Rev D W B Somerset
The word “mystery” (Greek musterion) occurs 27 times in the Received Text of the New Testament, 22 times in the singular, “mystery”, and five times in the plural, “mysteries”. Christ, for example, speaks of “the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 13:11; Lk 8:10), and Paul describes the apostles as “stewards of the mysteries of God” (1 Cor 4:1), and declares the unprofitableness of understanding “all mysteries and all knowledge” unless one has charity. There is the “mystery of iniquity” (2 Th 2:7), and the “mystery of the seven stars” (Rev 1:20) and so on.
According to a paper entitled “A Study of ‘Mystery’ in the New Testament” in Grace Theological Journal in 1985 by Galen Wiley, there was no “comprehensive monograph” on the word musterion at that date, and I am not aware of any that have appeared since. The work by the evangelical Church of Scotland professor Thomas Crawford (1812-1875), with the promising title, Mysteries of Christianity (1874), turns out to deal with “mysterious” doctrines such as the Trinity, the incarnation, election, and the Divine purposes, rather than following the New Testament usage of the word. There is a big overlap, of course, but the book sheds little light on many of the New Testament “mysteries”. The most useful general discussion of “mystery” that I have found is Richard Sibbes’ “Fountain Opened” on 1 Timothy 3:16 in volume 5 of his Works.
The purpose of this paper is to consider what is meant in the New Testament by a “mystery”; to try to organise the New Testament mysteries in some way; and to give a brief examination of all of them, especially those that tend to receive less attention.
1. The biblical meaning of the word. The biblical meaning of the word “mystery” is somewhat different from ordinary usage. The ordinary meaning of the word is: something which is difficult to explain or understand, at least at present – something which has puzzling features for which we cannot yet account.
A biblical mystery, on the other hand, is something which was hidden and unobserved but has now been disclosed: “Now to him that is of power to establish 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
1The first section of a paper delivered at the 2021 Theological Conference.
nations for the obedience of faith” (Rom 16:25-26). So a biblical mystery is not necessarily difficult to understand intellectually, but is something that was kept secret, or largely so, by God until the time of disclosure.
Biblical mysteries have various spiritual features, the first of which is that it takes spiritual insight to discern a biblical mystery. It is “the wisdom of God in a mystery”: “But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory . . . . But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor 2:7,14).
The natural man looks at a biblical mystery and sees very little, or even nothing, and may be very dubious about the claimed disclosure, for example the doctrine of the resurrection: “Behold, I show you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1 Cor 15:51-52). The natural man rejects this, but the spiritual man sees by faith both the wonder of the Divine hand accomplishing the work and the Divine instruction intended.
A second feature, therefore, of a biblical mystery is that it has an element of wonder. The hand of God is behind it, and He is the God of wonders. One reason why the subject of New Testament mysteries deserves independent study is so that we do not miss any of these wonders that God has disclosed. What is the particular wonder in the “mystery of iniquity” (2 Th 2:7), or the “mystery of the seven stars” (Rev 1:20)? We shall try to think about these questions.
Closely related is the third point, which is that a biblical mystery has a special element of instruction. “And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the Church the manifold wisdom of God” (Eph 3:9-10).
God’s purpose in sending Paul to preach the gospel was that, through the gospel and its effects in the salvation and edification of the Church, even the very angels might receive instruction in the manifold wisdom of God; and if they receive instruction, then certainly we do as well. We are not only to wonder at mysteries but to learn from them. God is teaching us about Himself and about Christ and about ourselves and about the Church, through these mysteries, and we need to give them particular attention. Ministers are “stewards of the mysteries”: “Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God” (1 Cor 4:1). One purpose
of this paper is to give an “inventory” of the mysteries of God to ensure that we are not neglecting any special points of instruction.
