The Revelation of Mystery
EPHESIANS 3:1-7
NAS Ephesians 3:1-7 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles— 2 if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace which was given to me for you; 3 that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. 4 And by referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit; 6 to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel, 7 of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God’s grace which was given to me according to the working of His power.
I’VE TITLED THIS BLOG, “The Revelation of the Mystery”…
“FOR THIS REASON” CONNECTS THIS PASSAGE WITH OUR PASSAGE FROM LAST week: “The Foundation and the Cornerstone.” Explaining Paul’s opening words is a little technical, so please bear with me at the start here. let’s look again at vv.19-22 of chapter 2…
NAS Ephesians 2:19-22 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, 20 having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord; 22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
BUT TO BETTER UNDERSTAND PAUL’S BEGINNING THIS PASSAGE WITH “For this reason,” we must go to v. 13 of chapter 3…
NAS Ephesians 3:13 Therefore I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf, for they are your glory.
SCHOLARS TELL US THAT “FOR THIS REASON” AND THE REST OF V. 1 AND V. 13 are to be understood as parentheses around everything in between. So, our passage for this week more accurate would be labeled vv. 2-7. As I said, it’s a little confusing, but I want us to try to understand. “This is the way the apostle’s active mind often worked. He often started out to say one thing, but then he is captured by the truth of something else he is going to say, so he pours this second truth into a grand parenthetical clause which he builds, truth upon truth, until he finally returns to his original thought and completes the statement he began in v. 1. Understanding how vv. 1 and 13 connect gives us a context for understanding what Paul is saying in the intervening sentences.” –Steadman…
VERSE 14 OF CHAPTER 3 BEGINS A PRAYER OF PAUL’S…
NAS Ephesians 3:14 For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father,
SEE HOW HE PICKS UP WITH “FOR THIS REASON” AGAIN? Just as Paul began his prayer in v. 1, he thinks of something important and gives us vv. 2-13 before continuing his prayer in v. 14. This is just how the amazingly fertile mind of Paul worked at times…
SO OUR PASSAGE TODAY AND OUR NEXT STUDY ARE ACTUALLY A “substantial digression” (Bruce) from a prayer uttered by Paul on behalf of the Christians in Ephesus, which you’ll remember is modern Turkey in Asia Minor…
“THE APOSTLE WANTED THE CHRISTIANS TO WHOM HE WAS WRITING TO understand why he was going through persecution and imprisonment. Paul, you’ll also remember, was writing from prison, most probably in Rome. Ephesians is one of what are termed ‘the Prison Epistles’ of Paul. Paul, again most probably, wrote the letter to the Ephesians from a rented room where he lived under house arrest, chained day and night to a Roman soldier. Paul’s Christian friends must surely have wondered how God could allow this great missionary to be confined in this way, his missionary voice shut up within four walls, his missionary feet in chains, reduced to conducting his ministry by letters alone.” – Steadman/TAR…
YES, BUT WHAT POWERFUL LETTERS THEY WERE, AND ARE STILL TODAY… PAUL SAYS IN V. 1…
NAS Ephesians 3:1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles–
“THE SUBJECT ‘I PAUL’ IS LEFT WITHOUT A VERB. The main verb does not come until v. Whenever Paul uses the expression ‘I Paul,’ as he does several times in his letters, the phrase denotes special emphasis. In 2 Corinthians 10:1 and Galatians 5:2, for example, ‘I Paul’ introduces a solemn entreaty or warning.” – Bruce…
NAS 2 Corinthians 10:1 Now I, Paul, myself urge you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ– I who am meek when face to face with you, but bold toward you when absent!
NAS Galatians 5:2 Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you.
IN EPHESIANS 3:1, PAUL WAS CALLING ATTENTION TO THE FACT that he was in prison because of his special ministry to the Gentiles. Paul, remember, was the “Apostle to the Gentiles.” In Romans 11:13, it says this…
NAS Romans 11:13 But I am speaking to you who are Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle of Gentiles, I magnify my ministry,
PAUL WAS IN PRISON IN GREAT PART BECAUSE OF THE GENTILES…
NOW LET’S GO BACK TO VV. 2 AND 3 AND PICK UP OUR STUDY FOR TODAY of the mystery…
NAS Ephesians 3:2-3 if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace which was given to me for you; 3 that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief.
