In Ephesians 3:1-13 Paul talks about himself. Why does he do this? Writing as the apostle to the Gentiles, he has been telling new believers what has happened to them. Once they were spiritually dead, but now they are alive. Once they were both separated from God and his people, but now they are full members of Israel and are also the very temple in which God dwells.
Paul has been explaining to these believers what has happened to them because he had been praying that they might have understanding in this area. He is now on the point of telling them more about what he prays for them. As he opens chapter 3 it is his intention to tell them about this fight away. By comparing 3:1 and 3:14 we can see that he planned to write, 'For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, bow my knees to the Father...' But he never did so. As he dictated to his amanuensis, or secretary, the word 'Gentiles' triggered off a train of thought that he just had to pursue.
He would come back to what he originally planned to say, but not immediately.
What was it about the word 'Gentiles' which temporarily diverted Paul? It is as if he said to himself: 'Gentiles? They are Gentiles and Christ appointed me to be the apostle to the Gentiles. Perhaps I had better tell them a little more about this. They need to know how this came to be, and what it means.' So Paul pursues this train of thought before returning to his main epistle. In doing so, he talks about himself, and gives us a glimpse of himself that we could not have in any other way. We see into his heart and character, and learn a great deal more about his message.
The passage before us is very rich and we are in danger of missing the wood for the trees. To prevent this happening we will deal with it simply, by asking two questions.
What sort of man was Paul? 1. A man with a strong view of providence (3:1)The apostle opens this chapter with the following words: 'For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles...'
Everybody knew that Paul had a lot of time for the Gentiles. In fact, not so long ago, when he had been in Jerusalem, he had spent most of his time in the company of a Gentile, Trophimus, who was actually from Ephesus. The two were so constantly seen together that when Paul visited the temple, many people assumed that Paul must have taken this Gentile into the forbidden inner courts with him. This led to a riot, which in turn led to Paul being arrested. This was the beginning of a whole train of events which brought Paul as a prisoner to Rome, from where he was writing to the Ephesians. This explains how Paul could write that he was a 'prisoner... for you Gentiles'.
But Paul did not write this in a bitter or resentful tone. He saw himself as 'the prisoner of Jesus Christ'. What did he mean by that? Why did he not say, rather, that he was the prisoner of the Romans? Although all that had happened to him was quite unfair, and what had taken place was genuinely distressing, Paul could see that an invisible hand was behind it all. Everything was happening 'according to the purpose of him who works all things after the counsel of his will' (1:11).
This understanding of events changed everything for the apostle. For him, the doctrine of God's sovereignty was not an abstract concept, but a truth to be lived by. He was in prison because the Lord Jesus Christ wanted it that way. He was therefore his prisoner. He would remain there as long as his Lord wanted, but not a moment longer. Meanwhile he would live to please him in the circumstances in which he had placed him. Humanly speaking it was very trying, and it certainly looked like a tragedy. But there are no accidents. Everything is part of a divine plan. It was a man who was inflexibly strong on that point who had first preached the gospel at Ephesus.
2. A man with a clear sense of commission (3:2,7)Paul wonders if his Gentile readers 'have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you' (3:2). In fact, we can paraphrase him like this: 'I take it for granted that you have heard of me, and that you have heard that the grace of God not only saved me but put a gift in my hand. That gift which God's grace dispensed to me was not for me to enjoy selfishly. It was for you...' Paul has in mind the manager of a large estate putting differing responsibilities into the hands of various servants. The particular task given to him is to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. He is not self-appointed. This assignment has been entrusted to him by another. This he cannot forget. He is a man with a strong sense of commission.
Verse 7 brings this out with even greater force. Here he talks of the gospel 'of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of his power'. Paul did not just wake up one day and think it was time to do something about the Gentiles. He did not make himself into a gospel minister. It was a function given to him by God's grace alone. And he who sent him to the work equipped him for it. He tells the Ephesians that he is energized by the mighty power of God in this service for the Lord. Of course, they themselves had seen his ministry in action. They were witnesses to how powerful it was. Many of them had been converted through it. How is it that a despised message preached by a weak and unimpressive orator had invincibly persuaded and conquered such a multitude? The apostle to the Gentiles was accompanied by the very power of God who had sent him to the work.
