We all know of the TEN COMMANDMENTS but what about the ELEVENTH COMMANDMENT? You would be hard put to find anyone in today’s churches who can say what it is. “Never heard of it” would be most believers’ response. And, no, the “eleventh commandment” is not that of NOT BEING FOUND OUT as some wits suggest.

Just what the ELEVENTH COMMANDMENT is will be revealed shortly, but first let’s hark back to the first study in this series, which highlighted the Apostle Paul’s struggle to get believers to ACKNOWLEDGE the MYSTERY:

For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh. That their hearts might be comforted, being KNIT TOGETHER IN LOVE, and unto all riches of the FULL ASSURANCE of understanding, to the ACKNOWLEDGEMENT of the mystery of God, and of the Father and of Christ, in Whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And this I say lest any man should beguile you with enticing words … (Colossians 2:2-4).

Paul agonised within over this issue not only because acknowledging the mystery would comfort and unite Christians but also because God had ordered that this, the ELEVENTH COMMANDMENT, should be proclaimed worldwide and believed and obeyed. Thus, we read:

NOW to Him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the REVELATION OF THE MYSTERY which was kept secret since the world began. But now is made MANIFEST and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the COMMANDMENT of the living God made known to all nations for the OBEDIENCE of FAITH (Romans 16:25-26).

I remember once asking a pastor if his church ever “preached Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery”. “Well, I guess we do,” he replied. “But what’s with the mystery bit anyway?” Obviously, it was still a mystery of the Agatha Christie kind to him.

Now most believers count it a serious matter to break even one of the Ten Commandments, and we thank God that when we confess our sin in doing so, He is gracious to forgive us. But let’s face it, refusal to believe what He commands in his written word, the Bible, requires us to repent (that is change our mind on the matter) and believe and obey what He says.

You see, ignorance is no excuse, not when an open Bible is available.  Remember Jesus chided the Israelite ruler Nicodemus for not knowing Israel “must be born again” (John 3:7-10). Yet, sadly, in our time only the smallest handful of Christians acknowledge the MYSTERY even though they are commanded to do so. Again:

Now to Him that is of power to stablish you, according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the MYSTERY, which was kept secret since the world began. But now is made MANIFEST and by the scriptures of the prophets (i.e. Paul’s last seven epistles) according to the COMMANDMENT of the everlasting God made known to all nations for the OBEDIENCE OF FAITH (Romans 16:25-26).

Consider also Colossians 1:21-27 which clearly teaches that the glory of the MYSTERY is now made MANIFEST “to his saints” through THE DISPENSATION OF GOD which FULFILS the word of God and of which Paul was (and still is) made a minister. Thus:

And you that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconcile in the body of his flesh to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight: If ye continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard and which was preached (proclaimed) to every creature under heaven, whereof I Paul am made a minister.

Who now rejoice in my sufferings FOR YOU and fill up that is behind of the afflictions of Christ in MY FLESH for his body’s sake which is the church : Whereof I am made a MINISTER, according to the DISPENSATION of God which is given me FOR YOU to FULFIL the word of God.

Even the MYSTERY which hath been hid from ages and from generations but now is made MANIFEST to his saints. To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this MYSTERY among the Gentiles which is Christ in you the hope of glory.

But again, why do believers not acknowledge this wonderful MYSTERY, you ask? Answer: Because the vast majority of those who name the name of Christ are not BIBLE BELIEVERS.

So, just what is a Bible believer? Answer: It is a grace-saved, blood- redeemed person who obeys the Lord Jesus Christ and takes the written word of God to mean exactly what it says literally as a direct word to his or her heart, rather than relying on the differing opinions and theologies by which men seek to explain it. And often “explain it away”. In simpler terms, such a person holds that “if God said something in his written word the Bible, then that settles all question for me, and I believe just what it says”.

Being a Bible believer also means not picking and choosing from the Bible but believing all that scripture has to say while still seeking to “rightly divide the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). What’s “right division” you ask? For starters, it is acknowledging that in time past God has spoken in “sundry (different) manners (ways) unto the fathers by the prophets (but) hath in these last days spoken to us by his Son” (Hebrews 1:1-2).

And now in our time He speaks his latest message – of grace, mercy, full forgiveness of sin and completed salvation and the MYSTERY – through the ministry of the Apostle Paul. To confirm this please read Ephesians 3:1-11 and Colossians 1:24-28.

John Dudley Aldworth

Email: johndaldworth42@gmail.com

Website: https://www.dayofchristmnistries.com