God is sovereign He can do whatever He wants. If He wants to keep something a secret that’s His prerogative.
So, when God said the gospel of grace was hidden from mankind until He revealed it to Paul we best believe Him.
The goal of this post is to show with Biblical certainty that the gospel of the grace of God was hidden from ALL MANKIND until revealed to the apostle Paul. And within that 2000 year period when God was dealing with His chosen people the Gentile world had no message of salvation from God. Consequently, providing the reader more than enough Biblical support to answer the “Title Question”; Can you believe something God never revealed?
From Ephesians 2:11,12, alone there should be enough clarity for the reader to identify that prior to the risen Lord revealing to the apostle Paul the “mystery” or “secret” of the gospel of the grace of God (Acts 20:24; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4), and the doctrines of grace (Ephesians 3:1-11), the Gentile world was without Christ, without hope and no access to God.
Ephesians 2:11,12, is not the only passage that clearly declares that until God revealed the secret or “Mystery” of the gospel of grace to the apostle Paul the Gentile world had no Good News of Salvation and were without hope. All covenant blessings to both Jew and Gentiles was “the Christ”. The great message of hope throughout the Old Testament was the coming of the Messiah and His kingdom (Zechariah 14:9). Not the body of Christ, because it was hidden in God until Paul. (Colossians 1:24-27; 1 Corinthians 12:12-14)
No Hope for the Gentile World for 2000 Years
‘Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision (Gentiles) by what is called the Circumcision (Jewish People) made in the flesh by hands— that at that time you were without Christ (the Gentile world was never promised a Messiah or “Christ”), being aliens (why were Gentiles aliens? Because for 2000 years God was dealing communicating with His chosen and covenant people. There were no dealings with the Gentile world with a few exceptions ) from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. ‘
Ephesians 2:11-12
‘But now (not before the risen Lord reveals the gospel of grace to Paul sometime between 37 & 40 AD) in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.’
Ephesians 2:13
‘And you (Gentiles), who once (“who once” is a time frame for 2000 years from Abraham to Paul) were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works (the Mosaic Law was given to Moses and given to Israel not the Gentile world), yet now (after the cross and after the revelation of the gospel of grace to Paul) He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight— ‘
Colossians 1:21,22
‘I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church,
Colossians 1:24
of which I became a minister (Paul was uniquely chosen by God to be the apostle to the Gentile World; Acts 9:15,16; Romans 11:13; Romans 15:15,15; Galatians 1:11,12) according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you (Gentiles), to fulfill the word of God,
Colossians 1:25
the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations (IT MEANS WHAT IS SAYS THAT UNTIL THE RISEN LORD REVEALED THESE MYSTERIES TO PAUL THEY WERE HIDDEN IN GOD), but now (Not during Christ earthly ministry, Not when God gave the law to Moses to give to the nation of Israel, Not after the flood, Not when called out Abraham,) has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery (the secret hidden in God before time began, that salvation is now since reaveled to Paul apart from the Mosaic law Romans 3:21,22 by faith alone in the finished work of the cross to both Jew and Gentiles) among the Gentiles (which for 2000 years since Abraham was unheard of and anathema to a Jew): which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.’
Colossians 1:27
‘Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel (what gospel? the gospel of grace revealed to Paul 11 years after Pentecost. Galatians 1:11,12; 1 Corinthians 15:1-14; Acts 20:24) and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began’
Romans 16:25
‘For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles—
if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God (that now after 2000 years of the Gentiles having no access to Israel’s God, they do, apart from the law and temple worship) which was given to me (to Paul not Peter and the 11 (Galatians 2:7-10; Acts 15:11) for you (Gentiles),
how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (the gospel of the grace of God and the doctrines for the Body of Christ) (as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ),
which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men (no one knew anything about the God pouring out His grace to the entire world, that salvation would be freely given to all who believe in the finished work of the cross), as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets:
that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel (through this new gospel of grace revealed to Paul the Gentile world would now have access to Israel’s God and partake in God’s divine blessing),
of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me (It is by Paul’s gospel that mankind will be judged (Romans 2:16) by the effective working of His power.
