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Because they are "unsearchable", they can also be called "the riches of the glory of
this mystery". Both passages--Col. 1: 27 and Eph. 3: 8--declare that these riches are
made known "among the Gentiles".
The words "Christ in you" should be translated "Christ among you". En followed by
the plural is so translated many times, and is actually found in the same verse--"among
the Gentiles." So that the reader may see for himself that such is a consistent translation,
we give a few out of more than one hundred passages, where the A.V. renders en
followed by the plural as "among":--
"None other name . . . . . given among men" (Acts 4: 12).
"Inheritance among them which are sanctified" (Acts 26: 18).
"Obedience to the faith among all nations" (Rom. 1: 5).
"Christ, Who was preached among you" (II Cor. 1: 19).
"That I might preach Him among the heathen" (Gal. 1: 16).
The doctrine of the indwelling Christ or of the indwelling Spirit is not here in view.
The glory that is here made known is not the glory of God in connection with the
salvation of the Gentiles. It is definitely stated to be "the riches of the glory of this
mystery" which, as explained in the sequel, is associated with "the hope". So that this
glory must be the glory of which the Gentiles hope to become partakers as the result of
the revelation of the mystery.
This hope of the glory is evidently something different from anything hitherto
revealed, for it forms a definite feature of the prayer in Eph. 1: 15-19. Moreover, it is
called "the hope of His calling", because that calling is very intimately associated with
"the hope of the glory". Again, in Eph. 1: 15-19 "the riches of the glory" are linked with
"His inheritance in the saints", a connection which finds a parallel in Col. 1::--
"Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the
inheritance of the saints in light" (Col. 1: 12).
It would seem reasonable to expect that a consideration of the usage and occurrences
in the prison epistles of the word "riches" would throw some light upon the particular
"riches of the glory" of Col. 1: 27. We give a list of these occurrences below:--
"The forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace" (Eph. 1: 7).
"What the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints" (Eph. 1: 18).
"That . . . . . He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward
us in Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2: 7).
"That I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ" (Eph. 3: 8).
"That He would grant you according to the riches of His glory" (Eph. 3: 16).
"My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus"
(Phil. 4: 19).
"What is the riches of the glory of this mystery" (Col. 1: 27).
"Unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgment of the
mystery of God--Christ" (Col. 2: 2).