2. How many mysteries? Is there one great mystery in the New Testament with many subordinate branches, or are there numerous mysteries on the same level? In his comment on 1 Timothy 3:16, Andrew Fausset (1821-1910) of the “Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown” commentary takes the position that there are six mysteries in the New Testament: the incarnation (1 Tim 3:16); the mystery of iniquity; the mystery of marriage; the union of Jew and Gentile in one body (Eph 3:4-6); the restoration of Jews; and the resurrection. On the other hand, Galen Wiley, in the paper referred to, thinks that there is just one central mystery, with various branches.
In this paper, somewhat tentatively, we take an intermediate position, along the lines of Richard Sibbes. We view the “mystery of godliness” (1 Tim 3:16) as the great mystery, and then group all other New Testament mysteries under the six heads that Paul gives there: “God was manifest in the flesh”, “justified in the Spirit”, “seen of angels”, “preached unto the Gentiles”, “believed on in the world”, “received up into glory”. This organisation may be a bit forced on occasion, but, for the purposes of this paper, it does at least reduce the number of headings to something manageable. We begin therefore by considering the great mystery, the mystery of godliness.
3. The mystery of godliness. In 1 Timothy 3:16, Paul says, “Without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory”. Many modern writers think that Paul was quoting an early Christian hymn, and I want to come back to this view later because I think it is an important error which Satan has used to deprive the Church of some of her riches. For the moment, I would just say that this view can be rejected out of hand because it is exceedingly improbable that an uninspired hymn-writer could have expressed so many profound and important truths in so few words. The theology of 1 Timothy 3:16 is far beyond that of the early Church, barring the Apostles. In his comments on the theology of the early Church, Herman Bavinck observes that the surviving writings show how little the early Church had entered into the depth and riches of the New Testament teaching.2 The development of theology, and the “quarrying” of the Bible, has been a slow process, and there simply was not the theological understanding at that stage, apart from any other considerations.
Thayer’s Lexicon interprets “the mystery of godliness” as “the mystery which is held by godliness and which nourishes it”. We suppose that “the mystery of godliness” is to be identified with “the mystery of God” (Rev
2Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, Baker Academic, 2006, vol 3, p 253.
10:7); and also with “the mystery of the faith” (1 Tim 3:9); but in one it is named according to its principal subject, “God”; in another according to its substance, “the faith” (“earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3)), and in yet another according to its practical effect in believers, “godliness”.
The six elements of this mystery of godliness, following Paul, are: (1) the incarnation of Christ (“manifest in the flesh”); (2) the justification of Christ (“justified in the Spirit”); (3) Christ’s appearance before angels (“seen of angels”); (4) the preaching of Christ as Saviour to men, and in particular to the Gentiles (“preached unto the Gentiles”); (5) the gift of faith (“believed on in the world”); (6) the exaltation of Christ (“received up into glory”). We will consider these six elements in turn.
The Angels (1)1
Thomas Sproull
Included in the work of creation was a class of beings called angels; they are frequently mentioned in Scripture. The word rendered angel in English means a messenger in both Hebrew and Greek. Its application to the angels indicates one special end for which they were created.
We are taught in The Larger Catechism that “God created all the angels spirits, immortal, holy, excelling in knowledge, mighty in power, to execute His commandments, and to praise His name, yet subject to change”. We shall consider:
1. The relation of angels to God as His creatures.
(1.) God created them in the beginning. On which of the six days the angels were made the narrative does not inform us. But from other parts of Scripture we learn that they were among the first effects of creative power. In the words of God to Job, this is made very evident: “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? . . . Who hath laid the measures thereof . . . or who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? Or who laid the corner stone thereof; when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (Job 38:4-7). By the “morning stars” and “the sons of God”, angels are unquestionably meant. We find mentioned “an angel of light” (2 Cor 11:14) and “sons of God” (Job 1:6).
In the address to the king of Babylon, “How art thou fallen from heaven,
1The first part of a chapter in Sproull’s Prelections on Theology, his lectures in the Reformed Presbyterian Seminary in Allegheny, Pennsylvania. He lived from 1802 to 1892.
