The Great Mystery

“By revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel.” Eph. 3:3-6.

We can read in Eph. 2:12-18 about the knowledge that Paul had. The Gentiles were without Christ, having no hope and without God in the world. “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.”

It says here that Jesus abolished in His flesh the law of commandments contained in ordinances. It is really a great mystery that He could do that in His flesh. The law with its commandments and ordinances was given because of the flesh. It enabled the Jews to restrain themselves from indulging their lusts too much, and through the law they could punish sin when it came out of the body. Therefore the Jews had a high moral standard, as opposed to the Gentiles, who had no restraints. The law was a wall of separation that kept the Jews within limits; it was also a matter of honor for them not even to eat together with the Gentiles. For this reason there was enmity between them.

Jesus broke down this wall and this enmity through the cross. Most people think in terms of Calvary, but that was merely the end of the story. What is meant here is the cross that Jesus said we must take up in order to follow Him. It is that cross which is also mentioned in Gal. 5:24: “And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” These passions and desires are put to death by that death which is called “the dying of the Lord Jesus.” When the passions and desires are put to death, the law becomes superfluous; it is abolished. Because there is the same flesh in both Jews and Gentiles, He carried them both up to the cross. There the enmity was put to death and the two became one new man, and both have access to God in one Spirit, “where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.” Col. 3:11.

The Gentiles were afar off, but through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is preached, “and by him every one who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.” Acts 13:39 (RSV). They were brought near by the blood of Jesus. The Jews, of course, were already near, but then we can ask: What was it they had come near to? They had come near to being freed from all those things from which they could not be freed under the law. And what was that? It was the lusts in the flesh. It is these lusts that cause unrest and division to this very day. Unrest comes from the lusts which war in our members. (See James 4:1-6.) Those who do not understand this mystery that Paul writes about can never be one body, or “one new man.” If we read Col. 3:11-15, we see that this is possible. Paul worked with them and showed them the way so that the peace of Christ could rule in their hearts in one body and they could be thankful.

Millions of people believe in forgiveness for the sin that comes out of the body, but they do not believe in victory over sin in the body. This great mystery, that Jesus raised up the temple—the body—the temple of the Holy Spirit, is not believed or understood by them at all. Israel is a pattern here of the unbelief of the religious world.