The primary
reemphasis is on the great mystery now revealed by God that Gentiles
and Jews are one in Christ and that there is no longer any
distinction. The revelation of the mystery is discussed in verses
1-3, the explanation of it in verses 4-6, the proclamation of it in
verses 7-9 and finally the intention of it in verses 10-13.
To be specific, he
says in verse 6, the sacred secret never before revealed is that “the
Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow
partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” That
verse is essentially a summary of 2:11-22.
In 3:1-13 the
apostle leads us to focus on five aspects of this divine mystery: its
prisoner, its plan, its preaching, its purpose and its privileges.
Ephesians 3:1
"For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you
Gentiles,"
The writer begins
his second prayer in behalf of the readers. “For this cause”
indicates the reason for his prayer; this expression refers to their
being part of the church, which is “a habitation of God” (2:22).
Since God lives in the recipients, Paul prays for them. “I Paul”:
from this point the apostle’s prayer is side-tracked until its
resumption in verse 14.
Before beginning his
prayer, Paul decided to go over again some of those truths which
prompted it, emphasizing their divine source. The apostle knew the
value of repetition in teaching and the importance of establishing
authority when teaching such new and nontraditional doctrine.
We none understand a
truth fully when we first hear it. God’s truths are so marvelous
and vast that we will never comprehend them fully in this life, no
matter how many times we hear and study them.
This digression
reveals Paul’s own divinely appointed part in disclosing the
enormous truth explained in 2:11-22 – that Gentile believers now
stand on equal footing with their Jewish brethren in God’s family.
The prisoner of
Jesus may be read “a prisoner because of Jesus.” Paul’s
imprisonment is due to the Lord’s work; it is not due to any
wrongdoing on his part.
Although Paul had
been a prisoner for about two years in Caesarea and two years in
Rome, he did not consider himself to be a prisoner of any government
or person. Rather, he knew he was under Christ’s control, and every
aspect of his life was in the Lord’s hands. He suffered
imprisonment for preaching to Gentiles, see 2 Cor. 4:8-15.
For the cause of the
Gentiles being offered Christianity is possibly what Paul is speaking
of here. Paul really would rather have brought his message to the
Jews, but the Lord had sent him to the Gentiles.
The reason the Lord
chose him to bring the message to the Gentiles could have been
because he had been a Pharisee. The fact that he was ministering to
the Gentiles, would show the great change that had come when he
received the Lord Jesus into his life.
From verses 2-13 in
this parenthetical passage, Paul interrupted the thought begun in
verse 1 to reemphasize and to expand upon the truths he had just
written. He was compelled to affirm his authority for teaching the
oneness of Jew and Gentile in Christ, verses 2-7, a new and far
reaching truth that most of the Ephesians doubtless found difficult
to comprehend or accept.
Ephesians 3:2
"If
ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given
me to you-ward:"
On man's part the
continuing requirement is obedience to the revelation of God. This
obedience is a (dispensation) or stewardship of faith.
“Stewardship …
given me”: “Stewardship” here means an administration or
management. Paul did not choose the stewardship of his apostleship or
ministry. God had sovereignly commissioned him with the calling,
spiritual gifts, opportunities, knowledge and authority to minister
as the apostle to the Gentiles.
“The dispensation
of the grace of God” means “the provision consisting of God’s
grace.” This refers to the divine ability given Paul which enabled
him to successfully execute his apostolic ministry to the Gentiles.
Every believer is a
steward of the calling, spiritual gifts, opportunities, skills,
knowledge, and every other blessing he has from the Lord. Everything
we have belongs to the Lord, and we are therefore entrusted as
stewards to manage our lives and everything we possess in behalf of
the One to whom they belong.
We are faithful
stewards when we use what we have to minister to those within the
family of God and witness to those who are without. “As each one
has received a special gift,” Peter admonishes us, “employ it in
serving one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God”
(1 Peter 4:10).
"Dispensation",
in the verse above, means administration. The job of bringing the
message of grace to the Gentiles had been given to Paul by the Lord
Jesus.
Acts 9:15 "But
the Lord said unto him, go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto
me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children
of Israel:"
In the beginning
when Paul had founded the church at Ephesus, they heard that God had
called him to bring the gospel message to the Gentiles primarily and
to all men as convenience arose. This was, in a sense, Paul's
converts and he felt responsible for them knowing the truth.
