Mystery of His Will
ANOTHER WONDERFUL MESSAGE FROM THE GREAT BOOK OF EPHESIANS about the blessings God gives us by grace in our salvation. Our context for this week is Ephesians 1:7- 9…
NKJ Ephesians 1:7-9 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, 9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself,
LOOK CAREFULLY AT V. 8, AT THE PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE, “IN ALL WISDOM and prudence”…
NKJ Ephesians 1:8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, “WISDOM,” AS I HAVE SHARED WITH YOU BEFORE, IS A CHALLENGING WORD to accurately define in its biblical context. As I looked through the notes I have written over the years on my computer about wisdom, this note, I think, most succinctly sums up the biblical meaning: “Wisdom takes insights from the knowledge of God’s ways and applies them in the daily walk.” –A. Hubbard
THE WISDOM OF THE BIBLE IS PREEMINENTLY PRACTICAL, not intellectual as we might first imagine. As we will see, there is much more that can be said about biblical wisdom…
“PRUDENCE” MEANS the ability to govern and discipline oneself by the use of reason; 2 : sagacity or shrewdness in the management of affairs; 3: skill and good judgment in the use of resources; 4 : caution or circumspection…
MOST BIBLES HAVE “IN ALL WISDOM AND INSIGHT.” “Insight” means the act or result of apprehending the inner nature of things or of seeing intuitively, having discernment; being able to penetrate the meaning of things. A few translations – like the NIV and the NLT – have “wisdom and understanding.” The Greek word for “prudence” or “insight” or “understanding” [fro-nay-sis]) is a word that is related to the process of thought: 1. the faculty of thoughtful planning, way of thinking, (frame of) mind 2.the ability to understand, understanding, insight, intelligence. I must call to your attention that contrary to what some Christians think, Christianity has to do much more with the mind – our intelligence – than it does with the our culture’s popular perception of heart – that is, our emotions…
THE TWO WORDS, “WISDOM” AND “INSIGHT” ARE VERY CLOSE IN MEANING, so close in fact, that I feel rather than distinction in contemplating these closely related words, we should rather focus on emphasis. The Bible often links together two similar nouns to emphasize a single idea (grammatically, this is called “hendiadys,” a literary device in which two nouns are used to convey an idea normally conveyed by a noun and an adjective)…
SCHOLARS DEBATE WHETHER THIS PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE REFERS TO US OR to God. In other words, is Paul saying that in all of God’s wisdom and discretion, He lavished His grace upon us? Or is Paul saying that in redemption (v. 7), God not only granted us the forgiveness of sins, but He also in accordance to the riches of His grace, made wisdom and prudence abound to us? Because there was no punctuation in the original Greek text, modern Bible translators can only make educated guesses as to which Paul intended…
AFTER STUDYING THE QUESTION FOR SOME TIME THIS WEEK, I BELIEVE that the phrase refers to believers, “namely, God lavished on us His grace of all insight and discretion” (Hoehner)…
IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THE BEST DEFIINITION OF THE GREEK WORD φρόνησις (fro-nay-sis) is discretion. Discretion means good judgment, responsible discretion…
PAUL IS NOT SAYING THAT WHEN WE ARE SAVED WE SUDDENLY POSSESS astounding intelligence. I think he is saying, however, that when God saves us He gives us the ability to discern between good and bad. He gives us the mental ability unique to believers that enables us to understand God’s revelation. Listen to what Paul wrote to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 2…
NKJ 1 Corinthians 2:12-16 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. 13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. 16 For “who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
BECAUSE OF THE INDWELLING HOLY SPIRIT, BELIEVERS HAVE THE ABILITY to comprehend God’s revelation, the Bible. Unbelievers cannot understand the Scripture. Oh, they can read it like a book, like a book of history, but they do not possess the supernatural ability to comprehend and appreciate its spiritual truth. While there may be exceptions, unbelievers do not normally get saved by reading the Bible. “The natural man (the unbeliever) does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”…
WHILE THERE ARE EXCEPTIONS (for one major exception the gospel of John, which Pastor Matt recently lead us through verse-by-verse), the Bible was not written to unbelievers but to believers to instruct them about God, to assure them of their salvation, and to teach them how to live holy lives that glorify God…
BUT THERE IS ANOTHER REASON THAT GOD GIVES US “WISDOM AND insight”: it is to be able to discern the “Mystery of His Will”…
LISTEN TO WHAT PAUL PRAYS IN V. 17 OF EPHESIANS 1…
NAS Ephesians 1:17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.
