John Calvin Commentary Ephesians 3:20

"Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us," — Ephesians 3:20 (ASV)

Now to him. He now breaks out into thanksgiving. This thanksgiving serves the additional purpose of exhorting the Ephesians to maintain good hope through grace (2 Thessalonians 2:16) and to strive constantly to obtain increasingly adequate conceptions of the value of God's grace.

Who is able. This refers to the future and agrees with what we are taught concerning hope. Indeed, we cannot offer to God proper or sincere thanksgivings for favors received unless we are convinced that his goodness to us will be without end.

When he says that God is able, he does not mean power viewed apart, so to speak, from the act, but power that is exerted and which we actually feel. Believers should always connect it with the work, when the promises made to them and their own salvation form the subject of inquiry.

Whatever God can do, he unquestionably will do, if he has promised it. The apostle proves this both by former instances and by the efficacy of the Spirit, which was at this very time exerted on their own minds.

According to the power that worketh in us,—that is, according to what we feel within ourselves. For every benefit God bestows on us is a manifestation of his grace, and love, and power.

Consequently, we should cherish a stronger confidence for the future. Exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, is a remarkable expression, and it encourages us not to fear that faith of a proper kind might go to excess.

Whatever expectations we form of divine blessings, the infinite goodness of God will exceed all our wishes and all our thoughts.