"And how the mystery[secret] was made known to me and I was allowed to comprehend it by direct revelation, as I already briefly wrote you," Ephesians 3:3 Amplified Bible

The fact that our friend, the Apostle Paul, served the very people he once tried to imprison baffles me.Only God can change a life to that extent. Paul's heart was in the right place. His motives were to serve God faithfully, only he was misguided. Jesus says to him in Acts 9:4 "Why are you persecuting me?"

Jesus wasn't on earth at the time, but His people, believers in Christ, were the ones being shamelessly bound in chains. Paul must have been confused for a while, especially since his eyesight left him. He got with the program quite easily. Something about riding a horse, and a bright light?

The mystery? It has to do with all that Paul has been saying in chapter 2. The chapters and verse components were added after the letter was written. Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus starting with chapter 1 through chapter 6. His complete thought continued to what we now know as chapter 3.

The mystery, is that God has included the gentiles into his salvation plan. Who would have thought? All of the old testament prophets knew. God told them so. A lot of things can go unseen when life gets in the way. It's easy for us to look back at all the history and see the flaws.

God also said that his people were to have no dealing with the gentiles. This was important because of the sin and diseases that were associated with other nations. It was God's desire to keep his people from the sin of idolatry and its trappings.

The important thing is that Paul sees and understands God's plan and moves with it. He has given us much insight into living the christian life, and how the body of Christ operates. God receives all the glory and praise for changing lives, like Paul. He get all the glory for a changed life like yours, and mine too.