To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given (the doctrines of grace were given to Paul alone not to Peter and the 11), that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,
and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery (the Body of Christ and all the new revelations for both Jew and Gentiles), which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God (IMPOSSIBLE TO TWIST! THESE REVELATIONS WERE NOT KNOWN TO PETER, JOHN THE BAPTIST, MOSES, ADAM, ISAIAH, IT WAS HIDDEN. STOP PLAYING GAMES WITH GOD’S WORD AND BELIEVE HIM) who created all things through Jesus Christ;
to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places (now, Satan and his demonic forces, the rulers of the world and all mankind KNOW THAT THE CROSS WAS SO MUCH MORE THAN THE JEWS REJECTING THEIR KING AND TOGETHER WITH THE GENTILES CRUCIFIED GOD THE SON. NOW, SINCE GOD REVEALED THIS “MYSTERY” TO PAUL THE WHOLE WORLD KNOWS THAT THE CROSS WAS PART OF GOD’S ETERNAL PURPOSES LAID OUT BEFORE HE CREATED THE FIRST STAR, THE FIRST GRAIN OF SAND, THAT GOD HAS OPENED THE FLOOD GATES OF HEAVEN AND IS POURING OUT HIS GRACE TO ALL; JEW AND GENTILE INSPITE OF THEIR UNGODLY LIVES AND SALVATION IS A FREE GIFT APART FROM THE MOSAIC LAW, TEMPLE WORSHIP BY BELIEVING BY FAITH ALONE IN THE FINISHED WORK OF THE CROSS; AMAZING), according to the eternal purpose (The Godhead planed this in time past (Acts 2:23) which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, ‘
Ephesians 3:1-11
‘that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God , both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.’
Colossians 2:2-3
Overwhelming Scripture Support
Not enough Scripture-support to show that God hid the gospel of grace from all mankind even the Jewish writers until Paul? Are you seeing it, or are you trying your best to force your theology into the passages above and sticking to the erroneous narrative, just mixing it all together, law and grace?
Need more Bible verses that prove the Gentile world had no Christ (“Messiah”), no hope of salvation, and no doctrine on how to live their daily lives. Well, how’s about a whole chapter? Romans 11, makes it so vividly clear that Gentiles for 2000 years were with Christ, with no hope and without access to Israel’s God.
11 I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! (so much for the demonic theology of Replacement Theology) But through their (who? Israel) fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles (not before or anytime during Israel was under the Law).
12 Now if their (Israel) fall is riches (salvation) for the world, and their failure (Israel’s Unbelief) riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness (when the gentiles are off the scene “rapture” God will once again deal with His chosen people and fulfill all the glorious promises He made to them)!
15 For if their (Israel) being cast away (temporary) is the reconciling (the “Mystery”) of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead (God will again turn His attention to His people)?
17 And if some of the branches (Jews or Circumcision) were broken off, and you (Gentiles or Uncircumcised), being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker (salvation and direct access to Israel’s God) of the root and fatness of the olive tree,
18 do not boast against the branches (be grateful). But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you (Only because of Israel’s disobedience and God’s mercy do we “Gentiles” have the opportunity of salvation, it was always God’s plan for Gentiles to be saved but it was come through the nation of Israel).
19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” (Simple enough to understand!!!)
20 Well said. Because of unbelief (not because of Israel’s gross sins does God temporarily cast them aside, but because they couldn’t believe who He was, their promised King “Unbelief”) they were broken off, and you stand by faith (our salvation is based on our faith in the finished work of the cross). Do not be haughty, but fear.
22 Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. (God is sovereign and He can do as He pleases with whom He pleases, so we Gentiles must be grateful. It was God’s Son in the flesh that shed His blood for our sin)
23 And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. (Salvation today is for both Jew and Gentile and if a Jew believes the gospel of grace he to will be saved)
24 For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? (again, this is to remind us “Gentiles” that God is not done with His chosen people. It is easy for God to fulfill His promises to his Chosen people. Christ will rule from David’s throne in Jerusalem on earth and Israel will be the preeminent nation above all nations just like God promised Israel)
Romans 11:25 is one the 8 or 9 “Mysteries” or secrets revealed to the apostle Paul by the risen Lord Himself. That God is temporarily blinding Israel UNTIL the last Gentile is saved and then we’re outta here!
