Ephesians 3:1-7: Paul’s Calling to Reveal the Mystery of Christ
Introduction
Every Christian has a story. The story of how they woke up to the reality of Christ, grace, and the treasure house of all of God’s virtues. This passage is a stunning story to read.
Paul's letter to the Ephesians is filled with theological depth, but few passages capture the wonder of God's redemptive plan as powerfully as Ephesians 3:1–7. Here, Paul describes his unique calling, to make known the mystery of Christ, a truth hidden for ages but now revealed. This mystery is not just a new doctrine or insight. It is a reality that transforms who belongs to God's people. Gentiles are not second-class citizens in the kingdom of God. They are full members, co-heirs with Israel in Christ Jesus.
This passage is not only about Paul's mission. It is about the radical grace of God that overturns human divisions and unites his people in ways no one could have imagined. The Heidelberg Catechism (Q&A 54) reminds us that Christ gathers his church "from the beginning of the world to its end, out of the entire human race," not based on ethnicity or heritage, but by faith. Paul's words challenge us to see the church not as a human institution with barriers but as the living body of Christ, built on the foundation of grace.
It's worth sitting with where Paul writes this from. Ephesians is one of Paul's prison epistles, and in this passage specifically, his imprisonment isn't background context, it's the very proof of what he's arguing. He is in chains precisely because he refused to treat Gentiles as anything less than full heirs.
Paul's Imprisonment for the Sake of the Gentiles
Paul opens the chapter by identifying himself as "a prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles" (Ephesians 3:1, NRSV). This is no mere metaphor. Paul writes from a Roman prison, confined because of his mission to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. His arrest traces back to Acts 21–22, where Jewish leaders in Jerusalem accused him of bringing Gentiles into the temple, a charge that led to his imprisonment.
Yet Paul does not see himself as a prisoner of Rome. He calls himself a "prisoner of Christ Jesus." His chains are not evidence of failure but of faithfulness. He suffers because he refuses to compromise the truth that in Christ, Gentiles are fully included in God's people. The Belgic Confession (Article 27) affirms that the church is one, gathered from all nations and bound together by faith, not heritage. Paul's imprisonment testifies to this truth, he would rather be in chains than deny the inclusivity of God's grace.
This is a powerful reminder that the gospel disrupts human systems. Just as Paul's message threatened the religious and political order of his day, the church today is called to challenge divisions and injustices that contradict the unity found in Christ.
Ephesians 3:8-13: The Church's Role in God's Plan
See where this calling leads, from Paul's mission to the church's cosmic testimony.
Read Study →Jew and Gentile Unity in Ephesians
Dig deeper into the mystery at the center of this passage, Gentiles as full heirs, not outsiders.
Read Study →New Humanity in Ephesians
Explore the fuller theology behind the one new people Christ creates out of two.
Read Study →The 4 Prison Epistles of Paul
Ephesians was written from a Roman prison cell, see how it fits with Paul's other captivity letters.
Visit Hub →The Jerusalem Council Debate
See the real first-century meeting where the church wrestled with this exact Jew-Gentile question.
Read Study →Ephesians Bible Study Hub
Explore the full letter, all eight chapters, from grace to unity to spiritual armor.
Visit Hub →The Mystery Made Known by Revelation
Paul continues, "Surely you have already heard of the commission of God's grace that was given me for you, and how the mystery was made known to me by revelation" (Ephesians 3:2–3). Paul's understanding of the gospel did not come through human teaching but through direct revelation from Christ himself. This recalls his dramatic conversion in Acts 9, when Jesus appeared to him on the road to Damascus, transforming him from a persecutor of the church into its foremost apostle to the Gentiles.
The term "mystery" (Greek: mystērion) in Paul's writings does not mean something unknowable but rather something previously hidden that has now been revealed. In this case, the mystery is that God's plan always included the Gentiles. This was hinted at throughout the Old Testament, God's promise to Abraham included "all nations" (Genesis 12:3), and the prophets spoke of a day when Gentiles would worship the God of Israel (Isaiah 49:6; Amos 9:11–12, quoted in Acts 15:16–17). Yet the full inclusion of Gentiles as equal heirs with Israel was not fully understood until Christ's coming.
