Eternity Daily Bible Study No. 237

Life In Christ –  15

PRAYER STRENGTHENS US IN THE INNER MAN

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Ephesians 3:14-17
(14)  For this cause I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
(15)  of whom the whole family in Heaven and earth is named,
(16)  that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man;
(17)  that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,

Believing prayer can cause the Holy Spirit to strengthen us “in the inner man”. 

Paul seems to have a very firm belief that spiritual growth can occur in response to believing prayer; because for the second time in Ephesians Paul prays for the believers that they may grow in Christ.  And Paul prays earnestly – expecting that God will answer his intercession, and Paul prays boldly and asks for great things for them. (We will break this prayer into two parts as we study it today and tomorrow.)

The center point of today’s verses is that God the Father would grant the Ephesians grace so that the Holy Spirit would strengthen then “in the inner man” so that Christ would dwell in their hearts by faith and in love. Let’s unpack this theology for a moment.

The arena of action is “the inner man” – that is where the Holy Spirit will do His work and where Christ will dwell by faith. The inner man is the eternal part of us in contrast to the “outer man” which is wasting away.
2 Corinthians 4:16
(16)  Wherefore we faint not; but though our outward man is decaying, yet our inward man is renewed day by day.

True Christian spirituality is based on inner spiritual and moral realities not on external factors.
Romans 2:28-29
(28)  For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh:
(29)  but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

It matters not what color shirts you wear, or how much or little lipstick you put on or how many bumper stickers are on the back of your car. These things in themselves carry no weight and are only significant when they are true signs of an inner spiritual reality.

By strengthening the inner man we strengthen that which is Christ-like, true and eternal within us and become spiritually and morally stronger, more able to resist temptation, more resilient under trials and are empowered to carry out Christ’s commands. And when that which is eternal is strengthened within us we become les inclined to cling to this world, which is passing away. 

This inner man is a new creation:
2 Corinthians 5:17
(17)  Wherefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: the old things are passed away; behold, they are become new.

In Christ this new inner self is created, and by the Holy Spirit the inner self is strengthened and made sound and whole and deep and Christ-like and full of faith and love. 

Prayer is the main means by which God’s grace is called upon to make us strong spiritually. If you do not pray, you will not be strong in God. And if no-one prays for you, in the way Paul prayed for the Ephesians, you may miss out on much spiritual growth.  We need the prayers of others.

Also, if all your prayers are for finances and exams and career and life-partner issues –you will be wrapped up in self and weak in God. These issues are important – but grace is essential! Instead pray for a stronger spiritual life, for faith and confidence in God, for spiritual energy and enthusiasm, for a heart filled with hope and a life filled with the fruit of the Spirit.

“That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith”.  Christian living is not just about knowing or doing – but also about a change in our inner being. Christ is to dwell in us. We are to live as God-indwelt humans.

Christ dwelling in us is at the heart of New Testament Christianity. It is why Paul says “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me”. (Galatians 2:20).  Eve if we were stuck in a desert without a church or a bible we would still have Christ in us the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27) 

Now quite obviously Christ seems to dwell far more powerfully in some lives than in others. What is the secret to this? How can we be redolent with God and overflowing with the inner presence of Jesus Christ? First of all we must realize that Christ being formed in us is 100% a work of grace - we cannot build Him out of our concepts, deeds and words. Christ is not a notion, rather He is a spiritual Person and He is formed in us by God. In these verses Paul indicates that Christ being formed in us happens in community, in response to prayer as a result of the work of the Holy Spirit, at the behest of the Father. Prevailing prayer precedes every revival. We must ask for grace, and we must ask to be strengthened in our inner man.

Paul prays that Christ may be formed in us through faith, through the living, believing personal connection we have with our Creator. It is through this connection, through our link with the very life of God, that we are transformed from glory to glory:
2 Corinthians 3:18
(18)  But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit.

As we are transformed through our relationship with God and the power of the Holy Spirit we adopt a certain lifestyle – the lifestyle of love. 
Ephesians 3:17-19
(17)  and that Christ would make his home in your hearts through faith. Then, having been rooted and grounded in love,
(18)  you will be able to understand, along with all the saints, what is wide, long, high, and deep-
(19)  that is, you will know the love of Christ, which goes far beyond knowledge, and will be filled with all the fullness of God.

To sum up – prayer strengthens us spiritually in the inner part of us that is eternal, so that we can live as God-indwelt people, in a close relationship with God, and in a lifestyle of love.  So pray for yourself and others that together you may grow in God.

Blessings,

John Edmiston <johned@aibi.ph>

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