Stuidies in Colossians #15

C. The Preeminent Work of Christ in the Gospel of the Mystery (1:24-29)

Continued

The Commission of Paul and the Mystery (1:25-27).

Paul had become a servant of our Lord to preach the gospel of the mystery. Note the following structure of these verses:

            Description—“I became a minister”

Means—“according to the stewardship (dispensation—KJV) from God bestowed on me on your behalf”

Purpose—“that I might fully carry out the [preaching of] the word of God. The KJV translation is better: “to fulfill the word of God” 

Explanation—“[Even] the mystery which hath been hidden from ages and from generation, but now is made manifest to his saints to whom God willed to make know what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

The description opens with relative pronoun “I have become its servant” (1:25; Greek literal reading). As such it refers back to the word church (1:24). This is the only time Paul directly refers to himself as a minister to the church, the body of Christ (contrast this with 2 Cor. 3:6; 6:4; 11:15). He normally refers to himself as a minister of the gospel (Rom. 1:1; Eph. 3:7), especially the gospel of grace (20:24). Paul is the apostle of grace with the message of grace for the age of grace. The word ministry is the Greek word diakonos, meaning one who renders service (cf. 1:23).

The means is “stewardship from God bestowed on me on your on your behalf.”  The phrase starts with preposition kata (according to, or by) which indicates the standard, and can signify either cause or means.[1] Translators are mixed on which it should be, but means seem the most natural. The means is the stewardship (oikonomia), which many take it to mean an office as in the Luke 16:2-4 the idea of manager, or a divine office. I agree with Carson that the translation of an office as doubtful.[2] The parallel to this text is Ephesians 3:2, which has the more dynamic meaning of stewardship or dispensation, speaking of the activity of administering or dispensing.[3]  Paul was given a divine function and activity to dispense the grace of God to the Gentiles. Eadie comments: “In the Divine arrangement of the spiritual house, the apostle held a function which had special reference to the members of the Gentile churches.”[4] It has been observed that “Paul continues his self-portrayal by locating himself with the wider plan of God”[5]

The emphasis on this text is on the bestowing of this dispensation on Paul by God. The mystery dispensation is equated to the dispensation of God’s grace (Eph. 3:2). Paul did not choose this ministry; rather it was given to him. It is equivalent to the gift of God’s grace in Eph. 3:7. It was the purpose of the redemptive call (cf. Acts 9:15-16). Paul says it was “from God bestowed on me.” This marks the source of gift or responsibility given to Paul. This was in accord with the dispensation or stewardship of God that had been given to Paul. It was in accord to his commission of grace given to Him by Christ (Rom. 12:3; 15:15; 1 Cor. 3:10; Gal. 2:9). He affirms that this dispensation was entrusted to him (1 Corinthians 9:17). It was entrusted to him for our benefit. God had given Paul this stewardship of dispensation for their benefit. This dispensation is a new way in which the Lord relates to His people—one of grace instead of law.

The purpose is “so I might fully carry out the [preaching of] the word of God” (1:25). The Majority Greek Text reads “to fulfill the word of God” which is more in line with the KJV, which is a better translation of the phrase. The word fulfill (plnrosai) means to bring to completion or to make full. This is a unique responsible that was given to Paul. The phrase has two possible interpretations:

·         The dispensation mentioned here is the Word given to Paul concerning the mystery of the Church, and to make it fully known, thus to make all men see the truth of the mystery (Eph. 3:9).

·         The dispensation is to provide the revelation that completes the truth or the Word of God. It is a new revelation that is unique to this truth of the Word and completes the full revelation of God. It is the last and new piece of revelation that is unique to this dispensation of grace.

Campbell notes that “Regardless of which emphasis we give this passage, the dispensation of God, the Divine arrangement of the Church, is the last program and purpose God has disclosed to men....”[6]

Unless one misunderstands, Paul goes on to explain: “[that is], the mystery which has been hidden from the [past] ages and generation, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches what of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (1:26-27). The phrase “the Word of God” is in apposition to “the mystery.” The two equate to one another. The Word is the Mystery; the Mystery is the Word of God. The hidden mystery further defines the Word of God. As such it explains the content of the Word which is to be fulfilled or completed. This is seen in this passage by the following:

·         We are explicitly told that this mystery had been hidden from past ages and generations. That the mystery was hidden until God revealed it through the ministry of Paul is reinforced in Romans 16:25; 1 Corinthians. 2:7-9; Ephesians 3:5, 9.

·         “But has now been manifested to His saints” (1:26) is a point of contrast to its being hidden. It is a past/present contrast. This speaks of the whole sweep of past human history.[7] Some wrongly see this as the entire messianic era brought in by the death and resurrection, and actualized in the gospel as the mystery.[8] However, there was no mystery to the death, resurrection, and gospel. These were known by the prophetic word of the Old Testament. It is no mystery. Nor is the mystery simply salvation of the Gentiles. The mystery is not that Gentiles would be saved, but they could be “fellow-heirs” (Eph. 3:6) because the middle wall of partition is no more (Eph. 1:12-14). There is now no difference between Jew and Gentile (Rom. 10:12), for all are sinners (Rom. 3:22-23). Of course, it is now an open secret, being now manifested to the saints. The word manifest is the Greek word phaneroo, which mean to bring to light, to make known, disclose, or to reveal.

This was disclosed to the saints by the message and ministry of the Apostle Paul (Eph. 3:1-11). To “whom” (1:27), refers back to the Apostles. It also indicates that he was the chosen vessel to reveal the message. He was through whom “God willed to make known” the mystery. God’s will here speaks of the exercise of his positive determination to bring about an item or truth. It is His sovereign will to do so. It speaks of His prior decision to disclose this truth to Paul. The words “to make known” refers directly back to the word “manifest” (1:26) in an affirming manner. His sovereign will was to use Paul to reveal the message of the mystery which directly affected the Gentiles apart from the nation of Israel. Israel was no longer the primary conveyor of the message of salvation during this time (cf. Rom. 11:25). The riches of His glory is now that there is no distinction between Jew and Gentile, all can abound in the riches of Him that called them (cf. Rom. 10:12-13). The Gentiles are no longer strangers with no hope (cf. Eph. 2:12). In our text he refers to this as “the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles” (1:27). These riches are further defined by the phrase “which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (cf. Eph. 3:17). It speaks of the indwelling Christ in the Gentiles, not just Israel. They now have this hope of glory.  Baker observes:

The Body of Christ is a joint-body of Jews and Gentiles, but it is evident that the Gentile nations of the world far outnumber the small Jewish nation. Therefore, the Church is largely gentile and the Mystery is described as the mystery among the Gentiles.[9]

This section clearly shows that Paul suffered for the mystery, served the church according to the mystery, and revealed the mystery to the church.

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[1]  Harris, EGTTGNT: COLOSSIANS AND PHILEMON, 61.

[2]  Moo, PNTC, COLOSSIANS & PHILEMON, 154.

[3]  Hoehner Harold W., EPHESIANS: AN EXEGETICAL COMMENTARY, [Grand Rapids MI, Baker, 2002], 422.

[4]  Eadie, COLOSSIANS, 93.

[5]  Poa, ZECNT: COLOSSIANS, 127.

[6]  Campbell, COLOSSIANS, 71.

[7]  Dunn, NIGTC: COLOSSIAN AND PHILEMON, 121.

[8]  PAO``, ZECNT: COLOSSIANS, 129.

[9]  Baker, UNDERSTANDING THE BODY OF CHRIST, 127.