Ephesians 6:1-24

Ephesians 6:1-3:

^6:1children, you must obey your parents in (the) Lord for this is righteous, ^.2"you must honor your father and mother," which is (the) first commandment in promise, ^.3"in order that it may become well with you and you will be long-timed on the earth";

Paul continues teaching how the whole family of holy-people ought to behave themselves, and now he addresses the children – and isn't it noteworthy that God's Word is to/for our children also, not only to/for the "grown-ups"!

Children, you must obey your parents (hear what your parents say, listen-attentively, then carry-out what you hear) – in what context? In the Lord (within the sphere of action of the Lord Jesus Christ), for this is righteous (doing this is right/just, the right-way or just-state to behave yourselves).

Paul next references what God spoke many, many years ago regarding the relationship between children and their father and mother, and it is still true today. You (singular, individual child) must honor your father and mother (esteem them according to their holding-worth, estimated value or price from God's viewpoint) – which is the first commandment within a promise that God gave to His people recorded in the Book of Exodus 20:12. God gave this to Moses so that he would make it known to God's people who were the nation of Israel at that time. But what makes this one different from the commandments that God had previously given, is that it was the first commandment which is contained within a promised-result, dependant upon the person believing it being true to/for him/herself and consequently doing what God has said.

This promise is God's own proclamation of His own intention to keep and perform when the children would believe and obey this commandment. The promised-result of a child honoring his/her father and mother is: for the purpose and result that it would become well (come into being, come to pass to be in a good manner) with/to/for you and you would be long-timed on the earth (you will live a long time chronologically).

[Reference: Deuteronomy 5:18; Matthew 15:4; Mark 7:10; Colossians 3:20.]

Verse 4:

^.4and fathers, you must not cause your children to-be-wrathful but you must fully-nourish them in (the) training and admonition of (the) Lord;

And the fathers, you must not excite your children to wrath (not provoke them to a lasting-angry-vengeful state of mind – like the heat of a burning-fire, not a spur-of-the-moment thing on their part, and in the context it is wrath against doing what God and the Lord Jesus Christ want them to do). But on the contrary, you fathers must fully-nourish them (make them thick and fat from inside to outside, as by feeding them) – how? In (within the sphere of action of) the…

training (that-which is necessary in bringing-up or rearing children or young servants, not only instruction but also education including discipline, correction, etc) and
admonition (the putting in their minds)…

…of the Lord. In the training and admonition relative-to whom? The Lord Jesus Christ! It is not a putting-in-mind of the internet/web! It is not training in the stock-market! It is in the training and admonition of the Lord Jesus Christ. Any other kind of training and admonition excluding the training and admonition of the Lord will provoke your children to wrath against the only true God and His son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Did you notice that it is the fathers who are ultimately responsible for the rearing of their children? This makes sense because the husband is the head of his wife (refer to Ephesians 5:21-33) and so within the Christian family with the husband/father himself doing God's will, and his wife doing God's will, then whatever she would say and do with their children would be according to her husband, the child's father. Therefore, the activities of the wives are also included in the usage of the word “fathers” in verse 4. (Also, it may be interesting to note: Exodus 2:1-3; Acts 7:20; Hebrews 11:23.)

It is up to the freedom of will of each member of the Christian family to walk with and for God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

[Reference: Romans 10:19; I Corinthians 10:11; Ephesians 5:29; Colossians 3:21; II Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 12:5-11.]

Paul continues teaching about how we holy-people ought to behave ourselves during the everyday living of life, and now he explains the working-relationship between the slave (servant, similar to an 'employee' in the work situation) and his lord (master, emphasizing dominion and authority, similar to his 'employer' in the work situation), and vice versa. During Biblical times, a master was obligated to take-care of his bond-servant, his slave, and the bond-servant/slave was obligated to do all his master would ask of him; it was a mutually-beneficial relationship between the master and his slave.

