Ephesians 3:12: approaching with confidence, and what carries it
12In him we trust, and so we approach with confidence, through his faith.
A short verse carrying two heavy ideas: trust, and an approach made with confidence. And the ground given for both, in this edition, is his faith — Christ’s own faithfulness, not the reader’s.
Short answer
Ephesians 3:12 says that in Christ believers trust and so approach with confidence, and this edition grounds that approach in his faith. It is a statement about being able to come near to God without dread, closing the passage where Paul describes the timeless purpose formed in Christ Jesus.
- Written by
- Raphael Navarro Schmitt
- Reviewed by
- Maria Luisa Navarro Schmitt
- Published on
- Reading time
- 2 min read
It is a small verse inside a dense paragraph, which is why it is easy to read past. But it answers a very common question: on what basis does anyone come near to God and speak to him plainly?
Where this verse appears
Paul is writing about the mystery now disclosed — that Jews and Gentiles have been gathered into one body. The preceding verses speak of God’s manifold wisdom becoming known through the Church, and of the timeless purpose formed in Christ Jesus. Verse 12 is what that means for the reader, and the famous prayer at the end of the chapter follows immediately.
What it says
Confidence here is not a mood. The Greek word behind the idea belongs to public life: the right of a citizen to say what he thinks without fear of reprisal. Applied to prayer, it dismantles the assumption that one should address God in carefully safe language.
The approach is court language — being brought into the presence of someone important. Together the two ideas make a complete pair: not only getting in, but speaking once inside. And the verse describes that as the normal state of affairs, not an exception.
The closing phrase is the most debated line in the verse. This edition reads that the approach comes through his faith, that is, through the faithfulness of Christ himself. Many other English versions render the same Greek construction as faith in him. The ambiguity is in the original and is acknowledged by scholars across traditions. Either way, the access is not earned by the one walking in.
What to do with it today
If you feel you have to be in good standing with God before you can pray, this verse addresses precisely that. What opens the door is in Christ, not in how your week went — and that matters most in the week that went badly.
There is also a consequence for how you pray. Confidence here means being able to say what you actually think, complaint and doubt included. Overly careful prayer is usually a sign that the person still considers himself a guest.
A prayer to carry with you
Lord, I come slowly, like someone unsure he is allowed in. Remind me that the door was not opened by my effort. Give me the confidence to tell you today what I have been avoiding saying. Amen.