Eph 3:1–13
For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles (v. 1)
Verse 1 is generally seen as distinct from verses 2-13, which are a parenthetical statement from Paul before resuming in verse 14. As such, I am treating it distinctly from the following verses.
One might think that in such a small passage, not even a complete thought, that there would be little room for any significant departure in theology. It seems like a very straightforward verse. Nonetheless there is a basis for departure based on Adventist theology about the nature of God. Paul repeatedly refers to himself as a prisoner of Christ (or the Lord). Evangelical commentators note how Paul “refuses to regard himself as a victim of either the Jews or of the Roman Emperor Nero. He is ‘the prisoner of Christ Jesus’.”1 Evangelical commentators find the choice of wording to reflect a deeper meaning about God’s sovereignty in all situations.
Adventist theology limits, or even eliminates, God’s sovereignty. The entire basis of the Great Controversy requires severely curtailing God’s sovereignty.2 The Clear Word eliminates Paul’s reference to God’s sovereignty and replaces it with the theologically watered down, although historically accurate, statement that “I, Paul…have been imprisoned, because I took the gospel to the Gentiles.”
The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary (SDABC) provides an entire paragraph on the word “prisoner”, concluding that “it is better to be in prison for a good cause than to be free and failing in duty and privileges.” In regard to the phrase “of Jesus Christ”, the SDABC provides an equivocal short statement: “That is, a prisoner belonging to Christ, or one for Christ’s sake.” The SDABC carefully avoids any conclusions about the meaning of Paul referencing being a prisoner of Christ rather than Nero, instead providing the theological escape hatch that allows for the understanding presented in The Clear Word.
…assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel (Eph 3:2-6).
Despite Adventist teachings about Present Truth and progressive revelation, Adventist theology recognizes very little difference between covenants. Therefore, it isn’t surprising that the idea of the mystery of Christ not being made known in other generations would be a difficult passage for Adventists to accept at face value. The SDABC provides no meaningful guidance on understanding how Adventists would view this passage. The only hint at Adventist beliefs is a statement within a discussion of progressive revelation that revelation is limited “by the willful ignorance of the people, until the full blood revelation appeared in the person of Jesus Christ.”
This comment is a substantial departure from what the passage reads. Instead of not being made known by God, the truth was willfully ignored by the people. Instead of being revealed by the Holy Spirit to the apostles and prophets after Pentecost, it was made known in the incarnation of Jesus Christ.
The Clear Word makes this departure obvious, “in the past, people didn’t understand all this”. Failing to understand ascribes the action to the people. Scripture’s words “Not being made known” ascribes the action to God. Once again, Adventist theology removes God’s sovereign activity and replaces it with the works of man. Furthermore, this seemingly small change in the wording sets up a very large theological error regarding the distinction between the covenants. In Adventist theology, the job of Jews in the Old Testament was to spread the message of God and make converts of the whole world (just as the job of the church in the New Testament is to preach the Gospel to all the world). In Adventist theology, the New Covenant didn’t change anything about God’s inclusion of the Gentiles in the promise.
In contrast, accepting what Scripture says presents a very different theology. The future inclusion of the Gentiles was promised in the OT, but the nature of that inclusion wasn’t made known until the time of the Apostles. The line between Jews and Gentiles was now eliminated. Gentiles didn’t become Jews in order to come to God; both Jews and Gentiles are now equal in the eyes of God. The New Covenant is distinctly different from the Old Covenant, and that mystery was made known to the apostles and prophets directly by God through the revelation of the Holy Spirit.
Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory (Eph. 3:7-13).
It shouldn’t be surprising to anyone familiar with Adventist theology that Adventists would conclude that the “rulers and authorities in heavenly places” would refer to “other worlds throughout the universe” rather than to the angels in heaven (cf I Pet 1:12). It is important to the Adventist theological construct of the Great Controversy to have unfallen races in other worlds awaiting the vindication of God’s character in order to establish God as the eternal ruler of the universe.3 The entire Adventist theological system hinges on the need for these unfallen worlds to conclude that God has been vindicated. While there is some variation among Adventist schools of thought regarding what that vindication requires, it is a common theme that God needs to prove that His Law is fair and just and can be kept by man. Therefore, it is critical to insert the concept of unfallen worlds into Scripture wherever possible.
It is also interesting to contrast the treatment of Paul’s reference to God’s eternal purpose. The SDABC reports the purpose of God as “to effect man’s salvation and to vindicate His character.” F.F. Bruce’s comments in the New International Commentary on the New Testament links the discussion of God’s purpose back to Paul’s imprisonment. Paul is in the process of encouraging the people despite his imprisonment, that the purpose of God is at work:
Whether he discharged his commission along the highways of the empire and its main centers of communication, or (as now) under house arrest in Rome, was not something that he could choose: if he was at present in custody, he was where Christ wanted him to be, obedient to his commander’s orders, posted there ‘for the defense of the gospel’ (Phil 1:16). Therefore, he was content…Instead of being bewildered and discouraged, they (the Gentile believers) would rejoice. If it was an honor for Paul to be Christ’s prisoner on the Gentiles’ behalf, it was an honor for the Gentiles themselves.4
Notice how the Evangelical understanding ties together the context of the passage including the introductory verse, noting again the importance that is placed on Paul’s words of being a prisoner of Christ Jesus. This explanation pulls together the entire section and prepares for the transition to the next. It also emphasizes a larger view of God’s purpose; God’s purpose extends beyond simply our salvation and into the details of our life and our situation. God is a personal God.
Place yourself in the Ephesians’ place. The leader who introduced Christ in your entire community, the man who taught you what he said came directly to Him from God, was being held prisoner. If God isn’t protecting him from arrest, how confident can you be approaching God? But if Paul is a prisoner of Jesus Christ, fulfilling God’s purpose, then of course we too can “have boldness and access (to God) with confidence through our faith in (Jesus Christ).”
When you quit trying to force fit the Great Controversy heresy into Scripture, the passages make so much more sense.
How Ephesians Contradicts Adventism #1
How Ephesians Contradicts Adventism #2
How Ephesians Contradicts Adventism #3
How Ephesians Contradicts Adventism #4
How Ephesians Contradicts Adventism #5
How Ephesians Contradicts Adventism #6
How Ephesians Contradicts Adventism #7
How Ephesians Contradicts Adventism #8
How Ephesians Contradicts Adventism #9
Endnotes
- The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 11. Zondervan. Grand Rapids, MI. 1981. page 44.
- If God’s eternal rule is any doubt, if God must prove or demonstrate anything in order to continue His rulership of the Universe, then God is not sovereign.
- “The universal purpose in redemption includes the vindication of the name and character of God, which has been challenged by Satan and questioned by angels.” SDABC Vol 6, page 1016 – comments on Eph 3:10.
- The New International Commentary on the New Testament: The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, MI, 1984, page 323.
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