WITH THESE WORDS PAUL IS EMPHASIZING HIS DIVINELY GRANTED authority for the teaching he about to give…
“STEWARDSHIP” IS FROM A GREEK WORD (οἰκονομία [oi-ka-no-me-a]), a word that primarily referred to the management of a household. “A steward was responsible for taking care of that which belonged to someone else.” – Macarthur…
PAUL, WE COULD SAY, WAS TAKING CARE OF GOD’S GRACE; he was a steward of God’s grace to the Gentiles…
“PAUL IS NOT SAYING IN V. 3 THAT HE ALONE IS A STEWARD OF GOD’S SECRETS. All Christians are stewards of God’s mysteries. You are and so am I. We have received the gospel, the story that explains all of life and enables us to solve the riddle of our existence. This responsibility was committed to us by God, and He expects us to dispense this secret to those around us.” – Steadman…
GOD GIVES EVERY BELIEVER A SPIRITUAL GIFT. This special gift really doesn’t belong to us, however; it was given us by God. We are to take care of that gift, nurture that gift, and use that gift in ministry to others…
NAS 1 Peter 4:10 As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
MOST CHRISTIANS I KNOW BELIEVE THEY HAVE MORE THAN ONE GIFT, BUT Peter says we have only one gift. In the Greek text the relevant words are singular. You may have many talents, and you may be using those talents in a number of ministries in the church, but I believe the Bible teaches that we only have one special gift, and as Peter tells us, that gift is to be used in serving one another…
NOTE IN V. 2 THAT THIS GRACE WAS GIVEN TO PAUL FOR THE GENTILES. “Paul did not choose either his apostleship or his ministry; he was appointed.” –MacArthur…
LISTEN TO WHAT PAUL SAID REGARDING THIS POINT IN 1 TIMOTHY 1:12…
NAS 1 Timothy 1:12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service;
THERE IS APPLICATION FOR US TODAY HERE. So often it is we ourselves who choose our ministries. If we be faithful and obedient, and God will give us a ministry…
NOW NOTICE IN V. 3 THAT IT WAS BY REVELATION THAT THE MYSTERY WAS revealed to Paul…
A MYSTERY IS SOMETHING THAT HAS NOT BEEN PREVIOUSLY REVEALED. “The secret things of God are the mysteries that God knows about life and about the future which humanity desperately needs to know.” – Steadman… Scripturally speaking, the mystery would have remained a mystery had not it been supernaturally revealed…
“OBVIOUSLY THE MYSTERY TO WHICH PAUL REFERS HERE IS THAT OF JEW and Gentile being one in Christ, about which he wrote before in brief in chapter 1:9—12 and chapter 2:11-12. It was unknowable, incomprehensible truth hidden from all men until revealed by God.” – MacArthur…
THE MYSTERY OF CHAPTER 3 OF EPHESIANS WAS THAT IN CHRIST, Jew and Gentile believers became one in God’s sight and members of His kingdom and family…
NAS Ephesians 3:6 to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel,
NOW LOOK AT V. 4…
NAS Ephesians 3:4 And by referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ,
“IT WAS PAUL’S INTENTION NOT SIMPLY TO DECLARE THE MYSTERY BUT TO explain and clarify it. When Ephesian believers and every subsequent believer would read his explanations, Paul’s hope was that they would come to understand his God-given insight into the mystery of Christ.” – MacArthur…
“THE OPPOSITE OF SPIRITUAL INSIGHT IS ‘FOOLISHNESS’ OR lack of spiritual discernment.” – MacArthur… Unbelievers, by the very fact that they are not connected to Jesus or the Bible, lack this understanding and are therefore foolish…
NAS Romans 1:21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
ESV Psalm 14:1 To the choirmaster. Of David. The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good.
