divine method, come to the Divine end where we
belong, through God the Son to God the Father.
3. And now turn to the point that still remains. We have spokenof the end and
of the method; but no true actis perfect unless the power by which it works is
worthy of the method through which and the end to which it proceeds. The
powerof the act of man's salvation is the Holy Spirit. "Through Christ Jesus
we all have access by one Spirit unto the Father." What do we mean by the
Holy Spirit being the power of salvation? I think we are often deluded and
misled by carrying out too far some of the figurative forms in which the Bible
and the religious experience of men express the saving of the soul. For
instance, salvationis described as the lifting of the soulout of a pit and putting

it upon a pinnacle, or on a safe high platform of grace. The figure is strong
and clear. Nothing canoverstate the utter dependence of the soul on God for
its deliverance; but if we let the figure leave in our minds an impression of the
human soul as a dead, passive thing, to be lifted from one place to the other
like a torpid log that makes no effort of its own either for cooperationor
resistance,then the figure has misled us. The soul is a live thing. Everything
that is done with it must be done in and through its own essentiallife. If a soul
is saved, it must be by the salvation, the sanctificationof its essentiallife; if a
soul is lost, it must be by perdition of its life, by the degradation of its
affections and desires and hopes. Conclusion:When this experience is reached
then see what Godhood.the soul has come to recognize in the world. First,
there is the Creative Deity from which it sprang, and to which it is struggling
to return — the Divine end, God the Father. Then there is the Incarnate
Deity, which makes that return possible by the exhibition of God's love — the
Divine method, God the Son; and then there in this Infused Deity, this Divine
energy in the soul itself, taking its capacities andsetting them homeward to
the Father— the Divine powerof salvation. God the Holy Spirit. To the
Father through the Son, by the Spirit. If we recur a moment to the figure
which we used a while ago, Godis the Divine Fatherlandof the human soul;
Christ is like the embassy, part and parcel of that Fatherland, which comes
out to win it back from its rebellion; and the Holy Spirit is the Fatherland
wakenedin the rebellious colony's ownsoul. He is the newly living loyalty.
When the colony comes back, the power that brings it is the Fatherland in it
seeking its own; So when the soul comes back to God, it is God in the soulthat
brings it. So we believe in the Divine power, one with the Divine method and
the Divine end, in God the Spirit one with the Fatherand the Son. This
appears to me the truth of the Deity as it relates to us. I say again, "as it
relates to us." What it may be in itself; how Father, Son, and Spirit meet in
the perfectGodhood; what infinite truth more there may, there must, be in
that Godhood, no man can dare to guess. But, to us, God is the end, the
method, and the powerof salvation;so He is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is
in the perfectharmony of these sacredpersonalities that the precious unity of
the Deity consists. Letus keepthe faith of the Trinity. Let us seek to come to
the highest, through the highest, by the highest. Let the end and the method
and the power of our life be all Divine. If our hearts are set on that, Jesus will

acceptus for His disciples;all that He promised to do for those who trusted
Him, He will do for us. He will show us the Father; He will send us the
Comforter; nay, what can He do, or what can we ask that will outgo the
strong and sweetassuranceofthe promise which we have been studying
today: Through Him we shall have accessby one Spirit unto the Father.
(Phillips Brooks, D. D.)
The doctrine of the Trinity
R. Winterbotham, M. A.
In this text we have a declarationof the Holy Trinity; there can be no doubt as
to that. Here are all three Persons together:the Father, unto whom we have
access orintroduction; the Son, by or through whom we are introduced; the
Holy Spirit, in whom, in whose communion, we enjoy that access. Butwhat is
remarkable about the text is not the mere declarationof the three Persons,
which is often to be met with in St. Paul's Epistles, but the practical nature of
the declaration. "We both have access,"says the apostle, "unto the Father" —
and for this word "both" we may substitute "all," since the greatdistinction
of that day betweenJew and Gentile has been obliterated, and only those
numerous minor distinctions remain which race and clime and colourmake
within the fold of Christ. We all have accessunto the Father — this is the
greatand blessedfact, the practicalsum of our religion; and this is the answer
of the gospelto all the seeking and questing of the natural man since the world
began. He, who is both God and man — He, the daysman desired of Job —
He, who is equally at home both on earth and in heaven, who was in heaven —
He, who hath reconciledus unto God, and atoned us, making us one with God
by vital union with Himself; — He shall introduce us; by Him we shall have
that long soughtfor, long despaired of accessto the Father of our souls — He
shall take us (as He only can) by the hand, and lead us (as He only may) into
that dread presence. But, again, there is a further questing and seeking ofthe
natural man, when he longs and yet dreads to find his way home to the
Father. For after that first difficulty, "Who shall lead us to the Father?" there
comes anotherquestion quite as hard to answer, and it is this: "If we attain

unto Him, how shall we bear ourselves in His presence? how shall we, defiled,
stand in that holy place? how shall we, blear-eyed, face that uncreatedlight?
and even if we were safe through our Saviour from any wrath of God, yet how
could we escape the bitter sense ofcontrast, of unfitness, of intrinsic distance
intensified by outward nearness?"Now, the practicalanswerto such questing
of the natural man is the revelation of the Spirit. In Him, the Spirit of God,
who is also the Spirit of Jesus Christ, who ministers the gifts and graces and
perpetuates the life of Jesus within the Church — in Him, who proceedeth
from the Fatherand receivethof the Son; who being one with the Father and
the Sonyet dwelleth in us, in our inmost centre of life and thought, and
influenceth the secretsprings of will and action — in Him, who, dwelling in
all, bindeth all into one body with the Son of God, and reproduceth the
characterof Jesus in the saints; — in Him, the Lord, the Giver of life, the
Sanctifier, shall we have true accessunto the Father. Taking these two things
together, "by the Son," "in one Spirit," we see that they leave nothing
unprovided. Here is afforded us both outward approach to God and inward
correspondence withGod; both the way to heaven and the powerto traverse
the way; both the joy of our Lord and the capacityof entering into that joy. I
suppose that if man had never fallen, God would never have been knownas
the Three in One. In the ages ofthe past eachblessedPersonlay
undistinguished in the brilliance of the Godhead until the eternal love moved
them to come forth from that obscurity of light for man's salvation. We know
the Sonby finding Him in mortal guise in our midst, displaying even amidst
the cares andsufferings of a human life the glory as of the only-begotten of the
Father. We know the Spirit by perceiving His presence in our own souls, by
recognizing His abiding influence in the Church of God.
(R. Winterbotham, M. A.)
The nature and beauty of gospelworship
J. Owen.
I. We obtain this privilege as a fruit, and upon accountof the reconciliation
made by the blood of Christ (see Hebrews 9:8, and Hebrews 10:19-22). Peter

