"25Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, 26but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him--27to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen." -- Romans 16:25-27
The Bible is full of mysteries. Both old Testament and New list 'mysteries of God'. In the Old Testament, a mystery typically relates to a prophecy which God has hidden. In the New Testament, mystery typically refers that which once was hidden, but now revealed through His Spirit. In the New Testament, there is one mystery that is, perhaps, the most misunderstood mystery in the Bible. That is they mystery of Christ. Many people have taken this mystery out of context and used it to explain all sorts of teachings. Typically they use it solely for the end times teaching, and while the end times do relate, there is much more to this mystery than, say, the rapture. It is probably one of the most, if not the most, significant mystery in the Bible. When we looked at in the light of God's Word, its meaning is explained. In the Bible, both the Old Testament and New Testament have certain themes. The theme of the Old Testament is the promise of salvation, and the theme of the New Testament is the realization of that promise. That promise, the promise of salvation is realized in the revelation of the Mystery of Christ. In this issue I would like to take an in depth look at this particular mystery and its application.
The Mystery
In looking at the Mystery of Christ, we need to take look at exactly what that mystery is. There is no doubt it is significant, Paul mentions the mystery in almost every single one of his letters, especially those he wrote from prison. We get our first clue to what the mystery is in his letter to the Colossians. Paul writes them while "in chains" for proclaiming the mystery of Christ:
2Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. 3And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 4Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. -- Colossians 2:2-4
Paul wrote to the Colossians while imprisoned in Rome and closes his letter by asking for their prayers. He is in prison for "proclaiming the mystery of Christ." He closes his letter to the Ephesians in a similar fashion, with the same request:
19Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should. -- Ephesians 6:18-20
Paul's letter to the Ephesians is believed to be a church wide letter, ie. not specifically sent to the Ephesians, but to all the churches in Asia Minor. In it he gives us our next clue to the mystery of Christ. This letter is very similar to the one to the Colossians and is believed to have been written a short time after that one. When he write to the Ephesians, Paul makes a similar request for prayer, only he calls the mystery "the mystery of the gospel". From the similarities of the two letters and similarities of the requests, we can see Paul is talking about the same thing. That is, the mystery of Christ is the Gospel message, for which Paul was arrested and imprisoned.
Paul had quite a bit to say regarding the Gospel. He was chosen by Jesus personally, to bring the Gospel to the Gentiles. Not only was he the Apostle to the Gentiles, but he was also a staunch defender of the truth. Many people tried to desecrate the Gospel by adding to it in varies ways. Bits of paganism, Gnosticism and Judaism were all being thrown in and a mixed gospel that was being taught. Paul staunchly refuted such messages. The Galatians in particular were being seduced away from the true Gospel message. Paul writes them in a very blunt fashion to open their eyes and let them know there is only one true Gospel:
6I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, 7which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. 9As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed. -- Galatians 1:6-9 (NKJV)
The Galatians were being seduced by another gospel. The word "different" in verse 6 is translated from the Greek work hereton which literally means another "of a different kind." The word "another" in verse 7 is from the Greek work allo, which literally means another "of the same kind." Paul is literally telling us that the "gospel" they are slowly defecting to really is not "another" gospel, it is not a "different" gospel, it is not even a gospel at all! There is one Gospel, any departure from that message is false. There is an old saying, "It doesn't matter if you go off the road to right or the left, you still wind up in the ditch." The same is true of the Gospel. If you depart in any way, you have left the truth. The Bible is quite clear, there is only one gospel, that gospel is the mystery of Christ that has now been revealed to us. That begs the question though, what exactly is that gospel? What is the gospel that the Galatians were departing from?
Well, we know that Paul was in chains for proclaiming the mystery of Christ, and the mystery of Christ is also the gospel. By taking a look at exactly what it was that Paul preached (and what it is we should teach today), we can get a Biblical answer to what the gospel is:
1When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. -- 1 Corinthians 2:1-2
When Paul was in Corinth, he knew "nothing...except Jesus Christ and him crucified," and that is what he taught. He did not try to convince them with fancy speech or philosophical skills, but rather, let the message speak for itself. That message, the Gospel message, lies in the cross and the crucifixion of Christ thereon. "Gospel" literally means, "Good News" and the "good news" here is that with Christ's crucifixion, the penalty for sin has been paid! Jesus Christ, God incarnate, paid the ultimate price, so that through His death, burial and resurrection, we may have eternal life!
16For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. -- John 3:16-17
Jesus Christ died in our place, so that we may have life. That is good news, in deed! It is the good news of salvation, available to all people (Titus 2:11). The mystery of Christ has been revealed through Christ and by Christ. The mystery is the gospel message, that through Christ all may be saved:
2Surely you have heard about the administration of God's grace that was given to me for you, 3that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. 4In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets. 6This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 3:2-6
This particular portion of the "mystery" is especially appealing. Paul is telling the "gentiles" in his letter that they too are co-heirs with Christ. They too, are now "children of the promise, heirs to the promise of God. That promise is eternal life with our Creator and Savior, the Lord God Almighty.
9And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment--to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. -- Ephesians 1:9-10
The mystery, that which has long be kept hidden, has now been revealed. That Mystery is God's plan of salvation. He wants all men to be with Him (2 Peter 3:9), and has provide a way for us to spend eternity with Him. He did so according to His "good pleasure," or His Will. God desires that all men be saved, and now that the mystery of Christ has been revealed, and we who are now the Children of God will inherit eternal life though Jesus Christ our Lord. No wonder it's called GOOD NEWS!
