Ephesians 3.2-Paul's Stewardship is Mentioned in Colossians 1.25
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Saturday March 23, 2024
Ephesians Series: Ephesians 3:2-Paul’s Stewardship is Mentioned in Colossians 1:25
Lesson # 136
Ephesians 3:1 For this reason, I myself, Paul, the prisoner owned by and under the authority of the one and only Christ who is Jesus for the benefit of each and every one of you as a corporate unit, who are Gentiles—2 if and let us assume that it is true for the sake of argument that each and every one of you as a corporate unit have surely heard about the stewardship, which is unique to the grace, which originates from the one and only God, which was given to me for the benefit of all of you as a corporate unit without exception. (Of course, every one of you have in fact heard about it.) (Lecturer’s translation)
The noun oikonomia (οἰκονομία), “stewardship” pertains in this context to Paul’s responsibility as an apostle to communicate the gospel.
Also, it speaks of his responsibility to communicate God’s secret plan that Gentile and Jewish church age believers are now fellow heirs, fellow members of the body of Christ, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus.
In other words, it speaks of his responsibility to communicate this mystery doctrine of the church age.
The idea of this word is two-fold: (1) It speaks of the office or spiritual gift of apostle.
(2) It speaks of the activity of an apostle.
Thus, the word not only speaks of Paul’s apostleship but also the responsibility he was given to communicate the Father’s secret plan to make Jewish and Gentile church age believers fellow heirs, fellow members of the body of Christ, and fellow partakers of the promise because of their faith in Christ Jesus at justification and their resultant union and identification with Him.
In Colossians 1:25, the apostle Paul also mentions this same stewardship from God.
Colossians 1:24 Now, I am presently rejoicing because of my sufferings on behalf of each and every one of you. In fact, I am supplementing that which remains of the one and only Christ’s intense sufferings by means of my physical body on behalf of His body which is, as an eternal spiritual truth, the church. 25 Of which I myself became a servant because of the stewardship which is from God (the Father) which was given to me on behalf of each and every one of you in order to fulfill the task of communicating the message originating from God (the Father). 26 Specifically, the mystery which has been concealed from past ages, in other words from past generations but now has been revealed to His saints. 27 For the benefit of whom, God (the Father) wanted to make known what is of infinite value, namely the glorious revelation of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is, as an eternal spiritual truth Christ in each and every one of you, who is the confident expectation of glory, 28 whom we make it our habit of proclaiming everywhere. Specifically, by making it our habit of instructing each and every person, yes by making it our habit of providing authoritative instruction for each and every person by means of a wisdom which is absolute. The purpose of which is to present each and every person as mature in the presence of the Christ. 29 For which purpose, I in fact continue making it my habit of working hard. Specifically, by making it my habit of striving for my own benefit in the face of opposition because of His activity which is regularly made effective through me by means of power. (Lecturer’s translation)
Now, in Colossians 1:25 the apostle Paul continues his discussion regarding his relationship to the church and specifically, he presents another means by which he was serving the church.
In fact, Paul in this verse is emphasizing his service on behalf of the church but in relation to the communication of the Word of God to the church.
When Paul asserts that he became a servant of the church, he is speaking of his conversion experience which resulted in him receiving the gift of apostleship and the command to publicly proclaim the gospel to every creature on earth.
At his conversion, he was assigned the task to serve the church of Jesus Christ.
Paul then informs the Colossians the reason why he became a servant of the church at the moment of his conversion.
He became a servant because of the stewardship given to him by God the Father at the moment of his conversion.
His service on behalf of the church was manifested in his fulfilling the stewardship from the Father bestowed upon him at conversion to communicate the Father’s message to His people.
Paul asserts that this stewardship from God was for the benefit of each and every one of the Colossian believers without exception.
This stewardship Paul received from the Father at his conversion is identified as communicating God’s message to the church and it speaks of the task assigned to Paul by the Lord Jesus Christ to communicate the gospel to the Christian community.