also gives us the same accountof the rise of this privilege (1 Peter2:4, 5). That
which is ascribedunto believers is, that they offer up "spiritual sacrifices,
acceptable unto God by Jesus Christ." That is the worship whereofwe speak.
II. The worship of God under the gospelis so excellent, beautiful, and
glorious, that it may well be esteemeda privilege purchased by the blood of
Christ, which no man can truly and really be made partaker of, but by virtue
of an interestin the reconciliationby Him wrought. For "by Him we have an
access in one Spirit unto God." This I shall evince two ways. First, Absolutely.
Secondly, Comparatively, in reference unto any other way of worship
whatever. And the first I shall do from the text. It is a principle deeply fixed in
the minds of men, yea, ingrafted into them by nature, that the worship of God
ought to be orderly, comely, beautiful, and glorious.
1. The first thing in generalobservable from these words is, that in the
spiritual worship of the gospel, the whole blessedTrinity, and eachPerson
therein distinctly, do in that economyand dispensation, wherein they act
severallyand peculiarly in the work of our redemption, afford distinct
communion with themselves unto the souls of the worshippers.
2. The same is evident from the generalnature of it, that it is an access unto
God. "ThroughHim we have an access to God." There are two things herein
that setforth the excellency, order, and glory of it.(1) It brings an access.(2)
The manner of that access,intimated in the word here used, it is προσαγωγή,
a manuduction unto God, in order, and with much glory. It is such an access
as men have to the presence ofa king when they are handed in by some
favourite or greatperson. This, in this worship, is done by Christ. He takes
the worshippers by the hand, and leads them into the presence ofGod. There
are two things that hence arise, evidencing the order, decency, and glory of
gospelworship.
1. That we have in it a direct and immediate accessunto God.
2. That we have accessunto God as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
ours in Him. Before I come to considerits glory comparatively, in reference to
the outward solemnworship of the temple of old, I shall add but one
considerationmore, which is necessaryfor the preventing of some objections,

as well as for the farther clearing of the truth insisted on; and that is taken
from the place where spiritual worship is performed. Much of the beauty and
glory of the old worship, according to carnalordinances, consistedin the
excellencyof the place whereinit was performed: first, the tabernacle of
Moses,then the temple of Solomon, of whose gloryand beauty we shall speak
afterward. Answerable hereunto, do some imagine, there must be a beauty in
the place where men assemble for gospelworship, which they labour to paint
and adorn accordingly. But they "err, not knowing the Scriptures."There is
nothing spokenof the place and seatof gospelworship, but it is referred to
one of these three heads, all which render it glorious.
1. It is performed in heaven; though they who perform it are on earth, yet
they do it by faith in heaven.
2. The secondthing mentioned in reference to the place of this worship is the
persons of the saints:these are said to be the "temple of the Lord" (1
Corinthians 6:19).
3. The assemblies ofthe saints are spokenof as God's temple, and the seatand
place of public, solemn, gospelworship(Ephesians 2:21, 22). Here are many
living stones framed into "an holy house in the Lord, an habitation for God by
His Spirit." God dwells here: as He dwelt in the temple of old, by some
outward carnal pledges of His presence;so in the assemblies ofHis saints,
which are His habitation, He dwells unspeakablyin a more glorious manner
by His Spirit. Here, according to His promise, is His habitation. And they are
a temple, a holy temple, holy with the holiness of truth, as the apostle speaks
(Ephesians 4:24). Nota typical, relative, but a real holiness, and such as the
Lord's souldelighteth in. Secondly, proceedwe now in the next place to set
forth the glory and beauty of this worship of the gospelcomparatively, with
reference to the solemn outward worship, which by God's own appointment
was used under the Old Testament;which, as we shall show, was far more
excellenton many accounts than anything of the like kind; that is, as to
outward splendour and beauty, that was everfound out by men.
1. The first of these was the temple, the seatof all the solemnoutward worship
of the old church; the beauty and glory of it were in part spokento before;

nor shall I insist on any particular descriptionof it; it may suffice, that it was
the principal state of the beauty and order of the Judaicalworship, and which
rendered all exceeding glorious, so far, that the people idolized it, and put
their trust in it, that upon the accountof it they should be assuredly
preserved, notwithstanding their presumptuous sins. But yet, notwithstanding
all this, Solomonhimself, in his prayer at the dedicationof that house (1 Kings
8:27), seems to intimate that there was some check upon his spirit, considering
the unanswerable:ness of the house to the greatmajesty of God. It was a
house on the earth, a house that he did build with his hands, intimating that
he lookedfarther to a more glorious house than that. And what is it, if it be
compared with the temple of gospelworship? Whateveris called the temple
now of the people of God, is as much beyond that of old as spiritual things are
beyond carnal, as heavenly beyond earthly, as eternal beyond temporal.
2. The secondspring of the beauty of the old worship, which was indeed the
hinge upon which the whole turned, was the priesthood of Aaron, with all the
administrations committed to his charge. The high priest under the gospelis
Christ alone. Now I shall spare the pains of comparing these together, partly
because it will be by all confessedthat Christ is incomparably more excellent
and glorious;and partly, because the apostle on set purpose handles this
comparisonin sundry instances in the Epistle to the Hebrews, where anyone
may run and read it, it being the main subject matter of that most excellent
Epistle.
3. The order, glory, number, significancy, of their sacrifices wasanotherpart
of their glory. And indeed, he that shall seriouslyconsiderthat one solemn
anniversary sacrifice ofexpiation and atonement, which is instituted
(Leviticus 1, will quickly see that there was very much glory and solemnity in
the outward ceremonyof it. But now, saith the apostle, "we have a better
sacrifice" (Hebrews 9:23). We have Him who is the high priest, and altar, and
sacrifice allHimself; of worth, value, glory, beauty, upon the accountof His
own Person, the efficacyof His oblation, the real effectof it, more than a
whole creation, if it might have been all offered up at one sacrifice. This is the
standing sacrifice ofthe saints, offered "once for all," as effectualnow any
day as if offered every day; and other sacrifices,properly so called, they have
none.