First, all believers that have died under Paul’s gospel of grace, will be resurrected, with new bodies to meet the Lord in the clouds. Next, believers who are alive will be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye (1 Corinthians 15:51,52) into their immortal bodies and they too will meet the Lord in the clouds and we will be with Him forever (1 Thessalonians 4:17). Glory to God! Then God will turn His attention to His chosen people Israel and the 7 year tribulation will begin.
25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
30 For as you were once disobedient to God (mankind, in general, has rejected God even after the flood and after God scattered man from the tower of Babel they continued to reject God even to this day), yet have now (not before Paul’s given these new revelations) obtained mercy (even God’s chosen people have rejected God and because of their final act of rebellion the crucifixion of their King, God turns to the Gentiles) through their disobedience,
31 even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy.
Lastly, we have Romans 11:32, which just happens to be one of my favorite passages in all Scripture. Most people just read through this verse and never give a second thought but the significance of Romans 11:32, is grossly over-looked.
This is such a loaded verse, many books could be written based off this one verse. Study it and dig down into this verse and the moment you begin to grasp what God is saying, it will knock you off your feet. I’ll just leave that alone for now and address this passage in another post.
32 For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all.
Making a Mockery of God’s Word Twisting Passages to Fit Man’s Theology
The more I study these verses and the more I teach the Word, the more I’m convinced that people either don’t understand the significance of these verses or they interpret the passages more along the lines of; “I want a large pepperoni pizza with extra cheese with a side of ranch”.
!!!Or they’ve been taught that Israel no longer matters and what was promised to Israel is now for us the “Gentiles” (Replacement Theology) Which is what most main stream denominations teach today. Replacement Theology is a lie from the father lies himself Satan!!!
These verses are simple and self-explanatory. We should take each passage literally, in context, and in time. We should never rely on man’s ideas to better understand a passage. We should use the best interpreter of Scripture, Scripture itself.
With that in mind reading Ephesians 2:11 & 12, and all the passages listed above read each passage literally, in context and in time provides the reader only one conclusion:
That the Gentile world or the “uncircumcised”, from the call of Abraham to the apostle Paul were without Christ or a “Messiah” with absolutely no hope of salvation. The Gentile world was never promised a “Messiah” and had no part in the divine blessings God promised Israel or the “circumcision”.
Throughout the Old Testament from the call of Abraham to the call of Paul (2000 years), only Israel had a knowledge of the One True God, received divine revelation from God. At the time of Abraham until God chooses Paul to be the apostle to the Gentiles the Gentile world was steeped in their worship of Pagan gods. The moment we understand this separation, is the moment the Word of God opens up like a river.
Because what wasn’t directed too Gentiles for 2000 years, still isn’t for Gentiles today! It is for our “Learning”.
(Romans 15:4)
Important Undisputabal Biblical Facts
There were just nine Gentiles saved in the 2000 years God was dealing with His chosen people.
There is no Biblical record of Moses, Aaron or Joshua being directed by God to preach the Mosaic law worldwide! On the contrary, God commanded His chosen people to separate themselves from the filthy pagan Gentile world.
God gave the Mosaic law to His chosen people NOT THE GENTILE WORLD! God gave the Jewish people instructions on how to build the temple and how they are to worship. Not the Gentiles. God’s people were never instructed by God to evangelize the Gentile world or encourage Gentiles to participate in Temple worship. God commanded His people not to have anything to do with the Gentile world because the Gentiles were steeped in the worship of pagan idols and grossly immoral. This command of separation, the Mosaic law being for Jews only, Temple worship being only for God’s people NEVER CHANGED UNTIL SOMETIME AFTER PAUL MEETS WITH PETER AND THE JERUSALEM CHURCH IN 51 AD.
Prior to Paul being insturcted to go up to the Jerusalem Church by the Lord Himself to tell those at the Jerusalem about these new revelations and how it was going to be moving forward the Law and Temple worship was still valid and practiced.
The first question any human being with a working brain should be asking is;
If what God gave to His chosen people the Jews had nothing to do with Gentiles 2000 years ago, how is it valid for Gentiles today?
