This is one of my favorite passages in the New Testament! As I read it yesterday, I was blessesd so much by the commentary on vv. 16-19, from the Life in the Spirit Study Bible.
"To have the 'inner man' strengthened by the Spirit is to have our feelings, thoughts, and purposes placed more and more under His influence and direction so that the Spirit can manifest His power through us in greater measure. The purpose of this strengthening is fourfold:
- that Christ may establish His presence in our hearts (vv. 16-17);
- that we may be grounded in sincere love for God, Christ, and others (v. 17);
- that we may comprehend with our minds and experience in our lives the love of Christ for us (vv. 18-19);
- that we may 'be filled with the fulness of God' (v. 19), that God's presence may so fill us that we reflect and manifest from our innermost being the character and stature which belong to the Lord Jesus Christ!"