(J. Owen.)
The true God is to be worshipped as existing in Three Persons
N. Emmons, D. D.
I. THE UNITY OF THE DEITY. It is much easierto prove from the light of
nature that there is one God than to prove the impossibility of there being any
more than one. Though some plausible arguments in favour of the unity of the
Deity may be drawn from the beauty, order, and harmony apparent in the
creatures and objects around us, and from the nature of a self-existent,
independent, and perfectBeing, yet these arguments fall far short of full proof
or strict demonstration. To obtain complete and satisfactoryevidence that
there is but one living and true God, we must have resortto the Scriptures of
truth, in which the Divine unity is clearly and fully revealed. God has always
been extremely jealous of His unity, which has been so often disbelieved and
denied in this rebellious and idolatrous world. He has never condescendedto
give His glory to another, nor His praise to false and inferior deities.
II. The one living and true God exists in THREE DISTINCT PERSONS. Itis
generallysupposed that the inspired writers of the Old Testamentgive some
plain intimations of a plurality of persons in the Godhead. But we find this,
like many other greatand important doctrines, more clearlyrevealed by
Christ and the apostles, thanit had been before by the prophets. Christ said a
greatdeal about the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. He commanded His
apostles and their successors in the ministry to baptize visible believers in the
name of this sacredTrinity. After His death, His apostles strenuously
maintained and propagatedthe same doctrine.
III. This leads us to inquire WHY WE OUGHT TO ADDRESS AND
WORSHIP THE ONE TRUE GOD, ACCORDING TO THIS PERSONAL
DISTINCTION IN THE DIVINE NATURE.
1. The first reasonwhich occurs is, because we ought, in our religious
devotions, to acknowledgeeverything in God which belongs to His essential
glory. Much of His essentialgloryconsists in His existing a Trinity in Unity,

which is a mode of existence infinitely superior to that of any other being in
the universe.
2. We ought to address and worship Godaccording to the personaldistinction
in the Divine nature, because we are deeply indebted to eachPersonin the
Godheadfor the office He sustains and the part He performs in the great
work of redemption.
3. We ought to address and worship the true God according to the personal
distinction in the Divine nature, because this is necessarilyimplied in holding
communion with Him. It is owing to God's existing a Trinity in Unity that He
can hold the most perfect and blessedcommunion with Himself. And it is
owing to the same personaldistinction in the Divine nature that Christians
can hold communion with eachand all the Persons in the Godhead.
4. We are not only allowed, but constrained, to address and worship the true
God according to the personaldistinction in the Divine nature, because there
is no other way in which we canfind accessto the throne of Divine grace. This
important idea is plainly contained in the text. As it was Christ who made
atonement for sin, so it is only through Him that we can have accessby one
Spirit unto the Father. Sinful creatures cannotapproachto the Fatherin the
same way that innocent creatures can.The holy angels canapproachto the
Father directly, without the mediation or intercessionof Christ.
1. This discourse teachesus that the doctrine of the Trinity is one of the
essentialand most important articles ofChristianity.
2. It appears from what has been said, that we ought to regard and
acknowledge the Father as the head of the sacredTrinity, and the primary
objectof religious homage. The Father is the first in order, and the supreme
in office; and for this cause we ought to present our prayers and praises more
immediately and directly to Him than to either of the other Persons in the
Godhead.
3. Since God exists in three equally Divine Persons, there appears to be good
ground to pay Divine homage to eachPersondistinctly. Though the Fatheris
most generallyto be distinctly and directly addressed, yet sometimes there

may be a greatpropriety in addressing the Son and Spirit according to their
distinct ranks and offices.
4. If we ought to acknowledge andworship the true God according to the
personaldistinction in the Divine nature, then we ought to obey Him
according to the same distinction. We find some commands given by the
Father, some by the Son, and some by the Holy Ghost. Though we are equally
bound to obey eachof these Divine Persons, inpoint of authority, yet we ought
to obey eachfrom distinct motives, arising from the distinct relations they
bear to us, and the distinct things they have done for us. We ought to obey the
Father as our Creator, the Sonas our Redeemer, and the Holy Ghostas our
Sanctifier. This distinction is as easyto be perceivedand felt, as the distinction
betweencreating goodness,redeeming mercy, and sanctifying grace.
(N. Emmons, D. D.)
Access to God
Paul Bayne.
1. Access to Godalways follows the prevailing of the Word.
2. By Christ alone have we accesswith boldness to God.
3. It is the Spirit which enables us to come to God in prayer.
(Paul Bayne.)
Access to God by Christ
EssexCongregationalRemembrancer.
I. NEARNESSTO GOD THE FATHER IS THE HIGHEST AND
SWEETEST PRIVILEGE WHICH ANY OF THE HUMAN RACE CAN
POSSIBLYENJOY. The word accessin the text means liberty of approach,
as every one acquainted with its use in Scripture will admit. Sin alienates the
mind of man from Jehovah, and raises a bar in his way to blessedness. Buta

