Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Ephesians 3:7

"whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of that grace of God which was given me according to the working of his power." — Ephesians 3:7 (ASV)

Paul explains how he himself was enlisted in the service “of this gospel,” not through any ambition or qualification of his own but solely through the gift and calling of God (v.2; cf. Colossians 1:23, 25). The important word here is “servant” (GK 1356). The NT rejects titles of high office and focuses on a word altogether unassociated with prestige. “Servant” designates a table waiter who is always at the bidding of his customers. In the NT, it denotes one who lives and works in the service of Christ and the church. Paul again stresses that his apostolic function came from God (cf. vv.2, 8) and adds that it came “through the working of his power.” He recognizes that the dramatic intervention which transformed him from an enemy into a friend of Christ was nothing less than an act of divine omnipotence. Now his apostleship reflects God’s power at work in the church (1:19–20).