THIS VERSE, IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO V. 8, CONVINCED ME THAT the prepositional phrase “in all insight and discretion” refers not to God but to believers…
CERTAINLY IT MUST BE AGREED THAT PAUL’ ANALOGY IN COLOSSIANS 1:9 clearly references believers as recipients of “wisdom and prudence”…
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,
“GOD’S GRACE WHICH PROVIDED REDEMPTION AND THE FORGIVENESS of sins, also lavishes on us all wisdom and insight. One must have not only the benefits of grace, but also the benefits of insight and discretion in order to live wise holy lives that please God.” – Hoehner…
“FOR EXAMPLE, those who receive God’s gracious redemption and forgiveness of sin gain insight into the fact that God no longer holds them guilty for their sins because they have been paid for. Furthermore, because of the freedom from the bondage of sin, believers will discern their new freedom is not for self-consumption but freedom to serve the living God (before we were saved we were not free to serve God; we were slaves of Satan – TAR).” – Hoehner…
AND THIS IS ONLY A BEGINNING POINT. The following verses clearly show that this “Wisdom and Prudence” that God gives us is for the purpose of understanding God’s plan for the ages…
NKJ Ephesians 1:9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself,
I HAVE TITLED THIS BLOG “THE MYSTERY OF HIS WILL,” BUT the passage includes much more than the awesome subject of God’s will. Without trouble, I could have made several blogs out of the verses we will cover this morning, so theologically rich is this section of Paul’s introduction. Paul’s introduction, you will remember, is one extended sentence in the Greek text running from v. 3 through v. 14. I hope you are not tiring each week of me telling you of the riches of what God has done for us in Christ (that’s purposely sarcastic J)…
“HAVING MADE KNOWN” ESSENTIALLY MEANS REVEAL. “Most prominently the aorist participle is used in the N.T. of making known or revealing the mysteries that have been kept secret through the O.T. until being revealed in the N.T.” – Hoehner/TAR (While there are a number of excellent commentaries on Ephesians, I feel strongly that Hoehner’s is the best, because it is the most exegetical. By “exegetical” I primarily mean the most consistently accurate and insightful as regards the original language in which the New Testament was written, Greek.)…
THE WORD “MYSTERY” IN THE BIBLE REFERS TO something in ages past, hidden in God (3:9) and unable to be unraveled or understood by human ingenuity or study. A biblical mystery is made known only by God revealing it. It was revealed only spiritually to the prophets and apostles (3:4-5), who in turn have made it manifest through their writings to everyone. In our context for today, it refers to the mystery of God’s will…
CHECK OUT SOME OTHER WORDS OF PAUL CONCERNING “MYSTERY”…
NAS Ephesians 3:3-5 that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. 4 by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), 5 which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets:
NKJ Ephesians 3:10 to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places,
SEE THAT? Now this wisdom might be made known. Before, in the O.T., it wasn’t known…
NKJ Ephesians 6:19 and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel,
FROM ROMANS 16…
NKJ Romans 16:25-26 Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began 26 but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith—
ISN’T THAT UNSPEAKABLY BEAUTIFUL?…
“THE MYSTERY KEPT SECRET SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN BUT NOW made manifest”…
