Paul declares to the Ephesians that both Jew and
Gentile being placed into one Eternal Body is God’s Mystery Revealed Part 1
Ephesians
3:1-2 For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, If
ye have heard of the dispensation of the Grace of God which is given me to
you-ward: KJV First of all, we must be reminded that these epistles or letters when originally written by the Apostle Paul did not have Chapter and verse designations, but this was done later for the purpose of allowing readers the ability to recall sections of the New and Old Testament Scripture. Paul wrote one continuous letter, therefore, we find him continuing his theme and thoughts from the end of Chapter 2 by beginning with the phrase “For this cause” which is translated by one Greek word charin which is in the form of a preposition written in the accusative case meaning on account of or for the sake of something. In this case, Paul has a twofold meaning, the first here being on account of you Ephesian believers “being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:21-22), “I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles” (Ephesians 3:1).
In other words, Paul was violently hated by the Jews for going to the Gentiles with the message that they could and would be saved by the same God the Jews worshipped through faith in our Lord, Master, and Savior Jesus Christ as he described with these farewell words to the Ephesians recorded for us by Dr. Luke (one of Paul’s fellow-workers for the Gospel), “From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called to him the elders of the church. And when they had come to him, he said to them, ‘You yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials which came upon me through the plots of the Jews; how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house, solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.’” (Acts 20:17-21).
Paul regarded himself to be the prisoner of Jesus Christ having been arrested, that is, attracted to and captured and fixated upon Him and His Love for Paul that he might preach the Gospel of Grace to every Gentile as he declared with these words to brother Timothy, “For that [Gospel] I am suffering affliction {and} even wearing chains like a criminal. But the Word of God is not chained {or} imprisoned! Therefore I [am ready to] persevere {and} stand my ground with patience {and} endure everything for the sake of the elect [God’s chosen], so that they too may obtain [the] salvation which is in Christ Jesus, with [the reward of] eternal glory.” (2 Timothy 2:9-10).
It is God’s Grace (divine influence upon the heart) that worked in the Apostle Paul giving him purpose, power, and protection to boldly declare the Gospel of Grace to the Gentile Nations and people despite many of their opposition to it and despite the Jews hating him for doing so. Paul knew that our Lord Jesus Christ was directing, guiding, and most certainly protecting him as he declared the truth of the Gospel of Grace to not only these Gentile Ephesians, but to all Gentiles in the known world at that time as confirmed with these words spoken by our Lord, Master, and Savior Jesus Christ directly to Paul to encourage and strengthen him for his work in the city of Corinth, “And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, ‘Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city.’” (Acts 18:9-10).
The second reason that Paul began with the words “For this cause” was that he wanted them to have full and complete understanding of his three (3) descriptive metaphors of this new eternal brotherhood between Jews and Gentiles in the Eternal Spiritual Body of our Lord, Master, and Savior Jesus Christ, so he began to pray for their understanding, but then he digressed in order to speak of this Mystery and how he was made privy to it and for what purpose, then he picks up with his initial desire to pray for them in Ephesians 3:14. Note: This writing digression of Paul here is one of many instances that prove that God the Holy Spirit did not subdue, subvert, or sabotage the “unique personalities or styles” of each of the writers of Holy Scripture in the Word of God. Paul now in his digression from praying for them, declares to them that he has been charged with the task or been given Heavenly approval “of the dispensation of the Grace of God which is given me to you-ward” (Ephesians 3:2).
The English word dispensation Paul uses here is translated by the Greek word oikonomia which means the administration (of a household or estate); stewardship or a house distributor (that is, manager), or overseer, that is, an employee in that capacity; by extension a fiscal agent (treasurer); figuratively a preacher (of the Gospel). In other words, the Apostle Paul had been commissioned and ordained by our Lord, Master, and Savior Jesus Christ to parcel out or to give out or to deal, dispense, and distribute the Gospel of Grace to the people (Gentiles, who formerly were far off) that had never even heard of YAWEH or knew that there was such a God in existence as he already wrote to them with these words at the beginning of this epistle, “Making known to us the mystery (secret) of His will (of His plan, of His purpose). [And it is this:] In accordance with His good pleasure (His merciful intention) which He had previously purposed {and} set forth in Him, [He planned] for the maturity of the times {and} the climax of the ages to unify all things {and} head them up {and} consummate them in Christ, [both] things in heaven and things on the earth.” (Ephesians 1:9-10).
God the Father’s hidden mystery from the Old Testament Prophets was that the Messiah that many of them Prophesied of would not only come into the world to deliver the Jews, but that He (Christ) would also gather together the Gentiles into His Flock as He said to some of them with these words while He walked about during His earthly ministry, “I am the Good Shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with One Shepherd.” (John 10:14-16).
My own Personal Note: Paul was akin to a Doctor who was a specialist in a certain medical field capable of diagnosing and treating certain rare strains of viruses or diseases adequately with much success, but in Paul’s case he was a Spiritual Doctor who was equipped by God’s Grace to dispense the cure (the Gospel of Christ (Romans 1:16)) to every infected soul with the disease of sin.
“Dispensation should be rendered, ‘stewardship.’ We are God’s trustees for men. To each of us is given some special phase of truth which we must pass on to others by the force of our character or by the teaching of our lips. It was given to Paul to make known the great truth that Gentiles might enter the Church of God on equal terms with Jews. During the earlier stages of human education this secret had been withheld; but with the advent of the Son of Man, the doors into the Church had been thrown open to all. Paul’s insistence on this truth was the main cause of the hatred and opposition which checkered his life.” F. B. Meyer
“The compound particle eige, which is commonly translated if indeed, in several places means since indeed, seeing that, and should be translated so in this verse, and in several other places of the New Testament. Seeing ye have heard of the dispensation of God, which is given me to you-ward: this they had amply learned from the Apostle during his stay at Ephesus, for he had not shunned to declare unto them the whole counsel of God, Acts 20:27, and kept nothing back that was profitable to them, Acts 20:20. And this was certainly among those things that were most profitable, and most necessary to be known.” Adam Clarke
“A prisoner in the service of the Lord Jesus; or made a prisoner in His cause. Not a prisoner for crime or debt, or as a captive in war, but a captive in the service of the Redeemer. This proves that at the time of writing this, Paul was in bonds, and there can be no question that he was in Rome. This would be more correctly rendered, ‘For this cause I, Paul, am the prisoner,’ etc. So Tyndale renders it, ‘For this cause I, Paul, the servant of Jesus, am in bonds.’ So also Locke, Rosenmuller, Doddridge, Whitby, Koppe, and others understand it. By this construction the abruptness now manifest in our common version is avoided. Made a prisoner at Rome on your behalf, because I maintained that the Gospel was to be preached to the Gentiles; see Acts 22:21-23. He was taken first to Cesarea, and then to Rome. The cause of his imprisonment and of all his difficulties was, that he maintained that the Gospel was to be preached to the Gentiles; that when the Jews rejected it God rejected them; and that he was specially called to carry the message of salvation to the pagan world.” Albert Barnes
If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...
Sincerely in Christ,
Clifford D. Tate, Sr.
Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…
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