“That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love.” Ephesians 3:17
In this Bible verse, Paul uses two different metaphors to represent the love of God and how it is to dwell in our hearts. A plant that is well rooted can withstand many different adverse weather conditions, from extreme heat and drought like the palms in the desert, or strong winds, and extreme cold, as the evergreen trees. In both extremes, it is the deep roots that save the tree.
From Science we learn that roots are the part of a plant that grows downward and holds the plant in place, absorbs water and minerals from the soil, and often stores food.
For the plant to be “grounded,” the plant must be held fast to the ground, unmovable.
Other Biblical writers have also compared the Christian life to a tree. For example, David describes the righteous man as, “A tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” Psalm 1:3. And Jeremiah, “For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.” Jeremiah 17:8. A tall, strong tree can be seen in its might, but it also shares what it has. It provides shade, shelter and food for man and animals. This is what the Christian life should be like. Strong amidst any adverse conditions it may face, but also very giving of its benefits for the good of others.
Looking closer at the verse in Ephesians 3:17, in order to be rooted and grounded in love, what must first happen? We must have Christ dwelling in our hearts, by faith.
This word “dwell” is from the Greek word, “Katoikeo”, which translated means: “ To abide,” “to be at home,” or, “to settle down.”
When someone “settles down” it often has the idea of permanency. They settle and don’t want to move for quite some time. And to “be at home” gives the idea that one is very comfortable. When you visit someone and they tell you to “make yourself at home,” this means, to be relaxed, comfortable and to treat their home as yours and act in their home as you would in your own.
This is what Christ wants to do when He wants to dwell in you. He does not want to be an occasional visitor, but He wants to “settle down” and “be at home.” Ask yourself if your heart is in such a condition that Christ would “be at home” and be happy to settle down there.
Most people would like this prayer much better if Paul had not put in the little phrase “by faith.” The truth is, most Christians don’t like doing anything “by faith.” They would rather have Christ in their hearts by feeling rather than by faith. There is a difference. Faith will sometimes produce feelings, but feelings are not faith. For many Christians if they don’t feel the presence of the Lord, they don’t believe He’s really there.
We know that He promised He would never leave us, even though we may not feel His presence at times. Paul was praying that, instead of being dominated by feelings, we would renew our minds and perceive by faith, not feeling, that Christ is in our souls.
“Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love Me, he will keep My words: and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him.” John 14:23
I want you to stop and really ponder this thought. In Ephesians we read that “Christ may dwell in your heart by faith” and here we read that both the Father and Jesus will make their abode in the believer.
The Father and the Son (Jesus) want to abide in your heart; your sinful, heart. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” Jeremiah 17:9. They want to abide in the heart of man whose righteousness is as “filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6). Who are they? God, King of the Universe, Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent . . . from everlasting to everlasting . . . and they want to dwell in your corrupt, evil heart and mind? Oh, what a solemn thought; how humbling. How undeserving we are of such an honour.
But the beauty of it is that Jesus does not leave us in this condition. When He makes His abode in our heart, He begins to clean up. “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put My spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments, and do them.” Ezekiel 36:25–27
You need to be willing to welcome them into your heart and allow them to sweep away all your sin, but it is sometimes a painful process. To remove the cancerous sores from a sick person often causes pain. To remove cherished idols that are hurting you will also cause pain. It is difficult to let go of what we cherish, but the putrid sores need to be burned off. “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire.” 1 Peter 1:7. However, the end result will be pure health and happiness and it is worth the pain. But the sad part is that the majority will not allow this to happen. While many may give up their outwardly sinful lifestyle they may refuse to give up their inward sins such as selfishness, pride, love of their own opinion, their inability to submit to authority . . . etc. These attitudes, often hidden from the human eye, cannot escape the eye of Jesus and many will end up outside of eternity because they would not humble themselves and let Jesus clean these out of their hearts. Their pride would not allow them.
If we allow Jesus to dwell in our hearts, by faith, there will be a constant power available for us to remain pure. It is faith that opens up the heart of Christ. We may not feel any happy flight of feeling, but we have a confident trust in God and His promises, and this continuously sustains our spiritual life.
The final part of the verse in Ephesians tells us we need to be rooted and grounded in what? In Love. Love that is “rooted” goes down deep into the soil of the soul, engaging all the faculties of the mind. Love that is “grounded” is the firm foundation on which all our relationships exist, whether with God or with our fellow man. There is nothing greater than this kind of love and we can read of it in 1 Corinthians 13. This true love springs directly from the experience of possessing the indwelling Christ and it results in perfect unity between Christ and our fellow man.
Christ’s love is beyond the knowledge of humanity because it is infinite, free, and never exhausted. Christ is the source of our own growing experience of love. And we must be growing as the trees or we are dying. Love is the great principle of true religion, and the apostle wished that all believers might be fully settled in that love, as a tree is in the soil, whose roots strike deep into the earth.
How frail our understanding and appreciation of what God wants to do in and through us.
“As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him: Rooted and built up in Him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.” Colossians 2:6–7
Here again, Paul uses the word “rooted,” implying stability. In the experience of the believers, the foundation of the spiritual building must be in Jesus Himself.
