Revelation of God’s mystery: (Chap.3)
Preface to mystery: (3:1-7):
Paul was under house-arrest in Rome for preaching Christ. The Jews and the religious leaders were threatened by this teaching and pressurised Roman authorities with false accusations of rebellion and treason and put him into prison. Although Paul was chained with soldier for full 24-hours, he was allowed with ink and papyrus to write letters to his friends and relatives. This prompted Paul to write the letter to Ephesians which is full of doctrines. In this chapter, he unveils the mystery of Church revealed through Jesus Christ.
Paul suffered for the very truth he would explain to the Ephesians, and this did not make him back down one bit. He wanted people to feel sorry for him because he was imprisoned. He wanted his readers to realize that it is a benefit for them that he was a prisoner. He knew that God called him specially to preach among the Gentiles. He says that the administration of God’s grace was given to him which is nothing but the Divine plan which God has entrusted to Paul.
Paul wanted them to know, it was not his invention. God gave him the revelation and he is only His messenger of this truth. It costs Paul a lot to hold on to this mystery. It is indeed amazing that God would take a Hebrew of the Hebrews, a Pharisee, and a persecutor of the church to be the main minister of the mystery, the mystery of the work of the gospel in bringing Jew and Gentile together into one new body.
- An open mystery: The important thing Paul wanted to say is that “it is an open mystery.” If God did not want, it would have been never known. It was hidden from human knowledge or understanding, but now disclosed by the revelation of God. It had never been fully revealed until it was made known to the holy apostles and prophets by the Holy Spirit (Jn. 14:26; 1 Cor.12:8).
- Given specifically through Paul: But it was not given only to him by revelation but was also given specifically to Peter by revelation (Acts 11:1-18), and it is consistent with prophecy in the Old Testament (49:6) and the specific words of Jesus “You will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8b). However, it seems that God used Paul to declare specifically how Jews and Gentiles would be joined together in one Body of Christ. This was something mentioned by others also, but specifically detailed through Paul’s revelation. Paul trusted that his readers would understand what God revealed to him.
- It is God’s doing: The nature of the union of Jews and Gentiles into this new body is the aspect that was not made known. In the Old Testament, the salvation of Gentiles in the Messiah is prophesied, the coming together of Jew and Gentile into the Church is never spoken of.
- Even prophets did not know: This is not to say that no one, not even prophets like Moses, Isaiah, etc., knew anything about the future blessing in which the Gentiles would share. In fact, the Old Testament writers did know about it and referred to it over and over (Gen.12:3; 22:18; Ps.72; 87; Isa.11:10; Hos.1:10; Amos 9:11ff; Mal.1:11).
What they did not know was that the old theocracy would be abolished and in its place the church of Christ would be established and in this body the Gentiles and Jews would be on equal footing before God.
Paul became a Christian by obeying the gospel like everyone else. But he became an apostle and minister of the gospel by the power of God. God was working in and through Paul. Paul deserved none of the credit.