“A MYSTERY IS A SECRET GOD UNDERSTANDS, AND that people need to know, but which cannot be understood unless it is disclosed by God. The mysteries of God answer the great questions that throb in the human heart. No seminar, no university class, no scientific probe can reveal these answers. They can only be revealed by God Himself. Once God reveals the mystery of His purpose in the world to us, then the swirling chaotic events that flicker on our TV screens and scream from our headlines begin to make sense in God’s cosmic scheme. Only after we have read and understood God’s revealed Word can we even begin to read a newspaper or watch CNN or FOX news with any real intelligence and comprehension, because only then can we see how our current events fit into the program and purpose of God.” – Steadman…
A MYSTERY IS A DIVINE SECRET THAT WAS ONCE NOT KNOWN BUT NOW IS… CONSIDER PAUL’S WORDS IN COLOSSIANS 1:27…
NKJ Colossians 1:27 To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
THE THOUGHT THAT GOD HAS MADE KNOWN THE MYSTERY OF HIS WILL to us stayed with me throughout the week. Almighty God has made known to me and you His will! Think of that! The sad thing is that too many Christians keep this treasure to themselves…
IT IS NOT A “MYSTERY” IN THE SENSE THAT WE CAN’T FIGURE IT OUT; it is a mystery in the sense that it wasn’t previously known…
“WILL” IS THE GREEK WORD θέλημα (tha-lay-ma)… This is God’s desirous will, as opposed to His determinative will. “When this word denotes God’s will, it signifies His gracious disposition toward something. Used to designate what God Himself does of His own good pleasure.” – Zodhiates…
YOU SEE THAT V. 9 READS “ACCORDING TO HIS OWN GOOD PLEASURE.” “the standard of making known the secret plan of His will is God’s good pleasure or his satisfaction. The secret plan of His will was not given begrudgingly but with God’s pleasure.” – Hoehner…
NOTE ALSO THOSE WORDS, “HAVING MADE KNOWN.” “These words show us that there is not only a salvation-historical dimension to the mystery but also a personal one.” – Lincoln… They carry enormous privilege as well as responsibility for us. God’s will is known to us; we cannot claim ignorance…
LET’S LOOK BRIEFLY BUT CAREFULLY AT PAUL’S CLOSING WORDS IN V. 9…
NKJ Ephesians 1:9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself,
“PURPOSED” COULD ALSO READ “SET FORTH”… THIS VERSE CONNECTS TO V. 5…
NKJ Ephesians 1:5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
“VERSE 9 REAFFIRMS GOD’S ACTIVITY OF DISCLOSING THE MYSTERY of His will what v. 5 had asserted of His activity in predestining believers to adoption as sons and daughters, namely, that such activities are in line with God’s sovereign and eternal purpose.” – Lincoln…
PAUL’S INTRODUCTION OF VV. 3-14 IS TRULY AN INTRICATELY-WOVEN masterpiece of ascribing to God the glory He is due for purposing and planning our salvation before the foundation of the world. Back before He created space and time, God purposed and planned how He would redeem mankind from His fallen state. Praise His name!”…
STUDYING THESE VERSES AS I HAVE THIS WEEK, it is evident to me that much of what Paul is saying may be seen as emphasizing God’s sovereign control of everything that has to do with salvation. It is God who has saved us and not we ourselves. It is only by God’s grace which we could never deserve that we are saved (Ephesians 2:8-9). It is so amazing, don’t you agree, to be able to study and meditate upon the workings of God’s mind through the revelation of Scripture!…
NOTE THE LAST TWO WORDS: “IN HIMSELF”… I am reading from the NKJ. “The NKJ and old KJV have ‘in Himself,’ as though the antecedent were God the Father. Although this reading is possible, the notion of the verb purposed or set forth (προτίθημι [pro-tith-e-mi) implies a plan that is carried out in history (cf. Rom 1:13; 3:25) and thus more likely refers to Christ.” – NET Notes…
IT IS GOD THE FATHER’S PURPOSE, THAT IS CERTAIN, BUT that purpose is worked out through God the Son…
“GOD’S CAREFULLY DESIGNED STRATEGY TO MAKE KNOWN THE MYSTERY, like that mystery itself, has always had its focus in Christ.”
SO, I WOULD POINT YOU TO ANOTHER TRANSLATION OF THIS VERSE, such as the ESV…
ESV Ephesians 1:9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ
WHAT A GREAT BOOK IS EPHESIANS; WHAT A GREAT SAVIOR IS OUR LORD!…