Paul’s role in this plan of God is recorded in Ephesians 3:1-13. He was an apostle of Jesus Christ. He and the other apostles and prophets uncovered the mystery revealed to them by the Spirit. It reads,
“For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles— Surely you have heard about the dispensation of God’s grace that was given to me for you, that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit 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 in the promise in Christ Jesus.
I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory. Notice the following points of the text that emphasizes the work of revelation to bring about the fulfillment of God’s plan of redemption.
- “Dispensation of the Grace of God”
Paul introduces the thought of the “dispensation of the grace of God” that was given to him to give to them. The word dispensation speaks of Paul’s stewardship. A steward was often a slave and Paul so identifies himself as a prisoner of the Lord or a servant in his letters (cf. Eph. 3:1). The role of a steward is to be faithful and responsible to do the work that was entrusted to him. It was a responsible position as it implies an owner giving him the care of his estate or property. The position describes the role of authority as does the word “ambassador” (cf. 1 Cor. 5:20).
The “dispensation of the grace given Paul is the “revealing the mystery of Christ” that he wrote so they could read and understand. The revelation of the mystery was given to the “apostles and prophets in the Spirit.” While the apostles and prophets revealed the same mystery, it is especially stewardship of Paul on behalf of the Gentiles (verse 1). He was called to “preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ and to make all men see what is the dispensation of the mystery that had been hidden for ages” (3:8-9).
- Method of Revelation
This text not only explains Paul’s special role as steward, but it gives details of the method of revelation, and the purpose of the Holy Spirit’s work relative to these things. The revelation was, as Paul writes, “given to me for you.” It started with the Spirit, who led the Apostles and prophets. Then, to evangelists and pastors (Ephesians 4:11-ff). The apostles and prophets were to dispense this grace of God (the revelation of the mystery) to both Jew and Gentile.
- Mystery of Christ
The good news of the mystery is that “the Gentiles are fellow-heirs, and fellow-members of the body, fellow-partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (verse 6). These verses introduce the work of the Holy Spirit in teaching this mystery of God through the apostles and prophets. It had never been revealed this way before. As already noted, the law divided Jews and Gentiles. The gospel (“good news) of Christ is that “whosoever will, may come and take of the water of life freely. Paul alludes to the work of the Holy Spirit as “the effective working of His power.” The revelation of the mystery was not so much that the Gentiles would now be included as children. The Jews had no real problem with this inclusion. That was never the problem. The “bitter pill” of the mystery was equality (“fellow-heirs”). This was the reason that the Jews became unglued in Acts 21, when they thought Paul had taken Trophimus, a Gentile, beyond the wall of partition. The give the Gentiles the same consideration and privileges after having that unique distinction for ages was hard to accept.
The intent of this revelation of the Spirit concerning the inclusion of Gentiles into the “called-out” (ekklesia) body is to make known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenlies the manifold wisdom of God (3:10). This passage reflects the idea expressed in many different texts that another realm beyond the physical realm is watching. It is a spiritual dimension that is just as real as the physical. Just as spiritual children of God are made to “sit with Him in the heavenlies“, many “from the “east and west” (Gentiles) will recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 8:10-12). Even while we may physically eat and drink the bread and fruit of the vine in memory of Christ, the communion with Christ is not physical. The expression found in the letter to the Ephesians that describes this other dimension is “the heavenlies” or “the heavenly places.” Paul said that (1) God intended to bring Jews and Gentiles together into one body (of Christ -the ekklesia), and that (2) Paul would be the one chosen as steward through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
This remarkable accomplishment of creating one new man was not fully realized at the time of this writing. But, once this eternal purpose was realized, all anyone could do is stand in awe at such manifold wisdom. It could never have been the work of man. It could only be accomplished by the power of God. The revelation of this mystery was not easily accepted by the Jewish people who had always been the people of God. Ethnic, racial, and social prejudices hindered reconciliation and peace in one body. For a Jew to treat Gentiles as brethren and sit down at a meal with them required certain attitudes listed in the early section of chapter four. Both needed lowliness, meekness, longsuffering, and forbearance in love to keep that “unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:2-3). The unity of the faith has nothing to do with denominational unity, but the unity of Jew and Gentile in one body. When chapter four opens, Paul connects chapter three to it by writing, “For this reason…” In other words, for the reason of bringing both into the same body, I was given this stewardship “for you Gentiles.
- The work of the Holy Spirit
The fact that this stewardship given to Paul was the revelation of the mystery of Gentile inclusion in the body of Christ shows this to be the working of God’s wisdom (3:11) and not man’s wisdom. When Jesus ascended on high, he gave gifts to men. These were miraculous gifts that identified the messengers and the message as being from God. The revelation of the mystery required this time of miraculous power to give confidence to the messenger and confirmation of the teaching they delivered to that generation. Those were unique days that were never designed to be duplicated in the days that would follow it. The power given to men by the Spirit was peculiar to those days to fulfill the unity of the faith spoken by the Spirit (“unity of the Spirit”).
Our next blog will continue to look at this same theme in chapter three.