17 And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. 18 For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.
2:17
And He came [having come]
The word “and” connects this verse with verse 14—“He Himself is our peace.” Jesus came to earth out of His unadulterated grace.
and preached [announced] peace to you
Jesus announced peace to the apostles (Lu 24:36 Jn 20:19, 21, 26). The announcement of peace referenced here probably took place between the resurrection and ascension. Jesus made a formal declaration that He made peace between God and man (Ro 5:10).
who were afar off
Jesus gave peace to the Gentiles, who were far off from God.
and to those who were near.
Jesus gave peace to the Jews, who were nearer to God because of God’s promises.
2:18
For
This verse gives us a picture of the work of the Trinity in salvation.
through Him [Christ]
The death of Christ on the cross is our means of access to the Father. It is by means of Jesus that we have access to the Father. When we accept the cross as the way to salvation, we also have another means of access—the one Holy Spirit.
we both have access
The New Testament uses the Greek word “access” in two other places (Ro 5:2; Eph 3:12). Access has to do with our special status with Christ before the Father.
by one Spirit to the Father.
The Holy Spirit gives us access to the Father. He is the “one” through whom we can approach the Father; no other priest can do this. The Jew and the Gentile have one Spirit, not two. They have the Holy Spirit in common. We receive the Holy Spirit at the point of our salvation. One role of the Holy Spirit is to work supernaturally to draw us closer to God.
PRINCIPLE:
The availability of the entire Trinity is ours at the moment we come to Christ.
APPLICATION:
The availability of the entire Trinity is ours the moment we are born again. We can come boldly into the presence of God the Father through the work of Christ and ministry of the Holy Spirit. We have that access at any time we wish. We are not worthy to do this on our own; we need Jesus’ worthiness to gain access to the Father.
Eph 2.18 states that we have access to God only through Christ, c.f. John 14.6. When we pray, we are praying to God the Father, and can only do this through Christ. Hence only the Believer in Christ can really pray to God as his/her Father. The unbeliever should pray, “God be merciful to me a sinner” or in the words of Peter, “Lord, save me”.
Would it be correct to say that all our prayers should be directed towards the Father, through Christ, by one Spirit? Some people address their prayers to the Lord Jesus on the basis of Stephen calling upon God and saying, Lord Jesus receive my spirit (Acts 7.59), and John’s plea, “Even so, come Lord Jesus” (Rev.22.20). I am not aware of any prayers in the Scriptures to the Holy Spirit.
I would be interested in any comments you (or others) have with regards to Whom we should address our prayers.
Mike, the pattern of Scripture is to address our prayer to the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus (in his authority) through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Thanks Grant. Your comment states it very simply and I believe correctly.