Ephesians 3.3c-Paul Wrote Briefly About This Mystery in Ephesians 1.3-14 and 2.11-22
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Saturday March 30, 2024
Ephesians Series: Ephesians 3:3c-Paul Wrote Briefly About This Mystery in Ephesians 1:3-14 and 2:11-22
Lesson # 139
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.) 3 Namely that, the mystery was made known for the benefit of myself as revelation as I wrote beforehand in a concise manner. (Lecturer’s translation)
Ephesians 3:3 is composed of the following: (1) hoti (ὅτι) epexegetical clause hoti kata apokalypsin egnōristhē moi to mystērion (ὅτι κατὰ ἀποκάλυψιν ἐγνωρίσθη μοι τὸ μυστήριον), “Namely that, the mystery was made known for the benefit of myself as revelation” (Author’s translation) (2) comparative clause proegrapsa en oligō (προέγραψα ἐν ὀλίγῳ), “as I wrote beforehand in a concise manner.” (Author’s translation)
The hoti (ὅτι) epexegetical clause explains the noun oikonomia (οἰκονομία), “the stewardship” and specifically, it explains the nature of this stewardship, namely it is being a steward of the mystery or the divine secret that was made known to Paul by revelation from the Holy Spirit.
Now, as we noted, in Ephesians 3:3, the noun apokalypsis (ἀποκάλυψις), which we noted means “revelation” refers to Paul’s stewardship, which we also noted, he defines as the mystery of Christ, which was communicated through the gospel by the apostles and prophets of Jesus Christ by the agency of the Holy Spirit.
The content of this revelation is that Jewish and Gentile church age believers are now fellow heirs, fellow members of the body of Christ, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus.
It was a mystery in the sense that it was a secret plan not known to Old Testaments but now communicated during the church age through the apostles and prophets of Jesus Christ.
The purpose of this enlightenment we also noted was to disclose to Satan and his kingdom in the heavenly realms through the church the multifaceted wisdom of God.
In Ephesians 3:3, the referent the noun mustērion (μυστήριον), “mystery” is that Gentile and Jewish church age believers are 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 union and identification with Him as a result of their obedience to the gospel.
Ephesians 3:3 expands or explains in greater detail or provides more information about the Father’s will for the church age believer in Ephesians 1:9.
Namely, that it also involves Gentile and Jewish church age believers being 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 union and identification with Him as a result of their obedience to the gospel.
Therefore, in each instance, the word has the same referent because the Father’s will for the church age believer, which was not known to the Old Testament prophets, is that Gentile and Jewish church age believers are 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 union and identification with Him.
This mystery about Jewish and Gentile church age believers is not only alluded to in Ephesians 1:3-14 and Ephesians 3:2-13 but is also alluded to in Ephesians 2:11-22 because the latter develops the idea of these Gentile Christians being elected by being predestinated in eternity past to adoption as son of the Father, which is taught in Ephesians 1:3-14.
Ephesians 2:11-22 teaches that Gentile church age believers are united with Jewish Gentile believers because of their faith in Jesus Christ at justification and their union and identification with Him accomplished through the baptism of the Spirit.
Thus, the election and predestination of church age believers to adoption as sons of the Father taught by Paul in Ephesians1:3-14 also involves Jewish and Gentile church age believers being united together to form the new humanity who along with Jesus Christ dispossess Satan and his fellow evil spirits as rulers over God’s creation in order to rule over the works of God’s hands during Jesus Christ’s millennial reign.
The comparative clause proegrapsa en oligō (προέγραψα ἐν ὀλίγῳ), “as I wrote beforehand in a concise manner” which follows this hoti epexegetical clause refers to Paul writing about this mystery concerning Jewish and Gentile church age believers in Ephesians 1:3-14 and 2:11-22.
The adverb kathōs (καθώς) functions as a marker of comparison.
This means that it is marking a comparison between the hoti (ὅτι) epexegetical clause hoti kata apokalypsin egnōristhē moi to mystērion (ὅτι κατὰ ἀποκάλυψιν ἐγνωρίσθη μοι τὸ μυστήριον), “Namely that, the mystery was made known for the benefit of myself as revelation” (Author’s translation) and the comparative clause proegrapsa en oligō (προέγραψα ἐν ὀλίγῳ), “as I wrote beforehand in a concise manner” (Author’s translation), which follows it.
The latter refers to the contents of Ephesians 1:9, which we noted speaks of mystery of the Father’s will for church age believers, which is explained in greater detail in Ephesians 3:2-13.
Therefore, this adverb kathōs (καθώς) is marking a comparison between the contents of Ephesians 3:2-13 with the contents of Ephesians 1:3-14 and 2:11-22.
In this comparative clause, the verb prographō (προγράφω) means “to write beforehand or previously, to write in advance or in anticipation of” and is modified by the prepositional phrase en oligō (προέγραψα ἐν ὀλίγῳ), which identifies Paul as writing about this divine secret or mystery in a brief manner in Ephesians 1:9.
The aorist tense of the verb prographō (προγράφω) is not a consummative aorist, which emphasizes the cessation of the act of the verb, which could thus emphasize the cession of the act of Paul writing about this mystery or divine secret in a brief manner or concise manner in Ephesians 1:9.
Rather, this is an immediate past aorist or dramatic aorist, which when used with the indicative mood, can be used of an event that happened rather recently.
Wallace writes “Its force can usually be brought out with something like just now, as in just now I told you. This may be lexically colored (occurring with verbs of emotion and understanding), but more often it is due to Semitic coloring, reflecting a Semitic stative perfect. As well, it is sometimes difficult to tell whether the aorist refers to the immediate past or to the present (dramatic).”
Therefore, the aorist tense of the verb prographō (προγράφω) is used of Paul writing in Ephesians 1:3-14 and 2:11-22 about this mystery not known to Old Testament prophets that Jewish and Gentile church age believers are 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 union and identification with Him.
I not only believe that this comparative clause in Ephesians 3:3 refers to Paul’s teaching in Ephesians 1:3-10 but also to his teaching in Ephesians 2:11-22.
This is indicated by the fact that these verses develop the idea of these Gentile Christians being elected by being predestinated in eternity past to adoption as son of the Father, which is taught in Ephesians 1:3-14.
Ephesians 2:11-22 teaches that Gentile church age believers are united with Jewish Gentile believers because of their faith in Jesus Christ at justification and their union and identification with Him accomplished through the baptism of the Spirit at their justification.
Thus, the election and predestination of church age believers to adoption as sons of the Father taught by Paul in Ephesians1:3-14 also involves Jewish and Gentile church age believers being united together to form the new humanity led by Jesus Christ which will dispossess Satan and his fellow evil spirits in order to rule over the works of God’s hands during Jesus Christ’s millennial reign.
Thus, the comparative clause proegrapsa en oligō (προέγραψα ἐν ὀλίγῳ) is emphasizing that Paul wrote about this mystery or divine secret about Jewish and Gentile church age believers briefly in Ephesians 1:3-14 and 2:11-22 before writing about it in detail in Ephesians 3:2-13.