For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— 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.

Chapter 3 begins with “For this reason….” To find the reason, we go back to the previous chapter. He has just been discussing the fact that Jew and Gentile have been brought together into one body which is growing into a holy temple, a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Paul goes on to say that he is a prisoner on behalf of the Gentiles. God had given him this ministry. Paul was a Jew, but his ministry was to the Gentiles. This was actually a difficult assignment.

He then goes on in verse 2 to say that a stewardship of God’s grace had been given to him. A stewardship is a responsibility. A steward managed the affairs of the master’s house. Paul had been given the truth about the grace of God that had been hidden, but was now being revealed. He was to guard and manage this truth of the grace of God so that it was transmitted completely and carefully to the Gentiles.

He explains in verse 3 how this mystery was made known to him by revelation. Paul writes in Galatians 1:11, 12: “For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.” He presumably received this revelation in Arabia, according to Galatians 1:17.

Exported from Logos Bible Software, 9:18 AM November 24, 2020.