Mystery in Paul’s Epistle to the Romans

 

Romans 11:25-27 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.

This comes at the end of chapters 9-11 in which Paul explains the relationship of the Jews to the Gospel. Gentiles are believing in Christ and Jews are not. What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. (Romans 9:30-31) This was a burning question – If this is of God and Jesus is the Messiah of Israel, why don’t Jews believe in Jesus?

Paul is answering the questions:

11:1 I say then, Hath God cast away his people? and 11:11 “I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? His immediate answer to both is, God forbid. And here he explains it – this was something that God had not revealed to the prophets – blindness in part has happened to Israel. In part means not total (there are individual Jews being saved to this day) and not complete or forever, it is temporary, only until. Until what? The fulness of the Gentiles be come in. This is the purpose of God for this current age - He is gathering in the Gentiles! The Gentiles are responding to Jesus and Israel has the tendency to reject him. So, According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear; unto this day. (Rom 11:8)

This blindness is a judgment from God because they refused to believe Jesus is the promised Messiah. But it is only until! What happens when the fulness of the Gentiles be come in? All Israel shall be saved! God is not unrighteous so as to forget His promises to the fathers and the prophets - all Israel shall yet be saved. Praise God!

Romans 16:25 Now to him that is of power to establish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, 26 But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith: 27 To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen.

according to the revelation of the mystery - I confess, I have struggled with this passage, what it means, but as I went through Romans for this study, I came to the conclusion that this harks back to chapter 11 and the mystery that blindness in part is happened to Israel. In other words, God is reaching out to and gathering in the Gentiles, and He gives us Gentiles grace to hear the gospel, believe in Jesus the promised Savior, and be established in the faith. Hallelujah!


NEXT: Mystery in 1 Corinthians

Mysteries of the Kingdom

In Matthew, Mark, and Luke Jesus spoke of the mystery of the kingdom.

Matthew 13:1-17
2 And great multitudes were gathered together unto him... 3 And he spoke many things unto them in parables... 10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? 11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. (see also Mark 4:11 and Luke 8:10)

In Matthew 13 this mystery is so closely linked to his teaching in parables that it is hard to separate the two. In this post I am only considering the mystery of the kingdom and not why Jesus taught in parables.

There is something about the kingdom of heaven that God had not revealed to the prophets, which Jesus now revealed to His disciples through seven parables. What is it?

The Jews knew the kingdom of God was coming, but their expectation and hope was what we expect of the second coming – that Christ would come, set up the kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy on earth, as well as deliver them from all their enemies. In other words, the kingdom would be visible and irresistible in its power. Through these parables Jesus reveals something startling, something the prophets did not know - when the kingdom comes it will first be spiritual, invisible, even resistible. (Mat 12:28; Luke 17:20-21; Rom 14:17; Heb 6:5)

Praise God, the kingdom of God has come. With salvation, deliverance, and healing it has come! But it is in the Holy Spirit. The fullness awaits His return. Maranatha!


NEXT: Mystery of blindness in part to Israel

Mystery in the New Testament

 

Mystery is an interesting word, a word that is very important to our understanding of the plan and purpose of God in this present age. In the Greek it is μυστήριον (mystērion) and, as you can see, the English word mystery comes from this Greek word. It occurs 27 times in the New Testament: the Lord Jesus once (but the same statement is recorded in Matthew, Mark, and Luke), Paul 19 times in six epistles, and 4 times in the Book of Revelation.

What is mystery? The New Testament uses mystery in a way that is different than any way we might use it today. To us a mystery is a “whodunit”, a murder mystery where we try to guess who committed the murder before it is revealed at the end of the book or show, y’know, like Agatha Christie. (It’s funny we always say “Agatha Christie” - I’ve never actually read an Agatha Christie murder mystery! I have read Ellery Queen; same thing because it is the same genre.) On TV there’s Matlock, Murder She Wrote et al. A mystery could also be something I can’t figure out, as in: “It’s a mystery to me” or “Women are a mystery to me”, that is, something difficult or impossible to understand. Still another use is a mystery prize or guest that will shortly be revealed.

Mystery in the Bible is none of the above. We really need to start with a clean slate if we want to understand a biblical mystery. Well then, what is it? I’m happy to say Paul defined it for us:

Ephesians 3:3,5 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery . . . Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;

Colossians 1:26-27 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known . . .

So, a mystery is something that God had always planned to do but did not reveal to the saints in the Old Testament, which He has now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets, who spoke it to us. Simply put, a mystery is a truth previously hidden which is now fully revealed. These mysteries are related to His plan and purpose for the gospel age. This is exciting – God has made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself !(Ephesians 1:9)

My plan is rather simple – Look at mystery in each book it is found and briefly explain it. That’s it!


NEXT: Mystery of the Kingdom