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WHEN DID THE CHURCH BEGIN?

I believe that the Church, the Body of Christ, began with the beginning of the dispensation of the mystery. That mystery was 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” (Eph. 3:6). In order for Gentiles to be heirs together etc. with Israel, Israel would have to be set aside as God’s chosen people. That is to say, in order for Gentiles to go from being “…no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household” (Eph. 2:19), Israel would have to be set aside. Also, In order to go from the offer, during the dispensation of law, of resurrection life on earth, to the offer, during the dispensation of the mystery, of resurrection life in heaven, Israel, to whom the earthly offer was made, would have to be put aside. The question is “when did this happen”?

THE TWO MYSTERIES OF EPHESIANS THREE

Some of the confusion as to when the dispensation of the mystery began stems from the fact that many see only one mystery in Ephesians three. I believe that there are two mysteries in Ephesians three. Let us examine the passage where we read of these two mysteries.

We read in Eph. 3:2-9, (2) “If 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, (4) Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ; (5) Which 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; (6) That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel; (7) Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of His power, (8) Unto 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; (9) And to make all men see what is the fellowship (dispensation – same word as in verse 2) of the mystery, which hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ”.

Let us turn our attention to verses 4-5. In verse 4 we read of the “mystery of Christ”. In verse 5 we are told that this mystery “was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets“. There are three things in these verses that are very important to note.

The Greek word translated “as” in the phrase “as it has now been revealed” is “hos” and implies a comparison. It is used in I Cor.13:11, “When I was a child I spoke as a child…”etc. This tells us that the mystery of Christ was revealed to some extent, but not to the extend that it is “now” revealed.
The mystery of Christ was revealed to “apostles and prophets”, note the plural.
The Greek word translated “revealed” in the phrase, “as it is has now been revealed” is “apokalupto”, and it is the verb form of the same word used in verse 3 where we read of “the mystery made known to me (Paul) by revelation”. This tells us that the revelation of the mystery given to Paul was given to the apostles and prophets in the same way, i.e. not by the teaching of man, but by revelation from God.

What can we learn of the “mystery of Christ”? The phrase occurs only here and the context is not particularly helpful, so we must search elsewhere in the Scriptures for our answer as to what is the mystery of Christ.

A mystery is something that is concealed. It can also be something that is revealed to just a few, as in the case of the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven. “Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given” (Matt. 13:11). Let us search the Scriptures to find what the mystery of Christ is?

We must bear in mind that the mystery of Christ was: a) revealed to some extent before Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, i.e. in the Old Testament writings; b) but “now” made known to apostles and prophets (plural); c) revealed to them by the Spirit by revelation, not by the teaching of man, (Eph. 3:4-5). Let us look at Luke 18:31-34 to see if what is revealed there will fit the criteria of the “mystery of Christ”. “Then He took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, ‘Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man shall be accomplished. For He shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully intreated, and spit on; And they shall scourge Him and put Him to death; and the third day He shall rise again’. And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken”.

The disciples did not understand any of the prophecies concerning the death and resurrection of Christ, but those things had been written about in the Old Testament. I believe that those events constitute the “mystery of Christ”. We have read that it was concealed from the 12, that makes it a mystery. We also see that it was the topic of some prophecy, that satisfies the criteria of it being revealed to some extent (see Is. 53, crucifixion; and Lev. 16:8-10, resurrection – by type). And we know, of course, that eventually Christ’s death, burial and resurrection were revealed fully, which satisfies the criteria of being unfolded more completely in Paul’s time by apostles and prophets. I believe therefore, that the mystery of Christ spoken of in Eph. 3:4-5, is His death and resurrection.

Verse 6

, on the other hand, is the mystery that was revealed to Paul. Note it was given to Paul alone, not to the apostles and prophets (plural). We learn in verse 9 that this mystery was “hid in God” (not revealed in any degree to other generations). The mystery of verse 6 is a description of the make-up of the “new man” (2:15), the “one body” (Eph. 2:16). That 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” ( 3:6).

There are two mysteries in Eph. 3. One is the mystery of Christ, which was revealed to some degree in the Old Testament, and the other was the mystery, hid in God, i.e. not known in past generations to any degree. The mystery of Christ was revealed fully in Paul’s time to prophets and apostles, plural. The mystery of Eph. 3:6 on the other hand, was revealed to Paul, and only Paul. We have in Ephesians three, two closely connected, but separate mysteries.

