Part 1 – The Riches of the Glory of this Mystery

This Article is part of a multi-part Study Series called The “Mystery” and Its Glorious Riches.

“Whereof I [Paul] am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil [Gk. pleroo, complete] the word of God; 26 Even [That is] the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: 27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:” (Col. 1:25-27 (KJV)

The “you” of “Christ in you in Col. 1:27 of the KJV is plural meaning “Christ in… the multi-membered body of Christ.” The KJV otherwise would say “Christ in thee (singular)if it was referring to Christ in the individual. It is also obvious that Christ must be in us as individuals in order to be in “His body.”

Paul did “complete” (v25) “the word of God” in that his thirteen epistles disclose the formerly hidden, unknown truth of God’s secret plan called “the mystery” which from the Greek is “musterion,” meaning a “God ordained and God-kept secret plan.” The secret plan and purpose of God was first revealed to Paul for the Gentile “body of Christ” in establishing the dispensation of the grace of God” (Eph. 3:2).

How can I say Paul completed the Bible? Yes, John an Apostle to Israel (Matt 10:5-6) completed the Bible’s 66 book cannon with “The Revelation of Jesus Christ.” Paul completed the Bible with his thirteen epistles whereby He introduces totally unheard of, new, information found nowhere else in Scripture, establishing a new agency called “the body of Christ,” which is destined for heaven. The Lord had new special information to reveal to mankind, and He chose Paul to be the vessel through whose writings those truths would be brought to all people in this age of “the grace of God.”

Paul was given to explain the Glorious Riches of “the Mystery,” which Christ from heaven revealed to Paul for us today. The truths of the revealed “Mystery of Christ” affects how that we are totally blessed (Eph. 1:13) at the moment of faith unto salvation, and then endowed with His resurrection life, thus enabling us to live by Christ life as our new life.

This paper concerns the relationship between Paul’s “the revelation of the Mystery (Rom. 16:25) of Christ in you and “What Is the Riches of the Glory of this Mystery(Col. 1:27).

The mystery” which hath been hid from ages and from generations includes distinctive, key, new doctrinal details of God’s heretofore secret program. The ascended Lord Jesus Christ first revealed this truth to the Apostle Paul… for “all men” (Rom. 5:18b) of this age of the pure “grace of God.” This pure grace truth establishes believers with that which they can “stand” upon as a sure foundation.

These revealed truths constitute the grace program’ the Lord reveals to us by the Holy Spirit inspired Words that we read in Paul’s thirteen epistles. Our “hope” (our ‘expectation’) (Col. 1:27) is of the indwelling Christ’s Life being Expressed through us as believers who now have Paul’s ‘revelation knowledge.’

We thus Trust in the now revealed Doctrinal Truths that make up the many detailed RICHES of the Glory of This Mysteryfound in Paul’s epistles. I’ve listed Eighteen of the specific riches of the glory of this mystery” as you will see later in this study.

Jesus Christ in His celestial ministry from heaven saved Paul and made him the special Apostle who would fulfil (v25, Greek, pleroo, bring to completion) the [written] Word of God.” Paul in his epistles introduces and explains the details of a new program of God’s pure grace… for the Gentiles. It is called “the gospel of the grace of God.”

Whereas the non-Pauline Bible books mainly pertain to Israel as Prophecy (seen in the Old Testament) or Fulfilment of Prophecy (concerning Israel’s journey and ultimate destiny), which is different from the calling and ultimate destiny of the members of “the church, the body of Christ.”

We today are now able to understand God’s eternal plan and purpose through Paul’s revelation knowledge of the mystery that can now be readand understood(v4), so the mystery is no longer a “mystery (secret)” to us.

“… I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, 2the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me [Paul] to you-ward [the Ephesians]: 3How that By Revelation he [the Lord Jesus] made known unto me (Paul) The Mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, 4Whereby, when ye READ, Ye May UNDERSTAND my KNOWLEDGE in the Mystery of Christ) 5Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is NOW REVEALED unto his holy apostles and prophets (preachers) by the Spirit,” (Eph. 3:1-5).

Jesus Christ’s “Spirit of life” indwells every believer’s “spirit of man” (1Cor. 2:11), making them one with His Spirit (1Cor. 6:17). This is not so mysterious since Paul revealed this truth multiple times. Paul refers to Christ and the Godhead indwelling the believer’ over and over.

“But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell In You. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. 10 And if Christ be In You, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life (Gk. Zoë, God’s Spirit-life) because of (Christ’s) righteousness.”  (Romans 8:9-10)

Back to our text, Col. 1:25-27 concerns “the Riches of the Glory of this mystery” (v27 below) as defined in Paul’s epistles. The “mystery” is to be understood in light of the context of the verses preceding v27, and in the context of Paul’s epistles. “Christ in you” has nothing to do with something mysterious or hard to understand. It is mysterious if we do not note the dispensational program change that Paul was given to introduce… from Israel and its being “under the law to “the body of Christ” and it being “under Grace(Rom. 6:14). Being under Grace versus the Law is a primary item of the riches we enjoy.

25 Whereof I (Paul) am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil (pleroo, complete) the word of God; 26 Even the MYSTERY which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: 27To whom God would make known what is the Riches [detailed blessings] of the GLORY (expression) of this MYSTERY among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you [in all the members of “the body of Christ”], the hope of glory (hope of His life being expressed): (Col. 1:25-27)

Some say the salvation of the Gentiles was “the mystery.” But Scripture doesn’t bear this out. Under Israel’s prophetic program, according to the Old Testament, Gentiles were to ultimately be saved through the nation Israel in her co-reign with Christ (Rev 5:10, 20:6) in the coming earthly kingdom (cf. Gen. 12:1-3; Isa. 2:1-5; 60:1-3; 61:6; Mic. 4:1-3; Zech. 8:20-23). So, the mystery is more than Gentiles being saved. In fact, Paul quotes several Old Testament verses in Rom. 15:10-12 that demonstrate God would later save Gentiles in relation to redeemed Israel.