3. A man with an overwhelming sense of privilege (3:8)At the end of chapter 2 Paul told us never to forget what we once were. He himself had not. This is why he talks about himself as he does in verse 8: 'To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.'
He is just glad to be saved. He thinks of all those men and women that the Lord has set apart for himself – 'the saints', as the Bible calls them. He then thinks of the least and lowest among them. He sees himself as lower still. Had he not been a cruel and determined persecutor of the Lord's people? With blasphemies on his lips, had he not thrown many of them into prison? And now that he was one of their number, he scarcely felt he could lift up his head in their presence. What a privilege it was to belong to that company – a privilege of which he was not worthy! If a list were to be drawn up, with the greatest Christians at the top and the least at the bottom, he considered that his name would trail a long, long way below the lowest names.
This was the man whom Christ had called to preach! The Lord took the lowest name on the list and made him his special messenger to the Gentiles! What a responsibility and what a privilege! The appointment was not done on the basis of merit. It was all of grace.
And what could such a man preach? He could not blow his own trumpet, for there was nothing to make a noise about. He would preach what he was called to preach. He would stand up like a herald and proclaim Christ! We cannot even begin to imagine with what conviction Paul did that. He had shown Christ nothing but hatred; but Christ had shown him nothing but love. His love was without bounds. His person was beyond description. His work was eternal in both its plan and effect. His ways were beyond finding out. He could never tell all, but he would tell all that he could. He would preach among the Gentiles the unfathomable, the unsearchable riches of Christ!
4. A man more concerned with others than with himself (3:1-2,13)
This comes across in the opening words of the chapter. Paul knows that he would not be in prison at all if it were not for the Gentiles (3:1), but there is no trace of irritation as he mentions it. He has no thought for himself. Nor does he in verse 2, where he talks of his commission to the ministry. Years after receiving that commision, he still speaks of the ministry in an unselfish way. There was nothing in it for him. He exercised it for the benefit of others.
It is, however, verse 13 which is unusually striking: 'I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.' He has only one thought in his mind and it does not concern himself. He is praying that the Ephesians and other Gentile believers might not be disheartened by what he is going through! The fact that he is suffering himself is not something he pauses to think about. But he is worried about the effect that his imprisonment might be having on others.
To encourage his readers, Paul tells them that his time in prison is their 'glory'. He was not there because he had something to be ashamed of. He was suffering because he had freely preached the gospel to the Gentiles. He was there for a worthwhile cause and they ought to be proud of the fact. They should be speaking positively about it. The apostle to the Gentiles was suffering because he taught that Gentiles who came to Christ were as much God's people as any Jewish believer, ancient or modem.
Unselfishness is a very rare commodity. We now understand why Paul did not spare himself in any way when he first proclaimed Christ at Ephesus. He tells us about that himself in Acts 20:17-38. His one concern was to bring blessings to others, whatever the cost in personal terms. Years later, in his Roman prison, he was no different. Nor did he think only of the Ephesians at that time, but of the Philippians, the Colossians and Philemon, to whom he also wrote letters. Spiritual work can be done only by people who put themselves out.
5. A man enjoying fellowship with God (3:12)To find out about this we must go to verse 12. What Paul says here is rendered more powerful by the fact that his fellowship with God is more hinted at than stated.
Referring to our Lord Jesus Christ, Paul talks of him as the one in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in him'. As he speaks about Christ, Paul immediately thinks of him as the one by whom we may come boldly to God's throne. The mere mention of his name sets Paul thinking about going to God as confidently as a child skips to his father. The terror of approaching him has gone. We have access into the holiest. It is a privilege which becomes ours through faith.
