In Whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of Him. Ephesians 3:12
OK, today’s lesson is about a word in today’s text that is not in our Bible. Oh, it’s in the original Greek, but for some reason, the Bible translators did not include it in their English version. It’s not in the King James, or in any of the modern-language versions. In fact, the only English version I can find it in is Young’s Literal Translation. So what is the missing word? Let me repeat the text with the word included, so you can see for yourself: ‘In Whom we have boldness and the access with confidence by the faith of Him’ That’s right, it’s the definite article ‘the’ before the noun ‘access’. It’s not a very big word, but I believe it has a huge meaning.
It is little wonder that the modern-language versions of the Bible omit the ‘the’ in this verse, because they all follow the corrupted Alexandrian minority Greek text that was used by the Westcott and Hort committee. But this valuable article is found in the Byzantine majority Greek text, the Textus Receptus, from which the King James and other faithful versions are translated. Without this word, one could assume there are various means of access to God. But this definite article makes it plain that there is one, and only one, means of access to God, and that is by the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!
Turn to Hebrews 11:6 and read: ‘He that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him’. There was a time when each of us came to God. And we did so by striving to enter in at the strait gate. The strait gate, we learned, was none other than the Lord Jesus, who tells us: ‘I am the way, the truth and the life, no man cometh unto the Father but by Me’ – John 14:6. As ‘the way’, the Lord Jesus is plainly telling us that He is ‘the access’ referred to in today’s text. We could never have been saved from hell and saved for Heaven without this access, and we could never have been saved by any other access. And, between our conversion and our entrance to the pearly gates, we have an abundant access to God.
In our prayers, both public and private, we always invoke the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, in recognition that our access to the Father’s throne is always through Him. The same applies to our worship, as we recognize that we draw near to the holy sanctuary of God through the intercession of the Lord Jesus. He is also our access to the Word of God, in fact, He is clearly identified in John 1:1 as the Word of God. Just as He taught His disciples during His earthly ministry, so He today provides us with the access to the Scriptures so that we might know His will. There is no other access to the Scriptures, which is why the unsaved can never understand or appreciate the precious truths of God that are freely available to even the most humble of sincere saints. And when it comes to our service for our Lord, no access to this greatest of human occupations is possible without the access that the Lord Jesus provides through simple and faithful obedience to Him.
Only one access to God. And we have found Him! -Jim MacIntosh