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New Defender's Study Bible Notes
3:6 his promise in Christ. Thus Gentile believers of the New Testament can now share in all the gracious promises of God in the Old Testament except those directly concerned with the specific future of Israel as a nation. See also Galatians 3:14. It is therefore perfectly proper for Christians to claim and apply the wonderful blessings promised in the Psalms and Proverbs and other such passages for themselves.
3:7 gift. “Gift” is essentially the same Greek word as “grace” and “given” in Ephesians 3:7-8. Paul stresses not only the free grace of God in salvation but in granting particular gifts of the Spirit and particular calls to service to individuals of His choosing. The word “minister” in this verse (Greek diakonos, from which we get “deacon”) refers to service, not office.
3:9 fellowship. Genuine spiritual fellowship thus should be enjoyed by all to whom has now been revealed the great truth of creation—that God has always had a wonderful creative purpose for all His people, whether Jew or Gentile.
3:9 created all things. Here, as in many other passages (e.g., John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:16-7; Hebrews 1:2), it is revealed that God the Creator is identical with Jesus Christ, who is God incarnate (John 1:14). Note that all things were both created by Jesus Christ and made by Jesus Christ (John 1:3)—that is, called into being out of nothing and then organized into complex, complete forms of being, each perfect for its particular purpose.