method has been devisedfor bringing back those who are banished. We have
access to the Father! What a significant and endearing name! The first thing
requisite for us is accessto the Eternal Father. This being granted, it must, I
think, be manifest that our happiness will increase just in proportion to our
nearness to God. But could the veil which hides the heavenly world be
removed, how would this truth blaze upon us with noontide splendour!
II. WE CAN ENJOYTHE PRIVILEGES OF ACCESS TO THE FATHER
ONLY THROUGH THE MEDIATION OF CHRIST, AND BY THE
AGENCY AND GRACE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
1. Here, then, are we clearly taught that the mediation of Christ is the only
means of approachto and acceptancewith God. This doctrine forms the
grand distinguishing peculiarity of the gospel. But to enter fully into the spirit
of our text, Christ must be contemplated in the characterwhichHe sustains as
the greatHigh Priestof the Church. It is not enough to own that He paid
down a ransom price, and offered an atoning sacrifice ofunspeakable value;
but we must look to His perpetual and all-prevailing intercession. Nearly
related both to the Father with whom He intercedes, and to us for whom
intercessionis made; the nature of eachis joined in His Person. As a brother
He has a lively sympathy with man, and as a prince He has power with God
and prevails.
2. We enjoy this high privilege by the agencyof the Holy Spirit.From the
subject which has been brought before you, the following inferences may be
fairly drawn.
1. If nearness to God be the highest happiness, then distance from Him, or
dislike to His will, is the greatestmisery.
2. If it is through Christ only that we find free approach to the Father, how
thankful ought we to be for such a Mediator. In Him all excellencies, human
and Divine, are united.
3. If the influence of the Holy Spirit is necessaryto bring us into communion
with the Father, as we have shown, then this influence should be earnestly
sought and highly prized.

4. If the doctrine here taught is true, Christians of every name, nation, and
tribe have substantial grounds of union. In the Church there is neither Greek
nor Jew, circumcisionnor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor
free; but Christ is all and in all.
(EssexCongregationalRemembrancer.)
Christian prayer a witness of Christian fellowship
E. L. Hull, B. A.
The whole power and meaning of that glorious exclamation, "Ye are no more
strangers and foreigners," depend on the truth expressedin the previous
verse:"We have accessby one Spirit to the Father." Paul has told the Gentile
Ephesians that they are no longer outcasts from the grand privileges of the
Jew;he has assertedthat they are actually in fellowshipwith the prophets and
apostles, andthe universal Church of the holy; but all the magnificence ofthe
assertionrises out of the principal fact that in Christ they come by one spirit
to God. In short, he finds the proof end pledge of Christian citizenship in the
powerand freedom of Christian prayer. Our subject, then, becomes — The
citizenship of the Christian: its foundation; its nature; its present lessons.
I. ITS FOUNDATION. In accessto the Father — in the powerof approaching
Him in full, free, trustful prayer — lies the foundation proof that we are
"fellow citizens with the saints, and of the householdof God." We have to see
how that convictionrises in the praying soul — how the very factof Christian
prayer contains the proof and pledge that we are citizens of an eternal
kingdom. In doing this let us glance at two principles that are here involved.
1. Christian prayer is the approach of the individual soul to God as its Father.
By accessto God, Paul means the approachto God in which the human spirit
comes nearto Him as a real Divine Presence,to worship Him in full, free,
trustful love; hence it is evident that a man may often have prayed, and yet
never have realized this idea of prayer.

2. That prayer of the individual soul must lead it to the united worship of
God's Church. "We come by one Spirit unto the Father." Paul has been
speaking ofatonement and reconciliation. He knew that these were individual;
but he seems to imply that until Greek and Jew were united in worship the
worship was incomplete. Note one or two facts on this point which are very
significant. We cannot always pray alone. God has so made us that our power
of praying needs the help of our brethren. There are times when the deep
emotions of our nature will not utter themselves, and we groan, being
burdened. We need the help of some other soul that has the divine gift of
uttering the want we cannot utter, that it may bear us upon its wings of holy
sympathy towards the throne.
II. THE NATURE OF OUR CITIZENSHIP. Taking the points we have just
noticed, and combining them, let us see how they point to a fellow citizenship
with the Church of all ages.
1. Prayera witness to our fellowship with the Church of all time. Realizing
God's Fatherhoodin the holy converse of prayer, we are nearermen. Our
selfishness — our narrow, isolating peculiarities begin to fade. In our highest
prayers we realize common wants. No man ever poured out his soul to God,
under the sense ofHis presence, who did not feel that he was nearerthe family
of the Father. To take the most obvious illustration, is it not when the cries of
confession, ofunrest, of aspiration, of hope, mingle in worship that we feel it?
Are we not, then, fellow pilgrims, fellow sufferers, fellow warriors? Thenour
differences vanish, and we know, in some measure, how we belong to the
"householdof God." But it stays not there. The past claims kindred with us in
prayer.
2. Prayera witness to our fellowship with the Church of eternity. This is
harder to be realized, because ofour earthliness — we see so dimly through
the material veil. But the "householdof God" implies this fellowship.
III. ITS LESSONS.
1. Live as members of the kingdom.
2. Expectthe signs of citizenship. The crown of thorns; the Cross.

3. Live in hope of the final ingathering. Paul's words point to this. From this
hope our efforts and aspirations derive their greatestpower;and we feel that
our fellow citizenship is incomplete till we pass from the "earthly tabernacle"
into the eternal home of the Father.
(E. L. Hull, B. A.)
Access to God
T. J. Judkin.
I. THE GREAT WORK OF SALVATION IN ITS PROCESS.
II. THE GREATNESSOF THE AGENCY EMPLOYED IN THE WORK OF
SALVATION.
III. THE WORK OF SALVATION IN THE UNIVERSALITY OF ITS LAW.
The same course must be trodden by all.
(T. J. Judkin.)
Access to the Father, through the Son, by the Spirit
G. A. Rogers,M. A.
I. ACCESS TO THE FATHER. The accessofthe text is the accessof
reconciliationand peace;all enmity is removed, all differences clearedup. But
it is more than this — accessto the Father;He is seen. In the case ofservitude,
servants have accessto their master; but here is access, withboldness, of those
led by the Spirit of God, who are the sons of God. This is accessofsons in
"whom the Father is well pleased" — of those who are made "heirs of God
and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ" — of those who, as you see in the
nineteenth verse, are "fellow citizens with the saints, and of the householdof
God." This access,my brethren, is more than touching the golden sceptre with
the hand of faith; it is the mutual embrace with the arms of love; it is the
access ofa loving son to a loving father.