The Method
As co-heirs with Christ and recipients of the greatest gift ever known to mankind, we have a responsibility to go out and share that gift with others. The mystery has been revealed to our Lord's prophets and apostles by His Spirit. It is now revealed to us through His Word under the guidance of His Spirit. While many concepts of the Bible can be difficult to understand, there is one thing that even a child can know and comprehend: Salvation through Christ Jesus.
Salvation comes through Christ and Christ alone. Our Savior tells us, "I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved" (John 10:9), and "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). This is looked at in depth in the very first issue of And These Three Remain, How Do We Get To God?, and I encourage each of you to prayerfully study that article in addition to this one.
The Bible is clear that we get to God through Jesus and Jesus alone. He is our redeemer (1 John 2:2), our mediator (1 Timothy 2:5), and our savior (Acts 4:12). Jesus himself tells us that all who believe in Him will be saved (John 3:16, above). What does it mean to believe though? Is belief enough? That depends on what you mean by "belief". I am going to be honest and upfront here, I believe that "The Method" of salvation is somewhat of a misnomer. I do not believe there is anything we need to physically do in order to recieve God's gracious gift. I do believe that what Jesus said is true, that by believing in Him we will earn the right to be called "Children of God:
10He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God-- 13children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. -- John 1:10-13
9That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. -- Romans 10:9-10
According to The Word, both the Word Himself and His written record, if we believe in Jesus Christ, we will be saved. However, there is a caveat, James tells us, "You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that–and shudder" (James 2:19). The demons, and even the devil himself, believe, so why aren't they saved? Once again, it depends on what you mean by "believe". The word "believe" as used by both Jesus and James, is translated from the Greek work pisteuo. Pisteuo has two separate meanings. The first is intellectual acknowledgement. The second is to put your faith and trust in something or some one. The particular meaning can be determined by looking at the context, and looking at the rest of Scripture.
It is clear from Scripture that Satan knows Jesus, and knows Jesus is the Son of God. He talked to Jesus face to face, and tried to tempt Him into sin so that God's plan would be foiled (Matthew 4:1-12). The demons, too, know Jesus and know He is the Son of God. In one instance, we see Jesus cast out demons who loudly proclaimed Him as the Son of the Most High God (Mark 5:6-10). It is clear from the Bible that Satan and his demons believe that Jesus is the Son of God, however their belief is that of acknowledgement and not one of trust. This shows us that mere intellectual acknowledgement will not save us.
Knowing of Jesus will not save us, we must know Jesus. It is not enough to just to acknowledge Jesus, we must trust in Him:
In that day they will say,
"Surely this is our God;
we trusted in him, and he saved us.
This is the LORD , we trusted in him;
let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation." -- Isaiah 28:9
14 "Because he loves me," says the LORD , "I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life will I satisfy him
and show him my salvation." -- Psalm 91:14-16
We also must put our faith in Him. The Bible defines faith as "being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see" (Hebrews 11:1). We are sure of what Jesus has done for us, and certain that our salvation rests in Him.
Acknowledgement, trust, and faith. We all must acknowledge Jesus. In fact, the day is coming where "every knee will bow before [Him]; every tongue will confess to God" (Romans 14:11). However, in order to be heirs according to the promise we must put our complete faith and trust in Jesus. Only by surrendering ourselves to Him, trusting in what He did can we be saved.
There is a song by a contemporary Christian group, Casting Crowns, entitled "Who Am I". The chorus goes like this: Not because of who I am/But because of what You've done/Not because of what I've done/But because of who You Are. This song echoes Ephesians 2:8-10: "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Jesus Christ has paid our penalty for sin. With His death, burial and resurrection, our bill is stamped "Paid In Full." All we need to do is trust in what He did. Not just acknowledge Him, but put our complete faith and trust in Him.
The gift of salvation is a free one. However, while we cannot do anything to earn that gift, there is a responsibility we bear once we receive it. We need to do the works that God has called us to to. It is almost like a fireman who fails to respond to a fire. A fireman has a responsibilty towards people and if a fireman is negligent then people die. In that same way, if we are negligent in our responsibility, people will die. Their death will not be a mere physical death; it will be a spiritual, total and eternal death. The mystery of Christ has now been revealed to us, and we should not keep that revelation to ourselves. No, as recipients of that gift, we have the responsibility to "spread the wealth" if you will. We need to share the mystery, the Gospel message with others.
This past Christmas, my kids were very excited about the gifts they received. They told everyone they met every detail about every package. We need to have that same excitement. God has given us a wondrous gift, eternal life! The Mystery of Christ has been revealed, and like kids on Christmas we need to get excited and tell everyone we meet evey detail about it!
CONCLUSION:
Not because of who I am/But because of what You've done/Not because of what I've done/But because of who You Are. Writing them here just does not do the song justice. Ironically enough, as I am ending this article that very song is ending on my Windows Media Player. The song ends with "I am Yours" repeating into infinity. And in deed we are His. We belong to the Most High God. And this is because of His grace, not our self-worth. We are save not because of who we are or what we do, but because God loved us so much that He sent His Only Son down to earth to become a man and die in our place. That is the good news of salvation, the mystery of the gospel. When times reach their fulfillment, we will be rewarded with eternal life. As co-heirs with Christ, we will be separated from those who have rejected God. The day is coming where all of God's people will be united under Christ. God will separate the "sheep and the goats", and those who have accepted His grace will live with Him, while those who have rejected Him will be thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:15). We can keep people from the lake of fire and we should! When I was little I used to wish it could be Christmas year round. Well, we can give the best gift every all year! As a matter of fact, we have a responsibility to do so. As Christians, blessed with this wondrous gift, it is our responsibility to save as many souls as we can until the time of fulfillment arrives. The day when the mystery of Christ is fully accomplished.
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