Sermon preached on Ephesians 3:1-13 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 02/08/2026 in Petaluma, CA.
Due to a technical issue, this week’s sermon is available in written form.
Sermon Manuscript
Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
As we return to this passage a second time, we will be focusing on how God had gifted and called Paul into ministry. His labors as a minister are repeatedly described here as a function of God’s grace in his life. Last week, we focused on the revealed mystery described here, but today we will focus on the gift of God’s grace that was given to Paul. As Christians, we tend to think about grace as it relates to being saved, and Ephesians has certainly emphasized saving grace. But here Paul speaks about how grace can also come as a gift to be used in service to Christ.
So then, in today’s sermon, we’ll first consider the calling of such grace. Second, we’ll consider the power of such grace. Third, we’ll consider the stewardship of such grace. As we consider this gift of grace to Paul, we should recognize that this is not unique to pastors. While the gifts will differ, every Christian has been gifted by God to serve Christ. May today’s message help you consider how God’s grace calls, empowers, and entrusts you with spiritual gifts to use in the church.
So then, let us begin first by looking about the calling of this grace God gave Paul. If that is a mouthful, what I’m trying to say is that Paul’s calling and grace are connected. Paul’s calling to be an apostle is related to this gift of grace. God gave this grace to Paul for the specific job of being an apostle. Paul would use this grace to preach the gospel to the Gentiles such as these Ephesians. Let me walk you through the passage to show this.
Starting in verse 2, Paul says that God’s grace was “given to me for you.” In other words, Paul says that God gave him this grace for ministry for the benefit of people like the Ephesians. This is how we see spiritual gifts work, that God gives them to you so you can bless others by using that gift for their good. In Paul’s case, he was given the gift to preach, and so he preached to others, to benefit them. So then, the fact that a gift is to be used for others, implies that there is a calling attached to the grace that is given.
Moving on to verse 7, we see that Paul says he was made a minister according to the gift of grace that was given to him. This very directly connects the gift of grace with his calling as a minister. As a reminder, pastors are often called ministers. A longer form of that is a “minister of the word” or a “minister of the gospel.” That is the form Paul uses here. A minister of the gospel is an authorized messenger of Christ who proclaims the gospel to others. No one should presume on his own to be such a minister. Paul did not, on his own, presume to be an apostle or minister. God made him one through this gift of grace that he bestowed upon him. Now continue on into verse 8. There, Paul says that this grace was given to him to preach to the Gentiles, the unsearchable riches of Christ. Paul goes on to further explain his preaching ministry, but the point is there in verse 8. This preaching ministry was the intended purpose of God’s gift of grace. God gave Paul the grace he needed to do this work of an apostle. Giving Paul the grace for the job simultaneously calls Paul to the job. Otherwise, there would be no reason for God to have given such grace to him.
Now this first point may seem obvious, but I wanted us to recognize the connection between God’s grace and the Paul’s apostolic calling. One reason why it is important to recognize this connection is so that we can properly praise God. It was God’s calling to Paul, and he provided him the gifting for the job. That means the Ephesians should praise God for Paul’s ministry. That means that we also should praise God for Paul’s ministry, because we continue today to benefit from it.
Another reason I wanted to recognize the connection between grace and calling is because of what we’ll find next chapter, in 4:7. I’ll give you a sneak preview by reading it now. It says, “But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.” The “each one of us” there refers to all Christians. Paul there uses the same exact language there in 4:7 as in 3:7 of a “gift” of “grace”. He also uses the same language of “according to” to describe how God gives gifts of grace to each of us for specific purposes. In other words, that passage in chapter 4 will explain that there are different parts to Christ’s body, and we are to use the differing gifts of grace he gives each one of us for the building up of the body of Christ. So then, Paul being gifted and called into apostolic ministry serves as an example for us. We too will receive a measure of Christ’s gifting of grace to be used to serve him. We will need to discern what this means for what calling he has for us.
Now, we can rightly consider what general calling he may have for you in life, such as what type of career or employment you will do. Our everyday employments should be done in service to Christ, as Paul will even teach in chapter 6. God’s manifold grace will surely assist us in all the work we do in our life, including our daily employment. But, the context of our gifting in chapter 4, as well as Paul’s gifting here in chapter 3, is about serving Christ in his church. We should each reflect on how God has gifted us and seek to find ways to use those gifts in the body of Christ. This, along with the affirmation of your fellow Christians, is part of how you discern God’s calling for how to serve him in the church.
