Paul began to pray for his readers again (cf. vv. 1, 14), but he interrupted himself to tell them more about the church. What he said in this section gives background information concerning the church as a mystery.
3:1 "For this reason"refers to what Paul had said about God's blessings that are now the possession of both Gentile and Jewish believers. Since God has blessed us so greatly, Paul prayed that his readers would comprehend fully the extent of God's love for them (vv. 14-21).
His reference to himself as Christ's prisoner for the sake of the Gentiles led him to digress and explain why he was such. When Paul wrote this epistle, he was under house arrest in Rome. This imprisonment had resulted from his service for Christ, specifically his ministry among Gentiles for which the Jews had mobbed him in Jerusalem (cf. Acts 21:21, 18; 2 Tim. 1:11-12). The apostle regarded his imprisonment as God's will for him then.
3:2 This verse begins another long sentence that runs through verse 13 in the Greek text. "If indeed"(NASB) means "Surely"(NIV, cf. 4:21). The Ephesians had heard of Paul's ministry.
"Stewardship"or "administration"(Gr. oikonomia, dispensation, v. 9; 1:10) here has the idea of the management of someone else's business (cf. 1 Cor. 9:17; Col. 1:25). Paul viewed God as in the process of dispensing His grace throughout history through various administrators. Paul's responsibility was to carry God's grace to all people but particularly to the Gentiles (cf. v. 8; 2:7).
"God's principles do not change, but His methods of dealing with mankind do change over the course of history. Distinguish the ages,' wrote St. Augustine, and the Scriptures harmonize.'"70
3:3 This duty involved the reception of revelation not previously given (i.e., the mystery), specifically that Gentiles and Jews were equal partners in the church (2; 16; 3:6). Paul had written of this mystery before in this epistle (1:10; 2:11-22).
3:4 What Paul had already written about this mystery revealed his understanding of it.
3:5 The mystery was unknown before God revealed it to the New Testament apostles and prophets. Prophets may be a more specific description of apostles here. That means He did not reveal it in the Old Testament. Specifically what is the mystery in view here?
Traditional dispensationalists have understood the mystery to be the church, the body of Christ.72
"Paul then, is explaining, not limiting the mystery there set forth [by his reference to the equality of Jews and Gentiles]. The concept must stand that this whole age with its program was not revealed in the Old Testament, but constitutes a new program and a new line of revelation in this present age."73
"At least four defining characteristics of the church are described as a mystery. (1) The body concept of Jewish and Gentile believers united into one body is designated as a mystery in Ephesians 3:1-12. (1) The doctrine of Christ indwelling every believer, the Christ-in-you concept, is called a mystery in Colossians 1:24-27 (cf. Col. 2:10-19; 3:4, 11). (3) The church as the Bride of Christ is called a mystery in Ephesians 5:22-32. (4) The Rapture is called a mystery in 1 Corinthians 15:50-58. These four mysteries describe qualities that distinguish the church from Israel."74
Amillennialists, covenant premillennialists, and progressive dispensationalists say that the mystery is not the church itself but the equality of Jews and Gentiles in the church.75
"The mystery referred to in the dispensation of the mystery' (Eph. 3:9) is the relationship of Jews and Gentiles to Christ and to one another. This relationship is the distinguishing characteristic of the church."76
"The mystery of verse 6 may thus be summed up as the coequal participation of the Gentiles with Israel in the full messianic salvation that is realized in the crucified and risen Christ and made effective to both through the apostolic proclamation of the gospel. This truth of the unity of Gentiles and Israel in the church, which has already been introduced in connection with the mystery of his will' (1:9-14, esp. vv. 12-13) and elaborated in 2:11-22, stands behind all of the teachings of the epistle as the central theme."77
These two groups of interpreters view the church differently. Traditional dispensationalists understand the church to be an intercalation or parenthesis in God's kingdom program. Some of them refer to the church as the mystery form of the kingdom. They see the church as a hiatus in God's dealings with Israel on the earth. Consequently the church is a new entity, not simply the continuation of the Old Testament theocracy. (Non-dispensationalists refer to the church as the "new Israel."78) This view stresses the discontinuity between Israel and the church in the past and in the future.
