Many Christians do not understand the uniqueness of the Church of Grace. This church and the fullness of the administration in which it exists was kept secret since the world began. This age of the Christian church was singled out by God to be called the administration of grace.
Without the knowledge of the mystery and an understanding of Biblical administrations you cannot rightly divide God's word.
In past administrations, if one worked on the Sabbath day he was put to death. In the administration of grace you can work on the Sabbath without any reprisals. However, it still is a good idea to take a day off each week to rest and spend extra time with the Lord and the believers.
In the book of Romans, chapter 16 God begins to introduce to the apostle Paul by revelation this knowledge.
Romans 16:24-26 24The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. 25Now 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, 26But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:
What prophets is the verse referring to? The New Testament prophets. Verse 25 said according to the gospel of Jesus Christ right? No it didn't. It said according to my gospel. The gospel that Paul was entrusted with was the gospel of the Mystery.
God throughout history has changed the way he deals with mankind and marked these changes in the bible. The scripture calls these designated periods of time administrations or dispensations.
On the day of Pentecost God once again changed the way he administers to mankind.
Ephesians 3:1 1For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, 2If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:
The word rendered dispensation in verse 2 comes from the Greek word oikonomia. According to Strong's Concordanne, it means 1) the management of a household or of household affairs 1b) the office of a manager or overseer, stewardship 1c) administration, dispensation.
Paul was given the revelation of the mystery and charged by Jesus Christ and the Father to make sure the church understood and managed this knowledge.
The church… (specifically the leadership in the church) was charged to guard this knowledge so it could be passed on to the next generation in its pure form.
KJV 1 Timothy 3:1 This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.
Here Paul is talking to Timothy a leader in the church regarding the proper order and qualifications of choosing faithful leaders.
1 Timothy 3:8-9 8Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre; 9Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.
This word holding in the Greek means to hold, keep safe, or preserve. It is also used in reference to the covenant a man and woman make when they exchange marriage vows.
With regard to the aforementioned consider this verse.
Mark 10:9 What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
When a leader is charged to guard the mystery in a pure conscience he should let no man distort or destroy what God has delivered to the church.
The word pure, means to be free from everything that is false and dishonest; to be genuine, free from corruption.
1 Corinthians 2:7-10 7But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: 8Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 10But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
If God went through the trouble to hide this administration of grace and keep it a secret since the world began, would you agree that this mystery must be extremely important to him? For thousands of years he guarded this information and told no one.
1 Peter 1:10-12 10Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: 11Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. 12Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.
You see, the leadership of the Christian church did not place the same value on the mystery as God did.
Can you imagine God going through all the trouble to plan this thing out and wait patiently for thousands of years for just the right time in history to manifest this revelation? And then entrusting this knowledge to the leadership of the church and charging them to guard, to keep, to hold on to it like you would honor your covenant relationship of marriage? And hardly anyone sees how enormous and essential this mystery really is.
So what exactly is this mystery?
Ephesians 3:2-6 2If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: 3 How that by revelation he made known unto me 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 by the Spirit; 6That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
This mystery came with the change of administrations on the day of Pentecost. In the Old Testament God dealt with Jew and Gentile separately and distinctly. With the first coming of Jesus Christ and his accomplished work at Calvary shortly after his ascension Pentecost came.
However, this Pentecost was different from every other Pentecost in history. This Pentecost was the start of a new administration out with the old in with the new. From here till the end of the grace administration God does not deal with Jew and Gentile within the church. All are in Christ. This had never happened before. If a Gentile wanted to be part of the Jewish belief he would have to convert. With the giving of the gift of holy spirit on Pentecost this was no longer the case. Now all are one in Christ there is no difference. The Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
Once this administration ends, God will go back to dealing with Jew and Gentile separately once again as shown in the Book of Revelation.
Colossians 1:26-27 26Even 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 of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
Verse 27 tells us the riches of this mystery.
Ephesians 3:7-10 7Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.8Unto 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; 9And 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: 10To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
God chose us, the church, you and me, to make known His manifold wisdom. We have a tremendous responsibility. God has given to us His manifold wisdom to display to all.
In no other administration has God said that He would display His wisdom through people. God never says that Israel made know His wisdom. God has reserved this special grace and blessing for the church. We are in a very unique position in history and we owe it to our loving heavenly father to walk in the fullness of the spirit he has given us.