God himself named this dispensation. He called a special man to reveal it, Paul. It is called the "dispensation of the grace of God."
It reveals "the mystery of Christ" which is the theme of the epistle. It was written in 60 AD, 30 years after Jesus died for our sins and rose again from the dead. Much history had passed at that time and an explanation of the events were needed. The epistles are the explanation of the Acts. Paul wrote to gentiles audiences because for the first time in history he is revealing through his letters his eternal intentions of making a way of being renewed to his image by being renewed to the image of Christ, which is what happens to the believer who trusts in his sacrifice and believes God will save him for Jesus' sake. This is what it means to be "IN CHRIST." We "put on Christ. When God sees us after conversion he sees the attributes of Jesus Christ. What a wonderful truth! This is the grace of God. It could not have happened until Jesus died for us and cleansed us from our sins. Now we are in Christ and Christ is in us in the person of his Holy Spirit.
For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,
2 If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me, (Paul) to you-ward (gentiles-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;
6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
7 Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.
8 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;
9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: (the fellowship is Jews and gentiles in one body together)
10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
11 According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
12 In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.
The church of Jesus Christ, which is his body, was not an after thought of God. But it was something NEW to men in the counsel of God that was not revealed in the OT. Those of you who are finding a revelation of the church in passages like Mt 24 have totally missed the point. Paul was not saved until AD 37/38. Though the church was not revealed in the OT it's presence was hidden there in the types and figures, the stories and events and we are completely dependent on knowing those things and believing the words literally first before we can mine the spiritual because 1 Cor 2 says they must be revealed to a man with a spiritual mind and it is impossible to understand them without the indwelling Spirit to teach you.
The principalities and powers in heavenly places, who were in the OT times and were aware of all God did, obviously were able to put those things together when they observed the formation of the church with both gentiles and Jews who would believe God and come to him through faith in Jesus Christ.
If you do not believe the words of the Bible which are the words of God you cannot be saved. If your human reasoning and academic credentials is all you have you will miss out on the wisdom of God and you will not see any of these things. This is not to downplay human reasoning and academic credentials but one shouldn't trust is that alone.
Grace - Gentiles - joined at the hip, so to speak. Understanding the NT church is dependent on the OT types and figures. Understanding Israel in the NT is dependent upon believing what God said about her destiny in the OT.
It reveals "the mystery of Christ" which is the theme of the epistle. It was written in 60 AD, 30 years after Jesus died for our sins and rose again from the dead. Much history had passed at that time and an explanation of the events were needed. The epistles are the explanation of the Acts. Paul wrote to gentiles audiences because for the first time in history he is revealing through his letters his eternal intentions of making a way of being renewed to his image by being renewed to the image of Christ, which is what happens to the believer who trusts in his sacrifice and believes God will save him for Jesus' sake. This is what it means to be "IN CHRIST." We "put on Christ. When God sees us after conversion he sees the attributes of Jesus Christ. What a wonderful truth! This is the grace of God. It could not have happened until Jesus died for us and cleansed us from our sins. Now we are in Christ and Christ is in us in the person of his Holy Spirit.
For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,
2 If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me, (Paul) to you-ward (gentiles-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;
6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
7 Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.
8 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;
9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: (the fellowship is Jews and gentiles in one body together)
10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
11 According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
12 In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.
The church of Jesus Christ, which is his body, was not an after thought of God. But it was something NEW to men in the counsel of God that was not revealed in the OT. Those of you who are finding a revelation of the church in passages like Mt 24 have totally missed the point. Paul was not saved until AD 37/38. Though the church was not revealed in the OT it's presence was hidden there in the types and figures, the stories and events and we are completely dependent on knowing those things and believing the words literally first before we can mine the spiritual because 1 Cor 2 says they must be revealed to a man with a spiritual mind and it is impossible to understand them without the indwelling Spirit to teach you.
The principalities and powers in heavenly places, who were in the OT times and were aware of all God did, obviously were able to put those things together when they observed the formation of the church with both gentiles and Jews who would believe God and come to him through faith in Jesus Christ.
If you do not believe the words of the Bible which are the words of God you cannot be saved. If your human reasoning and academic credentials is all you have you will miss out on the wisdom of God and you will not see any of these things. This is not to downplay human reasoning and academic credentials but one shouldn't trust is that alone.
Grace - Gentiles - joined at the hip, so to speak. Understanding the NT church is dependent on the OT types and figures. Understanding Israel in the NT is dependent upon believing what God said about her destiny in the OT.
