Bible Strands
Ephesians 1:9
And He has made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Paul, writing to the Ephesians (and a wider circle of believers), is mid-doxology, tracing what God has done for those in Christ. The verse sits between God's lavish wisdom (v. 8) and the specific content of that plan (v. 10).
The words — μυστήριον (mustērion) does not mean an unsolved puzzle but a divine secret now disclosed; in the LXX and Paul it consistently marks something God withheld and then revealed. The aorist participle γνωρὶσας (gnōrisas, "having made known") frames the act as completed, not ongoing.
The thread — The same "mystery" language recurs in Colossians 1:26 (hidden for ages, now revealed to the saints), Ephesians 3:3 (made known to Paul by revelation), and Romans 16:25 (the revelation of the mystery). Paul's letters treat it as a single disclosed secret, not a series of independent secrets.
Why it lands — The verse is a finished action directed at "us"; the reader is a recipient, not a discoverer. The task is to receive what has already been made known and to align one's understanding with it, not to generate new revelation.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
Cross-references
- Colossians 1:26 the mystery that was hidden for ages and generations but is now revealed to His saints.
- Romans 16:25 Now to Him who is able to strengthen you by my gospel and by the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery concealed for ages past
- Ephesians 3:3 that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly.
- 2 Timothy 1:9 He has saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but by His own purpose and by the grace He granted us in Christ Jesus before time began.
- Ephesians 1:11 In Him we were also chosen as God’s own, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything by the counsel of His will,
- Romans 8:28 And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.
- Galatians 1:12 I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.
- Ephesians 3:11 according to the eternal purpose that He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.
- 1 Corinthians 2:10 But God has revealed it to us by the Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.
- Ephesians 1:17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in your knowledge of Him.