O Lucifer, son of the morning?” (Is 14:12), there is evidently a reference to the leader of the fallen spirits, to whom the haughty monarch is compared. He is called the son of the morning, or morning star. Those spiritual beings called by this name were witnesses of the phenomena of the third day of creation, when the waters were gathered together unto one place and the dry land appeared (Gen 1:9). It was then that the foundations of the earth were laid, amidst the joyous acclamations of these sons of the morning. In Psalm 104:4,5 the creation of angels and laying the foundations of the earth are placed together, as exhibiting the glory of God and as matters of praise and thanksgiving. “Who maketh His angels spirits; His ministers a flaming fire; who laid the foundations of the earth.” There is probability in the conjecture that the angels were created on the first day, when God said, “Let there be light, and there was light”.
(2.) God created the angels spiritual beings. “Who maketh His angels spirits” (Heb 1:7). They have no bodily parts. “A spirit”, said Christ, after His resurrection, “hath not flesh and bones as ye see Me have” (Lk 24:39). By this they are distinguished from men. But though their essence is spiritual, they are nevertheless finite and dependent.
Angels are persons. Each one of them has a personal subsistence. Personal acts are ascribed to them. They study the works of God: “Which things the angels desire to look into” (1 Pet 1:12). To the principalities and powers in heavenly places is made known by the Church the manifold wisdom of God (Eph 3:10). Angels had communion with men: with Abraham (Gen 18:2), with Lot (Gen 19:1), with Jacob (Gen 32:1) and with others. An angel was sent to Zacharias and foretold to him the birth and mission of John the Baptist (Lk 1:11); and to Mary, making known to her that she was to be the mother of Jesus Christ (Lk 1:26). By the agency of angels, divine judgements were inflicted. An angel smote the Israelites with pestilence for the sin of David (2 Sam 24:17). By an angel the great body of the Assyrian army was cut off in one night (2 Ki 19:35).
When angels appeared as men, they assumed bodies provided for the occasion. These bodies were laid aside when they had served the end for which they were assumed. It is evident that, by an act of their will, they could assume their normal condition and disappear, as in the case of the angels that were at the sepulchre of Jesus Christ (Jn 20:12).
(3.) Angels are endowed with great wisdom. Wise “as an angel of God” is a proverbial expression used in Scripture (2 Sam 14:20, 19:27). Free from the encumbrance of bodies, their minds act directly on the objects that attract their notice, not through the organs of sense. To them there is no process of perception. Their minds conceive immediately the subject of thought. Not only
are their conceptions more clear and distinct than if received through outward channels but also the knowledge received will be more enlarged and varied. They cannot forget anything and they never err in reasoning from known facts. The angel that announced to the shepherds the birth of Jesus Christ was fully acquainted with the prophecies that foretold His advent and could state with certainty that the child born in Bethlehem was the promised Messiah.
(4.) Angels are perfectly holy. They were created perfectly holy and they never defiled themselves with sin. By the word holy they are distinguished from those that sinned. “When the Son of man shall come . . . and all the holy angels with Him” (Mt 25:31). They behold the face of God, who is “glorious in holiness” (Ex 15:11, Mt 18:10). Holiness with them is not a mere negative property, the absence of sinful dispositions and desires. It is an active principle pervading their whole being, stimulating them to holy deeds. The holiness of God is the object of their highest admiration and joyous praise. The seraphim in the vision Isaiah saw proclaimed the holiness of God: “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God of hosts” (Is 6:3). And in the vision of John, the four living creatures are heard admiring this divine perfection. “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty” (Rev 4:8).
In contemplating and admiring the holiness of God, these spiritual beings enjoy the highest degree of happiness of which their holy nature is capable. They worship God in the beauty of holiness. In His service they are diligently employed. Preserved in their fidelity when others fell, they devote themselves with unfaltering energy to counteract the malign influence in the world of those who did not keep their first estate. Hating sin with the greatest abhorrence, they look forward with joyous expectation to the time when the kingdom of Christ shall be established in the world, and the whole “earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord”.
