It is about mysteries. The letter to the Ephesians is specifically about “the mystery of Christ”. This is not mysterious, but revealed. When Paul talks about mysteries, he makes something known. It concerns things that were previously unknown, but which are now revealed. We could therefore also describe mysteries in this way: Brand new and unheard of.

The development in Ephesians

In Ephesians, we read about Paul as an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God. He writes to “all the saints who are also believers in Christ Jesus” (Eph 1:1). He immediately begins to speak about the spiritual blessing that we have received in Christ (Eph 1:3). This is the prelude to the letter.

• Chapter 1
  In the first chapter, the apostle shows how blessed we are in Christ. This is not visible, but recognizable in faith. This is the proclamation that resonates in our lives. We then recognize God’s work in Christ and know ourselves blessed in that place.
• Chapter 2
  In the second chapter, Paul describes the two groups in the church, namely believers from both the Jewish people and the other nations. This grouping was already new, because anyone who wanted to belong to the God of Israel should have turned to the people of Israel as proselytes before this time. However, this does not happen with Paul. There is something new in this letter, the revelation of a mystery that neither Jesus in the Gospels nor the twelve apostles in the rest of the Testament mentioned. The new thing specifically concerns believers from the nations, who until then had no status of their own with the God of Israel. Paul now clarifies this and writes, “He makes us alive together in Christ (in grace you are saved), He raises us up together and sets us down together in the midst of the heavenly ones in Christ Jesus … Therefore remember that you of the Gentiles were once called uncircumcision according to the flesh by the so-called circumcision …” (Eph 2:6-11). No proselytism, but the believers in the nation stand together and on an equal footing with the Jewish believers in the congregation.
• Chapter 3
  The revelation therefore concerns the revelation of new things for the believers from the Gentiles. So Paul also begins the third chapter with the words: “Therefore I, Paul, am the bondservant of Christ Jesus to you who are of the Gentiles – for if you have heard of the administration of the grace of God which has been given to me for you, since by a revelation the mystery was made known to me (just as I wrote shortly before, by which you may understand as you read my understanding of the mystery of the 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.” (Eph 3:1-5). Paul, as an apostle to the nations, came to the nations with a special message of grace with which he was entrusted. This message not only has grace as its content, but also speaks of the mystery of Christ. This is the unification of all believers within the church. Step by step, the letter leads us there. It is all brand new. How did this message touch the first readers?

In the spirit

Just as Paul wrote the letter to the Ephesians with an emphasis on spiritual blessing and riches in Christ, he now returns to this and describes the mystery of Christ as follows:

“In the spirit are those from the nations

• • joint lot holder and a
  • joint body and
  • joint partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus.”

Eph 3:6

Together with the Jewish believers, as can be seen from the previous text. Paul is addressing the churches here and recognizes two groups (Jews and non-Jews) who are now on the same level. They are joint lot holders, a joint body and joint partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus. It is significant that this is all “in the Spirit”.

This message was new in light of the previously known possibilities (proselytism) and clarifying in light of the lack of clarity in the churches that Paul founded. Ambiguity? Until then, the believers in the nations were part of the churches, but there were also constant questions about the meaning of the Torah and keeping the commandments and prohibitions. Logically, this was familiar territory for the Jewish believers. They may have derived advantages from this; the disputes are reflected in the church letters. Paul deliberately left out the advantages of descent and only referred to Christ. This was a departure from the familiar and an innovation in the initial situation.

This spiritual reality was not dependent on social norms or descent. There are no advantages for Jews because of their ancestry and no disadvantages for believers in the nation because of their ancestry. Both groups in the church are part of the same body and whatever blessings and status they have apply to both groups. It is the equalization of all believers in the church, regardless of social status, gender or ancestry.

The mystery of Christ

Paul calls this “the mystery of Christ”. This almost sounds as if there is also “the known of Christ”. Let’s think about this for a moment. Many things were known: we read about Jesus in the Gospels. The twelve apostles in Jerusalem build a church. We could recognize this as the known of Christ. It was about Israel’s expectations, the recognized Messiah and the promises of a messianic kingdom. Nevertheless, there were still unknown things. Neither Jesus nor the twelve apostles spoke about this. Only Paul spoke about the mystery of Christ.

This mystery was revealed, namely made known, and it gave the church that Paul called out a new inner clarity. A knot was untied. There was a new direction. The mystery of Christ is the spiritual alignment of Jews and non-Jews within the church, even if there were still differences outside the church. Think of Paul’s self-assessment in Phil 3:4-7, for example, who is able to distinguish well between descent and spiritual reality.

The impact of these statements is huge. Today’s understanding of the church as a “church from all nations”, in which “all people are equally valued and blessed together” did not exist in this clarity before the letter to the Ephesians. In other words, the development of today’s church began with the letter to the Ephesians. When this letter appeared, it was brand new and unheard of.