“In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.”
-Ephesians 3:12 (KJV)
In the Peshitta (the Aramaic New Testament), this verse reads more fluidly: “In whom we have openness of face and entrance in the assurance that comes through his faithfulness.”
The phrase “openness of face” points to intimacy rather than audacity. It’s not a boldness of human ego but a fearless unveiling before Love itself. In Aramaic, parhesia (boldness) comes from a root meaning “freedom to speak plainly” or “to uncover the face without shame.” It’s reminiscent of Moses removing the veil when speaking with God (Exodus 34:34). What Paul is describing here is not self-confidence but unveiled communion: confidence by the faithfulness of the Christ-consciousness within us.
The Aramaic understanding softens the Western legal tone. It isn’t “permission granted to enter the courtroom,” but “awakened realization that you already dwell within the Holy of Holies.” The access is not earned but remembered.
Reading through the Hebrew concept of “access,” the strokes lead us to the root qarab (קרב):“to draw near,” the same word used for approaching God in the tabernacle. The letters reveal the movement:
Qof (ק) = the back of the head, signifying what lies beyond reason, the mystery that looks inward.
Resh (ר) = the head or beginning, symbolizing consciousness or awareness.
Bet (ב) = the house or inner dwelling.
Thus, qarab tells a mystical story: “The mind turns inward to discover that the house of God is within.”
Paul’s “access” (prosagōgē in Greek) mirrors this. It’s a word used in temple ritual for being brought near by a mediator. The mystery of Christ abolishes that external mediation, the veil is torn (Exodus 26:33, Matthew 27:51). Access becomes realization: “We are the tabernacle now.”
In its fuller spiritual sense, this verse speaks of the evolution of consciousness. Humanity, once alienated through ignorance, now awakens to its divine inclusion. The “faith of him” (pistis Christou), a debated Greek phrase does not mean “our faith in Christ” but “the faithfulness of Christ.” It is His unwavering union with the Father that becomes our entry point into awareness of God’s nearness.
This echoes the prophetic promise:
“I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
– Isaiah 43:19
The “way” is Christ: the divine pattern of inclusion that awakens us from separation consciousness. We do not crawl into heaven; heaven unfolds within us as realization.
In the Christ-mystical lens, this “access” is not a passport but participation. The Divine creator didn’t build an external temple; it transfigured the human being into its own dwelling. As Paul writes elsewhere:
“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?”
– 1 Corinthians 3:16
The “boldness” is not arrogance before the sacred but awareness that there is no barrier left between God and humanity. This mirrors the ancient high priest’s journey into the Holy of Holies, except now, the veil is consciousness itself, rent from top to bottom.
The mystic Ezekiel foresaw this when he described the reopened temple and the returning glory:
“And the glory of the Lord came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east.”
– Ezekiel 43:4
The eastward gate: symbol of the rising light, is the awakened heart where divine access unfolds. The glory no longer enters buildings but beings.
Traditional theology often painted access to God as conditional, requiring moral performance, clerical mediation, or doctrinal conformity. But Paul’s mystical proclamation dismantles that scaffolding. Access is not an event after death or a reward for belief; it is in whom: the Christ pattern revealed as our shared essence.
We have come to recognize how religion turned this verse into a hierarchy of worthiness: “You can come to God if you believe correctly.” The Christ-mystical reading reverses it: “You come to God because you already arise from God.”
This truth confronts toxic religious systems that feed on distance and fear. The gospel, as Paul knew, is the unveiling of proximity. “By the faith of him” dismantles self-striving. It’s not the quantity of our faith that grants access, but the quality of His: His fidelity that includes us even in our unbelief.
“If we are faithless, he remains faithful; for he cannot deny himself.”
– 2 Timothy 2:13
To “have access with confidence” is to reenter the garden, not as trespassers but as beloved gardeners restored. Genesis imagery hums behind Paul’s words. Humanity once hid from the divine presence out of shame. Christ restores the face-to-face encounter:
“And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day.”
– Genesis 3:8
Now, the same “voice” walks within us, and the “cool of the day” becomes the stillness of contemplative awareness. Access is Eden reopened.
In the end, Ephesians 3:12 is not a call to storm heaven but to awaken within it.
If this verse were rewritten in the light of all this, it might sound like this:
“In the One who reveals our union, we live unveiled, entering the inner sanctuary of Being itself, assured by His faithfulness that we have never been apart.”
Selah
Thanks for reading
By Anthony Osuya (Saint Anthony)