Verses 5-8:

^.5slaves, you must obey (your) lords according to flesh with fear and trembling in singleness of your heart as to Christ, ^.6not according to eye-service as man-pleasers but as slaves of Christ doing the intention of God out-from (your) soul, ^.7with a well-mind serving-as-slaves as to the Lord and not to men, ^.8having known² that each-person if-ever he may do some good-thing this he will bring-to-himself from (the) Lord whether (he is) a slave or a freeman;

The slaves (people bound to serve another, here referring to holy-people who work in this position/function), you must obey your lords according to flesh (hear what your masters in the flesh or human category say, listen-attentively, then carry-out what you hear) in company and association with…

fear (fright, being afraid at the consequences of the performance of any wrong behavior, manifest the awe and respect that is rightfully due and ought to be shown towards and pertaining to them) and
trembling (as a shaking or quaking, tremendous-intensity)
in singleness of your heart (within plainness of the center of your being, straight-forwardly without any double-meanings, false motives or intentions on your part)

…in comparison to the way you should obey Christ who is your Lord/Master in the holy spirit category with fear and trembling in singleness of your heart.

Slaves, you must obey your lords according to flesh with fear and trembling in singleness of your heart as to Christ (the Anointed-one, the Messiah, the head of his body of-which we are all limbs)…

not in accordance with eye-service as man-pleasers (which is only rendering what appears to be genuine service under the master's eye when he is watching, but it is actually counterfeit, just as the people who do things for the sole purpose of constantly seeking to please mankind, other human-beings, desiring to 'look good' by doing those things which are acceptable to whoever is watching),
but on the contrary, as slaves of Christ (Christ's slaves, people who are bound belonging-to Christ) presently and actively doing the intention of God (God's will) out-from your soul (from the interior of the life of your physical body which is evidenced by breathing, soul-life, breath-life, what allows you to move and work, etc, figuratively referring to your being, including your character and disposition, yourselves, put yourselves into what you're doing), in company and association with a well-mind (a mind-set that is good) serving in the position of being slaves (bound-people carrying-out the appropriate service) as to the Lord Jesus Christ and not to men.

Why should we holy-people who are in the position of service in our work/job behave this way? You have previously known and you still know (perceive, see) that each holy-person, if it should happen that he would do some good-thing (perform that-which is in accordance with God's will, which may not necessarily be viewed as 'good' by the man-pleasers), this good-thing he will bring to himself from the Lord (he will receive/take and carry with himself that-which he will acquire from the Lord Jesus Christ as compensation or reward so as to preserve and take-care-of it; the Lord Jesus Christ being the source from-beside whom this proceeds) whether he is a slave (in servitude to other men) or a freeman (at liberty from service to other men).

[Reference: Romans 12:8; I Corinthians 2:3, 12:13 and 14; II Corinthians 5:10, 7:15; Philippians 2:12; Colossians 3:22-25; I Timothy 6:1 and 2; Titus 2:9 and 10.]

Verse 9:

^.9and lords, you must do the same-things towards them, leaving-up the threat, having known² that the Lord both of them and of you is in (the) heavens and there is not a reception-of-face with him.

And the lords (masters), you must presently and actively do (perform) the same things (as your slaves, explained above) towards them, leaving-up the threat (letting-go-of or ceasing-from threatening them, from holding-out a promised threat to them as being the motivation to make them obey you). Why? You must already know and you still know (perceive, see) that the Lord (Master) of both your slaves and yourselves is in the heavens. The Lord Jesus Christ, whom you and your slaves have made your master when you became holy-people, presently and actively is Lord within the sphere of action of the heavens, figuratively referring to the great expanse of God's spirit realm – the Lord Jesus Christ is Lord, not you! And, there is not a reception-of-face with him.

The Lord Jesus Christ continues to do God's will, and therefore there is not a reception of face, outward-appearance, at rest beside, at or with him. The reception or taking of a person's outward-appearance is not in God's nor the Lord Jesus Christ's power or judgment because it is not with God or with Christ to be utilized by them. The Lord does not receive the face or countenance which is presented or turned to his eye to be seen by him, like an actor on stage would wear a mask and present it forth to take-on the outward-appearance of another person to make the audience think of him in a different way. The Lord Jesus Christ does not have partiality or favoritism based on a person's outward-appearance. He is not a receptor or respecter of persons, of faces, of "masks," even when there is no intention of pretence on the part of the one presenting himself before the Lord Jesus Christ or before God.

[Reference: Deuteronomy 10:17; I Samuel 16:7; II Chronicles 19:7; Acts 2:32-36, 10:34, 16:26; Romans 2:11; Colossians 3:23-25, 4:1.]

