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Ephesians 3:8-13

“(8)To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, (9) and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; (10) to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, (11) according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, (12) in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him.  (13) Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.”

As Christians do we have the right kind of confidence in our lives?  Are we willing to truly spread the word of God to the world?  I think that many people today lack that kind of confidence in telling others about Christ.  In Ephesians 3:8-13 I think Paul shows us the kind of confidence that we need to display within our own lives and how our own faith can determine the confidence we possess. In verse 8 we see Paul start off with mentioning that he is the very least of all saints. Perhaps he was looking back at the atrocities that he had committed when he persecuted Christians. In his eyes he was a terrible murderer, killing these people for the wrong reasons. Some of the people may have looked at their own lives and could not possibly understand how they could be saved. These people may have believed that they had gone too far down the road of sin to have any chance of forgiveness; however we can see here that Paul uses himself to show that this isn't the case.

Through the example of Paul we are shown that grace is available to all no matter what one has done in the past. In Paul's case, he is given grace in that he will be able to tell the Gentiles about the salvation through Christ. Paul was charged with the responsibility to share the light of Christ to everyone (Ephesians 3:9).  I believe that we are also charged with this same responsibility. We are commanded to go throughout the world to spread the word of God (Mark 16:15-16).  However, sometimes it seems that we lack the initiative and overall confidence to carry out this commandment.

You can hear many excuses of why people do not talk to others about God. Some people just don't want to deal with the conflict or others just don't believe they have enough knowledge to bring someone closer to God. As Christians, we have to learn to get these types of excuses away from our minds.  Paul addresses the confidence that we need to show in our lives in verses 12 and 13. If we are going to achieve greater confidence when it comes to saving the lost, then the first thing that we are going to have to do is attain the proper kind of faith. 

This is the kind of faith that is literally going to change our lives. We have to put our complete trust in the Lord.  We should want to carry out his commandments, not do them because we have to. We should strive to fulfill the commandments of God because His word is a part of us and in our hearts.  If we come to have the proper kind of faith then we are going to have to take action. Our faith is a dead faith if we do not actually have a change in our lives (James 2:20).  When we take action then it will involve our faith in spreading the grace and salvation that God offers.

Therefore, if we truly have faith in our Lord and Savior then we are going to discover the kind of boldness and confidence that Paul speaks about in verse 12. We will have the confidence to share with others that all can be saved through Christ. As Christians we need to constantly be on the lookout to share with others that they too can be saved by His grace. So even when times are bad and it looks like there isn’t any hope let’s not forget about our faith and the confidence that stems from it.  Let's all strive to have the confidence to spread the salvation and grace of God.