This is why the Westminster Confession of Faith (Chapter 7) speaks of the covenant of grace as being "gradually revealed." God's redemptive plan unfolds throughout Scripture, culminating in Christ, who breaks down the dividing wall between Jew and Gentile (Ephesians 2:14). Paul's mission is to declare that the barriers once thought permanent have been torn down by the cross.
The Mystery of Christ
Paul emphasizes, "In former generations this mystery was not made known to humankind as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit" (Ephesians 3:5). This does not mean God's plan for the Gentiles was absent from the Old Testament, but that it was not fully understood until Christ came.
A pivotal moment that illustrates this unfolding revelation is Acts 10, where Peter receives a vision of unclean animals and is commanded to eat. When he hesitates, God tells him, "What God has made clean, you must not call profane" (Acts 10:15). This vision leads Peter to the Gentile Cornelius, demonstrating that the gospel is for all people. Later, at the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15), the church formally recognizes that Gentiles do not need to become Jewish to be part of God's people.
This moment is crucial. It means salvation is not bound by cultural identity or religious tradition but is given freely in Christ. The Scots Confession (Chapter 16) affirms that "as we believe in one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, so we firmly believe that from the beginning there has been, now is, and to the end of the world shall be, one Kirk." This unity is not based on human effort but on the Spirit's work in making the mystery of Christ known.
Co-Heirs with Christ
Paul concludes this section with a breathtaking declaration: "That is, the Gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel" (Ephesians 3:6). This is the heart of the mystery, Gentiles are not outsiders who merely benefit from Israel's blessings, they are full participants in God's kingdom.
The language Paul uses, "fellow heirs," "members of the same body," "sharers in the promise," is deeply relational. It echoes his earlier statements in Ephesians 2:19–22, where he describes Gentiles as "citizens with the saints" and "members of the household of God." There is no second-tier citizenship in the kingdom of God. All who are in Christ are part of the same family.
This truth has profound implications for how the church sees itself today. The church is not a club with exclusive membership requirements. It is the visible expression of God's grace to all people. The Confession of 1967, adopted by the PCUSA, affirms that "the church, in its own life, is called to practice the inclusiveness and reconciliation which it proclaims." If the church is to be faithful to its calling, it must reflect the radical welcome of the gospel.
Paul's Calling and Ours
Paul ends this passage by stating, "Of this gospel I have become a servant according to the gift of God's grace that was given me by the working of his power" (Ephesians 3:7). Paul's life was completely reoriented by God's grace, transforming him from an opponent of the gospel into its greatest messenger. His calling was not based on his merit but on God's power working through him.
This raises a question worth sitting with: how does anyone respond to a calling like that? If we have received the grace of Christ, we are also called to be stewards of that grace. Just as Paul was entrusted with the mystery of Christ, believers today are entrusted with the mission of making that mystery known. The world is still filled with dividing walls, social, racial, political. The church's task is to proclaim, in word and deed, that those walls have no place in God's kingdom.
Paul's calling was to reveal the mystery of Christ. Ours is to live it out.
FAQs
Was Paul really imprisoned, or is "prisoner of Christ Jesus" just a figure of speech? Both. Paul was genuinely under Roman arrest, but he reframes his imprisonment through his calling rather than his circumstances, chains from Rome, but faithfulness to Christ.
What is the "mystery" Paul says was revealed to him? That Gentiles are fully included as fellow heirs with Israel, not a new doctrine invented in the first century, but something God's plan always included and is now fully disclosed in Christ.
Why does Paul bring up Peter's vision in Acts 10? Because it's the concrete historical moment this "mystery" actually played out, God telling Peter not to call the Gentile Cornelius unclean, proof the theological claim in Ephesians 3 had already been lived out in the early church.
What does "co-heirs" mean practically? It means there's no tiered membership in the church. Gentile believers aren't secondary beneficiaries of a Jewish inheritance, they're full, equal heirs alongside it.
Works Consulted
The Heidelberg Catechism. Question 54.
The Belgic Confession. Article 27.
The Westminster Confession of Faith. Chapter 7.
The Scots Confession. Chapter 16.
Confession of 1967. Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Paul's calling was to reveal this mystery. Visit the Ephesians Bible Study Hub to see how the rest of the letter lives it out.
