Paul has his own message and mission. He emphasizes this in various places. Most of the time, this gets lost, and the general understanding is that Jesus and the apostles all say the same thing. But what if Paul himself is talking about other things?
The Art of Differentiation
What Paul says is brand new. This is likely true for many Christians even today, because Paul’s message is often casually mixed with other teachings, such as those from the Gospels. The result is a “mixed gospel.” You might think of it this way: A mixed gospel is something like a letter cobbled together from other letters. It would be roughly equivalent to having several genuine letters, but then someone gets the idea to use scissors to cut out various parts from the different letters and piece them together into a new letter.
How should we understand this? Specifically, people refer to the “Lord’s Prayer” and point to a prayer from the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus taught his disciples. It is prayed regularly in most churches today, even though the theme—the Kingdom—had a different connotation for Jews back then than it does for Christians today. It’s also easy to overlook the fact that this is a prayer offered before the cross, and in doing so, to overlook a significant development. We live in the era of the Cross and the Resurrection. Neither of these is taken into account in the Lord’s Prayer. Did Jesus actually address this to the church today, or is that merely an interpretation?
People ended up jumbling various parts of the New Testament together haphazardly. This could not be without consequences and generally leads Christians to think of the New Testament as a whole as “our Scripture.” Everything in the New Testament speaks of Jesus, and “therefore” everything speaks of us. People appropriate the New Testament for themselves. However, this basic assumption is imposed on the Bible and has little to do with the actual message of the New Testament.
If one looks closely at the development within the New Testament, one comes across specific details. Jesus, for example, quite clearly limited his mission to Israel (Matt. 15:24). Paul later confirmed this (Rom. 15:8). Accordingly, there was no specific message for the nations during the time of the Gospels. To put it plainly: There was no church or congregation as we know it today during the time of the Gospels.
The traditional interpretation, in which everything is supposed to refer to the church today, is foreign to the Bible. The text says something else. The fact that various kinds of proselytes from the nations are now appearing in this age, and that there are isolated anecdotes, by no means means that the door to the nations is wide open. Rather, the possibilities that already existed in the Tanakh (the Old Testament) play a role here.
Paul on His Mission
In the Epistle to the Ephesians, Paul repeatedly refers to his mission, as he does here in chapter 3. At the beginning, he makes a remark that sounds like a rhetorical question: “I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesusfor you Gentiles —if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for your sake” (Eph 3:1–2). A few verses later, he returns to this topic once more:
“To me, the least of all the saints by far, this grace was given, to proclaim to the nations the unfathomable riches of Christ as the Gospel, and to enlighten everyone concerning the administration of the mystery that had been hidden in God from eternity, who created the universe.”
Eph 3:8–9
Paul speaks to the nations. This is quite different from how Jesus spoke about his own mission in the Gospels. The difference is not only striking but also sets the course for the development of the New Testament. It begins with Israel, but it does not end with Israel. Something new also begins—something that “had been hidden in God from the ages.”
Paul describes his mission as something extraordinary. This applies to two aspects. On the one hand, Paul considers himself insignificant ( “by far the least of all the saints”). A On the other hand, it is also considered extraordinary for the nations because it was previously unknown and hidden, but became known there.
His role is twofold:
- to proclaim to the nations the unfathomable riches of Christ as the Gospel.
- to enlighten everyone regarding the administration of the mystery.
1. The Mission “for the Nations”
The proclamation and the Gospel for the nations were a mystery and were once hidden. Paul was entrusted with making this known. The mystery encompasses “the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Eph 3:8) and concerned a new standing for believers from the nations “in the Spirit” (Eph 3:6). For the first time in the proclamation of the Gospel, believers in the church—regardless of their background—were regarded as equal in the Spirit, with equal spiritual access to God the Father (Eph 2:18). This new proclamation was made possible by their standing “in Christ” (Eph 2:13).
It is clear here that the phrase “in the Spirit” was instrumental in this new development. Up to that point, there had been many advantages for Jews, given their history. Paul speaks of this, for example, in the Epistle to the Philippians (Phil. 3:4–6) and, more generally, in the Epistle to the Romans (Rom. 3:1–2).
2. The task “for everyone”
This stands in contrast to the target group of “the nations” just mentioned. Paul was to do more than just speak to the nations; he was also to enlighten everyone. This points to a broader target group, namely people from both the nations and Israel.
Presumably, this is not a blanket statement, but applies only to the churches, just as the Epistle to the Ephesians is a circular letter to churches. In this context, one can naturally think of these two groups within the church: there were believers from Israel and from other nations. People outside the church who are not believers probably won’t understand much of this. Perhaps we can also include other believers, such as those in Jerusalem with the twelve apostles?
One could cautiously infer that Paul saw his mission extending beyond the church. Paul once went up to Jerusalem to explain to the Twelve the gospel he was preaching among the Gentiles (Gal 2:1–2). They mutually acknowledged each other’s different roles (Gal 2:7–9). It is not the case that all the apostles proclaimed the same thing. Although they all have Christ at the center, that does not automatically mean that the same message is proclaimed. They had different roles, different target groups, and a gospel tailored to each target group. In the previously cited passage from the Epistle to the Galatians, these gospels are specified as “the gospel of the circumcised” and “the gospel of the uncircumcised.” Each group had its own good news.
