Ephesians 3:5, commentary and pictures

What was kept hidden from people in earlier generations has now been openly disclosed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets. The secret is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs with Israel, members of the same body, and full sharers with them in God's promise in Christ through the gospel. This plan was hidden from the beginning in God who created all things by Jesus Christ, and it was given to Paul by revelation to preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ and to make all see the fellowship of this mystery. By the church the manifold wisdom of God according to His eternal purpose in Christ is now to be made known even to principalities and powers in heavenly places. Christ is therefore to be revealed in and through everyone who is saved, and the message of this chapter is committed to believers now as a worldwide work of warning and salvation to be proclaimed while mercy may still be found.

The Mystery Revealed

What in earlier ages had not been made known to the sons of men is now revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets. The mystery of Christ hidden from former generations was opened in this new revelation, bringing believers into nearness and fellowship with the Holy Spirit that was not before enjoyed. The third chapter of Ephesians is full of instruction about this teaching, given so that it may be understood.

The content of the revelation is that the Gentiles should be fellowheirs with Israel, and of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel, sharing fully in God's promise. What had been hidden is that the Gentiles are included as fellow heirs in one body, members with Israel and sharers in the promise in Christ through the gospel. This inclusion was entrusted to Paul to preach among the Gentiles as part of his special commission.

This mystery was from the beginning of the world hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ. It lay hidden in God from the beginning, not made known in other ages, until now revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets. Paul received this mystery by revelation concerning the dispensation of the grace of God given him toward the Gentiles. He wrote it in few words, so that when believers read they may understand his knowledge in the mystery of Christ.

He was made a minister of it by the gift of the grace of God and the effectual working of His power. His work was to preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ and to make all men see the fellowship of the mystery. He was the prisoner of Jesus Christ for the Gentiles, because preaching to the Gentiles made him a prisoner.

Through divine revelation the plan of salvation as wrought out by Christ was laid open to Paul. He was called and made a minister to teach that men in hopelessness, dead in trespasses and sins, have deliverance through the gospel of Jesus Christ, with life and power to reach forth unto holiness. Through the sacrifice of Christ a new and living way has been opened for all.

The purpose is that now by the church the manifold wisdom of God according to the eternal purpose purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord might be known to the principalities and powers in heavenly places. In Him is boldness and access with confidence by faith. Paul was given the ministry of making the mystery known among the Gentiles, so that the church would display God's manifold wisdom to the heavenly powers, in keeping with His eternal purpose in Christ.

These revelations gave Paul marvelous insight and rooted and grounded him in the truth. No suffering or reproach could lead him to deny the great truths revealed to him, and no presentation of false theories or fanciful ideas could lead him away from the grand views he had received of heavenly things or make of no effect the sacred truths of God. The revelations given through Christ and the apostles were meant to make the riches of God's grace known in every age, and the gospel as presented by Paul remains just as powerful today, revealing in all ages the rich treasures of the grace of Christ and the abundant love of God through His Son.

Living and Proclaiming the Revelation

Ephesians 3 reveals the work to be done in everyone who is saved, that Christ is to be revealed in and through them. It speaks of the work God is doing in the world at the present time, that through the church the truth is to exert a sanctifying, cleansing, and refining influence. The church through whom this gospel work is to be accomplished includes not only ministers but all who are united to Christ by faith and embrace the truth that works by love and purifies the soul. They are one family, and through them the gospel work is to be accomplished.

Because the mystery of Christ not made known in other ages is now revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets, believers can now be brought into great nearness and fellowship with the Holy Spirit. They should improve the privileges God has given to rise to increase of faith and confidence, walk circumspectly before Him, and abide in Jesus Christ, so the Spirit brings all things to remembrance, lifts to a higher plane of action, and imparts through them the love God designs to give to the world. That revelation leads to prayer to the Father of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that they be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in hearts by faith and they being rooted and grounded in love may comprehend with all saints the breadth and length and depth and height and know the love of Christ which passes knowledge and be filled with all the fullness of God, for He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all asked or thought according to the power working in them, to whom be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages. All are to study the lesson of Ephesians 2 and 3 to learn the way of the Lord from God in earnest prayer beyond what any human voice or counsel can teach, to see that transgression of the law cost the blood of the Son of the infinite God, to hate the sins that wounded Jesus, and to keep a contrite heart while viewing Jesus as a compassionate tender High Priest.

God's revealed truth must shape the character and conduct of teachers, ministers, and everyone in responsible positions. Those who profess the truth but fail to live out God's law need conversion before they can be trusted with responsibility, because their actions can lead others astray. Many have become hard-spirited as strangers to the working of the Holy Spirit and need a great reformation in lives, words, works and spiritual understanding, catching the inspiration of the angels in the heavenly courts and daily breathing the atmosphere of heaven. This instruction means much and must be read to hearers, impressed upon minds, and read most solemnly together with the fourth chapter of Ephesians.

The message of the third chapter of Ephesians is addressed personally to believers and commissioned for them to bear now because the end is near. It is a worldwide work to proclaim God's message of salvation to those who have not yet heard it, with the same burden Paul carried now resting on believers to finish a great work in a short time. That proclamation is the last message of warning and salvation, exposing transgression that hinders it and arousing people to the swift judgments coming. It calls believers to take hold of God in earnest while their transgressions are hindering it, and calls for united, intelligent action while mercy and abundant pardon may still be found, for there will be no second probation.