Paul: The Revealer of the Mystery

God chose Moses to be the one to unveil the truths concerning the Old Testament dispensation – the Law for Israel. Moses was given the Ten Commandments and hundreds of other Jewish laws. He recorded them in the Pentateuch, the first 5 books of the Bible. God used other men as prophets, but Moses was the man chosen of the Lord to reveal truth that related to the Old Covenant Law of Judaism.

In Acts 9 God called out, saved, and chose the apostle Paul to be the one to reveal the great truths that relate to the new dispensation – the church – in this age of the grace of God (Eph. 3:2-3). Paul wrote 13 epistles to the church that he called “the body of Christ.” God used other men to write New Testament books, but it was Paul who was chosen to reveal the Gentile church… of “the mystery.” Even Jesus – the wonderful teacher – did not write a book, and all of His teachings comprise a relatively small section of the Bible. Jesus was not the Revealer of the truth of today’s “Church, which is His body” (Eph. 1:22b-23a) Yet, Jesus Christ is the THEME of Paul’s gospel message. Jesus of Nazareth had come to be “the minister of the circumcision [Israel],” addressing His words to and concerning “the lost sheep of the house of Israel” only (Matt. 15:24).

Paul stood in a unique relationship to Christ among the other twelve Apostles who were sent only to "the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matt: 10:5-6). Paul’s first glimpse of Christ was the Risen & Glorified Savior from heaven! The other apostles knew Christ in the flesh, on earth during His period of humiliation. (2 Cor. 5:16) Paul’s first glimpse was of the heavenly, glorified Christ (Acts 9:3-5). The other apostles in the gospels spoke of Christ as Messiah and King of Israel, who was ready to return to Israel and set up His earthly kingdom if they would repent and be baptized with John’s water baptism (Acts 2:36; 3:19).  

But Paul knew Christ as a heavenly Savior, our Head in glory! Paul received his message directly from the Risen & Ascended and Glorified Christ. His was a heavenly message for a heaven-bound people. It was totally new and totally distinct from the Old Covenant Law (Gal.1:11-12). God gave to Paul a body of truth that had never been revealed to anyone before – it concerned “the mystery [secret]” church. Paul is the uniquely chosen vessel to reveal the heavenly good news.

Mystery Defined: The Greek term ‘musterion’ refers to some sacred thing hidden, or to a secret that is naturally unknown to human reason and is only known by the revelation of God. It does not refer to something that is mysterious, or difficult to understand, or hard to grasp. It simply means that which had not been revealed. The Mystery is the term in the Bible that refers to truth that could not possibly be known except it be revealed by God.

In the Old Testament, no one knew about the church. Moses didn’t know. David didn’t know. Adam didn’t know. It was not because they were not discerning men, or were unlearned men, or unspiritual. They did not know about the church because they COULD not have known about it – until God chose to reveal it! This Mystery was hidden away in the mind and heart of God.

The New Testament defines the term “mystery” for us. In Eph. 3:5, a mystery is truth which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, but is now revealed. In Col.1:26, a mystery is truth which was hidden from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to His saints. In Rom.16:25, a mystery is that which was “kept secret since the world began, but now is made manifest.” The Apostle Paul was crystal clear in his inspired definition of a mystery.

The fact that the church was a mystery means that no man ever knew of it until it was revealed. However, GOD knew all about it – from the foundation of the world! The church was not God’s “Plan B” which was quickly devised, once it was discovered that Israel rejected His offer of the Kingdom!   God knew from eternity that Israel would reject His offer of the Kingdom. God was not surprised by the rejection of His Son by Israel. His Son was slain from the foundation of the world!  (Rev.13: 8;  I Pet.1:19-20)  God also had planned from before the foundation of the world that He would build His church. He chose us “IN HIM before the foundation of the world” (Eph.1:4). The church was no afterthought on God’s part. It was on His mind and heart for centuries – however no human being knew of it until God revealed it. The church was no mystery to God! It was a mystery to man – until revealed to the apostle Paul.

Since Paul, the church is no longer a mystery (unrevealed) but is now unveiled. God wants us all to KNOW about this truth now! Sadly, this marvelous truth is NOT known by many believers people today. The real church is not appreciated, is not well understood, and is often confused with salvation, the Kingdom, or Israel. Paul was driven to make this truth known, appreciated, and loved!

- Portions Adapted from William R. Newell, Paul’s Gospel.  Burlington, Church of the Open Bible Printing, p.2.