Ephesians 3:3
"How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I
wrote afore in few words,"
“As I wrote
afore in few words” refers to 1:9-10 and 2:11-22 where the author
only touched on “the mystery” which God had “made known” to
him. In the most general of terms 1:9-10, identifies this “mystery”
as the establishing of a new humanity under the headship of Christ. A
bit more specifically, 2:11-22 defines it as the inclusion of Gentile
Christians along with Jewish Christians in God’s family. But 3:6
will spell out with even more precision exactly what this mystery
entails.
As we said, above,
Paul did not learn the good news of the gospel in the school he
attended under Gamaliel. His knowledge of the good news of Jesus had
been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit of God, while he spent 3
years in the Arabian Desert seeking truth of God.
Paul would never
have sought for the truth about Jesus, had he not encountered the
great Light on the road to Damascus. The writing in a few words was
earlier in this letter to Ephesians.
Ephesians 3:4
"Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in 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 (here stated as an assumed part of
Christian living), Paul’s hope was that they would come to
understand his God-given insight into the mystery of Christ.
There were many
truths hidden and later revealed in the New Testament that are called
mysteries. Here is one: Jew and Gentile brought together in one body
in the Messiah. Paul not only wrote of the mystery that, in Christ
Jew and Gentile become one in God’s sight and in His kingdom and
family, but also explained and clarified that truth. He realized that
spiritual knowledge must precede practical application. What is not
properly understood cannot be properly applied.
Paul had just
casually mentioned it before, and now he will go into greater detail
about his encounter with Jesus Christ and with his subsequent study
through the teaching by the Holy Spirit.
Some of the things,
pertaining to Jews and the Gentiles, had to be unlearned of Paul,
because in the law, the Jews thought of all Gentiles as unclean
heathen people.
Ephesians 3:5
"Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as
it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the
Spirit;"
“In other ages was
not made known”: Though God had promised universal blessing through
Abraham, Genesis 12:3, the full meaning of that promise became clear
when Paul wrote Gal. 3:28. Isaiah 49:6 predicted salvation to all
races, but it was Paul who wrote of the fulfillment of that pledge,
Acts. 13:46-47.
Paul disclosed a
truth that not even the greatest prophets understood, that within the
church, composed of all the saved since Pentecost in one united body,
there would be no racial, social, or spiritual distinctions.
That the divine
blessings of salvation would be extended to the Gentiles was made
known from Genesis 12:3 onward. That Gentiles could be saved,
therefore, was no secret. But a mystery “not made known” in Old
Testament times was the incorporation of Jewish and Gentile believers
alike as fellow members of the body of Christ. This secret is “now
revealed unto his holy apostles and” (Christian) “prophets.”
The other ages that
Paul is speaking of, is pertaining to the days of the Old Testament.
The Law of Moses was full of ordinances and sacrifices, but offered
very little personal fellowship with the Lord. Christianity is so
different from the law. The law was fulfilled in Jesus and the
Christians are no longer under the regulations the law put upon them.
The “sons of men”
refer to mankind in general, not just to God’s chosen people,
Israel. Before the church age no person, not even the greatest of
God’s prophets, had anything but a glimpse of the truth that Paul
now discloses. The Old Testament teachings that relate to this
mystery can only be understood clearly in light of New Testament
revelation.
Man could not truly
understand the things of God. To speak of a person as a son of man,
means that he is a flesh man. Jesus paid our debt for us and we
Christians have been adopted into the family of God. We are not any
longer sons of men, we are sons of God. Sons of God are following the
Spirit of God, not the flesh of man.
No one knew the full
meaning of God’s promise to Abraham that “in you all the families
of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen. 12:3) until Paul wrote, “And
the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by
faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “All the
nations shall be blessed in you’”(Gal. 3:8).
No one knew the full
meaning of Isaiah’s prediction, “I will also make You a light of
the nations so that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth”
(Isa. 49:6), until it was explained by Paul to mean the offering of
the gospel of Jesus Christ (the Messiah) to the Gentiles as well as
the Jews (Acts 13:46-47).
The clues they had
in the Old Testament were a mystery to them because too much
information was lacking. That is why Jews in the early church, even
the apostle Peter (see Acts 10) had such a difficult time accepting
Gentile believers as being completely on the same spiritual level as
Jews.
