Paul’s mission to the Gentiles is costly. He begins Ephesians with an incomplete sentence (NIV), but one that explains his predicament:

For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles

This is not someone making a theoretical argument. It’s not a social media warrior tweeting from their armchair with a mug of Horlicks. This is someone who is suffering on account of his faith. He has been imprisoned by the Romans as a result of what John Stott described as “fanatical Jewish opposition to his mission to the Gentiles”. His belief expressed in this chapter and elsewhere was costly to him.

This is a small business owner who could be happily making tents for a profit in Turkey, but is instead writing letters while in jail – because hes’ on a mission from God.

Its legacy is still felt 2,000 years later and has helped propel Christianity in the direction of three billion followers.

In Ephesians 3, Paul continues his discussion of how God has extended his offer of grace to all peoples. He writes (NIV):

Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus. 

Paul refers to a mystery. The CSB Study Bible explains a mystery as “something that once was hidden or secret and now God has been revealed. The mystery revealed is that God determined through the person and work of Christ to incorporate the Gentiles into one body of the church as equal partners with Israel.”

In hindsight, of course, we can see from the Old Testament as God’s plan all along to bring in the Gentiles.

For example, in Genesis 12:3 we have God telling Abraham that “and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you”. We see God’s desire to be followed even by Israel’s enemies in Jonah.

But when it actually transpired that Gentiles first were seen to be filled with the Holy Spirit, Acts 10 reports that the circumcised believers were “astonished”.

Picture: Fresco in the Vatican Cappella Paolina by Michelangelo, 1542-45. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license