Paul's Mystery: From death to life for the Gentiles

In just a few weeks, we will celebrate a significant event on the church calendar, the event known as Epiphany.

Can anyone tell me what occurred on Epiphany?

It is the date marked two weeks after Christmas, when the wise men came and worshipped the baby Jesus, told of in Matthew 2:1-12.

The significance of the event is Christ appearing to the Gentiles.

Other places that this was significant is Jesus’ dialogue with the Syrophenician woman in Mark 7:24-30.

And finally in John 12:20-26, we see some Greeks had come to see Jesus and it triggered Jesus to say: “My hour has come.”

This is just a handful of encounters Jesus had with Gentiles. But we could name others, like healing the slave of the centurion.

And in the book of Acts, we see that the Holy Spirit was given to the Gentiles with the evidence of speaking in tongues. Acts 10:28-29

Acts 10:28–29 ESV

28 And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean. 29 So when I was sent for, I came without objection. I ask then why you sent for me.”

The fulfillment of this came just a few verses later in Acts 10:44-48

Acts 10:44–48 ESV

44 While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. 45 And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. 46 For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, 47 “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” 48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.

And so we see Paul elaborating on this in our passage for today, of Ephesians 3.

There are many tags in Ephesians 3 that are given to Paul’s Gentile readers.

They are no longer strangers and aliens;

They are fellow citizens of the household of God.

They are being built into a holy temple by the Lord.

They are a dwelling place for God's Spirit.

Ephesians 3:1–3 (ESV)

Ephesians 3:1–3 ESV

1 For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— 2 assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3 how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly.

This mystery is now revealed. Ephesians 3:6 :

Ephesians 3:6 ESV

6 This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

Gentiles are fellow heirs.

They are members of the same body;

They are partakers of the promise in Christ through the gospel.

Ephesians 3:14-16 , this translates into spiritual strength, where before there was none.

Ephesians 3:14–16 ESV

14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,

And that they might be “rooted and grounded in love… .” Ephesians 3:17-20

Ephesians 3:17–20 ESV

17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,

This is quite a contrast to the death and wrath-deserving picture of pre-conversion state described in Ephesians 2:1-5

Ephesians 2:1–5 ESV

1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—

The same power that raised Jesus from the dead, empowered these Ephesian believers to trust Christ.

Coming to Christ is a miracle. It is a resurrection.

Why is this significant? Because you and I are Gentiles.

The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, Volumes 1–5 Gentiles

GENTILES, jenʹtīlz (גּוֹי, gōy, pl. גּוֹיִם, gōyim; ἔθνος, éthnos, “people.” “nation”): Goy (or Goi) is rendered “Gentiles” in AV in some 30 passages, but much more frequently “heathen,” and oftener still, “nation,” which latter is the usual rendering in RV, but it is commonly used for a non-Israelitish people, and thus corresponds to the meaning of “Gentiles.”

The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, Volumes 1–5 Gentiles

But as we approach the Christian era the attitude of the Jews toward the Gentiles changes, until we find, in NT times, the most extreme aversion, scorn and hatred. They were regarded as unclean, with whom it was unlawful to have any friendly intercourse. They were the enemies of God and His people, to whom the knowledge of God was denied unless they became proselytes, and even then they could not, as in ancient times, be admitted to full fellowship. Jews were forbidden to counsel them, and if they asked about Divine things they were to be cursed. All children born of mixed marriages were bastards. That is what caused the Jews to be so hated by Greeks and Romans, as we have abundant evidence in the writings of Cicero, Seneca and Tacitus. Something of this is reflected in the NT (Jn 18:28; Acts 10:28; 11:3).

If we inquire what the reason of this change was we shall find it in the conditions of the exiled Jews, who suffered the bitterest treatment at the hands of their gentile captors and who, after their return and establishment in Judaea, were in constant conflict with neighboring tribes and esp. with the Gr rulers of Syria. The fierce persecution of Antiochus IV, who attempted to blot out their religion and Hellenize the Jews, and the desperate struggle for independence, created in them a burning patriotism and zeal for their faith which culminated in the rigid exclusiveness we see in later times.

Paul was known as the Apostle to the Gentiles. He planted churches in Asia Minor and in Greece and suffered imprisonment for doing so.

Galatians 1:15–16 ESV

15 But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, 16 was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone;

One of those Gentile women who experienced the power of God to believe was a woman named Lydia. She is spoken of in Acts 16:11-15

Acts 16:11–15 ESV

11 So, setting sail from Troas, we made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, 12 and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city some days. 13 And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. 14 One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. 15 And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.

The 20th century English theologian Arthur Pink (d. 1952) said:

“How does God save His people from the pleasure of sin? The answer is, ‘By imparting to them a nature which hates evil and loves holiness.’ This takes place when they are born again, so that actual salvation begins with regeneration. Of course it does; where else could it commence? Fallen man can neither perceive his desperate need of salvation, nor come to Christ for it, till he has been renewed by the Holy Spirit.”