And that is why Paul
was concerned in this letter to the Ephesians to state and restate,
to explain and explain again, that great truth.
Ephesians 3:6
"That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body,
and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:"
As mentioned before,
it is difficult for us to realize how incredibly revolutionary that
truth was to Jews of Paul’s day. In spite of the fact that the Old
Testament teaches that Gentiles will be blessed by God (Gen. 12:3;
22:18; 26:4; 28:14), that Gentiles will bless God (Psalm 72), that
the Messiah will come to the Gentiles (Isa. 11:10; 49:6; 54:1-3;
60:1-3), that they will be saved by the Messiah (Hos. 1:10; Amos
9:11) and that they will receive the Holy Spirit (Joel 2:28-29).
The idea of
including Gentiles in one body with Jews was the spiritual equivalent
of saying that lepers were no longer to be isolated, that they were
now perfectly free to intermingle and associate with everyone else as
normal members of society.
The “mystery” of
verse 3 that has just been divinely disclosed, verse 5, is now
explicitly defined. It is “that the Gentiles” are to be “fellow
heirs,” that is they now enjoy equal share in a heavenly
inheritance to which they, unlike the Jews, had no right by birth.
And they are “of the same body” as fellow members; that is,
Gentiles have been incorporated into the divine family on the same
equal footing before God.
They are just as
intimately related to the Lord and just as much loved by Him as are
their Jewish brethren. And they are “partakers of his promise;”
that is, they are fellow partakers of covenant promises from which
they were formerly excluded (2:12).
In a word then, the
“mystery” is that of Gentile Christians standing on the same even
ground of grace before God and of their being equally included in the
body of Christ (the church) along with Christian Jews.
All believers in
Christ are heirs with Christ.
Romans 8:17 "And
if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ;
if so be that we suffer with [him], that we may be also glorified
together."
The promises were
made to Abraham and his seed.
Galatians 3:29"
And if ye [be] Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs
according to the promise."
All Christians,
regardless of their status or position before being saved, are now
fellow partakes of everything that pertains to Christ through the
gospel, which is everything that pertains to Christ.
The catch to all of
this is do you belong to Christ? It does not matter whether you are
male or female, old or young, or whether you are black or white. The
thing that matters is, have you given yourself to Christ? If you do,
then you inherit the same promise of faithful Abraham.
Being in Christ
through acceptance of the gospel is what creates among believers
their perfect and absolutely new society. There can never be true
oneness apart from that reality. And there can never be practical
unity in the church until Christians realize and live by the
positional unity they already have in Christ, their one Lord and
Savior.
Ephesians 3:7
"Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the
grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power."
No man can make
himself a minister (literal servant) of God, because the calling,
message, work and empowering of genuine ministry to and for God are
His prerogative alone to give. See Acts 26:16; 1 Cor. 15:10; Col.
1:23, 25, 29.
Minister is from
diakonos, the basic meaning of which is servant, in particular a
servant who waits on tables. It later came to refer to servants in
general. By definition, a servant is one who acts on the commands of
others, who recognizes and submits to a higher power. His primary
responsibility is to do what he is told to do.
Notice, that Paul
did not make himself a minister. He was called of God for the purpose
of ministering to the Gentiles. Paul is very aware that the grace of
God given to him was not because of his deeds, because he had
actually been persecuting the Christians when God called him.
1 Corinthians 15:10
“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me
did not prove vain; but I labored even more that all of them, yet not
I, but the grace of God with Me”.
It was not Paul’s
education, natural abilities, experience, power, personality,
influence, or any other such thing that qualified him to be a
minister of Jesus Christ. He was made an apostle, a preacher and a
servant by the will and power of His Lord. He felt unworthy of any
reward, as if he had sought sacrificially to serve in this way.
Not many of us see
the same type of dramatic thing that Paul did. God stopped him in his
tracks, and set him on a totally new path. The power of God that was
so evident in Paul's call was the extremely bright Light that Paul
saw. It blinded him for three days and then he received his physical
and spiritual sight as a gift from God.
This encounter with
the Light {Jesus Christ} transformed Paul from a prejudiced Pharisee
to a believing Christian.
Any person in the
ministry of the church whom God has not appointed is a usurper. No
matter how seemingly good his intentions, he can do nothing but harm
to the work of the Lord and to the Lord’s people.
Then or now, the man
who is genuinely called by God is in constant danger of losing his
effectiveness by coming to think of himself as more that a servant.