II. But HOW CAN WE OBTAIN ADMISSION into the presence of the
Father? Whence this access? Here, by nature, practice, habit, disposition, we
are far from our Father's land. We are "strangers andforeigners" (Ephesians
2:19). Who can tell if He is willing to receive us? And if He will receive us, who
is to bring us to Him? These questions are answeredby the expressionin the
text, "through Him," that is, through Christ. Without introduction, there is
no admission; and he who introduces another is in generalanswerable forthe
manner and conduct of the person introduced. Now, if you look to the context,
you will see how Christ introduces us to the presence of the Father. You are
"enemies," "rebels";the first thing, then, to be done is to make peace. He has
made peace, as you will see in the fifteenth verse; that is, He settledthe terms
of peace;He abolished in effectthe enmity which existedbetweenus and God.
He slew that enmity upon the Cross. Butthen we were afar off, in a distant
country, strangers and foreigners:therefore He came, as you see in the
seventeenthverse, "to preach peace to you that were afar off." He tells us
what He has done, both in the courts of heaven and upon the heights of
Calvary.
III. The remaining expressionin the text brings us to THE WORK OF THE
HOLY GHOST. By the Holy Spirit we have accessto the Father, through
Jesus Christ. Thus you see we have the doctrine of the Trinity brought before
us in this short verse. It is highly important always to bearin mind that the
three Persons in the Trinity are equally concernedin the work of the sinner's
salvation. Now, how is it we possessthe privilege of access to the Father
through the Son? We must recollectthat would be no privilege unless there
were the capacityto enjoy the same. Bring a blind man to the most attractive
sight, and he is unable to behold or to enjoy it. Let heavenring with a concert
of the most angelic music, and the deaf man will not be animated by it. And
give a man without the Spirit the privilege of accessto the Father, and he has
no part in it; he is entirely incapable of appreciating the Divine enjoyments of
His presence;he would feelhimself "afaroff," although he were brought very
nigh. Change of place is not enough; there must be a change of heart. Now
here comes in the work of the Spirit. Secondly: The Spirit teaches us how to
behave ourselves in the presence ofthe Father; He not only conducts, but

teaches and instructs. Without the Spirit's teaching, we could never learn
"Abba"; we should never frame our speecharight.
(G. A. Rogers, M. A.)
Bold accessto the Father
T. Guthrie D. D.
It is the boldness of the little child that, unabashed by anyone's presence,
climbs his father's knee, and throws his arms around his neck — or, bursting
into his room, breaks in on his busiest hours, to have a bleeding finger bound,
or some childish tears kissedaway;that says if any threaten or hurt him, I
will tell my father; and, howeverhe might tremble to sleepalone, fears neither
ghosts, nor man, nor darkness, nor devils, if he lies couchedat his father's
side. Such confidence, bold as it seems, springs from trust in a father's love;
and pleases ratherthan offends us.
(T. Guthrie D. D.)
The confidence of children
D. L. Moody.
I remember seeing a man in Mobile putting little boys on the fence posts, and
they jumped into his arms with perfect confidence. But there was one boy nine
or ten years old who would not jump. I askedthe man why it was, and he said
the boy was not his. Ah, that was it. The boy was not his. He had not learned
to trust him. But the other boys knew him and could trust him.
(D. L. Moody.)
COMMENTARIES

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(18) Forthrough him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.—In
this verse the two meanings againunite. In the originalthe order is emphatic:
“Through Him we have the access, both of us in one Spirit, to the Father.”
The greateridea of accessto God is still prominent; but the lesseridea of
union with eachother in that accessis still traceable as an undertone.
“Access” is properly “the introduction” (used also in Ephesians 3:12; Romans
5:2), a technical word of presentationto a royal presence. So says Chrysostom,
“We came not of ourselves, but He brought us in.” The corresponding verb is
found in 1Peter3:18, “Christ also sufferedfor sins—the just for the unjust—
that He might bring us to God.” It will be noted that we have here one of the
implicit declarations ofthe doctrine of the Holy Trinity, so frequent in this
Epistle. The unity of the whole Church, as united “to the Father,” “through
the Son,” and “in the Spirit,” is here summed up in one sentence, but with as
much perfection and clearnessas evenwhen it is unfolded in the greatpassage
below (Ephesians 4:4-6). The ultimate source of all doctrine on the subject is
necessarilyin the words of the Lord Himself. (See John 14-17, especiallyJohn
14:6; John 14:16-18;John 14:23-25;John 15:26; John 16:13-15;John 17:20-
21.)For these are the “heavenly things”; and “no man hath ascendedinto
heaven but He that came down from heaven, eventhe Son of Man who is in
heaven” (John 3:12-13).
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
2:14-18 Jesus Christ made peace by the sacrifice ofhimself; in every sense
Christ was their Peace, the author, centre, and substance of their being at
peace with God, and of their union with the Jewishbelievers in one church.
Through the person, sacrifice, and mediation of Christ, sinners are allowedto
draw near to God as a Father, and are brought with acceptanceinto his
presence, with their worship and services,under the teaching of the Holy
Spirit, as one with the Father and the Son. Christ purchased leave for us to
come to God; and the Spirit gives a heart to come, and strength to come, and
then grace to serve Godacceptably.

