The Mystery of the Gospel
The Mystery of the Gospel.
MYSTERY: a sacred secret hidden in the heart of God until the appointed time of revelation; a truth that can only be known by divine disclosure; spiritual insights into God’s way of thinking and planning; hidden truths revealed by God that are beyond human intellect and reason; divine knowledge that can only be understood through the Holy Spirit; God’s thoughts and plans revealed to believers and hidden to doubters and unbelievers.
“If you read what I have written, you will be able to understand my insight into this mystery concerning the Messiah. In past generations, it was not made known to mankind, as the Spirit is now revealing it to God’s holy apostles and prophets; This mystery is that through the Gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together with the Jews in God’s promise in the Messiah Jesus.” (Ephesians 3:4-6).
UNPACKING ST. PAUL’S MYSTERY:
(1.) Jews and Gentiles alike are part of God’s chosen people through the Messiah Jesus.
(2.) The Gospel of grace has grafted the Gentiles, (“branches from a wild olive tree“), onto Abraham’s tree, (“a cultivated olive tree“), through Messiah. Paul expands on this mystery in Romans 11:17-24, as well as here in Ephesians 3:4-6. He mentions this mystery in many other parts of his epistles.
(3.) Because of God’s grafting, Jew and Gentile have become equal sharers in the rich nourishment of the roots of Abraham’s tree.
(4.) Both Jew and Gentile are partners together in the same body of faith, the Messiah Community.
(5.) Both Jewish and Gentile believers share equally in God’s inheritance by being called God’s children. As mutual partakers, they both enjoy the promise of God’s eternal blessings, because they are in union with Christ.
(6.) God’s revelation concerning salvation was directed to the Jews first as His chosen people in the early covenant.
(7.) Gentile believers are extensions of God’s chosen people. They are included, but they do not replace the Jews as the original people of God.
(8.) Jewish and Gentile believers are bound together in Christ, in anticipation of the restoration of Israel, when all Israel will be saved (Romans 11:26).
(9.) The restoration of Israel will include the blessing of all nations.
(10.) It is Messiah Jesus who gives significance to everything in the body, including Jew and Gentile, which is the basis of equality among the many varieties of believers.
(11.) Gentile believers remain Gentile, Jewish believers remain Jews, but there should be no division between them, since they are united in Christ.
(12.) To be included in the mystery of salvation, both Jew and Gentile alike must believe in Messiah Jesus. Their body of fellowship is made up of those who call on the name of Christ.