Having determined that the mystery hid in God was “that the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus”, let us determine from Scripture just when that mystery was revealed.

WHEN WAS THE MYSTERY REVEALED?

We know that the mystery was hid in God and revealed to Paul. We read in Acts 20:27, “For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole council of God”. Paul is telling the Ephesians elders that he has told them everything that God had revealed to him, the whole council of God. But we read nothing of the one body in the epistles written before Acts 20. (I have written about passages that seem to contradict this statement in the appendix of this paper.) This tells us that up to the time of Acts 20 the mystery had not been revealed. If it had, Paul could not have said that he proclaimed the “whole council of God”.

The mystery was not revealed in any of the epistles written before Acts 20; it was revealed in Ephesians, the first epistle written by Paul after the end of the Acts period. I believe therefore that we may conclude that the Church, which is His body, began at the time of its being revealed, i.e. after the end of the Acts period.

WHEN WAS ISRAEL PUT ASIDE AS GOD’S CHOSEN PEOPLE?

As mentioned above, in order for Gentile believers to be fellow citizens with God’s people (Israel), God’s chosen people would have to be put aside. Therefore, we can expect to see Israel put aside in time for the mystery of the Church to be revealed, i.e. by the end of the Acts period. Let us search the Scriptures to see if that is the case.

The last epistle that Paul wrote before the end of the Acts period was to the Roman church. Let us look at a few passages in that epistle to see if Israel had been put aside by the time of the writing of Paul’s epistle to the Romans, i.e. about Acts 20.

Romans 1:16 “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes; first for the Jew, then for the Gentile”.

Romans 11:1, “I ask then, Did God reject His people? By no means.

Romans11:11, “….salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious”.

Romans 11:14, “….in hopes that I may somehow arouse some of my own people to envy”.

It is clear, in my opinion, that Israel was not put aside as God’s chosen people at the time of Paul’s letter to Rome, the last letter written during the Acts period. Quite the opposite! The preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles was part of God’s plan to get Israel to repent. (see Deut. 32:21). God was still working on behalf of Israel’s repentance, so that the times of refreshing could begin, a time of blessings for Israel and for the Gentile nations as well, (please read Acts 3:19-21). The only thing of significance, dispensationally speaking, that happened between Acts 21 and the end of the Acts period was Paul’s announcement to the Jewish leaders, “Go to this people and say, ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving’ …….Therefore I want you to know that God’s salvation has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen”. If, as some believe, Israel had been put aside before Acts 28:28, this proclamation would have been meaningless, to say the least.

I believe therefore, that Israel was set aside as God’s chosen people at Acts 28:28, making it possible for Paul’s announcement in his next epistle, Ephesians, that Jew and Gentile were “heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 3:6).

THE DIVIDING WALL OF HOSTILITY

One of the characteristics of the Church, which is the Body of Christ, is that the Law of Moses was abolished. We read in Eph. 2:14-15, “For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in His flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in Himself one new man out of the two….”. If we are to discover when the Church began we must determine when the dividing wall of hostility was abolished so that the “one new man” could be created. This portion of the study is devoted to discovering when that happened.

Was the law abolished literally at the cross? I believe not. Part of the law was that certain things, such as reptiles, pigs, certain fish and other animals, were not to be eaten. In Acts chapter 10 we read of Peter’s vision concerning things that he was told to eat. “A voice told him (Peter) ‘Get up Peter. Kill and eat (Acts 10:13). What was Peter’s response? We read in verse 14, “Surely not, Lord! Peter replied. I have never eaten anything impure or unclean”. We learn from Peter’s response that he had never eaten anything that the law forbade him to eat. We may conclude from that, that he was still keeping the Law of Moses several years after the cross. So, the law was not abolished literally at the cross. There are many prophecies that are spoken of as being fulfilled when in actuality they will be fulfilled in the future. Take for example, Col. 3:1, “Since then, you have been raised with Christ…”. This truth is spoken of as if it has already been accomplished, but, of course, it has not.

