And to make all men see what is the fellowship of
the
mystery
Or "the dispensation of the mystery" as the Complutensian, and
several copies, and the Vulgate Latin and Syriac versions, read.
The mystery is the Gospel; the fellowship of it is the
communication of grace by it, a participation of the truths and
doctrines of it, communion with Father, Son, and Spirit, which
the Gospel calls and leads unto, and that equal concern and
interest which both Jews and Gentiles have in the privileges of
it. Now men are naturally in the dark about these things, and the
ministry of the word is the means of enlightening them, and is
indeed the grand design of it; and the ministers of the Gospel do
instrumentally enlighten persons, though it is God only that does
it efficiently; and for this, gifts of grace were bestowed upon
the apostle, even for the enlightening of all men, not every
individual person in the world, but some of all sorts,
particularly Gentiles, as well as Jews. The word (pantav) , rendered "all men", is left
out in the Alexandrian copy.
Which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in
God;
in the heart of God, in his counsel and covenant; which shows the
original and source of the Gospel, and expresses the richness and
valuableness of it, as well as its safety and secrecy: here it
was hid in some measure from the elect angels, and from Old
Testament saints, and altogether from natural men, and especially
from the Gentiles, whose times of ignorance God winked at, or
overlooked: and this was kept so from ages past, from the
beginning of time, till now, and was laid up in the breast of God
from all eternity; for it was ordained before the world for the
glory, of his people. What the apostle says of the Gospel, the
Jews say of the law, that it was hid and treasured up two
thousand years before the world was created {m}; yea, they say
F14, that many ages before the creation
of the world it was written and left, (hb'qh lv wqyxb) , "in the bosom of God": and he
is here described, as he who created all things by Jesus
Christ;
not as an instrument, but as a co-efficient cause: and this is to
be understood, not of the new creation, but of the old, and of
all things in it; for without Christ, was not anything made that
is made. The phrase, "by Jesus Christ", is left out in the
Alexandrian and Claromontane copies, and in the Vulgate Latin,
Syriac, and Ethiopic versions.
F13 Zohar in Exod. fol. 20. 4. & in Numb. fol. 66. 3. Targ. Jon. & Jeras. in Gen. iii. 24.
F14 Abot R. Nathan, c. 31. T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 88. 2.