Scripture Reading: Ephesians 3:7-9
There are three things said of the revelation given to Paul in our passage that point to the distinctiveness of his commission from the Lord. (His commission was distinctive because his message was distinctive.) The three things are ... (1) It was a mystery. (2) It contained the unsearchable riches of Christ. (3) It was hid in God. They all really say about the same thing in three different ways for emphasis.
The revelation given to Paul was a "mystery" (verse 9). The word here for "mystery" is musterion in the Greek and means "not the mysterious (as with the' English word), but that which, being outside the range of unassisted natural apprehension, can be made known only by Divine revelation, and is made known in a manner and at a time appointed by God, and to those only who are illuminated by His Spirit. In the ordinary sense a mystery implies knowledge withheld; its Scriptural significance is truth revealed" (Vine).
What Paul received from the Lord, he describes as "the unsearchable riches of Christ" (verse 8). The word "unsearchable" in the Greek is anexichniaston and has the literal meaning of "not to be tracked out" (Gingrich). In Romans 11:33, the only other place in the New Testament the word is found, it is translated "past finding out." The "riches of Christ" that Paul proclaimed cannot be "tracked out" in the Old Testament.
Finally, Paul says that this "mystery" was "from the beginning of the world hid in God" (verse 9). If it was «hid in God," was "unsearchable" but revealed to Paul, and was a "mystery," then Paul's commission was indeed distinctive.
How
God Saves Men
Believing
Christ DIED, that’s HISTORY.
Believing
Christ DIED for YOU SINS and Rose again that’s SALVATION.
Read
Romans 1:16, Romans 10:9-10 and 1. Corinthians 15:1-4
(A 10 Minute Video)
E-mail
this BIBLE STUDY to all your friends
-
-
No comments:
Post a Comment