Returning then back to chapter 3 and God’s gift of grace to Paul, let us now turn in our second point to consider the power of this grace. What I have in mind is found in verse 7. Paul there says that the gift of God’s grace was given to him by the working of God’s power. I love that Greek word for power, it’s dunamis, which is the Greek background for English words like dynamic and dynamite. Paul here explains that God’s grace to him not only called him into ministry, but also empowered him for it.
Now when thinking about this power, some have wondered if Paul had in mind his extraordinary conversion where he supernaturally saw the risen Lord Jesus on his way to Damascus. That was an explosive moment of God’s power to give new spiritual eyes to Paul to stop fighting Jesus and start serving him. It was at that same time that God explicitly called Paul into ministry. Paul’s whole experience of conversion and calling was truly a supernatural work of God’s power. And yet, while that is true, I suspect Paul has in mind more than just that initial powerful moment when he was first converted. I suspect that Paul is describing how God is powerfully gifting him for the ongoing and regular work of being a preacher. I don’t think Paul is just reflecting back at one exciting but passing moment of power. Rather the grace to be an apostle comes with the power of God continuing to work in and through him.
Since the context here doesn’t elaborate, we can look to other places in Scripture to see this confirmed – that this power is at work throughout his ongoing ministry. For example, I think of 1 Thessalonians 1:5 where Paul rejoices that he preached the gospel to them, and it came to them not only in mere words, but in power and the Holy Spirit. Paul says the result was they had full conviction about what Paul preached. This is an example of how God’s spiritual gifting includes the power of the Holy Spirit working through the exercising of our gifts. If you came here today already believing in Christ, you have personally already experienced the power of God’s grace working through the people that God calls to minister his word. So then, surely, the gift of God’s grace not only calls us into service, but includes the power needed to carry out the work in an effective way.
Similarly, in 2 Timothy 1, Paul speaks about how the Holy Spirit brings the power needed to exercise our God-given callings even in the face of suffering. Indeed, Paul is literally doing that in this passage. As we’ll study more next time, this letter is one of Paul’s prison letters. He’s writing to the Ephesians while suffering for the gospel under house arrest. Paul references his suffering in verse 13 and says not to lose heart over Paul’s suffering. If anyone should lose heart over his suffering, it should be Paul. But Paul was suffering for the gospel, and the power of the Holy Spirit had so gifted him that he has the courage to stand up under persecution and continue to bear witness to Christ, even in imprisonment.
The apostle Peter also teaches on spiritual gifts in 1 Peter 4. There he also has in mind that all Christians receive spiritual gifting from God. There, Peter says, let us exercise those gifts with the strength God abundantly supplies. Likewise, I mentioned earlier that chapter 4 will describe how our different gifts will contribute to the edification of the body of Christ. That implies an effectiveness of our ministry according to the varying measure of grace he gives each of us.
This point may also have seemed obvious, that God’s spiritual gifting he gave Paul included the power to make his ministry effective. We’ve seen that the same will be true for us and whatever gifts of grace he gives us. While this may seem obvious, yet this also is worth recognizing. First, it reminds us that the fruit of ministry is through God’s power at work in his people. That again means that all praise should go to God. Paul will do this at the end of the chapter, in 3:20, giving a doxology that credits God’s power at work withing us for all the fruit of ministry. Second, since we will rely on such power in ministry, we ought to pray to God for it, even as we seek to faithfully develop any God-given gifts. Indeed, in 3:16, Paul himself prays such a prayer for the Ephesians, to be strengthened in power through the Holy Spirit. As you consider how God may have already powerfully gifted you to serve him, may you also pray for more power and strength from him. Third, if you encounter hardship or obstacles during your ministry, consider that God may be teaching you to rely on him further and not to trust in your own power. Don’t not lose heart, but look to God all the more for his provision.
