MYSTERIES REVEALED, EXPLAINED
The restless, ambivalent church is in a predicament. It says, “I believe” on the one hand, but does not trust God for understanding of difficult scriptures on the other. This predicament fits very well the definition of a double-minded man who should not expect to receive anything when he encounters a test or a trial. If you do not seek understanding until it comes, you fail the test that God, in his wisdom, has set up for you. You do not have the faith to choose the narrow gate.
Religion Detox Network exists to encourage readers to trust that spiritual understanding is possible. Here are Biblical proofs for that opinion:
John 4:21-26 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such the Father seeks to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
COMMENTARY: See this link for understanding of what it means to worship in spirit and truth.
25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ); when he comes, he will show us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
COMMENTARY: See Messianic Prophecy and Messiahs for understanding of multiple messiahs (i.e. true prophets.) Jesus says that he is one of those true prophets who speaks for God to explain all things (i.e. mysteries.)
This is a good example of a scripture that has been wrongly interpreted by Bible scribes.***
The coming of Christ is not only a future, eschatological event. It is (or at least should be) a here and now event. It happens every time we die to self and the life of Christ is created in us. This is the “mystery” of Christ. Thus, if you are “in Christ” the Messiah has come and His spirit lives in you now. It follows then that He will (or at least might) show you “all things” now. The controlling condition is our belief — not Christ’s willingness or power to show us all things.
When the spirit of Christ (i.e. prophecy) shows us all things, he shows us how to interpret the symbolic meanings of scripture.
John 16:13 RSV When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth…
COMMENTARY: The Spirit of truth (i.e. the spirit of Christ) comes to New Covenant disciples but not to Old/First Covenant religionists.
The condition for gaining truth is not the power or willingness of the Spirit to come and reveal it. Rather, the controlling conditions for accessing truth are our belief that it will come and our willingness to eagerly search for truth as God commands us to do in “ask, seek knock and it will be opened to you.“
We have in “ask, seek knock and it will be opened to you.” a promise that we should not want to ignore. And if we do not ignore the command and do “ask, seek and knock” the Spirit will guide us into all the truth — even the truth of the mysteries.
In other words, knowing truth is not just something that happens when we get to heaven — it can happen now and God wants it to happen now. It only comes, however, to people who hear God’s spoken voice.
The so-called Lord’s prayer includes the phrase “thy kingdom come, thy will be done (i.e. heard and obeyed) in earth (i.e. Old/First Covenant religionists) as it is in heaven (i.e. New covenant disciples”. This verse contains a promise that God will reveal truth to us “here and now” not just at some future time.
If we do not desire that truth enough to ask, seek and knock for it today, and seriously Study for it today, we effectively say that the truth is not that important to us. And if it is not important to us, why would should we expect God to answer our questions about the meaning of difficult scriptures? If we are content with the limited knowledge we have about God, he respects our contentment and leaves us in the dark about the his deep mysteries.
The issue is this: Do we want to be Warriors for God? If we do, we will be diligently asking, seeking and knocking to unlock the mysteries of the Bible.
Similarly, if we not learn how to hear God’s voice so that we can understand and apply the symbolism to our lives, we do not really fear God. Fearing God is strongly associated with obeying His commandments. Ask, seek and knock is one of those commandments.
Matthew 13:9-16 10 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11 And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For to him who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
COMMENTARY: If you call yourself a disciple of Jesus, you have the same potential to know the secrets of the kingdom that the disciples in the passage had. This scripture makes it clear that some get it (the secrets) and some do not. It also says that the more you understand, the more understanding you will be given. Conversely, it says that those who do not get it will lose what they already have. This is a strong exhortation to be among those who get it.
Matthew 13:35 RSV 35 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet: “I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.”
COMMENTARY: This is Jesus talking. He is saying that His parables will reveal the answers to the mysteries of God that have been confounding people forever. You can either take Jesus at His word about this or not. If you do not take Him at His word, however, you should be careful about labeling yourself as a follower of Christ.
Matthew 10:26 NIV 26 “So do not be afraid of them. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known.
COMMENTARY: Jesus again says that the mysteries will be revealed. The context is here and now — not after we die.
