By His Grace Home Page
Created, Corrected or Updated 05/16/12
All references are KJV unless otherwise stated
This Study Has 5 Pages
Paul
tells the Corinthians:
1Corinthians
4:1-2
v1. Let a man so account of us as of the ministers of Christ, and
stewards, of the mysteries of God.
v2. Moreover it is required in stewards,
that a man be found faithful.
First I would like to show you Paul's basics Gospel: Romans 16:25, Paul tells us that his gospel is the preaching of Jesus
Christ according to the revelation of the mystery. It is also called the gospel of the grace of God.
And Paul calls it my gospel.
Romans 16:25-26. Now unto Him that is of power to establish 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,
v26. But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandments of the everlasting God,
made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:
Romans 16:25 tells us that the mystery or the secret was hid in God before the world began. The prophets did not know about
it, and the Lord Jesus did not mention it when He walked on earth; only Paul writes about the mystery. When we believe Paul's gospel we
are baptized into the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit without water, and we become stewards
of the church which is called His body. We must be faithful in proclaiming Paul's gospel
of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery.
It was a secret given to the apostle Paul alone for the Gentiles. In Romans 16:25 Paul calls this secret
My Gospel. Paul's Gospel in a nutshell is found in 1Corinthians 15:1-4, the mystery, is that which is
perfect.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery.
1Corinthians 15:1-4:
v1.
Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
v2.
By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
v3. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ
died for our sins according to the scriptures;
v4. And that
he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
Paul tells us this mystery was hid in God, therefore it was unsearchable in all of the other Scriptures. It was revealed to the apostle Paul by the Lord Jesus Christ
in heaven. Therefore if Paul's gospel is hid from you, you are lost.
The verse that started all my studies
1Corinthians 13:10. But when that which is perfect is come,
then that which is in part will be done away.
That which is perfect is the mystery that was hid in the mind of God before the world began! It has come!
That which is perfect is God's unsearchable secret, that He would save the Gentiles apart from
the nation Israel and that he would make of the Jew and the Gentile one new man in Himself. This secret gospel was
unsearchable in previous Scriptures until the Lord Jesus Christ's death burial and resurrection and ascension. Christ then revealed
the secret to the apostle Paul. That which is perfect is for all mankind! Again, it is the gospel of
Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery, and Paul calls it My Gospel.
How I Got Started Writing
Several years ago
, in one of those Sunday evening services; I hope
you can remember the time when we used to spend more than one hour a week
in church. The question was asked:
What did Paul mean when he said; when
that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away? What is that which is perfect?
And what is that which is in part? Like most of the others, my first
reaction was, that which is perfect has to be the Lord Jesus Christ, because
He alone is perfect. That which is in part then would be anything that was left unfinished.
I
check several different translations to see how often 1Corinthians 13:10 was rendered in this same manner.
Some versions say, the
perfect, and some use the
words that which is perfect and at least
one just says, when perfection comes. Actually when perfection comes, is a very good rendering of the verse.
Paul's gospel of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery is perfection, because it comes directly from the
risen and glorified Lord Jesus Christ in heaven. Earlier in my studies I did not use right division, therefore the
Scriptures seem to be very cloudy.
Study To Show
Another good question would be: Why did Paul tell Timothy to rightly divide the Word of Truth? Furthermore how do you divide the Word of Truth?
Where would one start?
For our salvation you will find, in every case right division is needed right up front. But, I was not rightly dividing the Word
of Truth causing confusion for myself, hindering my research. I began asking almost every preacher that I met; what is
that which is perfect? Some how I really expected them to know all the right answers. Then I realized that is not
the way Paul told Timothy to understand the Scriptures; he told Timothy to study to show
thyself approved unto God a workman that needs not to be ashamed. He did not say, ask all the priests or apostles you met. He said, you, study to show yourself,
approved unto God a workman that needs not to be ashamed.
Now back to my question for the preachers, sadly I found each
of their answers was just a little different, but clearly missed the point; but then again right division was missing here. Actually the
last suggestion I got was, it will be when we receive our resurrection or glorified
bodies, truly that will be perfect, but again that is not what the apostle
Paul was talking about. I know this because, that which is perfect has
already come, therefore that which is in part was done away with at that time. 1Corinthians 13:10 declares,
when that which is perfect is come then that which is in part shall be done away. That which
is perfect came first, then in Acts 28:28 that which is in part was done away with. All of the sign gifts are gone.
In 1Corinthians 13:8: you will find
three things that will fail,cease and vanish away, when that which is perfect is come.
Please note these three things are gone. But, Christ has not returned and we do not have
our resurrection or glorified bodies. Therefore, neither Christ's return, nor our resurrection or glorified
bodies are that which is
perfect that Paul spoke of.
1Corinthians 13:8
v8. Charity never faileth: but whether there be
prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall
cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
Actually neither Jew nor Gentile can
know the Lord Jesus Christ personally today, without first believing the gospel of the grace of God, 1Cor.15:1-4, instead of the law. Therefore
that which is perfect is the gospel of the grace of God,
that had been hid in the mind of God before the world began. Only the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that Paul preached is for
our salvation today. The importance of Paul's gospel, is found in (2Corinthians. 4:3-4). When Paul completed 2Timothy; the gospel of the grace of
God was complete;the Word of God was fulfilled. The mystery gospel is no longer a secret. That which is in part is no longer with us
and that which is perfect has fully come.
It is Paul's gospel of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery!
2Corinthians 4:3-4
v3. But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost;
v4. In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not,
lest the light of the glorious gospel of
Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
Several years after that Sunday evening Bible study the same preacher who asked
the question: "What did Paul mean when he said, when that which
is perfect is come?" He shared his answer with me, he had
been searching as well. He said, " that which is
perfect" is the mystery that had been hid in the mind
of God, not just hidden somewhere in the pages of the Scriptures. Christ revealed this secret to the apostle Paul for the church the body of Christ.
Therefore
it could not have been foretold by the prophets, nor could it be mentioned
in the four Gospels; the Lord Jesus never alluded to
the secret during His earthly ministry to the Jews only under the law.
That which is
perfect was revealed to the apostle Paul , by the risen and glorified
Lord Jesus Christ in heaven. The mystery
was God's perfect unsearchable secret, that He would save the Gentiles apart from the nation Israel and make of the two one
new man in Himself. That is what changed the way God would deal with mankind, it brought in a
new dispensation called the dispensation of the grace of God.
The Jews and the Gentiles
are now on the same level; both are completely apart from the law of Moses. The one new man brought about the creation
of the
one new church called the body of Christ. This new church is not part of Israel's Pentecostal church, it is completely new.
From the very start of this new church, God handed down
a new set of house rules for the dispensation of the grace of God.
Paul was charged with the dispensing of God's secret to both Jew and
Gentile alike.
The Scriptures tell us that: the apostle Paul laid the foundation for this
new church and that foundation is: the Lord Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery.
By inspiration the apostle Paul calls the mystery my
gospel that which is perfect).
No one before the apostle Paul could have known about this secret because it was hid in the mind of God. But now It is revealed to all and It belongs to us, till He comes.
I really hope this page has been of some help to you in some way it has helped me, I have enjoyed the
research and the verses have continue helping me a great deal also. This page is continued.
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