Amillennialists, covenant premillennialists, and progressive dispensationalists view the nature of the church differently. They believe the church is a progressive stage in the historical unfolding of God's kingdom program on earth.79They stress the continuity between the past, present, and future rules of God over the earth.
Was the mystery revealed in any sense in the Old Testament, or was this revelation something entirely new in Paul's day? Traditional dispensationalists respond that neither the church as a distinct entity nor the equality of Jews and Gentiles in the church was previously revealed. They appeal to the meaning of "mystery"for support. "Mystery"(Gr. mysterion) in the New Testament refers to "a truth which was once hidden but now is revealed,' a truth which without special revelation would have been unknown.'"80Moreover "as"(v. 5) does not mean that God had revealed it previously but now revealed it more fully in Paul's day, as the context (v. 9; cf. 2:16) and Colossians 1:26 make clear. God had not revealed anything about the church in the Old Testament.
Amillennialists, covenant premillennialists, and progressive dispensationalists say yes and no. The church was revealed in the Old Testament, not by that name but as a future stage in the earthly kingdom of God. Nevertheless the equality of Gentiles and Jews in one body (2:15-16) was new revelation.
". . . it [the mystery] was new and unknown in a relative sense only, being in its essentials an important theme of prophecy from the time of Abraham . . ."81
". . . a mystery' need not even have been unknown or unappreciated previously, except perhaps relatively so . . ."82
"A mystery may be hidden in the sense that its truth has not yet been realized."83
The correct interpretation depends on a proper identification of the mystery and an accurate understanding of the nature of the church.
The question of whether or not the Davidic (messianic) kingdom has already begun relates to the answer. Traditional dispensationalists say that it has not since the Davidic kingdom is an earthly kingdom and Christ will only begin to reign over it when He returns to earth. Amillennialists, covenant premillennialists, and progressive dispensationalists say that the messianic kingdom has begun since Christ is now enthroned in heaven.84
If the Davidic kingdom is an exclusively earthly reign of Messiah, then it seems that the church is not just a segment of this kingdom. Messiah would need to be present to reign over this kingdom.85The church enters into many blessings because of Christ's death, resurrection, and ascension, not because He rules as the Davidic king from heaven now. Some of these blessings are identical to what believers will enjoy when Christ returns to reign on the earth. This should not lead us to conclude that the church is the first stage of Christ's messianic kingdom.
I believe that the mystery in view here is the equality of Jews and Gentiles in the church, but this is only one mystery concerning the church that the New Testament reveals. Taken together all these mysteries present the church as a distinct entity in God's plan and not just one aspect of the messianic kingdom. Neither the church nor the present equal relationship of Jews and Gentiles was revealed in the Old Testament, though Gentile blessing was. God had revealed His purpose to bless Gentiles along with Jews from Genesis 12:3 onward (cf. Isa. 2:1-4; 61:5-6).
Note that Paul said God revealed the mystery to His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. He did not just reveal the church to Paul. Ultradispensationalists claim that the church could not have begun before Paul appeared on the scene since he was the apostle through whom revelation concerning this mystery came.86
3:6 This is the content of the mystery (cf. 2:11-22). First, Gentiles and Jews are fellow heirs of God's riches that He presently bestows on believers (cf. 2:19; 1:13-14; Gal. 3:29; 4:7). Second, they are fellow members of the body of Christ, which is the church (Col. 1:18). Third, they are fellow partakers of the promise concerning Christ in the gospel (i.e., that whoever trusts in Him has everlasting life; John 3:16; et al.). The mystery is not that Gentiles would enjoy salvation and enter into blessing along with Israel. God revealed that in the Old Testament (Gen. 12:3; Isa. 42:6; et al.). It is that God has joined Jews and Gentiles as equals in one body (cf. 1 Cor. 12:13).
