Ephesians 3:1-7
1: For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—
2: if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace which was given to me for you;
3: that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief.
4: By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ,
5: which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit;
6: to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel,
2: if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace which was given to me for you;
3: that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief.
4: By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ,
5: which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit;
6: to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel,
7: of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God’s grace which was given to me according to the working of His power.
Paul was in prison when he wrote this letter. Partly due to his preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, and partly because he preached the gospel at all. He assumed they’d heard of his call—to steward the grace of God toward them, the Gentiles. He started to say, “For this reason…” meaning because of what he just said about the Gentiles being included in God’s plan of salvation, but he didn’t pick up the thought again until verse 14. He had more to say about this topic first.
A mystery was revealed to him by a revelation of Jesus Christ (Galatians 1:12). This mystery had previously not been known but was being revealed to the apostles and prophets of God. Paul said if they read what he had already written about this mystery they might understand the insight he had concerning it, which was that the Gentiles were fellow heirs and fellow members of the body of Christ. They were fellow partakers of the promise in Christ through the gospel. The same gospel which Paul was made a minister of by the grace of God given to him. Much of this we’ve already read, especially in Romans and Galatians.
The Jews knew of the coming Messiah for centuries. They knew they were entrusted with the oracles of God (Romans 3:2). They knew the Promised One would come from the bloodline of Abraham—the father of the Jews—and specifically the line of David. Yet even though God promised Abraham He would make him a father of many nations, the Jews didn’t completely understand the mystery that the Gentiles would be included in the salvation the Messiah brought. This salvation was not meant to keep the presence of God contained within one nation, but for His presence and blessing to flow through the Jewish nation to the rest of the world, so all who believe the message would be saved.
Those looking for prestige and honor among the Jews, pertaining to the Law, which was being replaced with grace, were the ones least likely to accept the gospel of Christ—the new covenant. Paul was an exception. He knew the Law, which was probably why this excited him so much to receive this revelation which was in the Scriptures all along and just now coming to light. It seems Paul was trying to communicate this same excitement to the Gentiles, so they would realize the value of the gift they were receiving in Christ.
***
Paul was in prison when he wrote this letter. Partly due to his preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, and partly because he preached the gospel at all. He assumed they’d heard of his call—to steward the grace of God toward them, the Gentiles. He started to say, “For this reason…” meaning because of what he just said about the Gentiles being included in God’s plan of salvation, but he didn’t pick up the thought again until verse 14. He had more to say about this topic first.
A mystery was revealed to him by a revelation of Jesus Christ (Galatians 1:12). This mystery had previously not been known but was being revealed to the apostles and prophets of God. Paul said if they read what he had already written about this mystery they might understand the insight he had concerning it, which was that the Gentiles were fellow heirs and fellow members of the body of Christ. They were fellow partakers of the promise in Christ through the gospel. The same gospel which Paul was made a minister of by the grace of God given to him. Much of this we’ve already read, especially in Romans and Galatians.
The Jews knew of the coming Messiah for centuries. They knew they were entrusted with the oracles of God (Romans 3:2). They knew the Promised One would come from the bloodline of Abraham—the father of the Jews—and specifically the line of David. Yet even though God promised Abraham He would make him a father of many nations, the Jews didn’t completely understand the mystery that the Gentiles would be included in the salvation the Messiah brought. This salvation was not meant to keep the presence of God contained within one nation, but for His presence and blessing to flow through the Jewish nation to the rest of the world, so all who believe the message would be saved.
Those looking for prestige and honor among the Jews, pertaining to the Law, which was being replaced with grace, were the ones least likely to accept the gospel of Christ—the new covenant. Paul was an exception. He knew the Law, which was probably why this excited him so much to receive this revelation which was in the Scriptures all along and just now coming to light. It seems Paul was trying to communicate this same excitement to the Gentiles, so they would realize the value of the gift they were receiving in Christ.
Comments
Post a Comment