Adhering to a Mystery

Paul employed an expression people don’t often use in churches these days—the mystery of the Faith. When was the last time you heard a pastor speak of a Bible mystery? Specifically, have you ever heard mention of the mystery of the Faith?

Paul used this phrase when speaking of the commitment a person must have if they will enter into the deaconate. He said that they have to hold that mystery. In other words, they have to cling to it. In addition, they have to adhere to it with a clear conscience. Here's what Paul said:

Deacons likewise must be dignified… holding the mystery of the Faith with a clear conscience… (1 Timothy 3:8-9; LEB)

So, if a man or woman will be a deacon, they must hold onto something. They must cling to something. You would think that they would simply have to cling to the Faith, but that's not what Paul said. He says that they have to cling to the mystery of the Faith.

Mysterion – a Bible Word

Any attempt to get the right interpretation of this passage will require an honest definition of the Greek New Testament word mysterion. The apostles used this word 28 times and it consistently means “something that can only be known by means of a revelation.”

Let's repeat the main idea again. A mystery in the Biblical sense is not something unknown, but something that can only be known by means of a revelation.

In other words, the apostles speak of a mystery as something known, but something that can only be understood through a dream, a vision, or a prophecy. The knowledge of a mystery comes through illumination—the revelatory work of the Holy Spirit. You need to be enlightened to understand a mystery.

The Bible: A Revelation

There are no cases in the Bible where the word mysterion means “something that cannot be understood.” The problem is that that is most often how we define the word mystery in English. In English, a mystery is something we cannot understand. So it doesn’t quite work well to use the English word mystery as a direct translation of mysterion.

But Bibles actually do translate mysterion into the English word mystery, and the reason why they can is because the context almost always makes the meaning of mystery clear. You don’t need to put in a footnote for the word mystery every time you see it in the Bible because the meaning is revealed by the context.

For example, the following Bible verse demonstrates that all mysteries can be known. It says that a person is capable of understanding every mystery out there!

If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge… but do not have love, I am nothing (1 Corinthians 13:2).

The Bible itself is a revelation, not a book of secrets. It was not written to tell us how much we don’t know, but to focus our minds on the things God has revealed.

The exciting reality of human knowledge is that we will eventually understand all things. That’s why 1 Corinthians 13 goes on to tell us:

... then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known’ (v. 12).

The then of this passage is "in the Kingdom after we're resurrected." So why worry about mysteries we haven’t come to understand yet? We’ll eventually understand all of them when the Kingdom comes. God aims at revealing all mysteries to us, eventually.

The Bible Defines Its Own Vocabulary

We said that “something that can only be known by means of a revelation” is the best definition of the Biblical word mysterion, but where do we get this definition from? Do we get it from a Greek lexicon or a seminary professor? Must we be experts in ancient Greek to obtain an accurate definition? No, we get it from a simple reading of the Bible.

The Bible defines the word mystery for us! Look at how the word mystery is defined by Paul in Romans.

… my Gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the Everlasting God, for obedience to the Faith… (Romans 16:25-26; NKJV)

Magnificent! This passage speaks of the revelation of the mystery. That means that the mystery is not hidden. It has become a revelation. It has become known.

To make it clearer, it goes on to say that the mystery was kept secret… but it is now made manifest and made known. That makes things easy! If a mystery is made manifest now, then it's no longer a secret.

So, the Bible speaks of mysteries which are now made known. In other words, the mysteries of the Bible can be understood—but only through the revelation of, as Paul calls the Father in Romans 16, the Everlasting God!

Other Uses of Mystery

Other Biblical examples of how the Greek word for mystery is used include the mysteries of:

· Christ (Ephesians 3:4; Colossians 2:2; 4:3)

· the Gospel (Ephesians 6:19)

· godliness (1 Timothy 3:16)

· God’s will (Ephesians 1:9)

· the Kingdom (Matthew 13:11)

· the Rapture (1 Corinthians 15:51), and even...