Verses 10-12:

^.10From-now-on, you must be enabled in (the) Lord and in the strongness of his strength, ^.11you must clothe-yourselves-with the full-armor of God towards (the purpose of) you to be able to stand against the methods of the devil, ^.12because the wrestling is not for you against blood and flesh but against the rulerships, against the authorities, against the world-strong-ones of this darkness, against the spiritual-things of the evilness in the heavenlies;

Having taught regarding how holy-people ought to behave being in submission to our Lord Jesus Christ whether wives or husbands or children or fathers or slaves or lords, Paul now addresses all holy-people teaching us how to behave relative-to the spirit category, in what manner we ought to live and carry-out all the activities of our everyday life within the spirit realm.

From now on (of the rest, pertaining-to the time remaining, henceforth), you holy-people must be enabled (be caused to be made-able, to have able-power within, given-ability, empowered, made-capable)…

within the Lord (your Master, Christ Jesus) and
within the strongness of his strength (the exerted-force, power-in-effect, exerted-strength, of the Lord's inherent-strength, the strength which he now is, having received it from God when He raised him up from among the dead-people – refer to Ephesians 1:20-23, 3:16 and 18).

The Lord Jesus Christ, including the strongness of his strength, is the one in whom (within the sphere of action of whom, and who is the efficient and instrumental cause emanating from within you by whom) you must be enabled during the everyday living of life – not your physical strength, nor your intellectual ability, nor your money, nor your career track, etc. All holy-people have the spirit of Christ within – but it is up to our freedom of will to live accordingly.

From-now-on, you must be enabled in the Lord and in the strongness of his strength – how? You must clothe yourselves (envelope yourselves, put-on as a garment by going inside of it) with the full-armor of God (the whole weaponry belonging-to and proceeding-from the only true God, all or every part of it, the complete panoply, the set of tools or implements of war/battle needed for protection, offense and defense, fully armed) for the purpose/intent of you to presently be able (have the able-power, ability, capability) to actively stand (stand firm, as opposed to falling) in motion against the methods of the devil (the systematic ways or procedures belonging-to and proceeding-from the devil).

The Greek word translated "devil" comes from the words: "through" and "throw" or "cast." The devil throws/casts things through people, like stabbing a person from outside through the person and out the other side with an accusation, slander, etc. Satan (the unholy spirit in total opposition to the only true God) is sometimes called the devil, which is one of his many names used in the Bible to describe his characteristics, qualities, etc. The devil is the chief of the devil-spirits (demons), which are the other angels that decided to follow him against God and so have become unholy, unclean and evil spirits in subordination to the devil.

Paul wrote: from-now-on, you must be enabled in the Lord and in the strongness of his strength, you must clothe-yourselves-with the full-armor of God towards the purpose of you to be able to stand against the methods of the devil. Why? The objective cause being that the wrestling (swaying or vibrating struggle which you are engaged in - drawing attention to there being two opposing sides) presently and actively is not for/with you holy-people against blood and flesh (blood representing soul/breath-life and flesh representing natural fleshy body of human-beings) – but on the contrary, the wrestling presently and actively is for/with you holy-people:

against the rulerships (first-placed, chief or dignified-hierarchical positions which some spirits and people have been given or have taken for themselves),
against the authorities (authoritative-powers or permitted-rights – which some spirits and people have been given or have taken for themselves),
against the world-strong-ones (those being strong, having strength, exerted-force, being mighty within this present ordered-arrangement – which some spirits and people have been given or have taken for themselves)…

What rulerships, authorities, world-strong-ones are being referred to here in Ephesians chapter 6?

of this darkness (belonging-to and pertaining-to and consisting-of this present darkness, referring to the complete absence of the only true God's light, the devil's darkness within-which these rulerships and authorities and world-strong-ones operate).

And the fullness of the wresting for holy-people is:

against the spiritual-things (those matters, including the spirit-beings, belonging-to, determined-by, influenced-by and proceeding-from spirit)…

Spiritual things – relative to what spirit?

of the evilness (belonging-to and pertaining-to and consisting-of the active-malignancy or exercised-badness which issues from the evil-one, the devil/satan, as verse 16);
- in the heavenlies (within the sphere of action of the heavenlies – all that is upon or pertains-to the heavenly-realm, and in this context it is used metaphorically referring to the spirit realm, as opposed to the earthly/worldly/physical realm).