Returning then back to chapter 3 and God’s gift of grace to Paul, let us now turn in our third point to consider the stewardship of this grace. This is what we have in verse 2, Paul references the “stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me.” If you are using a NKJV or KJV you’ll see the word “dispensation” there, following an older English sense of that word, about one dispensing something to another. It’s still the same general idea being conveyed. The Greek word here is about the work that a steward would do administering the affairs a house on behalf of his master. Such stewardship is a trust, where the master entrusts something of value to the steward. Elsewhere, Scripture says that a key requirement for a steward is that they are faithful (1 Cor 4:2). So, Paul here says that this gift of God’s grace is actually something God entrusted to him to steward. This wasn’t a gift in the sense of like a personal present to do whatever he wanted with it. No, it’s a gift in the sense that God has entrusted this grace to Paul to faithfully manage and use to advance God’s interests in building the church.
Here in verse 2, Paul is saying that the Ephesians should be able to recognize how Paul has been a good steward of this gift of grace. God gave Paul the grace that called him into apostolic office, with the specific job to preach Christ to the nations. These Ephesians have come to know Christ through Paul. So, these Ephesians have personally witnessed Paul faithfully stewarding this gift of grace.
Let us also appreciate again that Paul is stewarding God’s grace even in the face of suffering. Again, I point you to verse 13 where Paul describes his current suffering. You could describe his suffering, in general, as for the gospel. But, Paul says it can especially be described as suffering for them, the Ephesians. This is because he is suffering while stewarding this grace by preaching to the Ephesians. While we’ll look at this more next week, let us appreciate that when persecution comes, Paul doesn’t neglect his calling. That really shows the faithfulness of his stewardship. I remember how Jesus in John 10 described the difference between himself as the Good Shepherd versus a regular hired hand when it comes to shepherding sheep. Jesus says that when a hired hand is faced with a wolf, he flees because he doesn’t really care for the sheep. Such a hired hand is being neither a good shepherd nor a good steward. A good steward would faithfully look to protect his master’s interests, even in the face of trouble.
What is true here for Paul, is true for all Christians. Whatever spiritual gifts God graciously gives us, it is ultimately a matter of stewardship. God entrusts us with these gifts to faithfully and wisely use for the divine purposes he intended. That purpose of God is that we would use them to build up the church. Likewise, if we faithfully steward God’s gifts, others in the church will see that and benefit from it. And like Paul, stewardship means be faithful even amidst threat of persecution or other suffering for Christ.
As we think about stewarding the spiritual gifts God has given us, let us remember that parable of Jesus about the minas in Luke 19. That parable teaches how Jesus calls us to steward what he entrusts to us. But it also teaches the idea that God rewards those servants according to their good stewardship, and that the reward is that God entrusts them with even greater stewardship. That was especially highlighted at the end when the master takes the one mina from that unfaithful servant and gives to the servant who had faithfully stewarded his one mina into ten more. When the parable expresses surprise to that, Jesus then gives this explanation and application, “To everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” So then, we are called not only to stewardship, but excellence in stewardship. As God gives us a varying measure of grace to spiritually gift us, we ought to use wisdom to steward it unto fruitfulness. We may find God then graciously entrusting us with greater gifts and callings. May this point have us reflect on how to more wisely and faithfully steward that which God is given to us.
Trinity Presbyterian Church, today we have had opportunity to think about God’s spiritual gifting. This too is part of the grace God gives us. God’s grace to us not only includes that saving grace that brought us into eternal life through the gospel. God’s grace also includes how he calls us and equips us to a ministry of stewardship to serve him in the church. I pray that today’s message will have you reflect on what grace God has given you to use in his church. There are various lists of spiritual gifts in the Bible, and none of them are exhaustive. Peter (1 Peter 4:10-11) gives a very broad categorization by dividing all spiritual gifts into one of two categories: gifts of service, and gifts of speaking. There are always many opportunity to serve in various capacities in the church. And speaking in the church isn’t limited to just the formal teaching done by the pastor, but there are various ways we will speak the encouragement and counsel of God’s word to one another. Our fellowship times are especially fitting opportunity to steward these gifts. Let us also note that in a small church, we may have to all wear multiple hats, so to speak. But we pray that God would supply the grace we each need to serve him here at Trinity.
In conclusion, let us all rejoice at the grace of God which permeates all our life as a Christian. From start to finish, we live by the grace God richly supplies. We look forward to the culmination of the grace when Christ returns.
Amen.
Copyright © 2025 Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
All Rights Reserved.