Mark 4:21-25 22 For there is nothing hid, except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret, except to come to light. 23 If any man has ears to hear, let him hear.” 24 And he said to them, “Take heed what you hear; the measure you give will be the measure you get, and still more will be given you. 25 For to him who has will more be given; and from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”
COMMENTARY: It is very clear from this scripture that secret, hidden things will be exposed. There Is a condition, however, for God exposing the truth: The one who hears/receives the truth must act on it. When God says “let him hear”, He means that we should demonstrate that we have really heard by obeying what we have heard. The ultimate proof that we have heard lies in the willingness to share what we have heard with others. This is what God means by loving our neighbors as ourselves.
God throws in a little incentive for obedience. That is if you share only a little of what you hear God say with others, you will receive only a little revelation about the secrets. Alternatively, if you are faithful to share every truth that God reveals to you, you will receive much more truth. That is what God means by “measure you give and measure you get”. And, if you do share nothing of the truth God gives to you, whatever truth you thought you had will be taken away. So, in a very real sense we control how much revelation we receive by the effort we make to understand and share the revelation we do receive. This is such an important principle to God that he calls it the second great commandment.
New Covenant scriptures are somewhat easier to understand than First Covenant scriptures, but not a lot easier because Jesus spoke in parables. But the apostles could be similarly mysterious in their writings. Here are a couple of examples:
2-Peter 3:14-17 NIV 4 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His 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. 17 Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position.
COMMENTARY: Here Peter makes clear that failure to understand Paul’s scriptures cause destruction for ignorant, unstable people. In fact, Peter says that these same people also distort First Covenant scriptures also. He gives a clear warning to be on guard (regarding your understanding of all hard to understand scriptures) so that you are not deceived by the wrong interpretations of scriptures by men who do not know and do not practice the Law.
Colossians 1:21-29 21 And you, who once were estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him, 23 provided that you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which has been preached to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister. 24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, 25 of which I became a minister according to the divine office which was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now made manifest to his saints. 27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 Him we proclaim, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man mature in Christ. 29 For this I toil, striving with all the energy which he mightily inspires within me.
COMMENTARY: This scripture not only testifies that the mystery exists, but it also explain what the mystery is: Christ in us.
This is nothing more and nothing less than the fulfillment of the New Covenant: The Law is written on our hearts. Jesus cannot be separated from the Law. As the living word became flesh (John 1:1-14) and dwelt in us, the Law is written on our hearts. In short, the mystery is that the life of Christ is established in us when the Law is written on our hearts.
The difficulty we have in understanding this mystery is that our understanding of Jesus becoming flesh is typically limited to the reality that Jesus was born with an earthly body. While that is true, it is not as important as the truth that Jesus inhabits our bodies (at least to some degree). This mystery is discussed in depth in New Covenant.
Finally, here is the scripture that turned us on to the fact of God hiding mysteries for his people to discover:
Proverbs 25:2 RSV It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out.
COMMENTARY: Saying that it is to the glory of kings to search out things affirms that secrets/mysteries can be searched out successfully. However, this applies only when you carry the status of king.
Obviously a king in this scripture does not refer to royalty as we understand it today. Actually, as a believer you must consider yourself as a king because believers have spiritual authority like kings. Jesus carried the status of prophet, priest and king. Followers of Jesus, therefore, carry the same status.
This scripture implies that if you are not searching out secrets and mysteries are obviously not a king because you are not behaving like a king. And it you do not behave like a king, you bring into serious doubt any claims you might make about being a follower of Jesus.
Hopefully these scriptures convince readers that the mysteries of the Bible will be revealed here and now to those who ask and listen for wisdom from God’s voice and who stop seeking for truth about God from false prophets. If you are still not quite convinced that God has given you the ability to uncover mysteries, then perhaps the scriptures found in this link will convince you. If not, then you will just have to wait until you get to the point that you no longer trust in human interpretations of the Bible and put your trust in God for understanding.
The way we see it is that, all things considered, we have no reason to be ashamed if we find the Bible difficult to understand. After all, God made it that way. We do have reason for shame, however, if we do not make the effort to understand. It is a test to see how much we love Him and trust Him. If we are content with the limited picture of God based on literal Bible interpretations that religion teaches, instead of listening for his voice to teach us, we fail the test.