He will give an account to the Lord Jesus Christ at the Bema Seat in order to determine if he merits a reward or not for being faithful to this task of communicating the gospel to the church.
This stewardship also speaks of another task the Lord Jesus Christ assigned to Paul, namely, to communicate the gospel to the non-Christian.
When the unregenerate exercise faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ during the dispensation of the church age, they become members of the body of Christ, i.e. the church.
Paul in Second Timothy 2:10 informs Timothy that he endured each and every type of adversity on behalf of the chosen ones in order that they themselves will also enter into experiencing salvation which is by means of faith in Jesus Christ and along with salvation, eternal glory, i.e. resurrection body and rewards for faithful service.
So Paul is saying that he suffered undeservedly in order to evangelize those non-Christians who were elected to be a member of the church in eternity past by the Father.
Their election would be manifested in time through faith in Jesus Christ.
Therefore, this stewardship is speaking of two tasks assigned to Paul by the Lord Jesus Christ at the moment of his conversion: (1) to evangelize those non-Christians in order that they might receive eternal salvation and manifest in time their election in eternity past and become members of the church (2) to communicate sound doctrine to those who are already members of the church in order that they may grow to spiritual maturity and receive rewards at the Bema Seat.
The apostle Paul then communicates the purpose of this stewardship which he received from the Father at his conversion, namely in order to fulfill the task of communicating the message from God the Father to the Christian community.
This message from the Father refers to the gospel Paul communicated to the Christian community and it refers to content of his teaching which he communicated to the Christian community in Colossae and throughout the Roman Empire.
It refers to the divine revelation Paul received from the Father and is now recorded in the Greek New Testament and speaks of the content of the instruction Paul provided the Christian community.
Therefore, it speaks of Paul’s apostolic teaching and it refers to the content of the gospel communicated by Paul to the Christian community.
This message from the Father to the church would refer first of all to communicating the good news to those non-Christians who have been elected to be a member of the church in eternity past by the Father.
This message to the non-Christian is that Jesus Christ died and rose from the dead for them and that through faith in Him they could receive the gift of eternal life and the forgiveness of sins.
The message which is good news for the Christian is that they are identified with Christ in His death and resurrection and by appropriating this identification with Christ they can experience victory over sin and Satan.
In relation to the non-Christian, this message, which is the gospel, is God’s victorious proclamation of God’s love in delivering the entire human race from sin, Satan, his cosmic system and eternal condemnation and has reconciled them to Himself through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).
This reconciliation with God and deliverance and victory over sin, Satan and the cosmic system that God accomplished through His Son’s crucifixion, burial, death, resurrection and session is received as a gift and appropriated through faith in Christ (John 3:16-18; Acts 16:31; Romans 5:1-2).
In relation to the Christian, the message of the gospel is God’s victorious proclamation regarding the believer’s deliverance and victory positionally from the power of Satan, the old sin nature and the cosmic system (See Romans 5-7).
The stewardship Paul mentions in Colossians 1:25 is one of at least four which have been bestowed upon the Christian at the moment of their conversion or in other words, at the moment of justification.
This four-fold stewardship: (1) Time: Galatians 6:9 Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. 10 So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith. (NASB95) (2) Talent: 1 Peter 4:10 As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. (NASB95) (3) Treasure: Luke 6:38 “Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure -- pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.” (NASB95) (4) Truth: Colossians 4:5 Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. 6 Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person. (NASB95)
At the Bema Seat, the believer’s service, as expressed through their stewardship in these four areas, will be evaluated by the Lord Jesus Christ to determine if they were a faithful and profitable steward in these four areas or not.
If they were a faithful and profitable servant and steward with their time, spiritual gift, truth and finances that were given to them by the Lord as trusts, they will receive a reward from the Lord and if they were not, they will not receive a reward.
Therefore, here in Colossians 1:25, Paul is referring to the stewardship of truth.
He, therefore, looked at his ministry of communicating the Word of God to the non-Christian and Christian as a sacred trust and a great privilege given to him by the Father.