When he loses his sense of servant hood, at that same time he loses
his spiritual power and usefulness.
When he exalts
himself and begins to work in his own human power and according to
his own plans, he competes with God and forfeits his spiritual power.
To lose dependence is to lose everything, because everything that is
of any value in our lives, including power for effective service,
comes only from the Lord.
Ephesians 3:8
"Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this
grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable
riches of Christ;"
Though an apostle
and a specially chosen minister of the mysteries of the gospel, Paul
considered himself “the very least of all the saints.” The term
“least” is a comparative, indicating less than the least. That
was not mock humility, but his honest assessment of himself. In light
of God’s perfect righteousness, Paul’s assessment of himself was
not false humility but simple honesty. He knew his unworthiness.
This shows just how
humble this proud Pharisee had become. He believes that he is not
less than just the apostles, but all of the believers who accepted
Jesus without question. He had not believed in the beginning. He is
questioning why God would choose someone like him, who had not
believed in the beginning for such a large task as this.
Paul is saying, that
this is not through his own ability he brings this message of the
unsearchable riches of Christ. It is Christ in him that is bringing
this message to them. Paul is the mouth that God is speaking to them
through. This is what makes Paul such a good teacher. It is Christ
bringing the message through him.
To the end of his
life he considered himself the foremost of sinners (1 Tim. 1:15).
“The unsearchable
riches of Christ”: All God’s truths, all His blessings, all that
He is and has. The purpose of every preacher is to declare those
riches, to tell believers how rich they are in Christ. That is why it
is so important for Christians to understand the greatness of their
position in the Lord.
Simply knowing about
the riches of Christ is not enough, however. When we fall into sin
and disobedience we forfeit the present blessing of those riches,
just as did the fleshly, disobedient Corinthian believers. Like the
Laodiceans, they thought they were rich and in need of nothing, not
realizing that they were really “wretched and miserable and poor
and blind and naked” (Rev. 3:17).
We learned in a
previous lesson that Paul was like an ambassador. An ambassador
brings the message of the one who sent him, not his own message.
Ephesians 3:9
"And to make all [men] see what [is] the fellowship of the
mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God,
who created all things by Jesus Christ:"
Paul is saying, in
effect, “I am not only called in the vertical area to preach the
unfathomable riches of Christ, but in the horizontal area to teach
about the administration, the stewardship or dispensation, of the
mystery of the church age.” The first area deals with our
relationship to God and the second with our daily living and our
ministry to each other as fellow believers.
The verse is better
read, “And to reveal what is the plan (arrangement) of the mystery,
for it has been hidden for ages by God who created all things.” The
two reasons for which God gave Paul this grace (“ability”) are
(1) to preach the gospel to Gentiles, verse 8, and (2) to disclose
God’s plan for implementing the Jew-Gentile mystery in human
history.
This message had
been concealed for many years, until the time of the cross. The
mystery of the fellowship, to me, is the fact that God would even
want to fellowship with sinful man. This was God's plan from the
beginning. He made man that He might fellowship with him as a Father
does with a son.
Jesus created all
things. Jesus' name, at the time He created all things, was the Word
of God.
John 1:1-3 "In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God." "The same was in the beginning with God."
"All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing
made that was made."
He took on the name
Jesus, when He came to the world to save mankind. Paul, in speaking
to these people, knew they all believed that the Word of God created
everything. His concern was that they realize that Jesus was the Word
of God.
Ephesians 3:10
"To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in
heavenly [places] might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of
God,"
“Principalities …
Powers”: Angels, both holy and unholy. God through the church
manifest His glory to all the angels. The holy angels rejoice (see
Luke 15:10; 1 Peter 1:12) because they are involved with the church.
In heavenly places refers to the entire realm of spiritual beings.
Angels are also
spoken of in such terms in Eph. 1:21 and Col. 1:16. In Ephesians 6:12
Paul uses similar words in regard to fallen angels. God has brought
the church into being for the purpose of manifesting His great wisdom
before the angels, both holy and unholy.
The New Testament
emphasis is on the holy angels’ concern with the church, but it is
obvious that the fallen angels can also to some extent see what is
going on, though they have no desire or capacity for praise.
Paul’s disclosure
of this mystery teaches angels (“principalities and powers in
heavenly places”) of God’s wisdom.