(5.) Angels possess great power. We read that mighty angels shall attend on the Lord Jesus when He comes to judge the world (2 Th 1:7). They exercise power, both mental and physical. They exert a vast influence over the minds of men and effect unexpected changes in the apparent course of events. In one of the visions of Daniel we have a remarkable instance of this. At the close of his prayer recorded Daniel 9, the angel Gabriel appeared to him to give him knowledge of the future. In Daniel 10:12,13, we have an account of the influence that the angel employed in the Persian court. He spent 21 days in dealing with the prince, by suggestion, to induce him to favour the Jews; this he accomplished with the aid of Michael. A mighty change was effected in the affairs of the kingdom, that resulted in the restoration of the captive people to their own land.
How spirits can put forth physical power, we cannot understand. That
they can do so is clear from instances recorded in Scripture. An angel rolled away the great stone from the entrance of Christ’s sepulchre (Mt 28:2). An angel opened the doors of the prison where the apostles were confined (Acts 5:19). An angel broke off the chains from Peter’s hands and released him from bondage (Acts 12:7). Their power is employed in protecting the saints from dangers. Of this we are assured by the promise of God. “He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone” (Ps 91:11,12).
(6.) Angels are very active. They move with amazing swiftness. Heaven is their home. They are called the angels of heaven. Thence they are sent to all parts of the universe to do the will of God. If, as is probable, heaven is the centre of the works of God, at an immeasurable distance from the earth, with what inconceivable speed must they traverse the intervening space to perform the errands on which they are sent! We are informed that the angel Gabriel, “being caused to fly swiftly”, came to Daniel “about the time of the evening oblation”, before he had finished his prayer (Dan 9:21). He went forth to bear his message in answer to the prayer, at the beginning of the supplication, and now, before it was ended, he was present. The prayer is short; it could be repeated in a few minutes. Within that brief space of time the heavenly messenger had traversed the vast distance.
In the vision of Ezekiel, in the first chapter of his prophecy, there is a representation of the administration of the kingdom of providence. Angels are referred to as four living creatures, that came out of the midst of the fire (v 5). Of these it is said that they “ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning” (v 14). It is evident that the comparison is intended to give an idea of the speed of their motion. The time that it takes the electric current to pass between the two most distant points connected by the wires is scarcely appreciable.
Quick as thought is an expression used to convey the idea of instantaneousness. Thought passes at once to the most distant point. The movements of the angels and of the saints in heaven may be as rapid as the operations of the mind. They may only need to think of a place and will to go to it, and be there at once. Whether or not this conjecture is correct, it is certain that they are speedy instruments to do the will of God.
(7.) The angels are very numerous. We read of an “innumerable company of angels” (Heb 12:22). In the vision of Daniel, “thousand thousands . . . and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before . . . the Ancient of Days” (Dan 7:10,13). John in the same way enumerates the angels that surround the throne (Rev 5:11). The service required of them shows that they are a vast multitude. They are ministering spirits for the saints, to counteract and foil
the attempts of evil spirits to do them harm. We read that a legion of devils were in one man (Lk 8:30). We may well conclude that a large number of holy angels are engaged in defeating their machinations.
(8.) There are different orders among the angels. They are the “principality and power”, above which Christ was exalted when He sat down on the right hand of God (Eph 1:21). And to them, as principalities and powers, is made “known by the Church the manifold wisdom of God” (Eph 3:10). Their state in heaven is described by similar terms (Col 1:16). There is subordination among the fallen angels. Satan is called “the prince of devils” (Mt 9:34). This order, we conceive, was established in heaven before they were cast out for their rebellion.
(9.) Angels are immortal. The Lord says of the saints, when comparing their future with that of the angels: “Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels” (Lk 20:36) of God. Their immortality is not an inherent essential principle of their nature; God “only hath immortality” (1 Tim 6:16). They have an existence of eternal duration by the will of God.