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epistle to Timothy, in which he again refers to the fact and significance of his
imprisonment.
"I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, if ye have heard of the
dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward" (Eph. 3: 1, 2).
"I am an ambassador in bonds" (Eph. 6: 20).
These words make it clear that Paul, as the prisoner, had a special stewardship
regarding the Gentiles, and when we read further we find that this stewardship relates to
"a mystery" revealed for the first time to men through Paul, and that it "completes" the
Word of God (Eph. 3: 3-11; Col. 1: 23-27). It is of the essence of a mystery that it
should be "hid" until the time arrives for it to be revealed, and these scriptures, cited
above, show that this mystery was "hid in God", "hid from ages and from generations"
but has "now" been made manifest through the exclusive ministry of Paul, the prisoner of
Jesus Christ.
While the fundamental doctrines of Scripture regarding sin and salvation remain
unchanged, many features that are distinctive and peculiar to the dispensation demand
attention. Let us acquaint ourselves with some of them.
(1) A distinctive and peculiar sphere of blessing.
"In heavenly places" (Eph. 1: 3).
While "heaven" and "heavenly" are terms found throughout the N.T., the expression
en tois epouraniois, "in heavenly places", is peculiar to Ephesians. It occurs five times in
that epistle, namely in chapters 1: 3, 20, 2: 6, and 6: 12. These five occurrences
provide us with all that we can know at present concerning this sphere of blessing. We
can add Eph. 4: 10 which reveals that Christ ascended up "far above all heavens", and
consequently we can perceive something of the high glory that pertains to the position of
those who are said to be "seated together" there.
(2) A distinct period when chosen.
"Chosen in Him before the foundation of the world" (Eph. 1: 4).
In the Gospels, Epistles, and the Revelation, we find the expression "from" or "since"
the foundation of the world (Matt. 13: 35; Heb. 4: 3; Rev. 17: 8), but never do we
read the words "before the foundation of the world" in connection with the redeemed,
except in this one place. Where we meet with this same phrase elsewhere, the reference
is exclusively to Christ. In John 17: 24, we learn that Christ was "loved" before the
foundation of the world, and in I Pet. 1: 20, that He was foreordained as the Lamb
"without blemish and without spot" before the foundation of the world, and, wonder of
wonders, these two things are said to be true of the believer also (Eph. 1: 3-5): "in love";
"holy and without blame".
The word translated "foundation" in these passages is not themelion, the Greek word
for the foundation of a building (Eph. 2: 20), but katabole, which, etymologically, means
"A throwing down", even as the verb kataballo is translated "cast down" (II Cor. 4: 9;