The prisoner's mind ran naturally along these lines. There can be only one explanation for this: in that Roman cell he himself was enjoying such fellowship with God. The prison walls were impregnated with the spirit of prayer. They provided no obstacle to prayer. There, where fear usually reigned, a man was being bold. There, where doors were closed and bolted, he was enjoying access. Where others were losing confidence, he was enjoying it. With the eyes of faith he was looking away from himself, towards his Mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ. There, where no earthly circumstance was favourable, he was having communion with the King of heaven, the living and true God.
What sort of message did he preach?
We have seen a little of Paul the man. Very few men like him have ever walked across the stage of history. Was his message equally unusual? What sort of message was it?
1. A revealed message (3:3-5)Paul states that 'By revelation [God] made known to me the mystery (as I wrote before in a few words, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets' (3:3-5).
There was nothing manmade about the apostle's message. God himself had revealed it to him. Not only so, but God had given him an inspired understanding of it, as should have been clear to the Ephesians from things he had previously written to them. No revelation as clear as this had ever been given before. But the Holy Spirit had now given it to the apostles whom the Lord had set aside – of whom Paul was one – and also to other people who were receiving direct revelation at that time, namely the prophets who were found in the early church until the time that the Scriptures had been completed.
No one is receiving direct revelation today. But this does not mean that the message which Paul is speaking about is lost. It is contained in those writings of the apostles and their associates which the Holy Spirit has seen fit to preserve, one of which we are studying at this very moment.
2. A mystery (3:3-7)In verses 3-7 Paul twice describes his message as a 'mystery' (3:3,4). Today we use this word to speak of an unexplained riddle, such as 'the mystery of the Marie Celeste', the sailing ship found in perfect shape on the high seas, but with nobody on board. But we must never think that the Bible uses words in exactly the same way as we do. Paul's message was not an unexplained riddle to which only he and a few others had the solution.
The word 'mystery' in God's Word refers to something which has been hidden, but which is now revealed. Something previously concealed is now open to view. What was covered is now unveiled. The emphasis is not so much that something had been kept secret, but that it has now been made known.
The mystery' mentioned here is a truth which had never been understood before. It had been kept hidden. Then it was revealed to someone as unlikely as the persecutor converted on the Damascus road, as well as to the other apostles and the New Testament prophets.
And what was that mystery? The Old Testament had revealed that the number of believing Jews would get less and less until there was only a remnant left. It had also revealed that great numbers of Gentiles were going to enter God's salvation. All this was plain. But it was never revealed that the believing Jews and the believing Gentiles were going to become one body. It was never disclosed that the believing Gentiles would be on the same footing as their Jewish counterparts, and that they would become one spiritual nation. Nobody in the Old Testament envisaged that the coming of God's Messiah would one day totally remove the barrier between Jews and Gentiles who came to him, and that it would not matter a scrap whether you were one or the other.
The Gentiles were going to be 'fellow heirs' (3:6) and not in any way restricted to second-rate blessings! They were going to be 'of the same body' (3:6), full members of Israel, and not in any sense outside it. They were going to be 'partakers of [God's] promise in Christ through the gospel' (3:6). They would share just as much in the covenant promises as any native-born Hebrew! Every individual believer, whether his or her origin was Jewish or Gentile, was going to have exactly the same status!
This was 'the mystery'. The first to see it were the apostles and the New Testament prophets (3:5). One of those apostles was Paul who, being the apostle to the Gentiles, had a fuller understanding of it than the others, and preached it with directness and power (3:4,7). His writings have been with us now for nearly 2,000 years. But the majority of believers have still not really grasped what he has to say. The idea is still widespread that the Jews have privileges into which the Gentiles cannot enter. There are still Christians who believe that the unfulfilled prophecies of the Old Testament refer to the Jews, whereas in fact they speak about the whole people of God. Many believers consider that the Old Testament is not really much to do with them, forgetting that every one of God's people is a beneficiary of its covenants and authorized to enjoy its promises. They have never grasped the mystery.
God has only one people, not two. There are two sorts of people in the world, it is true, but they are the lost and the saved. The saved are not sub-divided into two categories. They form just one body. They make up only one building. Christ's blood has as surely washed away their divisions as it has their sins.
