Born to be Different
I. We Are Raised and Seated on the Throne (2:1–10)
A. What we were (vv. 1–3).
What a picture of the lost sinner! To begin with, sinners are dead spiritually; that is, the inner man is dead to spiritual things and cannot respond to them. The Gospels describe the resurrections of three people that Jesus raised from the dead: (1) a twelve-year-old girl, Luke 8:49–55; (2) a young man, Luke 7:12–15; and (3) an older man, John 11. Each of them was dead; the only difference was their state of decomposition. Lazarus had been buried for four days and had begun to smell! All sinners are dead, regardless of age; the only difference between the unsaved church member and the vagrant on skid row is the state of decay. Sinners are not only dead, they are enslaved by the world and live for its pleasures and fashions. Tell them that this world is under the condemnation of God and is passing away, and they will laugh at you. They are also enslaved by Satan, who is at work in the lives of unsaved people. This does not mean that he necessarily makes them drunkards or murderers; his usual tactic is to give people false security through self-righteousness. Jesus called the Pharisees “children of the devil” (John 8:44), yet they were religious, upstanding citizens.
We are born by nature children of wrath; when we reject Christ knowingly after reaching an age of accountability, we become children of disobedience by choice. When we trust Jesus Christ, we become children of God.
B. What God did (vv. 4–9).
“But God!” These words are among the greatest in the Bible. God could have allowed us to go on in sin and live eternally with the devil in hell, but instead He chose to save us. He gave us life (quickened us), raised us from the grave of sin, and took us out of the graveyard! More than that, He made us members of Christ! We have been quickened together, raised together, and we sit together in the heavenlies. God did this because He is rich in mercy and great in love. Mercy means that God does not give me what I do deserve; grace means that He gives me what I don’t deserve.
C. What we are now (v. 10).
We are His workmanship, His new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). Read Phil. 2:12–13 and dare to believe that God works in you! What does the future hold? We do not know, but we do know who holds the future. The same loving Father that chose me, called me, and saved me has also marked out a wonderful plan for my life! “Oh, to grace how great a debtor, daily I’m constrained to be!”
What we were
What God did
you are saved In this context, the Greek word used here, sōzō, refers to God delivering people from death and giving them life.
What we are now
Why God uses us
The first thing we note is that Paul calls himself a prisoner and that he connects his imprisonment to the Gentiles! Go back to Acts 22 for the explanation. Paul had been arrested in Jerusalem and was making his defense to his people. They listened to him until he got to the word “Gentiles” (Acts 22:21), and then a riot broke loose! The relationship of Gentiles to Jews was even a problem among the early Jewish believers, as Acts 10 and 15 reveal.
Paul explains that God had given him a special revelation and a special stewardship (dispensation). He terms this revelation “the mystery of Christ.” (It would be well for you to review the introductory notes to Acts, as well as the notes for Romans 9–11.) In the OT, God revealed through prophecy His program for the people of Israel: that He would establish them in their kingdom when they received their Messiah, and then through Israel He would convert the Gentiles. God offered them the kingdom through the ministry of John the Baptist (Matt. 3:2), whom the Jews permitted to be slain; through Christ’s ministry (Matt 4:12–17), whom the Jews asked to be slain; and through the apostles and Stephen (Acts 2–7), whom the Jews themselves actually killed (Acts 7:54–60). Three offers of the kingdom were made to Israel, but the nation rejected each of them. They had rejected the Father, who had sent John; the Son; and the Spirit, who was energizing the witnessing apostles. With the death of Stephen, the offers of kingdom ceased temporarily; the message went out to the Samaritans and the Gentiles (Acts 8 and 10); in the meantime Paul was saved miraculously in Acts 9.
Paul’s ministry was to the Gentiles, and his message was that of grace, Paul’s special task was to share the truth of the one body, the mystery of the church. Note Rom. 16:25–26; Col. 1:26–27 and 4:3–4; as well as Eph. 6:19. Here in v. 6, he states the mystery clearly: that believing Gentiles and Jews are one body in Christ. This mystery had not been made known before this time; but now God had revealed it to His apostles and NT prophets by the Spirit. To say that the twelve apostles from the beginning understood the mystery of the church is to deny Paul’s inspired words here. Even Peter had to have a vision from heaven in Acts 10 before he would go to the Gentiles. The truth of the one body was given to Paul and its significance dawned gradually upon the early church.
