Sigurd Grindheim, «What the OT Prophets Did Not Know: The Mystery of the Church in Eph 3,2-13», Vol. 84 (2003) 531-553

The purpose of this essay is two-fold. First, it argues that the inclusion of the Gentiles is referred to as a previously unrevealed mystery because it is based upon the abrogation of the Mosaic law and entails a degree of nearness to the Lord that exceeds the expectations of the old covenant. Second, it addresses the question of authorship. Assuming Pauline authorship as a working hypothesis, it shows that the use of the concept of mystery in Eph 3 is intimately linked with Paul’s terminology and thought world attested in the undisputed letters. It is unwarranted, therefore, to find proof of a post-Pauline development in the use of the term "mystery" in Ephesians.

chief idea in this section is the abrogation of the Mosaic law⁵⁰. When Paul in 3,3 refers to how he has previously written briefly about the mystery, therefore, the abrogation of the law is at the center of his attention.

        Paul quotes from the Torah and evidently treats it as authoritative later in the epistle to the Ephesians, however. The abolition of the law should therefore not be understood in an absolute sense. That which is described in Eph 2,11-22 is a new covenant relationship. This relationship is of such an intimate nature that it defies regulation by law. The saints are now described as his household (v. 19). The abolishment of the law is constitutive of this new relationship, a relationship based on nearness and immediacy, not on law. Viewed under its function as regulating the covenant relationship, the law is abolished in its entirety⁵¹. This is the reason why the Gentiles can now