Now that we know that the law was not abolished at the cross in actuality, the question still remains, when was it abolished? In Acts 21 we read of Paul being in Jerusalem and taking part in a ritual in order to prove to the Israelites that he was still keeping the law. (please read Acts 21:20-26). I believe that this shows that the law was not abolished until, at least, sometime after Acts 21

The “one new man” was the essence of the secret of Ephesians 3:6 which had been hid in God. As I have already mentioned the “one new man” was not possible while Israel was still God’s chosen people. Herein lies the “how” and the “when” of the abolishing of the middle wall, the Law of Moses. It was abolished when Israel, to whom the law had been given, was put aside. Let me give my reasons for that statement. 1) The law was abolished for the purpose of creating one new man out of the two, i.e. Jew and Gentile. 2) The secret of that one new man was revealed after the end of the Acts period. 3) Israel was set aside at the end of the Acts period, i.e. Acts 28:28. I believe that the obvious conclusion is that the middle wall of hostility, i.e. the Law of Moses, was set aside at the end of the Acts period when Israel to Whom the law was given was set aside as God’s chosen people.

Many Christians believe that the law was abolished because Christ fulfilled the law. It is true that Christ did fulfill the law, but that is not the reason it was abolished. We know this because the law was observed during the Acts period and will be observed by Israel in the future. Consider Ezek. 36:26-27, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you, I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws“. Consider also Zech. 14:21, “every pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be holy to the Lord Almighty, and all who come to sacrifice will take some of the pots and cook in them”. These prophecies will be fulfilled during the millennial reign of Christ, i.e. it is still future. The law has not been put aside forever. The law was put aside when Israel, to whom the law was given was put aside. When Israel is taken back by God as His chosen nation, they will once again observe the law.

Some Christians believe that the law was put aside during the Acts period, before Acts 21, and that the only reason that Paul proved in Acts 21 that he was observing the law was to show that he was “all things to all men” in order to see all men saved. People who hold to this view point to I Cor. 9:20 were we read, “To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but I am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law”.

I must confess that I do not fully understand this passage. What did Paul mean when he wrote, “To the Jews I became like a Jew“? We know that Paul was a Jew. What is “Christ’s law” which Paul was under as opposed to God’s law, which Paul said that he was not under?

I admit that I do not understand this passage. However, I do not believe that if the law had been put aside before Paul had written I Corinthians, that Paul would have gone against the will of God and prove that he was still observing the law. I believe that if the law had been put aside before Acts 21, Paul would have shown Israel that he was not observing the law, in accordance with God’s will.

Also, I do not believe that the context of I Cor. 9:20 lends itself to the conclusion that the law was abolished at the time of the writing of I Corinthians. Paul is talking about winning all men to Christ; he is not talking about the law being abolished in order for God to create one new man of Jew and Gentile. I do not believe that such an important issue would have been written about in a single phrase, especially not a phrase that does not deal with dispensational standing of Jew and Gentile, but with Paul’s zeal to see men saved.

CONCLUSION

We have discovered the following facts concerning the Church, which is His Body.

The secret hid in God was that Jew and Gentile would be heirs together, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.
That secret was revealed after the end of the Acts period in Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians.
Israel was put aside as God’s chosen nation with the beginning of the dispensation of the mystery. Because that mystery was revealed in Ephesians we may conclude that Israel was put aside at the same time. This is further substantiated by the fact that the last epistle written before the end of the Acts period, i.e. Romans, shows Israel to be God’s chosen people.
The abolishing of the Mosaic Law constituted the breaking of the barrier between Israel and the Gentiles. This middle wall of hostility was abolished after the end of the Acts period.

I believe that we can conclude without hesitation that the Church, the Body of Christ began after the end of the Acts period.

APPENDIX

SOME SEEMING CONTRADICTIONS

There are some passages that seem to suggest that the secret of the one body was revealed before Paul wrote of it in Ephesians. We will examine each of them, and I believe we will see that they do not contradict anything suggested in this paper.

ROMANS 16:25-26

“Now 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. But 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”.

The question is, which mystery is being spoken of in these verses. Is it the mystery of the one body of which Paul wrote in Eph. 3:6? If is was the mystery of the one body that would show that the mystery was revealed before Acts 28, as Romans is a prison epistle. (There are many however who believe that these verses are a postscript added after the end of the Acts period.) We must determine which mystery Paul had in mind when he penned these verses at the end of Romans. There are several clues in the verses themselves that will help in our study of this question.

Consider the opening of this passage, “Now to Him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel….”. Paul uses the phrase “my gospel” three times. Here in Romans 16, in Romans 2:16 and in II Tim. 2:8.

Romans 2:16, “This will take place on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.” To what is Paul referring when he writes “This will take place”. He is referring to verse 13 where we read, “For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous”. So in this context the term “my gospel” refers to the judgment of Israel’s righteousness.