Barnes'Notes on the Bible
For through him - That is, he has securedthis result that we have accessto
God. This he did by his death - reconciling us to God by the doctrines which
he taught - acquainting us with God; and by his intercessionin heaven - by
which our "prayers gain acceptance" withhim.
We both have access - Both Jews and Gentiles;see the notes at Romans 5:2.
We are permitted to approachGod through him, or in his name. The Greek
word here - προσαγωγή prosagōgē- relates properly to the introduction to, or
audience which we are permitted to have with a prince or other person of high
rank. This must be effectedthrough an officer of court to whom the duty is
entrusted. "Rosenmuller," Alt und neu Morgenland, in loc.
By one Spirit - By the aid of the same Spirit - the Holy Spirit; see notes, 1
Corinthians 12:4.
Unto the Father - We are permitted to come and address God as our Father;
see the Romans 8:15, note 26, note.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
18. Translate, "Forit is through Him (Joh 14:6; Heb 10:19) that we have our
access (Eph 3:12; Ro 5:2), both of us, in (that is, united in, that is, "by," 1Co
12:13, Greek)one Spirit to the Father," namely, as our common Father,
reconciledto both alike;whence flows the removal of all separationbetween
Jew and Gentile. The oneness of"the Spirit," through which we both have our
access,is necessarilyfollowedby oneness ofthe body, the Church (Eph 2:16).
The distinctness of persons in the Divine Trinity appears in this verse. It is
also fatal to the theory of sacerdotalpriests in the Gospelthrough whom alone
the people can approachGod. All alike, people and ministers, can draw nigh
to God through Christ, their ever living Priest.
Matthew Poole's Commentary
For through him, as our Mediatorand Peace-maker, who hath reconciledus
to God,

we both have access, are admitted or introduced,
by one Spirit unto the Father; by the Holy Ghost, who is our Guide to lead us
to the Father, as Christ is the wayby which we go to him, John 14:6. As there
is but one Mediator through whom both Jews and Gentiles come to God, so
but one and the same Spirit, Ephesians 4:4.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
For through him we both have an access, Thatis, both Jews and Gentiles;the
Arabic versionreads, "we both factions":being made one, and reconciled
unto God, and having the Gospelofpeace preachedto both, they have
through Christ freedom of access andboldness in it:
by one Spirit unto the Father: they may come to God as the Fatherof spirits,
and of mercies, who has made their souls or spirits, and bestowedhis mercies
on them in greatabundance; and as the Fatherof Christ, and as their God
and Fatherin Christ: and the rather they should considerhim in this relation
to them, in order to command in them a reverence and fear of him; to secure a
freedom and liberty in their approachto him; and to encourage anholy
boldness, and a fiducial confidence in him; and to teach them submission to
his will: and their access to him is "through" Christ, who has made peace for
them, and atonementfor their sins; who has satisfiedlaw and justice, and
brought in an everlasting righteousnessfor them; so that there is nothing lies
in their way to hinder them; and besides, he takes them as it were by the
hand, and leads them into the presence of his Father, and presents their
petitions for them, on whose accountthey have both audience and acceptance
with God: and this accessis also "by one Spirit"; the "Holy Spirit", as the
Ethiopic version reads;and who is necessaryin access to God, as a spirit of
adoption, to enable and encourage souls to go to God as a father; and as a
spirit of supplication, to teachboth how to pray, and for what, as they should;
and as a free spirit to give them liberty to speak their minds freely, and pour
out their souls to God; and as a spirit of faith to engage them to pray in faith,
and with holy boldness, confidence, and importunity; and he is said to be
"one", both with respectto the persons to and by whom accessis had, the

Father and Christ, for he is the one and the same Spirit of the Father and of
the Son; and with respectto the persons who have this access, Jewsand
Gentiles, who as they make up one body, are actuated and directed by, and
drink into one and the same Spirit: hence this access to Godis of a spiritual
kind; it is a drawing nigh to God with the heart, and a worshipping him in
spirit; and is by faith, and may be with freedom, and should be, with
reverence, and ought to be frequent; and is a peculiar privilege that belongs to
the children of God; and who have greathonour bestowedupon them, to have
access to God at any time, as their Father, through Christ the Mediator, and
under the influence, and by the direction and assistance ofthe Holy Spirit:
this is a considerable proofof a trinity of persons in the Godhead, of their
deity and distinct personality
Meyer's NT Commentary
Ephesians 2:18. Prooffrom an appeal to factfor what has just been said:
εὐηγγ. εἰρήνην ὑμῖν τ. μακρ. κ. εἰρ. τοῖς ἐγγύς. In this case the main stress of
the proof lies in οἱ ἀμφότεροι ἐν ἑνὶ πνεύμ. If, namely, through Christ, both in
One Spirit have the προσαγωγή to the Father, to both must the same news,
that of peace, have been imparted by Him. This is the necessaryhistoric
premiss of that happy state of unity now actually subsistentthrough Christ.
He must have proclaimed εἰρήνη to the one as to the other; of this Paul now
gives the probatio ab effectu. Others hold that ὅτι introduces the contents of
the messageofpeace (Baumgarten, Koppe, Morus, Flatt). But the contents is
fully expressedin the εἰρήνη itself, agreeablyto the context; hence, too, we
may not say, with Rückert, that the essenceofthe εἰρήνη is explained.
According to Harless, the truth of that proclamation is shownfrom the reality
of the possession. But in this way a subsidiary thought (namely, that the
proclamation was true) is introduced not merely arbitrarily, but also
unsuitably (for the truth of that which has been proclaimed was self-evident).
τὴν προσαγωγήν]Christ is not conceivedofas door (John 10:7; Beza, Calvin),
which is remote from the context, but as bringer; in which case there may be
an allusion to the Oriental custom of getting access to the king only through a