· marriage (Ephesians 5:32)!

Each of these mysteries were once hidden, but are now revealed to us—and that’s precisely what the Bible means when it uses the word mystery. See the word mystery defined by the Bible once again here:

My goal is that… they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God… (Colossians 2:2)

Did you get that? A mystery is something that through understanding you may come to know. And it was Paul’s goal for people to get to know one particular mystery, one he calls the mystery of God.

Yes, Paul called this his goal, so it was something he worked hard to accomplish. How did he accomplish it? By preaching and teaching the Scriptures tirelessly.

Such a Time as This

At present, Christians have the potential to understand all mysteries (1 Corinthians 13:2). In other words, we live on a level of understanding unmatched in history. Neither the patriarchs nor the Old Testament prophets had such knowledge, knowledge which has qualified us to be:

... stewards of the mysteries of God (1 Corinthians 4:1).

In conclusion, every Christian is a mystery-handler. New Testament believers like us manage mysteries, and one of those mysteries is the mystery of the Faith!

Because we know exactly what the Faith is, we share it with others. We preach it. The Bible tells us that Paul went around preaching the Faith (Galatians 1:23).

It’s only by knowing a mystery that one becomes apt to minister it to others. The verse above says that we are stewards of the mysteries of God. As stewards, we administer God’s mysteries.

Prior to the Apostles, the Faith was hidden. But the Faith was 'once for all delivered to the saints' (Jude 1:3; NKJV) when, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the apostles composed the holy writings we today call the New Testament.

Now, you and I have been made stewards of the Faith. We are the guardians of the New Testament revelation we find in Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and every other book in the New Testament Scriptures.

Even Peter, speaking of Paul's writings, called them Scriptures--and they hadn't yet been included in the canon of Holy Writ we today call the Bible.

His [Paul's] letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction (2 Peter 3:16).

A Clear Conscience

Paul demanded that a person who wanted to serve as a deacon needed to hold to the Faith in a certain way. What way? He must hold to the Faith with a clear conscience.

Deacons likewise must be dignified… holding the mystery of the Faith with a clear conscience… (1 Timothy 3:8-9; LEB)

Compare this statement to the passages below—Bible passages which describe how effective the New Covenant is for the cleansing of your conscience. With these we can prove that not only deacons were supposed to keep a clear conscience. Maintaining a clear conscience is the duty of all baptized believers.

… keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander (1 Peter 3:16-18).

For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the Eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the Living God? (Hebrews 9:13-14).

Pray for us. We are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way (Hebrews 13:18).

The author of Hebrews was sure that he and his missionary friends had clear consciences. Are you sure that you have one?

The Faith Frees You

Only sound Christian doctrine—the Faith—brings us the victory over sin which gives each of us a good and clean conscience. No other system of belief can generate a lifestyle in which a clear conscience is the norm. For example, the religions of Islam and Judaism are able to produce repentance from sin, but they cannot produce a good conscience.

Only the blood of Jesus is effective enough to generate a clear conscience.

Paul was so confident that he had confessed all of his sins that he declared it before both Church members and a Jewish council. Here’s what Paul stated as he said farewell to his friends at Miletus, members of the church at Ephesus:

Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the Kingdom will ever see me again. Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God (Acts 20:25-27).

And here's what Paul said to the Jewish leaders:

Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, ‘My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day.’ At this the High Priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth (Acts 23:1-2).

How was it possible for Paul to live with such a good and clear conscience? It's simply because he had the Faith, the sound doctrine. Righteousness is attainable through the Faith. That’s exactly why it’s so precious.

The Faith is the tool God has given us to live a life in all good conscience. The Faith is the tool God has given us to be free from sin. It is a not just a truth, it is the collection of Truths that makes us spiritually strong. The strength the Faith instills in us frees us from the power of sin.

… you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free (John 8:32).