The other reference to “my gospel” is found in II Tim. 2:8 where we read, “Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel”.

We are not left with any doubt as to what Paul meant by the term “my gospel”. It referred to the judgment of Israel and the resurrection of Christ from the dead. Note it had nothing to do with the mystery of the one body.

We come now to the phrase, “the mystery which was kept secret since the world began”. The Greek word translated “secret’ is “sigao”. It occurs nine times in the New Testament and is translated “kept close” once; “held (their) peace” four times; “kept silence” three times and “secret” once, in Rom. 16. It is clear from its usage that “kept silent” is a better translation than “kept secret”.

The mystery of the one body, on the other hand was kept “hid in God”. We read in Eph. 3:9 of the “mystery which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God…..”. And in Col. 1:26 we read of “the mystery which hath been hid…”. The Greek word translated “hid” in these verses is “apokrupto”, a much different word that “sigao” of Rom. 16:25.

Let us continue with one more phrase in Rom. 16:26 in our effort to determine if the mystery of Rom. 16 is the same mystery written about in the prison epistles. Note the mystery of Romans was made manifest “by the scriptures of the prophets”. The Companion Bible note has “by the prophetic writings”. The “prophetic writings” could not possibly refer to the mystery of the one body because that mystery was not written about until after the end of the Acts period.

Let us try to pull together what we have learned in order to discover if the mystery of Romans 16 is the mystery spoken of in the prison epistles.

The mystery of Romans 16 is referred to as “my gospel” the nature of which is explained in Rom. 2:16 and II Tim. 2:8. It has nothing to do with the mystery of the one body as described in Eph. 3:6. “My gospel” has to do with judgment of Israel and the resurrection of Christ.
The mystery of Romans 16 had been kept in silence. The mystery of the prison epistles was “hid in God”. Where the Holy Spirit chooses a different word so must the student of His Word.
The mystery of Romans 16 had been revealed by “prophetic writings”. There is absolutely nothing before Romans 16 which even hints of the mystery of the one body spoken of in the prison epistles.

We must conclude therefore, that the mystery spoken of in Romans 16 is not the mystery of the one body revealed in Ephesians, written after Acts 28.

If the mystery of Romans 16 is not the mystery of the one body, what is it? Again, the answer to that question lies in the term “my gospel” which had to do with the resurrection of Christ and with the judgment of Israel.

The reader may recall that in the body of this paper I called to the readers attention to the mystery of Christ in the section on the two mysteries of Ephesians three. That mystery had to do, in part with the resurrection of Christ. The judgment of Israel for entrance into the kingdom of Heaven is spoken of in Matthew’s Gospel as the “Mysteries of the kingdom”. Please see the paper on this web-site The Kingdom Of Heaven for the scriptural evidence of that statement.

These two mysteries meet all the criteria mentioned in Romans 16. They were written about in the “prophetic writings. They were not “hid in God”, they were “kept in silence, i.e. they were not understood. And they were what Paul described as “my gospel”.

I CORINTHIANS 2:7-8

l Cor. 2:7-8 reads, “we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden in God and that God destined for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had they would not have crucified the Lord of glory”. The wisdom of verses 7 and 8 is not that the Gentiles would be joint heirs in Christ. That is not the message that prompted the “rulers of this age” to “crucify the Lord of glory”. That message was not even know at the time of the crucifixion, therefore no one could have been expected to understand it.

ROMANS 12:5

Another passage is Romans 12:5, “So in Christ, we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others”. The context, verses 3-8 clearly shows that Paul was asking the Roman church to be co-operative with each other, he uses the term “body” as we use it today in such phrases as “student body” and a “governing body”. The context has nothing at all to do with Jew and Gentiles being heirs together, members together or sharers together. To say that Rom. 12:5 speaks of the one body of Ephesians 3:6 is to take this passage out of context, a practice which usually leads to error, and, in my opinion, does so with this passage as well.

I CORINTHIANS 12:12, 13 and 27

This passage treats the term “body” in much the same way as did Romans 12:5. Note especially verse 21, “and the head can not say to the feet, “I don’t need you“. Christ is the head of the Church, which is His Body. He is not just another member of the body. Also, the definite article is not in the Greek. Here again, to say that this passage is about the Body of Christ, which was hid in God, is to take this passage out of context.