Eph 3:3-11
that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit; to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel, of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of Godâs grace which was given to me according to the working of His power. To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord,
This passage echoes the theme of the mystery of the gospel which Paul refers to numerous times though this and other letters. Here is the most explicit declaration of what exactly that mystery is. It is that, unbeknownst to past generations, the gentiles were to be included in the the fellowship of Gods people.
That really doesnât seem like much a mystery to you and I in that we are privileged to the Book of Acts and the unveiling of Godâs grace to the Gentiles. But to the people across the ancient world it was a big surprise.
Yet we also in hindsight see Gods intent to bring the gospel to the Gentiles through numerous implicit hints or clues by which the mystery was understood from the Old Testament.
Rahab the harlot and Ruth the Moabite were non-Jewish women inserted not only into the nation of Israel but into the very Messianic bloodline. Naman the leper was granted the blessing of healing even though he was a pagan and the blinded Arimeans experienced feeding and freedom rather than the destruction they sought to bring to the prophet.
Could one have looked at all these clues as a Jew who lived before Christ and recognized the mystery of the Universal offer of salvation to the Gentiles? Not without the help of the Holy Spirit. Yet the clues were all there and many Jews, in fact most just did not see what they were pointing to.
But the Jews were not the only ones taken by surprise.
Eph 3:9-10
âto bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.â
I Cor 2:7-8
âBut we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, eventhe hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.â
It would seem that some kind of celestial beings are being surprised as well. Who might that be and why would the mystery be hidden from them as well?
While the second reference is obviously about evil beings, the first reference might very well include angels both fallen as well as not.
Consider this passage which seems to indicate the curiosity of the holy angels regarding this mystery.
I Peter 1:12
It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.
There are things that men know, then there are things angels know that men do not, and then there are things God only knows.
In fact according to Jesus the time of His own return was a mystery to Him at least at that time He spoke it. A strong argument could be made that when He ascended the mystery was revealed to Him.
The important point in all of this is that there was a plan in place that God kept all to Himself in past ages. How can we not marvel at this? That in the garden, in the patriarchs, in Egyptian slavery, in the wilderness journey, in the Kings of the Jews, in the judgements they suffered as a nation, this mystery was at work behind the scenes unbeknownst to anyone but God- the mystery of inclusion of the Gentiles.
We saw how the Apostles received the revelation of the mystery. Peter at first struggled and even stumbled. He had to have a divine vision of a safari buffet to uproot his lifelong conditioning to eschew Gentiles as people who God loved. Later he was rebuked by Paul for being two faced when he treated the gentiles like the uncool kids while the Jews were around.
Some of the larger church met the inclusion of the gentiles with passive resistance in that many converted Pharisees insisted that all gentile believers had to pass through the rites of Judaism such as circumcision before being accepted as Christians. They were deemed incorrect at the Council of Jerusalem. Yet the Apostles imposed some legalism upon them that would later be dismantled by Paul, such as eating meat offered to idols.
But we see that the acceptance of the mystery of the gentiles was not without its struggles and growing pains. So much so that the Judaizers never quite gave up and became a ongoing schism with which Paul contended in his letters.
So with all this letâs establish a single set of truths supported by what has been shown.
In past ages God had a mystery that was kept hidden until it was finally revealed through the church. It was a mystery regarding more people being loved and saved than previously imagined. It was a mystery whose clues were hidden in plain site in the scriptures but unseen due to lack of revelation.
Now, having seen how God operated a salvation mystery in ages past, let us consider whether there may be another salvation mystery for ages yet to come.
Eph 2:4-7
But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Eph 3:17-21
that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what isthe width and length and depth and heightâ to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
or
Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
God seems to be planning on revealing more grace in the ages to come. He seems to indicate that love has more to do and say than what we have already seen it do and say. For it is of Him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think.
What do we ask or think? We ask for people to get saved before they die because we think there is no hope for them beyond this life. Much like Jews thought there was no place for Gentiles in the family of God by virtue of their uncleanness.
But Gods spirit revealed to the church that Gods love actually surpassed their knowledge. Think about that. When Gods love surpasses knowledge that can only mean that His love is going to do something we may not yet know about. The whole point of calling something a mystery is that it is hidden.
