HIDDEN IN THE HEART OF GOD. Ephesians chapter 3; For this reason, I Paul the prisoner of the Lord Jesus Christ for you Gentiles. If indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God, which was given to me for you, how that by revelation, He made known to me the mystery. If you are a student of the Bible and you come across this passage of Scripture and it doesn't make you stop dead in your tracks and asked, what in the world is Paul talking about, maybe it's time you should. Why was it necessary for God to reveal a new dispensation? What event occurred on God's calendar of time, that brought about this change? Pay close attention to Paul's thought provoking statement: “If indeed you have heard”. The word “if” denotes possibility. A possibility that they might not have heard anything about the dispensation of grace. Which is the case within the body of Christ at this very moment. The vast majority of Christians are Bible illiterates, plain and simple. They don't study the Bible, because they think doctrine is too confusing, so they settle for emotional experiences and then there is the group that reads but when they come across passages that appears to contradict each other, rather than backing off and asking God for further illumination, they just spiritualize and we end up with more confusion. If indeed you have heard. If you have heard, why are you still preaching good works as a necessary requirement for salvation? Why are you water baptizing? Why are you telling others that if they are saved, then they should speak in tongues. Why are you observing Jewish laws and customs that were apart of the law of Moses. Do you not know that even when the law of Moses was in effect, it was never legally binding upon the Gentiles? Unless you became a proselyte and totally abandoned your Gentile heritage, became circumcised and obey Jewish laws and customs, only then you would be accepted by God. But with the temporary casting away of Israel, (Romans chapter 11) because of their unbelief and rejection of Christ as their Messiah, God raised up the Apostle Paul and used him as the vessel to usher in the present dispensation of grace. God has concluded both Jews and Gentiles in unbelief, that He might have Mercy on all. Also reconciling them both into one body through His Cross ✝ You can search the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation and you will not find anything about the mystery or the dispensation of grace. Why? Because we read in Ephesians chapter 3, that it was hidden in God, until the Lord Jesus gave it to Paul by direct revelation from Heaven. Whenever I hear people getting uptight about the Jews being God's chosen people and what about us? Who are we then? It is one of the clearest indicators that they don't understand grace as a dispensation. The dispensation of grace is a message and program, that is especially geared towards the Gentiles, yes in includes both Jews and Gentiles. We are on equal footing but it is predominantly a Gentile dispensation, because Israel for the most part, does not believe Jesus is their Messiah. We have the highest calling of all the dispensations that God has ever revealed to man and yet it is not preached to the vast majority of Christians. In Ephesians chapter 1, we read that we are blessed with every spiritual blessings in the heavenly places, we are accepted in the beloved, and have total forgiveness of sins. We read in other parts of Paul's letters, that we were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the earth, we are seated with Him, in the Heavenly, we are sealed in Christ until the day of the rapture, not in danger of losing your salvation.
We are so focused on who we are not or should I say what people say we are not, that we are missing out on all that we are in Christ. We are complete in Him. Under grace, Christ is our everything, because He gave His everything by dying on a cross for your sins and mine. That is indeed grace, that is greater than all our sins.