Paul uses three different words in these verses to describe the Christian journey. The believers are to “walk”, take “root” and be “built up” as a mighty temple for the Lord. All of these activities are to take place in Him. Jesus Christ is the pattern according to which they must walk; He is the root from which they must draw sap and nourishment; He is the living Rock, the sure foundation upon whom Jews and Gentiles alike are to build. He is “broad enough for all and strong enough to sustain the weight and burden of the whole world.” –The Acts of the Apostles, p. 175
Through this experience, Paul tells us we will be “stablished in the faith” and “abounding therein with thanksgiving.” The supply is limitless. Christians are given all that they need for salvation. Knowing and believing this we will approach God with a grateful heart. How can one be anything but thankful when surrounded by the boundless resources of Omnipotence? Since Christ is all and in all and with all, what has man to fear? The secret of true happiness is habitual reliance upon Christ. Thanksgiving is the fruit of this reliance.
“The only way in which men will be able to stand firm in the conflict, is to be rooted and grounded in Christ. They must receive the truth as it is in Jesus. And it is only as the truth is presented thus that it can meet the wants of the soul. The preaching of Christ crucified, Christ our righteousness, is what satisfies the soul’s hunger. When we secure the interest of the people in this great central truth, faith and hope and courage come to the heart. If God has given His Son to die for sinners, He means to counteract sin. He has made the great gift because of His love for sinful, fallen man. We must make it plain that He is able and willing to save all who come unto Him and believe in Him as their personal Saviour. Present this again and again, until the mind can take it in.” –General Conference Daily Bulletin, January 28, 1893
ROOTED AND GROUNDED IN THE TRUTH
Although we are to be rooted and grounded in Christ, and in His love, we must also be rooted and grounded in the truth. This will be the natural result of being rooted and grounded in Christ. We will want to know more about Him, about His truth. The strong desire will be there.
“God calls for men and women of stability, of firm purpose, who can be relied upon in seasons of danger and trial, who are as firmly rooted and grounded in the truth as the eternal hills, who cannot be swayed to the right or to the left, but who move straight onward and are always found on the right side. There are some, who, in time of religious peril, may almost always be looked for in the ranks of the enemy; if they have any influence, it is on the wrong side. They do not feel under moral obligation to give all their strength to the truth they profess. Such will be rewarded according to their works.” –Testimonies for the Church, vol. 4, p. 75 (emphasis mine)
“Unless we are intelligent in the Scriptures, may we not, when this mighty miracle-working power of Satan is manifested in our world, be deceived and call it the workings of God; for the Word of God declares that, if it were possible, the very elect should be deceived. Unless we are rooted and grounded in the truth, we shall be swept away by Satan’s delusive snares. We must cling to our Bibles.” —Evangelism, p. 249 (emphasis mine)
“When the love of Jesus is abiding in the soul, many who are now but withered branches will become as the cedars of Lebanon, ‘whose root is by the great waters.’ The cedar is noted for the firmness of its roots. Not content to cling to the earth with a few weak fibers, it thrusts its rootlets, like a sturdy wedge, into the cloven rock, and reaches down deeper and deeper for strong holds to grasp. When the tempest grapples with its boughs, that firm-set tree cannot be uprooted. What a goodly cedar might not every follower of Christ become, if he were but rooted and grounded in the truth, firmly united to the Eternal Rock.” –The Review and Herald, June 20, 1882 (emphasis mine)
“But those who resolutely try to obtain the victory over temptation, who promptly and decisively resist the attacks of Satan, will become rooted and grounded in the truth. Their experience will not be dwarfed and sickly, but will bear rich fruit to the glory of God.” –The Youth‘s Instructor, March 5, 1903
ROOTED AND GROUNDED IN FAITH
If we are truly rooted and grounded in the love of Christ and in the truth, our faith will not waver.
“But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.” James 1:6–7
“Those who have lived on the flesh and blood of the Son of God—His Holy Word—will be strengthened, rooted, and grounded in the faith. They will see increased evidence why they should prize and obey the Word of God. With David, they will say, ‘They have made void Thy law. Therefore love I Thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold.’ While others count them dross, they will arise to defend the faith.” –The Review and Herald, June 8, 1897 (emphasis mine)
“Jesus said, ‘He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.’ Now if you are following another leader than Christ, who is Light and Truth and Life, leave that leader and follow Jesus the Light of the world. Is the Lord pleased to have you tossed about as the restless waves of the sea? No! No! I tell you He bids you be strengthened, stablished, rooted and grounded and built up in the most holy faith. Ye are not your own; ye are bought with a price which cannot be estimated. Then your owner is God, the mighty God, and for the price paid look to the cross of Calvary. This fluctuating between hope and fear grieves the heart of Christ, who hath given you unmistakable evidence of His love and hath chosen you.” —The Upward Look, p. 150
“Let the sinner fix his eyes on Jesus, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. As he looks to Christ, he will feel the power of God. He must not devote the precious time to deploring his sinfulness, looking upon the wounds and bruises he has received in the services of Satan. By faith carry the mind up within the vail to view Christ as our intercessor before the mercy-seat. Let the sinner behold Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life, and his soul will be open to receive the truth as it is in Jesus.” –General Conference Daily Bulletin, January 28, 1893
If we wish to overcome and resist the attacks of the devil we need to be rooted and grounded in the love of Christ, in the truth and in faith. We will then gain the victory and be granted the crown of victory. Jesus said, “Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.” Revelation 3:11. Jesus is our lifeline, our only support. Just as the tree’s roots are the lifeline for the entire tree, we need to be firmly rooted and grounded in the love of Christ and let Him make His abode in our hearts. And hold fast. Do not let go. Amen.
Wendy Eaton