All holy-people are in the heavenlies – spiritually (Ephesians 1:3, 20-23, 2:6, 3:10) – and therefore this is our sphere of action. We have not yet received our spiritual bodies like the Lord Jesus Christ already has received and he has already ascended into the heavens, but we have received the spirit of Christ in us and this is our spiritual standing with God and our Lord Jesus Christ and all the things of God, and we are against all that is against God.

In verse 12, the papyrus P46 has the word “methods” (the systematic ways or procedures, as verse 11) instead of “rulerships, against the authorities” and omits the words translated "in the heavenlies." Verse 12 reads: because the wrestling is not for you against blood and flesh but against the methods: against the world-strong-ones of this darkness, against the spiritual-things of the evilness.

[Reference: Luke 22:53; John 8:44; Romans 13:12; I Corinthians 2:7; Ephesians 4:14, 24 and 27; Philippians 4:13; II Timothy 2:1; James 4:7; I Peter 5:8; I John 5:18-21.]

Verse 13:

^.13because-of-this you must take-up the full-armor of God in order that you may be caused-to-be-able to stand-against in the day, the evil (day), and, having rendered all-things-together to-work, to stand;

On this account you holy-people must take-up the full-armor of God (receive/take up for your use all the weaponry made available to you from God), for the purpose and result that you would be caused to be able (made to have the able-power, ability, capability) to actively stand-against (withstand, resist the methods of the devil described above) in, within or during, the day, emphatically, the evil day (referring to this time-period when the devil and his followers are still able to move-about around the peoples of the earth and actively, adversely and malignantly affect them if those people allow this spiritual-darkness to affect them).

And, having rendered all-things-together to work (after you have caused to effect all things together, effectively brought down entirely all things unitedly or at the same time, having achieved the work assigned to you by God or the Lord Jesus Christ in whatever situation you are in), you are to stand (stand firm, as opposed to falling – this does not say to "relax and take it easy" and so let your offences and defenses down).

[Reference: Galatians 1:4; Ephesians 5:16; James 4:7.]

Paul continues by explaining in detail about this full-armor of God and how we are to stand during the everyday living of our lives. We can know clearly and exactly regarding this, and so there is no excuse by any Christian to claim that he/she "didn't know" or "was never told" or some other equally lying statement. We are in this spiritual battle, and Paul uses the words describing physical pieces of armor to help us to understand the spiritual full-armor of God that is available for us to use.

Verses 14-18:

^.14therefore you must stand having girded your loin around in truth, and having clothed-yourselves-with the breastplate of the righteousness, ^.15and having bound-under (your) feet in (the) preparation of the good-message of the peace, ^.16in all-things having taken-up the shield of the belief in which you will be able to quench all the missiles of the evil-one having been set-on-fire², ^.17and you must accept the helmet of the salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is (the) spoken-matter of God, ^.18by means of all prayer and supplication praying in every time in spirit; and with-a-view-to (this) same-thing being sleepless in all strongness-towards and supplication concerning all the holy-people,

Following-on logically from above, you must stand:

1. having girded your loin around in truth – you must have already girded yourselves (put on that-which girds as a girdle) about your loins, that area between the thighs and the ribs, within truth. This is likened to a girdle that girds-up the long flowing robes of Orientals while engaged in any business, such as service or conflict; i.e., holding tightly to God's truth, everything that proceeds from the only true God, and holding it fast around you without letting it go and fly in the wind where you cannot get a hold of it quickly causing you to slow-down. …Having girded your loin around in truth, and this is what holds and keeps you ready and able to move quickly in this spiritual wrestling battle; and

2. having clothed-yourselves-with the breastplate of the righteousness – you must have already enveloped yourselves (put-on as a garment by going inside of it) the breastplate consisting-of the righteousness. The breastplate is that part of armor which is worn to protect the chest area which contains a person's heart and lungs and many other vital organs to maintain physical life. Our breastplate, our protection to our spiritual vital organs, is "the righteousness" referring to the righteousness of God (the justness, justice, being and doing what is just/right before God which He has made us to be spiritually in Christ Jesus); and

3. having bound-under your feet in the preparation of the good-message of the peace – you must have already bound underneath your feet (as you would put your sandals or shoes on your own feet so that you could walk on them and not get hurt by stones and things of that type and to help keep the heavier dirt of the ground off yourself) within the preparation (readiness) consisting-of the good-message (gospel, evangel) consisting-of and pertaining-to the peace (God’s peace);...

