God chooses His own time in His perfect wisdom to reveal the various phases of His

redemptive purposes, and these time periods are always exact and fitting. The accurate

student of the Word will always recognize this and seek to avoid the error that comes

from reading past truth into the present and vice versa. Much confusion in Christendom

could have been avoided if this had always been carried out. How often do we read of an

explanation of the Mystery of Eph. 3: that takes us back to the O.T., when it is clearly

stated that, at that time, it was hidden in God! (Eph. 3: 9; Col. i.26). The revelation of

this great Secret to the children of God and its heavenly calling and destiny is now,

according to God's own season, and is made known through Paul `the prisoner of Christ

Jesus', according to His commandment.

The epistle continues:

`Abolish' is too strong a translation, for we know only too well that death is still with

us. Katargeo `abolish' is one of Paul's favourite words, for he uses it twenty-five times.

It is a rare term scarcely used outside the papyri.  It means to frustrate, nullify,

disempower or more literally, to put out of gear or render inoperative. We notice its

usage in Rom. 6: 6 where it is translated `destroyed', again too strong a rendering, for

we know, alas, from practical experience at times that our sinful old nature has not been

It has been `rendered inoperative' by being crucified with Christ and this becomes true

in our experience when we `reckon' it to be so. Death was not abolished at our Saviour's

first advent, but He defeated it by His redemptive work on the cross, and by His glorious

resurrection took the sting out of it for the believer, which is sin (I Cor. 15: 56) and so the

`king of terrors' has been robbed of his domination and fear, for the Lord Jesus has tasted

all death's bitterness in our stead and for us who know Him as Saviour and Lord, we only

`fall asleep'. Death cannot finally hold the believer, for he has been united to the

Conqueror of death, and because He lives, we shall live also eternally.

Not only did the Lord Jesus make death inoperative for the believer, but by His

sacrificial work on the cross He brought life and incorruption to light by it. We have

already seen that this incorruptible life and immortality are to be found only in Christ and

not in fallen humanity. Any teaching that man possesses these apart from the Lord and

His salvation is pagan in origin, flatly contradicting the Scriptures and comes from the

father of lies.  The Apostle refers to his threefold office of herald (preacher or

proclaimer), apostle and teacher once more in I Tim. 2: 7. He was a proclaimer of the

truth committed to him by the Lord Jesus, a sent one (apostle) by Him and a teacher of

the Gentiles, and to emphasize the importance of his ministry he declares `I lie not'

(ITim.ii.7), showing that he was not inventing or exaggerating the unique position given

to him by God, as His mouthpiece to the Gentile world.