There is no Scripture support or Biblical record of God revealing a message of salvation or doctrine to the Gentiles prior to the call of the apostle Paul. There is NO Scripture record of Jesus during His 3-year earthly ministry having a ministry to the Gentiles. Only two Gentiles were saved other than that the Lord commanded His disciples NOT TO GO IN THE WAY OF THE GENTILES (Matthew 10:5-7). How could He betray what He Himself promised His chosen people? Romans 15:8; makes it so clear why Christ during His earthly ministry confined His ministry to the land of Israel and to Jew Only.
Now I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant to the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers,
Romans 15:8
I’m convinced Christendom, in general, has completely ignored this fact and instead have accepted an erroneous narrative that has caused division, confusion and the hundreds of denominations we have today.
The Lord makes it clear that until the mystery or secret of the gospel of grace was revealed to the apostle Paul, Gentiles had no access to God and were without hope.
The apostle Paul writes and makes it clear (Holy Spirit inspired Remember); the gospel that he now preaches (1 Corinthians 15:1-4), the gospel by which all mankind will be judged (Romans 2:16), was not given to him by any man or taught to him by Peter or the 11. No way! Paul received the gospel of grace and the doctrines of grace directly from the risen and glorified Lord Himself eleven years after the cross and Pentecost.
‘But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.’
Galatians 1:11-12
Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began
Romans 16:25
The above was just an introduction to help you better understand the “Title Question of this Post; Can anyone Believe Something that was Never Revealed?”
You either believe what God says or not. Read on.
No One Knew the Gospel of Grace Because God Said He Hid It
Nobody had any concept of almost 2000 years of grace where God would go to the Gentiles without Israel apart from the law and temple worship. Not one of the Old Testament prophets, John the Baptist or Peter and the 11 knew anything about the body of Christ or salvation apart from the law and temple worship. Or salvation available to Gentiles based solely on the finished work of Christ. How could they know about the gospel of grace (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) God said He hid it from mankind until He revealed it to Paul? So simple, why don’t people just believe what God says.
On the other hand, the Old Testament is replete with passages pointing to a King and the kingdom. That through Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3;Genesis 15:8-21) and from the bloodline of King David (2 Samuel 7:12-16) would come Israel’s Messiah, Israel’s King, the King of kings who would destroy Israel’s enemies (Luke 1:67-79) and rule from David’s throne in Jerusalem on earth (Luke 1:31-33; Zechariah 14:9). Israel would be the preeminent nation and it would be at that time when the Gentile nations would be blessed by Israel’s God. (Isaiah 42:1-7, 49:5-7, 60:1-3)
That’s all Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Daniel, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Micah, Mary (mother of Jesus), Zacharias, John the Baptist, Peter and the 11 knew. THAT’S ALL THEY KNEW BECAUSE THAT IS ALL GOD REVEALED TO THEM. All Jews were looking forward to their Messiah/King and the kingdom that was promised to them by God Himself way back in Genesis 12. Many Christendom
All covenant blessings to both Jew and Gentiles was “the Christ”. The great message of hope throughout the Old Testament was the coming of the Messiah and His kingdom (Zechariah 14:9). Not the body of Christ, because it was hidden in God until Paul. (Colossians 1:24-27; 1 Corinthians 12:12-14)
Many prophetic verses revealed God’s plan for blessing Gentiles through Israel and the Messiah (Isaiah 2:4, 11:10, 42:1-7, 49:5-7, 60:1-3 cf. Luke 2:25-32; Isaiah 61:4-7, 62:1-5; Jeremiah 3:15-18; Zechariah 8:20-23).
“In the Gospels, one can gain important insight into Jewish theology by reading Luke 1-2. The testimonies of Zechariah, the priest, Mary, the mother of Jesus, Simeon, the righteous Jew, and Anna, the prophetess provide great insight into what godly Jews understood about God’s plan.”
The Gentile world had NO part in the covenant promises made to the fathers Matthew 10:5-6; Romans 15:8.
‘These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’
Matthew 10:5-6
‘Now I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant to the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers, ‘
Romans 15:8
Thank you for reading.
If you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask below.
Jamie Pantastico
“It’s Either All Grace or Nothing At All”
Romans 3:21-31