BUT BELIEVERS ALSO CAN LACK SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT. It is possible for Christians to know all the necessary facts about salvation and about Christianity and still not possess insight. That is sad but true…
“THE EPHESIAN CHRISTIANS WOULD BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND PAUL’S INSIGHT into the mystery of Christ by reading what he had ‘already written.’” – Hoehner (B.K.C.)…
NAS Colossians 1:9 For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
NAS Colossians 2:2 that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself,
“PAUL’S NEXT WORDS IN VV. 5-6 WOULD FURTHER ENHANCE their understanding of it. His ‘insight’ was not his own discovery; it was revealed by God. – Hoehner (B.K.C.)…
NAS Ephesians 3:5-6 which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit; 6 to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel,
“THE ANTECEDENT OF ‘WHICH’ IS THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST about which the apostle had been given special revelation and insight, as Paul said in vv. 3-4.” – MacArthur…
“‘SONS OF MEN’ REFERS TO MANKIND IN GENERAL, not just to God’s chosen people Israel.” – MacArthur…
BEFORE THE CHURCH AGE NO ONE – NOT EVEN THE GREAT PROPHETS of the O.T., knew anything but fleeting foreshadows of the great truth Paul is now disclosing…
“THE O.T. TEACHINGS THAT RELATE TO THIS MYSTERY CAN ONLY BE understood clearly in the light of N.T. revelation. We know the meaning of many O.T. passages only because they are explained in the New.” – MacArthur…
NAS 1 Peter 1:10-12 As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful search and inquiry, 11 seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. 12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven– things into which angels long to look.
AS I HAVE MENTIONED IN PREVIOUS BLOGS on the final verses of chapter 2, it is all but impossible for us today to appreciate fully how incredibly revolutionary all that Paul is saying to the Jews of Paul’s day…
“THE DIVINE SECRET WAS REVEALED TO THE HOLY APOSTLES and also the prophets, for they were the ministers through whom the truth of God was communicated to their fellow- believers. The apostles represent the authority of primary witness to the Gospel facts, while prophets represent the living guidance of the Spirit by which the facts were apprehended in ever fuller meaning and scope. And it was disclosed to Paul by revelation on the Damascus road, for he, as the apostle to the Gentiles, held the primacy among those ministers (Gal. 1:11–12, 15–16; cf. Acts 26:12–18).” – O’Brien…
VERSE 6, AS WE HAVE ALREADY SEEN, SPELLS OUT THE CONTENT of God’s open secret…
NAS Ephesians 3:6 to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel,
THOSE GENTILES WHO WERE ONCE EXCLUDED from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise now have exactly the same legal and spiritual status before God as His chosen people the Jews…
AND ONCE AGAIN ALLOW ME TO EMPHASIZE THE WONDERFUL TRUTH THAT all of these incredible blessings were made possible only through the shed blood and sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus – bless His holy name!…
AND OUR FINAL VERSE FOR THIS WEEK, V. 7…
NAS Ephesians 3:7 of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God’s grace which was given to me according to the working of His power.
“PAUL RETURNS NOW TO THE VERY PERSONAL MANNER OF SPEAKING begun in verses 1–4. He returns to the primary thought of the paragraph (inclusio – TAR). Perhaps the reason for this is that he has just made mention of the gospel. Paul and the gospel are intimate friends. In Romans 2:16 he speaks of ‘my gospel.’ It is a gospel in which he glories (Rom. 1:16, 17). In fact, he tells us that he was set apart in a special way to preach the gospel (Rom. 1:1). He just “cannot get over it” that God chose him, even himself, Paul, the great persecutor of the church, to proclaim the gospel of the grace of God in Christ.” – Hendriksen & Kistemaker…
NOTE PAUL’S USE OF THE WORD “MINISTER”… This is the Greek word διακονος (dee-a- ka-nos). This is the word from which we get our English word deacon. It means servant. A Deacon is first and foremost a servant. Paul’s use of the word here underscores the humble attitude he displayed throughout his ministry…
AND NOTE THAT HE RECOGNIZES HIS ABILITY TO MINISTER WAS “according to the working of” not his own power but the power of God. What a wonderful attitude for us to emulate!…
“PAUL KNEW THAT EFFECTIVE SERVICE FOR THE LORD DEPENDS ON His – the Lord’s – power. When God gives you and me responsibilities and opportunities to serve, He provides His power to carry them out. Thank God, He both calls us to share ‘the mystery of the Messiah’ (3:4) and empowers us to do so effectively. How wonderful is His grace!” – Garner…
LISTEN TO V. 8 IN CONNECTION WITH PAUL’S HUMBLE ATTITUDE… We will study
- 8-13 together in 2 weeks, Lord willing…
NAS Ephesians 3:8 To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ,
PAUL’S WORDS THROUGHOUT EPHESIANS ARE GRACIOUS AND HUMBLE. To Paul, being chosen to proclaim the gospel, to be a dispenser of the grace of almighty God, was a privilege he could never get over…
I’LL “DROP THE MIC” WITH THIS RELEVANT THOUGHT. We have been given this same privilege, brothers and sisters…
– Professor Thomas A. Rohm