What we see is that in times past the mystery was obscure to some but clear to others. The main reason some did not see it when it was revealed was because of the condition of their hearts. Jesus spoke of spiritual blindness as a condition whereby a person is unable to see. The Pharisees were declared blind guides because they were claimed to know the way yet they did not see the Way standing in front of them.
There are passages of scriptures which have seldom ever been used in sermons for thousands of years. The passages have found no place in the discipleship or equipping of the modern church despite their profound implications. Universalists however for thousands of years have looked at these passages and seen a love being revealed for ages yet to come. There are many whose heart rejects the idea that God would save all even out of hell. But this goes to the matter of being rooted and grounded in love.
Universalism is so rooted. And being rooted in love is what gives us the ability to comprehend the full dimensions of these passages worth and revelation.
I Tim. 4:9-11
This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe.Command and teach these things.
When we allow the full dimensions of Gods love to define this passage the implications are impossible to ignore. Perhaps this is why the scripture has been largely ignored. Ask yourself this: How long had you been a Christian before you noticed this passage? If the answer is a long time, one would have to ask why.
I taught the word for 30 years and when a Universalist showed me that scripture I had to check and see if every version of the bible actually had that verse. How did I miss that? Where had it been all those years? It had been there the whole time, walking with me on the road to Emmaus.
Now perhaps I was just a less than thorough expositor. I have no problem accepting that. But I also listened to a lot of sermons as well as preaching many myself. Somehow it would seem many of other preachers and teachers in my corner of the world were missing this passage as well.
There are numerous other passages I have coined âorphanâ passages by virtue of their precious value yet widespread neglect. Rather than to belabor them all here I would simply recommend the reader seek out well written studies such as Keith DeRoseâs work as found here. http://campuspress.yale.edu/keithderose/1129-2/#2
Those who object to seeing a Universalist interpretation to these passages might ask this.
âDo you really think the New Testament writers were hinting at Universal salvation? It would seem that something that big would have been spelled out much more clearly. Hopeless judgement appears far more clear than universal salvation.â
Well I would simply appeal to how Gods mysteries as worked in the past ages. Did not the exclusion of the gentiles appear far more clearly to the Jews than the eventual inclusion as they read the Old Testament scriptures? Yet we see how that turned out.
Furthermore as to whether the Apostles understood as they wrote that they were pointing to Universalism, I would say they did. But even if they did not, is it necessary that they did?
We have a very firm assertion by the Apostles that those who wrote scripture before them did not completely understand the fullest implications of what they wrote. How else would a message be delivered verbally through messengers and yet remain a mystery to the messengers themselves?
2Pe 1:20-21
Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake [as they were] moved by the Holy Ghost.
I Peter 1:10-12
As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of [Christ] within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heavenâthings into which angels long to look.
These passages undergird our understanding of what is known as âsensus pleniorâ or the idea that prophets wrote things that were not fully understood to them but only to God and which would be more fully understood later when God so chose to reveal it and to whom.
In addition to the Old Testament prophets, there are seemingly also New Testament prophets who may not fully understand what the fullest meanings of their prophecies are.
1Co 13:9-13
For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Spiritual maturity is love. Universalism is an appeal to the most mature form of Christianity we can conceive of and whose possibility is supplied by the scriptures. Whether the prophets fully understood or not, we see a message from the heart of God in what they said and it cannot be unseen anymore.
According to Kohlbergâs theory of moral development, the most immature morality (most commonly found in children) is that which is based in the fear of punishment and the question of whats in it for me. The highest moral motivation is that which is the most good for others even to the ultimate expense of ones own good.
Through the words of Paul, might the Spirit be growing us up into a love based morality instead of a fear of eternal conscious torment morality? Furthermore, could such a love as revealed by the God who called himself Love settle for burning souls for eternity future who from eternity past were the object of Christs love?
The greatest of these is love. Love never fails. Everything else will fail. The law of Moses failed. Prophecies will fail. Gods love will not fail.
I would propose there is a salvation mystery being revealed for ages yet to come. Many have seen it in the past. Not everyone sees it now. But it will finally be seen by everyone.