3:7 God graciously gave Paul the opportunity to serve Him by proclaiming the gospel aided by God's supernatural enablement. "Minister"(Gr. diakonos, deacon) emphasizes service, not servitude (cf. Gr. doulos, slave).
3:8 Paul considered himself the least worthy (lit. the "leaster") of all the saints (1:1) to have received such a privilege. Rather than thinking God owed him something Paul regarded God's entrusting him with the gospel as pure grace, unmerited favor (cf. 2 Cor. 12:11). The unfathomable riches of Christ are what Paul preached and what he expounded in this epistle particularly (cf. Rom. 11:33).
3:9 The second part of Paul's ministry, besides preaching to the Gentiles, was explaining the mystery of the church to everyone. Even though God had not revealed the church earlier, it was in His plan from the beginning (1 Cor. 2:7; Rom. 16:25-26).
3:10 Paul ministered in these two ways so the manifold wisdom of God might appear clearly to the angelic hosts (cf. 1:21; 6:12). "Manifold"(Gr. polypoikilos) means variegated or made up of different kinds. Individual redemption is not in view here but the church composed of people of different types, namely Jews and Gentiles. God's manifold wisdom is apparent in the church's manifold construction. The angels marvel at God's wisdom as they observe Jews and Gentiles united in one body.
". . . the church is to be an audio-visual display of God's reconciling work. In this primary way she testifies to God's grace and wisdom. So Paul encouraged living life in Christ in such a way that reconciliation is the dominant feature of church life."87
3:11 This plan was part of God's eternal purpose (1:11). God brought this part of His plan to fruition through our Lord's earthly ministry. Specifically the Jews' rejection of their Messiah resulted in the postponement of the messianic (Davidic) kingdom and the beginning of the church.
"God's program today is not the headship of Israel' (Deut. 28:1-13), but the headship of Christ over His church."88
3:12 Jesus Christ's past work has an abiding present effect for believers today. Because of His work we now enjoy the rights of address and access to God. We can address God and approach Him confidently because our Savior's work has brought us to God (cf. Heb. 3:6; 4:16; 10:19, 35; Eph. 2:8; Rom. 5:2).
"Forgiven sinners do not come to God hesitantly, wondering about their likely reception. They rest not on their own achievement but on what Christ has done for them, and for that reason they come full of confidence."89
3:13 In this verse the apostle returned to the thought with which he began this section (v. 1). God had entrusted Paul with the mystery of the church and had given him a ministry of evangelizing the Gentiles. Therefore his Ephesian readers should not view his present imprisonment as a tragedy but simply as part of his ministry. His ministry was for them and for their glory, so they should view his tribulations as part of God's good will for him and for them.
"The mystery of Ephesians 3 is the equality of Jews and Gentiles in the body of Christ. This equality and this body were not revealed in the Old Testament. They were made known only after the coming of Christ by the Spirit to the apostles and prophets including Paul but not excluding others."90
Saucy, also a dispensationalist, interpreted the mystery in a slightly different way.
"Our examination of the mystery in Ephesians 3 leads us to a mediating position between traditional dispensational and nondispensational views. The unity of Jews and Gentiles in Christ is taking place in the church in partial fulfillment of Old Testament promises. Messianic days have dawned, albeit in a way not clearly anticipated in the prophecies. Rather than one grand age of fulfillment under the messianic reign, the prophetic fulfillment has been divided into two ages related to the two comings of Christ. In this first age of fulfillment, the spiritual messianic salvation is already present in the gospel. This gospel is broadly spoken of as the mystery, or the mystery of Christ, or the mystery of the gospel. The specific spiritual unity of all peoples entailed in this gospel is the content of the mystery of Ephesians 3."91
Whereas the Old Testament predicted the unity of Jewish and Gentile believers, it did not reveal their complete equality in Christ. On this point all dispensationalists and covenant theologians agree.
