A Prisoner of Christ

Paul calls himself “a prisoner of Christ Jesus” because Christ, not Rome or Caesar, holds final authority over his life. Paul does not deny that prison is hard, that ministry has cost him, or that he has lost freedom. But Paul refuses to let prison tell him who he is. Christ tells him who he is. Paul can say that Rome chained him to a soldier, but Christ placed him where Christ wanted him.

Paul grounds that perspective in what Christ has already accomplished. Christ has brought those who were far off near. Christ has torn down the hostility between Jew and Gentile, made the two one, and built strangers and aliens into the household of God. The church is not merely a gathering of people who get along. The church is the dwelling place of God, built together with Christ as the cornerstone.

Paul then describes his calling as a stewardship of God’s grace. A steward manages something he does not own. Paul did not invent the gospel, reshape it, or gain authority to make it say what he wanted. God gave Paul grace for the Gentiles, and that gift carried responsibility. The gospel is given to God’s people so that it can be faithfully known, rightly handled, and carried to others.

The mystery revealed to Paul is not a puzzle for human beings to solve. God held this truth and revealed it in His time. The mystery is that Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. They are not welcome visitors standing around the outside. They belong. Christ determines who belongs in His body, and the gospel brings sinners from every background into that body.

Paul also says that he was made a minister by grace. The persecutor became the preacher. The opposer became an apostle. The man who tried to stop the gospel became a servant of the gospel. Paul calls himself the least of all the saints because grace leaves no room for self-glory. God made the minister, supplied the ministry, gave the message, and provided the power.

God displays His manifold wisdom through the church, even before rulers and authorities in heavenly places. The church is living evidence of what the gospel can do when people once separated from God and from one another are made one in Christ. Paul’s prison does not mean God’s purpose has failed. God’s eternal purpose is being carried out in Christ, and therefore God’s people have boldness, access, and confidence. God’s people must not lose heart, because circumstances cannot thwart what God has purposed.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Christ defines identity in suffering Paul does not call himself a prisoner of Rome, even though Rome held the chains. Christ remains sovereign over the place, the pain, and the purpose of His servant. Circumstances can describe where a believer is, but they cannot finally declare who that believer is. [40:37]
• 2. Grace is entrusted for others The gospel is not private property for a believer to hold onto, edit, or keep hidden away. God gives grace, gifts, resources, and truth for the benefit of those He places within reach. Faithfulness means carrying out the assignment even when the circumstances change. [47:24]
• 3. The gospel makes one body Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the same promise through Christ. Christian unity is not built by shared preferences, personalities, or backgrounds. Christ has already created the body, and He alone determines who belongs in it. [53:40]
• 4. Ministry begins and ends with grace Paul’s former life as a persecutor keeps him humble before the grace that made him a minister. God does not merely call people into service, but also provides the power needed to serve for His glory. The unsearchable riches of Christ leave no room for a servant to take credit. [59:24]
• 5. God’s purpose outlasts visible circumstances Paul’s imprisonment could have looked like defeat to anyone measuring ministry by visible results. God, however, displays His wisdom through the church and carries out an eternal purpose that cannot be stopped by hardship. Boldness and access belong to believers because Christ holds the outcome.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [37:50] - A Prisoner of Christ
• [38:17] - Christ Brings the Far Off Near
• [39:36] - Paul’s Identity Under Christ’s Authority
• [43:12] - Circumstances Do Not Define Believers
• [45:17] - Entrusted With a Purpose
• [49:12] - The Mystery Revealed by God
• [51:39] - Gentiles as Fellow Heirs
• [54:02] - The Gospel Creates One Body
• [56:40] - Made a Minister by Grace
• [60:40] - The Unsearchable Riches of Christ
• [63:32] - God’s Wisdom Displayed Through the Church
• [68:20] - God’s Eternal Purpose in Christ
• [70:19] - Do Not Lose Heart
• [72:50] - Salvation Through Christ Alone

1. For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— [39:28]
2. assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, [45:31]
3. how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. [45:39]
4. When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, [50:24]
5. which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. [50:30]
6. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. [51:43]
7. Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of his power. [56:40]
8. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, [01:00:40]
9. and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, [01:03:08]
10. so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. [01:04:14]
11. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, [01:08:20]
12. in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. [01:09:41]
13. So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory. [01:10:33]

1. Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands—
2. remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. [52:58]
3. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. [53:12]
4. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility [38:35]
5. by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, [38:42]
6. and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.
7. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.
8. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.
9. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, [38:47]
10. built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, [39:03]
11. in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.
12. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. [38:54]

1. But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest [57:36]
2. and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
3. Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him.
4. And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” [58:18]
5. And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
6. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”
7. The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one.
8. Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus.
9. And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
10. Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.”
11. And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying,
12. and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.”
13. But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem.
14. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.”
15. But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. [58:18]
16. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”
17. So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
18. And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized;
19. and taking food, he was strengthened.

1. What descriptions does Paul use for himself in Ephesians 3:1–8, and what do those descriptions show about how he viewed his imprisonment and ministry? [39:36]
2. What three phrases in Ephesians 3:6 describe the Gentiles’ place among God’s people, and how do those phrases emphasize that they truly belong?
3. According to Ephesians 2:13–22, what did Christ do for people who were far off, strangers, and separated from God? [38:35]
4. In Ephesians 3:10–13, what does God make known through the church, and what does Paul tell the believers not to do in response to his suffering? [01:10:33]

1. Paul calls himself “a prisoner of Christ Jesus,” even though Rome had physically imprisoned him. How does that title shape the way believers should understand God’s authority over painful or limiting circumstances? [40:30]
2. Paul describes his calling as a stewardship of God’s grace given “for you.” What does the picture of a steward teach about handling the gospel faithfully rather than changing it, hiding it, or treating it as personal property? [46:26]
3. Gentiles are called fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise. What would this have meant for Jewish and Gentile believers who may have been tempted to see one another as outsiders? [53:43]
4. Paul’s past included persecuting Christians, yet God made him a minister by grace. How does Paul’s humility in calling himself “the very least of all the saints” protect ministry from becoming a source of personal pride? [59:17]

1. Difficult circumstances can easily become the main way a person describes himself or herself: unemployed, sick, rejected, overwhelmed, lonely, or stuck. What circumstance has been pressing on you lately, and how might remembering that you belong to Christ reshape the way you view it? [43:03]
2. God’s grace, truth, gifts, and resources are entrusted to believers for the good of others. What has God placed in your hands—time, encouragement, knowledge of Scripture, practical skill, hospitality, or resources—that you may be keeping to yourself? What is one specific way you could use it for someone else this week? [47:27]
3. Christ has made one body from people with different histories, cultures, personalities, and preferences. Is there someone in the church whom you tend to treat more like a “welcome visitor” than a fellow member of Christ’s body? What would it look like to move toward that person with genuine love and respect? [55:05]
4. Paul did not allow his past as a persecutor to keep him from serving Christ, but neither did he use grace as a reason to boast. Is there a part of your past that makes you hesitant to serve, speak, or step forward in faith? How does Paul’s story encourage humble confidence in God’s grace? [58:30]
5. The church displays God’s wisdom when people once divided by sin are reconciled to God and one another. Where might your relationships, words, or attitudes be weakening that witness? What step toward peace, forgiveness, or unity might God be calling you to take? [01:06:15]
6. Paul tells believers not to lose heart because God’s purpose is eternal and cannot be stopped by visible hardship. Where are you tempted to measure God’s work only by quick results, large numbers, or outward success? What small act of faithfulness can you continue even if you cannot yet see the fruit? [01:07:26]