The Mystery?
All of us need to understand the mystery that the scriptures talk about and to know why it is important to us as believers in Jesus Christ. This is what Paul said;
Romans 11:25 (KJV) For I would not, brethren, that ye should beignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
He is telling us that we should not be ignorant of the Mystery. Some Churches today will tell you that no one can know the Mysteries of God. I am sure they never looked for it or studied the Bible. It is clear as a window pane. If you study and ask for God to help you understand; He will!
It’s kind of funny what Paul is saying in this scripture; you should not be ignorant of the mystery; why because we may be wise in our own conceits. Tough words for us to swallow, we need to read and take heed; because it will change our lives if we understand the Mystery. What we need to do is study and study; remember this verse;
2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV) 15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
The words rightly dividing mean to separate not understanding. So he is telling us to separate theword of truth. This is why I have been bringing this up so often. God has different missions during history that he has planned in order to reach the people he created; these are called dispensations. We live in the “Dispensation of Grace”.
When the Jewish Nation was trained for hundred's of years to expect the messiah and then he comes on the scene; what do you do, after the Jews accepted Jesus as the Messiah then they were to go to the world; they would lead the great commission and bring salvation to the Gentiles with only the message of the cross not the Law. Why would you bring the message of the Law when the Law was fulfilled in Jesus. You then would bring the massage of the cross. We must understand the revelation that Jesus gave Paul for us. Listen to what Paul said;
Ephesians 3:1-6 (KJV) 1 For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, 2 If ye have heard of the dispensation of thegrace of God which is given me to you-ward: 3 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, 4 Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) 5 Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;
The nation of Israel lived in the Dispensation of the Law. That required them to followl the Law that was given to Moses and then taught to the Children of Israel for them to follow. What was the bases of the Law; the coming Messiah. So when the Messiah then the the age of the Law ended. We are not living in the same period. Here are the 7 Dispensations or the Age; for more detail go here.
1. The Age of Innocence, from the creation of Adam and Eve until they fell into sin. (One Race)
2. The Age of Conscience, from the fall into sin to Noah's flood. (Race destroyed, except for Noah and family)
3. The Age of Human Government, from Noah to Abraham. (One Race)
4. The Age of Promise, from Abraham to Moses. (Jews and Gentiles)
5. The Age of Law, from Moses to Christ. (Jews and Gentiles)
6. The Age of Grace, from the death of Christ to the rapture of the Church. (Body of Christ)
7. The Age of Christ, His personal 1000 year reign, yet future. (Unbelievers both Jews and Gentiles)
Another important part of Romans 11:25 is the section that says that blindness has come upon Israel. Why would God blind Israel? This was spoken by the Prophet Esaias (Isaiah). This is considered the reason that started the change in dispensations from the Jews to the Gentiles. After the rapture God's plan is to go back to the Jewish Nation with the final dispensation The age of Christ.
Acts 28:25-29 (KJV) 25 And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias (Isaiah) the prophet unto our fathers, 26 Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: 27 For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. 28 Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it. 29 And when he had said these words, the Jews departed, and had great reasoning among themselves.
You can see that Israel was waxed gross and dull of hearing and their eyes closed. Maybe they had already blinded themselves by their own conceit. They read the scripture every day and in Chapter 53 of Isaiah which was the most read; but they still did not hear or see. Rightly dividing means to rightly divide the way God would talk to us today; not through the Law but by His Spirit. Now here Paul is telling us that he was given the dispensation of Grace for us. We are in the Dispensation of Grace now. Let’s look more into what Paul said:
Ephesians 3:2 (NKJV) 2 if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you,
Since Paul is our teacher because Jesus gave him revelation about the new program after Jesus rose from the grave. His message is for us today. The Dispensation of the Law was given by God for the Jewish Nation. Abraham was chosen to start a new nation dedicated to God because the human race had turned from God and no one was listening. Act 28: 25-29}
Now let’s look at how we can join the “Body of Christ”, during the Dispensation of Grace. The following verse says by one spirit; the Holy Spirit. We are many members but one body. We are baptized into the Body of Christ not by water baptism but baptism by the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 12:12-14 (KJV) 12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. 14 For the body is not one member, but many.
We must realize that we become part of the Body of Christ when we are filled with the Holy Spirit and from the time forward we are not called Jews or Gentiles anymore. Why, because God has started a new dispensation. In the next few weeks we will look at what makes up the new dispensation, “The Body of Christ”, and why Paul was given the Mystery.
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