Part 3 — The Secret Now Made Plain
God has a secret — and He told us
There is a word in Ephesians 3 that people trip over: mystery. In our English it sounds like a puzzle nobody can crack. In the Bible it means something else entirely — a secret God kept to Himself until He decided to tell it. Listen to how Paul puts it:
How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery… Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ [Ephesians 3:3-4 KJV].
Read that again: when ye read, ye may understand. Not when you've been to Bible college. Not when you've been going forty years. This was never kept for the clever ones or the clergy — God wrote it down so ordinary believers could read it and understand it. That alone is worth sitting with. God has no interest in keeping His people in the dark.
So what was the secret?
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; That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel [Ephesians 3:5-6 KJV].
That is it. One body. Jew and Gentile together, fellowheirs, of the same body, sharing the same promise — not two classes of Christian, not an inner circle and an outer one, but one body under one Head. No prophet in the Old Testament saw this. It was hid in God until He revealed it to the apostles by the Holy Spirit [Ephesians 3:9 KJV]. That is why the church epistles matter so much: they carry teaching you simply will not find anywhere else in Scripture. Read the Old Testament for learning, but read the epistles for your address, your standing and your instructions.
And here is the practical edge of it. If you are born again, you are not a second-class member of anything. There is no waiting list. No probation. No inner ring you have not been invited into.
Boldness and access
Because of this, Paul says something that ought to change the way you pray.
In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him [Ephesians 3:12 KJV].
Boldness. Access. Confidence. Now be honest — those three words do not describe how most of us actually feel when we pray, do they? Most of us come with our cap in our hands, half expecting to be told to come back later. But access is not a reward for a good week. It was purchased at the cross and handed to you the day you believed. You may come now, as you are — in the middle of a mess, at three in the morning, without a tidy speech.
The prayer that goes deep
The chapter ends with one of the greatest prayers ever written. And notice what Paul does not pray for: no easier circumstances, no bigger crowds, no comfortable life.
That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love [Ephesians 3:16-17 KJV].
Strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man. Not the outer one. God's first work is on the inside — the part nobody photographs, the part that either holds or crumbles when trouble comes. Rooted and grounded in love. Two pictures in one line. Rooted is a tree — alive, drawing, growing. Grounded is a building — settled on a foundation that will not shift. God wants you both growing and steady.
Then Paul reaches the height of it: And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God [Ephesians 3:19 KJV]. A love you can know but never finish knowing. You will still be discovering it at ninety. And then the great closing line:
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us [Ephesians 3:20 KJV].
People love the first half of that verse and forget the last eight words: according to the power that worketh in us. God's exceeding abundantly is not fired at you from a distance. It works in you — by the Holy Spirit, in the inner man, in ordinary believers living ordinary days. That is why the strengthening comes before the promise: God builds the power inside you first, then does more than you asked through it. This is not a prosperity slogan. It is a promise about what God can do through a strengthened, rooted, grounded believer who is available to Him.
What it says
Ephesians 3 in plain words: God kept a secret for ages and has now revealed it — Jew and Gentile made one body in Christ, equal heirs of the same promise. Because of that we have boldness, access and confidence with God. Paul prays that we would be strengthened by the Holy Spirit in the inner man, rooted and grounded in love, and able to know the love of Christ that passes knowledge. And God is able to do far more than we ask or think — by the power already working in us.
What this chapter should change
Two things this chapter should change this week. First, how you come to God. If you have been praying like a stranger at the door, stop. You have access. Come boldly — not casually, not carelessly, but confidently, as a child who belongs in the house.
Second, what you pray for. Look honestly at your prayer list. Is it all outer man — money, health, timetables, other people's decisions? None of that is wrong; Paul just aimed higher. He prayed for inner strength, deep roots and a growing grasp of the love of Christ. Those are the prayers that hold you together when the outer things do not go your way.
And if you have ever felt like the outsider in the church — the newcomer, the quiet one, the one without the background or the vocabulary — this chapter settles it. There is one body, and you are in it.
Key Takeaways:
- A Bible mystery is a secret God kept until He chose to reveal it — [Ephesians 3:3 KJV]
- God wrote it down so ordinary believers could read it and understand — [Ephesians 3:4 KJV]
- The revealed secret is one body — fellowheirs, same body, same promise — [Ephesians 3:6 KJV]
- Believers have boldness, access and confidence before God — [Ephesians 3:12 KJV]
- God's first work is inward: strengthened by His Spirit in the inner man — [Ephesians 3:16 KJV]
- Rooted like a tree, grounded like a building — growing and steady — [Ephesians 3:17 KJV]
- God does exceeding abundantly according to the power that works in us — [Ephesians 3:20 KJV]
Where to go from here:
Read Ephesians 3 through in one sitting — it is only twenty-one verses — then go back over verses 14 to 21 slowly and make Paul's prayer your own. Then take the step: pray it out loud for one other person by name, and tell them you have done it.
📽️ Watch this teaching 👉 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVko1nDK5ew&list=PLhtPbQ4aPQH4XQMBbu36aO6pHQ_T4ACae&index=1
🧭 Start Here — Who We Are in Christ: the seven teachings to begin with 👉 📖 https://back-to-basics-christian-living.ghost.io/start-here/ · 🎥 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEPKdqB9RuLI
➡️ Next — The Christian Compass, this Sunday 👉 https://back-to-basics-christian-living.ghost.io/tag/the-christian-compass/
That is where we begin: who we are in Christ, taken in order. Then, Monday to Thursday, we take one truth and look at it from four sides. Fridays, we work through a series — at present Ephesians: The Letter Written to You. One email on Sunday closes the week and opens the next.
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