προσαγωγεύς (see on Romans 5:2), but not to sacrificialprocessionsin
accordancewith Herod. ii. 58 (Meier), which would be an unsuitable
comparison. Before Christ had reconciledmen with God, communion with
God was, on accountof the wrath of God (Ephesians 2:3; Romans 5:10),
denied to them; Christ by His ἱλαστήριονremoved this obstacle, and thus
became the προσαγωγεύς, through the mediation of whom (διʼ αὐτοῦ)we now
and henceforth have the bringing near (Thuc. i. 82;Polyb. ix. 41. 1, xii. 4. 10;
Xen. Cyr. vii. 5. 45)unto God. In substance the having the προσαγωγή to God
is not different from the εἰρήνη πρὸς τὸν Θεόν(Romans 5:1), and from the
filial relationship of the reconciled. It is the consequence ofthe atoning death
of Jesus;the peacefulrelation of believers towards God, brought about
through this death. Comp. 1 Peter3:18. Here, moreover, as at Romans 5:2,
the notion of bringing towards, which the word has, is not to be interchanged
with that of approachor access(as still by Rückert, Harless, Bleek), as though
πρόσοδονwere written in the text. Christ by the continuous power and
efficacyof His atoning actis the constantBringer to the Father. Comp.
Ephesians 3:12.
ἐν ἑνὶ πνεύματι]for the Holy Spirit is to both one and the same element of life
(comp. on Romans 8:15), apart from which they cannot have the προσαγωγή
to God. The referring of it to the human spirit (ὁμοθυμαδόν, Anselm,
Homberg, Zachariae, Koppe, Morus, Rosenmüller)ought to have been
precluded by taking note of the Divine Trias in our passage(διʼαὐτοῦ, ἐν ἑνὶ
πνεύματι, πρὸς τὸν πατέρα); comp. Ephesians 2:12;Ephesians 2:22.
Observe, further, the difference of meaning betweenthe ἔχομεν (denoting the
continuously present possessionofthe signalbenefit) and the ἐσχήκαμενof
Romans 5:2 (see on the latter passage).
Expositor's Greek Testament
Ephesians 2:18. ὅτι διʼ αὐτοῦ ἔχομεντὴν προσαγωγὴνοἱ ἀμφότεροι ἐνἑνὶ
πνεύματι πρὸς τὸν πατέρα: for through Him we both have our accessin one

Spirit unto the Father. Some take ὅτι as = that, the mention of the common
access being takenas the contents of the εὐηγγελίσατο. Butthe subjectof the
preaching has already been given, viz., εἰρήνη. Hence ὅτι=for, and the verse is
a confirmation of the previous statement in the form of an appeal to the
experience of those addressed. The fact that we, both of us, are now brought
to God through Him is a witness to the truth of what I have just said, viz., that
Christ came and preached peace to both. The privilege referred to is a present
and continuing privilege (ἔχομεν, not ἐσχήκαμενas in Romans 5:2)—one to
which effect is being given now, viz., τὴν προσαγωγήν, “the introduction,” or
“our introduction”. This noun denotes, properly speaking, the Acts of
bringing to one, and then the approachor access (Herod., ii., 58;Xen., Cyr.,
vii., 5, 45). It is urged by some (Mey., Ell., etc.)that both here and in Romans
5:2 it has the primary trans. sense, anddenotes the privilege of being brought
to God or introduced to Him. Christ would thus be presented in the character
of “Bringer,” perhaps with some allusion to the office of the προσαγωγεύς
through whom in Oriental courts one was brought into the royal presence.
But the difference in idea betweenaccess (πρόσοδος)and“admission” (Ell.) or
“bringing” (προσαγωγή) is slight, and there seems sufficientjustification for
the intrans. sense. The ἐν ἑνὶ πνεύματι, which is strangelytaken by some
(Anselm, Rosenm.)as = ὁμοθυμαδόν, “withone mind,” obviously refers to the
Holy Ghost. That is made clearboth by the mention of the coming and
preaching in the Spirit, and by the reference both to Christ and to the Father.
The ἐν is not = by, but in, with reference to the elementin which alone we
have the access. As that right is ours only through Christ (διʼ αὐτοῦ), so it is
made ours in actual experience only in the Spirit, and Jew and Gentile have it
alike because it is one and the same Spirit that works in both. So both have
continuous access to Godfrom whom once they were far removed, to Him,
too, in the benign character ofthe Father(τὸν πατέρα)whom they can
approachwithout fear.
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
18. for] It is possible to render “that,” and so to make this the substance of the
messageof“peace.”The difference is not important. But it is grammatically
better to retain A. V. (and R. V.).

both] Masculine plural, as Ephesians 2:16, where see note. Both the great
groups, in all their individual members, have this access.
access]Better, ourintroduction; the proper meaning of the original word,
reminding the acceptedChristian that he owes his freedom of entrance to
Another. True, the freedom is present, perpetual, and assured;but it not only
was first securedby the Redeemer’s work, but rests every moment on that
work for its permanence. We are, thanks be to God, evermore free to and in
His presence-chamber, but we are also evermore free there “through His
Son,” Who “everliveth to make intercessionforus.”—The word occurs
elsewhere Romans 5:2;and below, Ephesians 3:12.
by one Spirit] Lit. and better, in one Spirit; surrounded, animated,
penetrated, by the Spirit. This is undoubtedly the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete,
so largely in view in this Epistle. Cp. 2 Corinthians 13:14;1 Peter1:2; Judges
20, 21; among other passages, fora similar implicit recognitionof the Persons
of the Holy Trinity in the Divine harmony of their actions for and relations to
the saints.
“One:”—in contrastto the “both.” See Acts 5 for the fact that even to
Apostles after Pentecostit was still a discoverythat the Holy Ghostshould
visit and bless Gentiles with the same freedom and fulness as Jews.
the Father]“His Father and our Father;” John 20:17. This profound word,
rich in life, love, and joy, was indeed a new treasure, in its Christian sense, to
“them that were afar off.” No pagan mythology, or philosophy, though the
word was not unknown to them, knew the thing; the Divine reality of an
eternal and paternal Holy Love. To the Israelite the Lord was indeed known
as “like unto a Father pitying his children” (Psalm103:13);“doubtless our

