The Fellowship of the Mystery Was Revealed to Paul First
A Bible Study on the Unique Revelation of the Apostle Paul
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Introduction
Few truths in Scripture are more neglected, misunderstood, or resisted than the revelation of the fellowship of the mystery (Ephesians 3:9). Most of Christendom teaches that the church began in Acts 2, that Peter and Paul preached the same gospel, and that the Body of Christ is simply a continuation of Israel’s promises. Yet the King James Bible, when rightly divided, reveals something very different. God did not reveal the mystery to the prophets, to the twelve apostles, or to Israel’s leaders. He revealed it first to Paul, the apostle of the Gentiles. Through Paul alone, God made known a new dispensation, a body of truth kept secret since the world began, centered in Christ’s finished crosswork and the creation of the one new man, the Body of Christ.
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What the Mystery Is
The word mystery in Scripture does not mean something mystical or impossible to understand. It means a secret, a truth that had been hidden in God until the proper time for it to be revealed. Ephesians 3 verses 3 through 5 defines it clearly. “How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery… 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 mystery is not prophecy. It was hidden from the prophets of Israel. Romans 16 verse 25 confirms this truth. “Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began.”
This mystery concerns God forming a new creature, not Israel and not Gentiles separately, but both reconciled into one Body by the cross. Ephesians 3 verse 6 explains, “That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel.” This truth was never revealed to Israel’s prophets. They saw Gentile blessing coming through Israel’s rise, not through her fall. The mystery revealed to Paul shows that through Israel’s fall salvation is now going to the Gentiles apart from covenant, law, or national distinction. Romans 11 verse 11 and Romans 15 verse 16 both declare this change in God’s dealings.
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The Fellowship of the Mystery
Ephesians 3 verse 9 uses the phrase “fellowship of the mystery.” This phrase describes the shared participation of all believers in this new organism, the Body of Christ. Both Jew and Gentile are made one new man in Christ through grace alone. Before Paul, God’s dealings were exclusively with a chosen nation and a promised kingdom. Through Paul, He is now calling out a heavenly people who are seated in Christ in heavenly places, Ephesians 2 verse 6. This fellowship is spiritual, not earthly. It is based upon faith in the finished work of the cross, not upon covenants, ceremonies, or the law.
The fellowship of the mystery reveals the unity, equality, and spiritual position of every member of the Body of Christ. There is one Body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father of all, Ephesians 4 verses 4 through 6. This fellowship does not depend on Israel’s priesthood or prophetic promises. It depends solely on the revelation given to Paul, the steward of this dispensation of grace.
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Revealed to Paul First
Paul was the first man to receive this revelation directly from the risen, glorified Christ. He writes, “For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ” (Galatians 1 verse 12). Christ did not reveal the mystery during His earthly ministry because it was still hidden in God. Peter and the twelve preached the gospel of the kingdom to Israel. Paul was sent with a different message, the gospel of the grace of God, Acts 20 verse 24. The Lord told him, “I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles” (Acts 22 verse 21).
Paul refers to this revelation as “my gospel” in Romans 2 verse 16 and again in Romans 16 verse 25. It was new information, not previously known. Ephesians 3 verse 8 declares, “Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.” The word unsearchable means they cannot be traced through prophecy. They were never spoken of before.
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Conclusion
The fellowship of the mystery was first revealed to Paul, not to the prophets, not to Peter, and not to Israel. Through Paul, God made known the secret of His eternal purpose, that Christ would create a new Body made up of Jew and Gentile alike, reconciled unto God in one Spirit. This fellowship is heavenly, not earthly, and is sustained by grace, not by law. Every believer saved by the gospel of grace today is part of this fellowship. To ignore or reject it is to miss the very revelation that defines what God is doing in this present dispensation.
To be saved and part of this fellowship you must believe the gospel given to Paul. Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15 verses 3 and 4). The moment you trust that finished work, you are placed into the Body of Christ and made a full participant in the fellowship of the mystery that was revealed first to the apostle Paul.