A number of times in his letters, Paul mentions “the mystery.” Concerning it, he says “in other generations [it] was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to [God’s] holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit” (Eph. 3:5). So, what was that “mystery”?
Tragically, some are teaching that it was previously hidden truth that superseded, and even nullified, the teaching of Jesus. They claim, for example, that God revealed to Paul that salvation is granted through God’s grace under the new covenant, whereas under the old covenant, it was allegedly earned through works. And since Jesus’ earthly ministry was conducted under the old covenant, they say that explains why He so often tied obedience to salvation in His teaching and preaching. Now that the new covenant has been inaugurated, and the “mystery” has been revealed, we realize that we can ignore everything Jesus said that ties salvation to holiness, as it has no application to new covenant believers who are saved by grace!
All of that is so wrong on so many levels it is difficult to know where to start. One problem with it is the fact that so many passages in the New Testament epistles tie salvation to some standard of holiness. So even if there was a legitimate way to nullify all that Jesus taught that is recorded in the Gospels, the rest of the New Testament affirms the identical gospel He preached.
Even after Jesus was resurrected and the new covenant began, the apostles still called everyone to repentance—just as Jesus did during His earthly ministry (see Matt. 4:7; Luke 13:1-5, 15:7-10). And that is exactly what Jesus told them to do…after He was resurrected (see Luke 24:44-47; Acts 2:38; 3:9; 17:30, 26:20).
All of this is so obvious that I am tempted to ask those who teach otherwise, “Is the New Testament in your Bible?”
So what exactly is the “mystery” that was revealed to Paul and others? Rather than just make up an explanation that suits someone’s strange theology, why not allow the Bible itself to answer that question? So here’s part of the answer, straight from the New Testament:
For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace which was given to me for you; that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, 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; 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, 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. To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things (Eph. 3:1-9, emphasis added).
Clearly, the “mystery” revolves around Christ, and more specifically, that Gentiles would find salvation through Him and become members of His body.
Keep in mind that there is a difference between what is a mystery and what is completely unknown. Mysteries always stem from observable clues, but those clues are insufficient for complete understanding.
There were, of course, plenty of clues in the Old Testament regarding the future salvation of Gentiles. But even Jesus’ closest disciples, who were all culturally bigoted against Gentiles, didn’t put those clues together. If you’ve read Acts 10, you know that God went to extraordinary lengths to reveal to Peter that Gentiles could be cleansed of their sins by faith in Christ. God revealed the same to the apostle Paul. It seems, however, that most of the early Jewish Christians struggled with that idea.
No doubt the revelation that Gentiles could be cleansed by faith was part of what Jesus had in mind when He said to the Eleven, “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth” (John 16:12-13). The apostles weren’t ready then to accept the idea of Gentiles being saved. Two of them had recently floated the idea of calling down fire from heaven upon a village of Samaritans, who were only half Gentile!
The “mystery” also includes, according to Paul’s words in Romans 11:25, a partial hardening of Jews. Again, however, that hardening is related to the Gentiles, because it will last only “until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.”
Here is perhaps the most important fact to know about the “mystery” that was revealed to Paul and others: Not only does it not include an alleged revelation regarding salvation by a grace that nullifies any standard of holiness for salvation, but it actually includes the opposite of that. Paul wrote in Romans 16:25-26:
Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations [Gentiles], leading to obedience of faith (emphasis added).
Note that phase “obedience of faith” connected to “all the nations.” Paul used the identical phrase in his introduction to Romans, writing, “Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name’s sake (Rom. 1:4b-5, emphasis added).
All of that is to say, part of the “mystery” regarding the Gentiles is that they would be saved through faith, and their faith would result in their obedience to God.
And there is still more to the “mystery” as it relates to the Gentiles. In his letter to the Colossians, Paul wrote:
Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out…the word of God, that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:25-27, emphasis added).
So, part of the mystery that surrounded the salvation of the Gentiles was that Christ would come to live in them. Most of us have no idea how radical of an idea that would have been to first-century Jews.
There are a few other aspects of the “mystery,” but I can assure you that none of them resemble the silly idea that, since salvation is by grace under the new covenant rather than by works—as it allegedly was under the old covenant—we thus need not concern ourselves about holiness or obedience.
Paul even mentions Christ Himself as being part of God’s mystery (see Col. 2:2, 4:3). I’m sure you will agree that there are plenty of clues about the Messiah in the Old Testament, but the foretold Messiah obviously wasn’t fully revealed until His incarnation and ministry. Again, that is how all mysteries are. They always contain clues that point to truth that remains partially hidden. And for that reason, don’t listen to those who claim that the “mystery” of which Paul wrote was some revelation for which there were no clues, and that was allegedly about some change that God was making in the way He saves people! God has always saved sinners by grace through faith, before, during, and after the old covenant.
Finally, since we are thinking about mysteries, who would not agree that God is still holding many mysteries from our full understanding? Paul wrote:
For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known (1 Cor. 13:9-12).
Currently, we are like children who lack the adult understanding they will eventually possess. We understand so little! But the day is coming when many mysteries that currently puzzle us will be understood. That will be a great day! Even then, however, there will still be mysteries, and I suspect that, throughout eternity, God will grant us progressive insights while still reserving some mysteries for Himself. He’s an awesome God!
“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever” (Deut. 29:29).