Father” (Isaiah 63:16);but even to him the word would develope into
inexhaustible riches when read in the light of the Sonship of the true Messiah.
Observe that the approach of the soul is here, as always, ultimately to the
Father. Not that the Son, and the Spirit, are not eternal and Divine; but He
is—the Father.
Bengel's Gnomen
Ephesians 2:18. Ὅτι, because)—Πρὸς τὸνΠατέρα) to the Father, as to [our]
Father. In this verse mention is made of Christ, of the Spirit, of the Father, in
the same order in which Christ, the Spirit of promise, and God, are referred
to at Ephesians 2:12; [comp. ch. Ephesians 1:3; Ephesians 1:5]. In a different
order [the Three Divine Persons are mentioned] in Revelation1:4-5.
Pulpit Commentary
Verse 18. - For through him both of us have our access by one Spirit unto the
Father. Further illustration of identity of position of Jews andGentiles, and of
the work of Christ in bringing it about. Subject of this verse, accessto the
Father; predicate, this accesseffectedthrough Christ by the one Spirit. Our
having accessto the Fatheris assumedas a matter of spiritual experience;the
convertedEphesians knew that in their prayers and other exercises theydid
really stand before God, and felt as children to a Father. How came this to
pass? "Throughhim." Sinful men have not this privilege by nature; "Your
iniquities have separatedbetweenyou and your God" (Isaiah59:2). They
need a Mediator; Jesus is that Mediator;and through him, both Jews and
Gentiles enjoy the privilege. But right of accessis not enough; in approaching
God and holding fellowshipwith him there must be some congenialityof soul,
a fellow-feeling betweenGodand the worshipper; this is effectedthrough the
same Spirit. Some render "in the same spirit, or disposition of mind." This is
true, but not all the truth; for the question arises - How do we get this suitable
disposition? And the answeris - It is wrought by the Holy Spirit. As the state
of the soul in true intercourse with God is substantially the same in all, so it is
brought by the same Holy Spirit. In fact, this verse is one of the characteristic

texts of Ephesians, in which Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are brought
together."
END OF BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Believers have “access” to God the Father through the Holy Spirit because of
the atoning death of Jesus Christ on the cross.
“Access” (prosagoge)comes from two words ago meaning, "to go," and the
preposition pros meaning "toward, facing." It is a leading or bringing into the
presence ofanother person, and denotes "access."The idea is to have freedom
to enter through the assistanceorfavor of another.
The word is used in Romans 5:2; Ephesians 2:18; 3:12. The apostle Paul used
the word to picture God's grace as a place of safetyfor the Christian. The
believer has a permanent safe refuge in which we now live in the rich
experience of God's saving grace (Rom. 5:2). "We have accessby faith into
this grace whereinwe stand."
We have obtained as a permanent possessionourintroduction by faith into
the grace in which we stand and exult in glory.
The verb proago means "approach” or“a drawing near." The apostle Paul
writes we both have our accessin one Spirit through Christ to the Father
(Ephesians 2:18). All three persons of the Trinity share in the work of the
redemption. It is "through Him [Christ] . . . in one Spirit to the Father."
It is God's eternalpurpose in Jesus Christour Lord that "we have boldness
and confident accessthrough faith in Him" (3:12).
The Holy Spirit leads or brings us into the presence ofGod. We have freedom
to enter through the assistanceorfavor of another. The word was usedto
introduce a person into the presence of the king, the place where a ship docks
or "landing stage"in a safe haven or harbor. The ship would have accessinto
and rest in a safe haven. We have entered through the atoning death of Jesus

Christ into the permanent unlimited favor of the haven of God's infinite
grace.
The apostle Peterused the root verb prosago, meaning "approach, drawing
near" when he wrote "in order that He might bring us to God." He said, "For
Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might
bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the
spirit" (1 Peter3:18).
We now have an entree into the presence ofa holy God on the basis of the
saving work of Christ. Jesus declaredthat He alone is our access to God. Jesus
said, "Truly, truly, I sayto you, I am the door of the sheep" (John 10:7). "I
am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but
through Me" (John 14:6). The apostle Peterissuedan invitation to all a the
end of a sermons saying, "And there is salvationin no one else;for there is no
other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must
be saved" (Acts 4:12).
Abiding Principles and PracticalApplications
1. BecauseofGod's saving grace in Jesus Christ we are acceptable to Him and
have assurance thatHe is favorably disposed towardus. The sole basis of our
acceptancewith God is the death of Jesus Christ for our sins.
2. BecauseJesuscame and died as our substitute and by means of that death
for our sins and His resurrection He literally became the Doorby which sinful
people cancome into the presence ofGod and abide with Him. It is the "new
and living way" (Heb. 10:20), and it is "through Him we . . . have access . . . to
the Father" (Eph. 2:18; 3:12).
3. If we are believers we have the right to enter God's presence in prayer, and
worship with confidence that He will receive us and answerus.
www.abideinchrist.com/
Unrestricted Access to the Father

David Wilkerson
January 8, 2001
"According to the eternalpurpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our
Lord: in whom we have boldness and accesswith confidence by the faith of
him" (Ephesians 3:11–12). God's children have one of the greatestprivileges
ever bestowedon humankind. We have the right, the boldness and the
freedom to break in on our Lord at any time.
Our heavenly father sits on a throne in eternity. And at his right hand sits his
son, our blessedLord and savior, Jesus. Outside this throne room are gates,
which open to all who are in Christ. At any time — day or night, around the
clock — we can bypass guardian angels, seraphims and all the heavenly hosts
to boldly enter these gates and approachour father's throne. Christ has
provided us with direct access to the father, to receive all the mercy and grace
we need, no matter what our circumstance.
This wasn't always the case. In the Old Testament, no personhad accessto the
father, with a few exceptions. Forexample, we know that Abraham enjoyed a
measure of accessto the Lord. This devout man was calleda friend of God. He
heard from the Lord, he talked to him, he had communion with him.
Yet even Abraham remained "outside the veil." Even though he was a friend
of God, he never had accessto the holy of holies, where God resided. The
spiritual veil of separationhad not yet been ripped in two.
At one point in Israel's history, God declaredhe would speak to the prophets
through visions and dreams: "If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord
will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a
dream" (Numbers 12:6).
This was a very restrictedaccessto God. Yet, again, there was an exception:
Moses,the leaderof Israel. God said of him, "My servant Mosesis not so, who
is faithful in all mine house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even
apparently, and not in dark speeches;and the similitude of the Lord shall he

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