3:5
The coming of Christ was a watershed. Prior to this the mystery of God’s plans had not been made known, had not been revealed. What was the mystery? The mystery was that the Old Testament makes two things abundantly clear. One is the utter sinfulness of man, and this was not something that could be changed by merely treating man differently, or teaching him various things. God chose the nation of Israel, He gave them the Law, He sent them prophets and did signs and wonders among them. Yet they proved themselves to be as utterly sinful as any of the other nations. The second thing was God’s intention to bless His people, so that “I will be their God, and they will be my people”. How can these two things possibly be reconciled? This was revealed to “God’s holy apostles and prophets”.
3:6
The mystery that has now been revealed is that through the gospel both Israel and the Gentiles will be blessed. They are both heirs of Christ, and share together in the promise of Christ. God said to Abraham that through him all nations on earth would be blessed. In the Old Testament Jews and Gentiles are, for the most part, enemies. In Christ they become one body.
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