3. A message for the worm (3:8-9)Paul writes, 'To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all people see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ' (3:8-9).
Paul's commission and desire were to proclaim everything that there was to say about Christ. Christ himself was sending him to preach to the Gentiles. Everybody was to know about the mystery. Its hiding place had been in God himself– God the Creator of the whole world, and all worlds. Having now revealed the mystery, God's will was that the whole world should hear about it. He made the world through Jesus Christ, and the mystery is about Jesus Christ and about how those who are divided may have perfect fellowship with each other through him.
Where men and women are right with God through Christ, they are right with each other, whatever may have divided them before. Unconverted people in the world may learn to co-exist peacefully, or even to enjoy each other's company. But they know nothing of fellowship. Fellowship exists where all people stand on the same footing and enjoy the same rights, privileges and responsibilities. It is not just that their distinctions are tolerated, or put aside. They do not even exist! And so it is when we are in Christ. How this sad world needs such a message as this!
4. A message for the angels (3:10)Paul has been sent to preach the mystery to the world 'to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places' (3:10).
Observing and scrutinizing what goes on in this world are great numbers of angels, both good and bad. One of the reasons that God sends out his gospel, with its revelation of 'the mystery', is to teach them something! By looking at the Christian church on earth, these 'principalities and powers in the heavenly places' actually come to a fuller appreciation of 'the manifold wisdom of God'. The Greek word translated 'manifold' is a very difficult word to put into English. Some writers have used the word 'many-splendoured' to convey its meaning to us. One diamond can be breathtaking in its beauty. It can sparkle with a thousand colours as its many facets reflect and refract a single light. But a diamond is nothing compared with the wisdom of God. It has so many facets that not even the angels have seen them all. They have not even seen all the colours that come from just one side.
Both the holy and fallen angels know that the infinitely wise God is going to bring about his eternal purpose of saving a people for his Son. As they look over the earth, they see the church. In that church they see both Jewish and Gentile believers, redeemed in exactly the same way, called by one gospel and enjoying identical privileges. These angels have been surveying the world since human history began, but nothing like this existed before Calvary. And there is nothing like it anywhere else in the universe. And so the gospel message brings them to see facets of God's wisdom which they did even imagine existed.
5. A message bringing to pass an eternal purpose (3:11)
The calling of Paul as a preacher, the propagation of 'the mystery' and its effect upon the angels are all 'according to the eternal purpose which [God] accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord' (3:11).
God has a plan, and that plan is as eternal as he is. We learned a good deal about this in chapter 1, and other parts of the Bible have a lot to say about it as well. God's eternal Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, is at the centre of the plan and it will come to pass through him. So certain is the fulfilment of God's purpose that Paul can talk about it as being already accomplished.
God's plan is to bring home to the eternal fold all his sheep. He gave them to the Lord Jesus Christ before the world began, and it is that Good Shepherd who died for them. They come to follow the Shepherd when they hear his voice, and that voice is heard through the faithful announcement of the gospel. This last point is particularly important and we drew attention to it when we studied 2:7. Widely differing sheep all hear the same voice, and so there comes to be 'one flock and one shepherd' (John 10:16) – which is precisely 'the mystery' about which Paul has said so much.
The preaching of the gospel is said to be according to God's eternal purpose (3:11) because that purpose was not going to be brought about without such preaching. It is an integral part of the plan. It is an essential link in the chain, forged on the same anvil and by the same Blacksmith as all the other links. Paul could not forget this. Every time he got up' to preach he had this in mind. His preaching was actually bringing to pass, in time and space, the eternal purpose of God! No wonder he felt unworthy to preach. No wonder he discharged his commission with such faithfulness, courage and perseverance. No wonder he spoke with such authority. The words he spoke were of eternal significance!
Paul has spoken about himself. But he has not drawn attention to himself. He is the man he is because of Christ. He would have neither message nor ministry, were it not for Christ. Christ is the source of all that Paul has. He knows one who gives and gives but never becomes poorer. His riches are without limit. Paul has spoken about himself that we might admire Christ!