Ephesians 3:19 – Knowledge by Experience
to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Truth to Learn
You can only really know God’s love by experience.
Behind the Words
There is a tiny Greek particle that is left out of our translation here. It is the word te, which is a particle of connection meaning “and, also, or even.” Thus, this verse should start out, “and to know …”
The word translated “to know” is the infinitive form of ginōskō, which refers to “knowing something completely, usually by experience.” So, we could say “to fully know.”
“Passes” is from huperballō, which is made up of huper (or hyper), meaning “above” or “beyond” and ballō, meaning “to throw.” Thus, we see that huperballō literally means “to throw beyond.” In general usage the meaning is “to exceed” or “to go beyond.” It is expressed here as a participle (being beyond).
“Knowledge” is from gnōsis. This is derived from ginōskō, which we just looked at.
Putting all this together we see that the opening part of this verse could be translated, “and to know by experience the love of Christ which is beyond knowing …”
Meaning Explained
We are in the middle of a worshipful prayer of the Apostle Paul which he is praying for his beloved friends in the church at Ephesus. By extension, this prayer is presented on behalf of all Christians. The first two of the four petitions in this prayer were that God the Father would strengthen our inner man by means of God the Holy Spirit and for Christ to dwell in our hearts through faith.
The third petition began in verse seventeen and ends in today’s verse; it is “that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— and to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge.”
The crux of all this is in today’s verse: “for us to fully know (by experience) the love of Christ which is beyond intellectual knowledge” [my paraphrase]. Not only does Paul pray that we might understand how huge and all-encompassing (width, length, depth, and height) God’s love is, he also prays that we might know that which is unknowable.
There are many people (saved and unsaved) who talk about the love of God but who don’t really know God’s love. According to Paul, it is not something that you can study and learn about by reading books and listening to others talk about. Sure, you can recognize God’s love at work, but you can’t gain a full understanding of it that way. Only those who have experienced God’s love through His mercy, His grace, His miraculous provision, and His comfort in times of need, can really know what it’s like.
Application
If you’ve never gone through times of difficulty in your Christian walk, if you’ve never felt helpless and had to rely completely on Him, if you’ve never felt trapped by your own sinfulness, begging for His mercy, if you’ve never fallen before God with a completely broken spirit, then you don’t really understand His love. If you have, then you know by experience the kind of love that only God can show! Praise be to God!
In God’s service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2011 Will Krause. All rights reserved.
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