These are the three parts of the full-armor of God which you must put-on yourselves, as in the process of getting dressed. Next we have two more parts of the full-armor of God which are the defensive weapons…

in all-things having taken-up the shield of the belief in which you will be able to quench all the missiles of the evil-one having been set-on-fire and continuing set-on-fire – within the sphere of action of all things (everything, all the different situations and circumstances which you are in as you live your lives awaiting Christ's coming to gather all holy-people/Christians together with him) you must have already taken-up (received/taken up for your use) the shield consisting-of the belief (the faith, trust, that-which God gives you to believe). The shield is a defensive weapon, it is like a door or a stone used for closing the entrance of a cave or a house because it is large and oblong and it is used to stop penetration from the outside into the inside. …And…
- it is within the sphere of action of this shield that you will be able (have the able-power, ability, capability) to quench (extinguish, like putting-out a light or a fire) all the missiles of the evil-one (every or all the thrown-weapons as darts, arrows, javelins, etc, belonging-to and issuing-from the one who is evil, active with malignancy, i.e. the devil/satan) and these missiles have already been ignited and are still burning (inflamed and glowing with heat as a furnace, fired-up by the evil-one as they approach you in the attempts to penetrate your defenses and injure you. The spiritual shield is the belief (that-which God has already given us to believe and those things which He and the Lord Jesus Christ continue to give us to believe in each and every situation or circumstance in which we may be), and this is what will quench all the missiles of the evil-one which will already be burning as they approach us (the devil is not "passive" but he is "active" in his evilness, as verse 12 above); and…
you must accept (you must welcome, subjectively-receive or willingly take to yourselves what is presented to you):
- the helmet of the salvation – the helmet of the saving (the bringing to safety, the salvation which is presented to you by God and the Lord Jesus Christ). You must realize and rely on everything involved in your salvation, which includes both all you have now, having holy spirit-life within you, and the hope of your salvation’s total fullness in evidence in the future when Christ comes to gather all holy-people together with him. This is your helmet, the protective covering around your head where your brain is, where you make decisions, purposes, intentions, etc., so that your head cannot be bruised or crushed causing you to permanently die, just as the devil's head will definitely be bruised or completely crushed by Christ at a future time as prophesied in Genesis 3:15. Christ is the head of the one body of Christians, his body, and we Christians are to wrestle under his helmet, accept that protection in our walk by the freedom of our wills.…

Now we read about the one offensive weapon that is used to advance in our endeavors and get/move the enemy out of our way, which must be the only true God's way! And you must accept…

the sword of the spirit, which is (the) spoken-matter of God – the knife used for slaughter, cutting or slicing its way through obstacles, belonging-to and proceeding-from the holy spirit-life within you. That-which issues from the spirit presently and actively is the spoken-matter of God (that portion of the whole Word of God containing the specific discourse necessary for that particular situation or circumstance which is given to your holy spirit). Whatever God, or the Lord Jesus Christ, indicates, teaches, instructs to us via our holy spirit-life during whatever situation or circumstance we are in, this is what we are to say; we must speak-forth the spoken-matter of God out of our mouth. This is what we are to be actively offensive with and then we are using the sword of the spirit, which is the spoken-matter of God…

We have looked at six (6) pieces of armor of the full-armor of God so far, and we can read that it takes work and labor on our part to put-on and take-up and use these six pieces of armor. It is not an automatic "something" whereby suddenly, out of the blue, you've got these six on you and you are making use of all without even thinking about it! No! It is up to the freedom of will of the limbs/members of the one spiritual body of Christ to take-up the full-armor of God.