“Unsearchable riches” in v. 8 is literally “untraceable riches.” You cannot detect the mystery of the one body in the OT Scriptures; it was a mystery hidden in Christ. In vv. 9–10 we see a dual ministry: Paul was to make known the dispensation (“fellowship,” same word as v. 2) of the mystery to people in general; the church was to reveal the wisdom of God to angelic beings (“principalities and powers,” see 6:12). Angels are learning about God’s grace through the church! (See 1 Peter 1:10–12.) Satan knows the Scriptures; by keeping His program for the church hidden, God prevented Satan from hindering the plan. Satan took Christ to the cross, and by so doing sealed his own doom! It is tragic today when we see pastors and churches wandering about aimlessly in their ministries because they do not understand God’s purpose for the church in this age. If they would move out of the message of Acts 1–6 and into that of Ephesians and Colossians, they would not be wasting time, talent, and money “building the kingdom” but instead would be building the church.
The first thing we note is that Paul calls himself a prisoner and that he connects his imprisonment to the Gentiles! Go back to Acts 22 for the explanation. Paul had been arrested in Jerusalem and was making his defense to his people. They listened to him until he got to the word “Gentiles” (Acts 22:21), and then a riot broke loose! The relationship of Gentiles to Jews was even a problem among the early Jewish believers, as Acts 10 and 15 reveal.
Paul explains that God had given him a special revelation and a special stewardship (dispensation). He terms this revelation “the mystery of Christ.” (It would be well for you to review the introductory notes to Acts, as well as the notes for Romans 9–11.) In the OT, God revealed through prophecy His program for the people of Israel: that He would establish them in their kingdom when they received their Messiah, and then through Israel He would convert the Gentiles. God offered them the kingdom through the ministry of John the Baptist (Matt. 3:2), whom the Jews permitted to be slain; through Christ’s ministry (Matt 4:12–17), whom the Jews asked to be slain; and through the apostles and Stephen (Acts 2–7), whom the Jews themselves actually killed (Acts 7:54–60). Three offers of the kingdom were made to Israel, but the nation rejected each of them. They had rejected the Father, who had sent John; the Son; and the Spirit, who was energizing the witnessing apostles. With the death of Stephen, the offers of kingdom ceased temporarily; the message went out to the Samaritans and the Gentiles (Acts 8 and 10); in the meantime Paul was saved miraculously in Acts 9.
Paul’s ministry was to the Gentiles, and his message was that of grace, Paul’s special task was to share the truth of the one body, the mystery of the church. Note Rom. 16:25–26; Col. 1:26–27 and 4:3–4; as well as Eph. 6:19. Here in v. 6, he states the mystery clearly: that believing Gentiles and Jews are one body in Christ. This mystery had not been made known before this time; but now God had revealed it to His apostles and NT prophets by the Spirit. To say that the twelve apostles from the beginning understood the mystery of the church is to deny Paul’s inspired words here. Even Peter had to have a vision from heaven in Acts 10 before he would go to the Gentiles. The truth of the one body was given to Paul and its significance dawned gradually upon the early church.
“Unsearchable riches” in v. 8 is literally “untraceable riches.” You cannot detect the mystery of the one body in the OT Scriptures; it was a mystery hidden in Christ. In vv. 9–10 we see a dual ministry: Paul was to make known the dispensation (“fellowship,” same word as v. 2) of the mystery to people in general; the church was to reveal the wisdom of God to angelic beings (“principalities and powers,” see 6:12). Angels are learning about God’s grace through the church! (See 1 Peter 1:10–12.) Satan knows the Scriptures; by keeping His program for the church hidden, God prevented Satan from hindering the plan. Satan took Christ to the cross, and by so doing sealed his own doom! It is tragic today when we see pastors and churches wandering about aimlessly in their ministries because they do not understand God’s purpose for the church in this age. If they would move out of the message of Acts 1–6 and into that of Ephesians and Colossians, they would not be wasting time, talent, and money “building the kingdom” but instead would be building the church.