Ephesians: Paul’s Stewardship of Grace
Ephesians 3:1-3 - Paul starts a prayer, then decides to deviate to explain the mystery of the revelation to him.
“For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles— if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace which was given to me for you; that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief.”
Ephesians 3:1-3 NASB1995
Ephesians 3 begins with Paul looking back at the first two chapters that delineated the Good News for the Gentiles. According to commentators, Paul is starting a prayer in Chapter 3 in verse 1, then takes a short detour into an explanation of the mystery, which he wrote about before in brief. He describes himself as a prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of the Gentiles (not necessarily a prisoner of the Romans). This devotional is going to be quite short, as the heart of Paul’s explanation really starts after verse 3.
Here’s what Enduring Word says about verses 1-3 in this chapter:
a. I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles: During his Roman imprisonment Paul was under house arrest. In the day he was free to move around the house with the supervision of soldiers, but every night he was chained to a soldier to make sure he did not escape before his trial before Caesar. Yet he saw himself as the prisoner of Jesus Christ. He knew that Jesus was the Lord of his life, not the Roman government, so if he was a prisoner, he was Jesus’ prisoner.
b. For you Gentiles: The entire reason he was under arrest and awaiting trial was because of his missionary efforts on behalf of the Gentiles.
i. Paul suffered for the very truth he would explain to the Ephesians, and this did not make him back down one bit.
ii. The last thing Paul wanted was people to feel sorry for him because he was imprisoned. He wanted his readers to realize that it was a benefit for them that he was a prisoner.
c. If indeed you have heard: This suggests Paul knew his particular calling to the Gentile world was well known among Gentile Christians.
So why was Paul under house arrest in Rome? We learned about this lengthy saga in my study of the book of Acts. Needless to say, Paul’s embrace of Gentiles in the new-found faith in Christ was a big part of this journey, which was supposed to end pleading before Caesar in Rome.
Ray Stedman has some wise words about Paul’s imprisonment as noted in Precept Austin:
Ray Stedman writes that Paul was apparently "in Rome, a prisoner of Caesar, awaiting trial before Nero. But never once does he say that he is a prisoner of Caesar; it is always "a prisoner of Christ Jesus." The reason is obvious when you read his letters. He saw that Caesar was not the one who had the final say about him; Jesus did. The duration of his confinement was not determined by Caesar, but by the Lord Jesus. As Paul came to understand the One whom he served, he knew that Jesus is in control of history. He saw him as John did in the book of Revelation -- as sitting on his throne, holding the reins of government in his hands. He is the One who opens, and no man shuts, who shuts, and no man opens, who orders, and his will is carried out. Paul knew, therefore, that anytime the Lord Jesus decided Paul's imprisonment would be of no further value, he would be set free, that when the Lord Jesus spoke, Caesar acted. Therefore, he never saw himself as being the prisoner of Caesar. This is a tremendous lesson to us, who sometimes become worried and anxious about what the political powers-that-be are doing in the world today. Would that we had the faith of this mighty apostle who understood so clearly that Caesar was not in control; Jesus is. (Ephesians 3:1-6: Great Mystery).
We should all take this advice and realize who is really in control of our lives. Worrying about the next political leader is a fool’s folly. Yes, politics have their place, but we should focus on His will. We are prisoners of our Lord, yet are set free in Him!
My next devotional examines Philippians 3:4-7 - The mystery made known to Paul.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - The more I learn about scripture, the more I realize that endless hand-wringing about current political issues is a distraction from obedience to Your will. Amen.
Citations and Credits:
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.Lockman.org.
Precept Austin was accessed on 04/15/2026 to review commentary for Ephesians 3:1-3.
Commentary from Enduring Word is used with written permission and without any alteration. ©1996-present The Enduring Word Bible Commentary by David Guzik – enduringword.com.