This is speaking to
the end that those who God has given limited authority to in the
heavenlies were not really aware of this, until Jesus was victorious
on the cross. Lucifer, the old devil, really thought that the cross
was defeat for Jesus, when, in fact, it was His greatest victory. The
church, of course, is the believers in Christ.
Jesus sent the Holy
Spirit to the believers to teach us all things. Jesus said Himself
that He had not hidden things from those who believe. The Holy Spirit
of God opens our understanding to the things of God.
Matthew 11:25-27
"At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father,
Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the
wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes." "Even
so Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight." "All things
are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but
the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and
[he] to whomsoever the Son will reveal [him]."
The worldly people
have eyes to see, but they do not see, because their understanding
has not been opened. The wisdom of God is so far above the normal
understanding that even the angels in heaven did not understand,
until it was revealed to them by God.
Ephesians 3:11
"According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ
Jesus our Lord:"
Paul continues to
explain that everything God has ever done has had the ultimate
purpose of giving Himself glory. As Paul declares elsewhere, “there
is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and we exist
for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we
exist through Him” 1 Cor. 8:6), and “All things have been created
by Him and for Him” (1 Col. 1:16).
The church does not
exist simply for the purpose of saving souls, though that is a
marvelous and important work. The supreme purpose of the church, as
Paul makes explicit here, is to glorify God by manifesting His wisdom
before the angels, who can then offer greater praise to God. The
purpose of the universe is to give glory to God, and that will be its
ultimate reality after all evil is conquered and destroyed.
The holy angels not
only are interested in the salvation of men (1 Peter 1:12) but
constantly watch the face of God in heaven to see His reaction to the
treatment of His saved earthly children (Mat. 18:10, 14), standing
ready to carry out any mission in their behalf.
In the classroom of
God’s universe, He is the Teacher, the angels are the students, the
church is the illustration, and the subject is the manifold wisdom of
God.
God is not like man that He should be influenced by circumstances. Salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord was part of the eternal plan of God. This was all decided by God, even before He made man. His purpose was the salvation of man.
It was always the
plan for Jesus to save His people who believed in Him, by giving
Himself as sacrifice for them. We are just as if we had never sinned,
because of the blood that Jesus shed to pay our debt to God in full.
The law was fulfilled totally in this.
There was nothing
left for us to sacrifice. He paid it all when He took our sin on His
body, and He became our substitute. Salvation for all mankind is in
the Lord Jesus Christ. There is salvation in no other.
Ephesians 3:12
"In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the
faith of him."
When we put our
faith in Jesus Christ we can freely come to God and share in all of
heaven’s unfathomable riches. In Judaism only the high priest could
enter the presence of God in the Holy of Holies, and that but briefly
once a year on the Day of Atonement. For anyone else to come into
God’s presence meant instant death.
But now, Paul says,
every person who comes to Christ in faith can come before God at any
time and with boldness and confident access. That is the privilege
within the mystery of the church.
Heb. 4:15-16: “For
we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our
weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet
without sin. Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne
of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in
time of need”.
We are not to be
flippant or irreverent but are to come to the Lord with an honest,
open heart – in freedom of speech and freedom of spirit. Confident
access is trust that knows no fear of rejection, because we belong to
Him (1 Tim. 3:13).
“Access with
confidence”: Every person who comes to Christ in faith can come
before God at any time, not in self-confidence but in
Christ-confidence.
This verse affirms
that Christians “have boldness” (freedom of speech before God)
“and access” (the right of entering His presence”) “with
confidence” (assurance of being heard by God) “by the faith of
him” (through relying upon Christ to gain God’s ear).
The veil of the
temple was rent from the top to the bottom at the moment Jesus cried,
it is finished on the cross. This signified that Jesus had opened the
way to the Father for all who would believe. Jesus is the Way. No man
cometh to the Father, but by Him. He is the door that we must walk
through on our way to the Father.
The door in heaven
is now open to all the Christians. We can boldly go to the throne of
God, knowing that we are in right standing with God, because we are
washed in the blood of the Lord Jesus. We now pray directly to the
Father in the name of Jesus Christ.
We Christians are
now the sons of God. We have been purchased with the precious blood
of Jesus. We are even allowed to use the special endearing name for
the Father "Abba". Only His children call Him by that name.
Romans 8:15 "For
ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have
received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father."
