NOTES for Еф 3:1-13
In today's reading, the apostle Paul says that in Christ we have gained “boldness and confident access” to God. Boldness... What is it? It is not presumption, but something else. Let us begin by contrast: what is presumption, and why is that not what Paul means? Presumption toward God implies treating Him “as an equal,” failing to understand or accept the difference between God and humanity. In our relationship with Him, we cannot fail to recognize that He is Other. And not simply Other, but the Creator. We are His creation. Yet the boldness Paul speaks of is precisely the creature's access to the Creator. Through the incarnation of the Word of God, we can speak with Him as with one of us, while remembering that He is the Creator. Presumption means forgetting God's divinity. Boldness means remembering it and not being afraid to speak with Him.