So, let us continue to read about the seventh item, the spiritually-perfecting last piece which is the part which is necessary in order for the six pieces of armor to be functional for every Christian as we live our everyday lives awaiting Christ's coming to gather us all.

by means of (through) all prayer and supplication praying in every time in spirit – interposed between the action that initiates the progress and the resulting accomplishment of what is described from verse 10 onwards is: all/every prayer (communication to and with God, the general speaking towards/with God) and all/every supplication (specific-communication of prayer, making known the needful-request, beseeching God regarding a lack and thus having a specific-need in the particular situation or circumstance), you must be praying (communicating to and with God) within or during all/every specific time-period (occasion, season) – how? – in spirit – within the sphere of action of your holy spirit-life.

Prayer in spirit, which is spiritual communication to and with God, is the seventh and spiritually-perfecting item of the full-armor of God – this is what is necessary in order for us to utilize the full-armor of God. We must pray in spirit…

- during our private prayer-life, when we are alone during whatever situation we are in without anyone else present to hear us; and

- if we are in an assembly of people (or even with just one other person) we can still pray in spirit, but it must be quietly done because we are speaking privately to and with God our Father (refer to I Corinthians chapters 12-14).

Included in prayer in spirit is our being receptive to whatever God or the Lord Jesus Christ may want to communicate to us as the specific response(s) to our praying giving us the information of what to believe, to say, to know, etc, via our holy spirit-life during that particular situation or circumstance.

Paul continues: …and…

with-a-view-to this same-thing being sleepless in all strongness-towards and supplication concerning all the holy-people – into, directed-to or regarding the thing-itself, which is praying every time in spirit, you must be being sleepless (watching, spending many wakeful nights) within all/every strongness in motion towards and with (perseverance, with constant attendance towards) and supplication about (encircling, encompassing) all the holy-people (every one of us, all of us who have received the gift of holy spirit and therefore are "holy" spiritually)....

There is great emphasis given to the completeness of what we already have and are spiritually in Christ, and also to what is available to all holy-people to actively use during the everyday living of our lives by the repetition of the Greek root-word pas which can be translated into the English as "all" or "every": all/every prayer and supplication…all/every time in spirit…in all/every strongness-towards and supplication…all the holy-people.

Verses 14-18: “^.14therefore you must stand having girded your loin around in truth, and having clothed-yourselves-with the breastplate of the righteousness, ^.15and having bound-under (your) feet in (the) preparation of the good-message of the peace, ^.16in all-things having taken-up the shield of the belief in which you will be able to quench all the missiles of the evil-one having been set-on-fire², ^.17and you must accept the helmet of the salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is (the) spoken-matter of God, ^.18by means of all prayer and supplication praying in every time in spirit; and with-a-view-to (this) same-thing being sleepless in all strongness-towards and supplication concerning all the holy-people….”

[Reference: Exodus 12:11; I Kings 18:46; Isaiah 11:1-5, 59:16-21; Matthew 4:4; Mark 6:9, 13:33; Luke 2:30, 3:6, 12:35; Acts 1:14, 2:42, 8:13, 10:36, 44, 12:8, 28:28; Romans 8:26 and 27, 10:8-10 and 17, 12:12; 13:4; I Corinthians 1:30; II Corinthians 5:21, 6:5 and 7, 11:27; Colossians 4:2; I Thessalonians 5:8 and 19; Hebrews 4:12, 13:17; Jude 20. I encourage you to read all of what I have written in chapters 12 through the end of 14 from my study on I Corinthians.]

Verses 19 and 20:

^.19and on behalf of me in order that a word may be given to me in (the) opening of my mouth in boldness to make-known the mystery of the good-message ^.20on behalf of which I function-as-an-elder in a chain in order that I may boldly-speak it as it is necessary for me to utter-forth.

Paul continues: also on my behalf (in my interests) specifically for the purpose and result that a word (a spoken-account of the inner-thoughts of God) would be given to me in the opening (aperture) of my mouth (when I have my mouth opened ready to speak) within boldness (freedom, frankness and openness of speech) to make personally-known the mystery of the good-message (the secret of the gospel, evangel, refer to Ephesians 3:1-12) on behalf of which (in the interests of which) I presently and actively function as an elder (referring to my having more knowledge, wisdom, dignity, etc, regarding the mystery of the good-message, being an elder in service, not the literal meaning of being older in age than other people, functioning in the capacity of being an elder) while chained, for the purpose and result that I would boldly-speak it (be bold or frank and say it freely, openly) as it is necessary for me to utter-forth (as I ought, must, it is binding for me to speak).