The Twelve ministered to the Jewish community and looked forward to a messianic future, in keeping with the promises made to Israel, while Paul ministered to the nations, proclaiming there the unfathomable riches of Christ, which are realized in the Spirit. Such a message had never been heard before and did not correspond to the ideas of the prophets. It was this unique proclamation that led Paul to call himself “the Apostle to the Gentiles” or “the Teacher of the Gentiles” (Rom 11:13; 1 Tim 2:7; 2 Tim 1:11).
These two areas are part of the apostle’s mission. Both are significant. It is not only about the unique content of this age of grace (Eph 3:2), but also about understanding its significance. The scope of each task—as several have already been mentioned—is appropriate within its own context. What falls outside that scope serves a different target audience and, in most cases, a different time. This distinction sheds light on every era.
Task of the municipality
After Paul emphasizes these things to the congregation, he goes on to add:
“…so that now, through the church He has called, the manifold wisdom of God might be made known to the principalities and powers in the heavenly realms, in accordance with the purpose of the ages, which He established in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in Him (Eph 2:18).”
Eph 3:10–12
Paul’s mission for the church today is rooted in this riches of Christ and in the mystery of Christ (Eph 3:4). He describes the calling by which we, too, have been called. This calling, however, is not an end in itself. No one who is called has “made it.” Rather, it is the starting point for a ministry, as Paul also defines it here:
“… so that now, through the church that has been called out, the manifold wisdom of God might be made known to the principalities and powers in the heavenly realms .”
Eph 3:10
Something is to be made known through the church. Where? Among the heavenly beings. What? The manifold wisdom of God. When we read this in the context of the Apostle’s previous words, it seems to echo what he described as “and to enlighten everyone.” God’s manifold wisdom could also be described as multicolored, multifaceted, or something similar. It is a wisdom of God that does not follow a single path, but perhaps even runs along multiple paths. Consider, for example, the paths of “Israel” and “the nations.”
Belief in Angels
This versatility is to be made known among heavenly beings. This is to happen now. Since we walk on earth today as living human beings and have not been raptured into heavenly spheres in any way, the question arises as to how and what exactly this means. Furthermore, as Paul explained earlier, our wealth is of a spiritual nature. It is “in the Spirit,” and therefore not necessarily directly visible.
Can we make something visible through our lives? Perhaps we need to look at it from the perspective of heavenly beings. That is the question of what image Paul had in mind during his time. However, there are only a few references to this in the New Testament.
In general, belief in angels seems to have been widespread (Acts 23:9; Acts 27:23; 1 Cor. 11:10, and many others). Angels could come from Satan or from heaven (2 Cor. 12:7; Gal. 1:8). Paul, however, strictly rejects the worship of angels (Col 2:18). Although it is quite obvious that many believed in heavenly beings, the Gospel always stands in contrast to this. These appear to be references to the ideas of that time, and they are not included anywhere as part of the Gospel.
References to angels are written in such a way that the angels can learn something from us. This is an indirect way of warning against pious projections that tend to distract from the gospel of God’s grace.
“For I think that God has made us, the last of the apostles, look like men doomed to die, since we have become a spectacle to the world, to the angels, and to men.”
1 Cor. 4:9
“Don’t you know that we will judge the angels?”
1 Cor. 6:3
And Peter writes:
“[The prophets] were revealed that they were not speaking on their own behalf, but were conveying this to you through their ministry—which has now been made known to you by those who proclaim the Gospel to you through the Holy Spirit sent from heaven , into which even the angels long to look.”
1 Peter 1:12
According to this statement by Peter, the messengers or angels wish to gain insight into the Gospel. What Paul writes to the Gentiles is also found in the Gospel of the Circumcision. It seems to be a phenomenon of that time. In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul writes to the church that in the coming eons or ages, it will display the grace it has experienced among heavenly beings (Eph 2:6–7). It is a remarkable description of the power of the gospel, which surpasses all things, because we are recognized as being “in Christ,” who is above all.
Does the Bible contain a “doctrine of angels”? No. Just because there are references does not mean it is part of the proclamation. Those same references could well serve as allusions to popular beliefs, carefully cited to lend greater force to the actual message. This does not deny the existence of spiritual beings, of whom Paul also speaks, but rather does not ascribe to them an aura of special significance. Neither the gospel of grace of which Paul speaks nor any other gospel requires religious projections. He expressly warns against this (Col 2:18), because such ideas merely “serve to satisfy the flesh” (Col 2:23), as he puts it. Special teachings and particular forms of piety have nothing to do with the grace of God, with faith, the cross, and the resurrection.
Paul Enlightens Everyone
The second part of Paul’s mission was to “enlighten everyone.” He extends this, so to speak, to everything people could imagine, including a world of invisible powers and forces. See also the conclusion of the first chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians. There he wrote that God’s power was at work in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand among the heavenly realms, far above every principality and authority, power and dominion (Eph 1:20–23).
Paul does not refer to angels, but apparently mentions them because many people at that time were thinking about angels. Each time, however, he shows that God’s work in Christ is more important. It is as if Paul, with every serious statement, is posing a rhetorical question: Why do you dwell on what is lowly when what is highest has been proclaimed to you?
Paul had an extraordinary mission. Did you already know that?