The word “mystery” throughout Paul’s letters means “secret.” A mystery contains the details that are known and can be understood by those involved in it and by those to whom it has been revealed – it is not inexplicable to those involved in it.

Paul had been given the assignment, responsibility, and authority by God and the Lord Jesus Christ to do what he was doing as he traveled being an elder within the church, and thus he negotiated as an ambassador among all people (not only among the holy-people who had already received the gift of holy spirit having previously believed the good-message, but also among those who had not yet heard and believed the good-message). Paul had not been loosened from this responsibility and so figuratively speaking he was in a chain, plus at times Paul was literally physically bound with a chain being a prisoner.

[Reference: Acts 28:20; Romans 16:25 and 26; II Corinthians 5:20; Colossians 4:2-4; II Timothy 1:16.]

Verses 21 and 22:

^.21But in order that you may have known² the-things according to me, what I practice, Tychicus, the loved¹ brother and believing minister in (the) Lord, will make-known all-things to you, ^.22whom I sent towards you with-a-view-to this same-thing in order that you may know the-things concerning us and he may encourage your hearts.

Look at the care and concern Paul has for the people to whom he has taught God's good-message. He knew that they would be thinking of him especially when this letter would arrive to them, and they would want to know how he is and what was going on with him, and this would help them to be able to pray specifically with their understanding to God concerning him.

Paul writes: but for the purpose and result that you would know (perceive, see) the things going-on with me (my circumstances, how I am faring), the thing that I presently and actively practice (habitually do), Tychicus – who is…

the loved¹ brother (he is loved with God’s love by God, and by the Lord Jesus Christ, and by you and by me; he is our brother because we are all sons of God having the same holy spirit-life within us) and
believing minister (adjectively described as: faithful, trusting relative-to God, a believer; a believing person who serves to benefit others, one who does work to bring profit to others, one who carries-out his day-by-day ministerial-duties, one who has been given functions of service) within the sphere of action of the Lord (his master being the Lord Jesus Christ) –

…he will make all these things personally known to you.

Paul continues: by the time you receive this letter I will have already sent Tychicus towards you with a view to (into, directed to) this same-thing (this very thing, thing itself) which is for the purpose and result that you would personally know (a truly active and relative knowing) the things about us (myself and Tychicus and the other holy-people with me) and he would encourage your hearts (call you beside him as a concerned father or mother would call their children close to them under their arms so as to help them to do that which is right, exhort the center of your beings).

[Reference: Acts 20:4; I Corinthians chapter 13; Colossians 4:7-9; II Timothy 4:12; Titus 3:12; I John 5:1-3.]

Verses 23 and 24:

^.23Peace to the holy-people and love¹ with belief from God (our) Father and (our) Lord Jesus Christ. ^.24(May) the grace (be) with all the (people) loving¹ our Lord Jesus Christ in incorruption.

Paul began this letter addressing it to the people being holy and believing in Christ Jesus, and grace was issued to them and peace from God our Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ. Now he ends this letter to them by again reminding them about peace and grace.

Peace (tranquil-harmony without strife) is being bestowed to the holy-people [some Greek texts read "brothers" – both words refer to the truth that all holy-people have received the same holy spirit-life], and Godly-love in company and association with belief (that-which God gives us to believe, to have faith in, to trust, God's belief) is also being bestowed away-from God, Who is our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ. God’s love is given with the information of what to believe.

Paul closes this writing by expressing this prayerful desire regarding the everyday living of their lives: may it be that the grace (the unmerited or undeserved favor which is the grace from God and the Lord Jesus Christ) is in company and association with all (everyone, none is omitted) the people who are presently and actively Godly-loving our Lord Jesus Christ (the Lord Jesus Christ is our Master) in incorruption (within un-decay, within the sphere of action of incorruption emanating from our holy spirit-life which is incorruptible).

[Reference: I Corinthians chapter 13; II Timothy 1:10; Titus 2:7; I John 5:1-3. Note: verbs with a superscript 2 (²) immediately following them indicate the "perfect" tense - details are provided in the "Relevant Notes" link of this study.]

(May) the grace (be) with all the (people) loving¹ our Lord Jesus Christ in incorruption.