By reading this you are able to understand my insight about the mystery of the Messiah.Ephesians 3:4 HCSB

For Paul, the gospel is the mystery. It was a mystery to him while he was Saul, but through three events it was made clear to him. 

First, his conversion. While on the road to Damascus, Jesus appeared to him and revealed Himself to Saul to let Him know that He was the one who Saul was persecuting and that he was fighting against the very one who was moving him in the right direction.

Second, was his three days spend in darkness; praying and fasting. God was speaking to him through visions and dreams. He could see again when a man named Ananias came and laid his hands on him. The scales came off and he was baptized.

Third, before he went to Jerusalem to see Peter, he spent three years in the desert of Arabia. While there he worked out his theology with God. He had to figure out where he went wrong and also how to correct it. 

Through all this, He went from Saul the persecutor to Paul the evangelist. He took the time to figure out the mystery of the Gospel of Jesus Christ before he learned it from anyone because he learned it from God. 

How about us? Do we take time to learn our Bible for ourselves or do we look only to people to teach it to us? Many of our Christian forefathers gave up their lives to make sure we could read the Bible for ourselves. But because the Bible is so available here and now we take it for granted. According to the Huffington Post, the average household has 4.4 bibles, but only 26% say they read it 4 or more times a week.

https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_3018425#:~:text=The%20survey%20showed%20the%20Bible,average%20household%20has%204.4%20Bibles.

We have an obligation to study out our Bibles for ourselves. Why take another man's word for what the Bible says, when we can hear the Bible, read the Bible, study the Bible, and memorize the Bible for ourselves. Listen to what Luke says about people who challenged what Paul was preaching to them.

As soon as it was night, the brothers sent Paul and Silas off to Berea. On arrival, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. The people here were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, since they welcomed the message with eagerness and examined the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. Consequently, many of them believed, including a number of the prominent Greek women as well as men.

Acts 17:10‭-‬12 HCSB

https://bible.com/bible/72/act.17.10-12.HCSB

They spent their days studying out what Paul was saying. This means they have to dig out their old dusty Old Testament scrolls or manuscripts and had to read big sections to find what Paul had said. Then they had to understand for themselves what the context of the passage was saying to see if Paul had used it correctly. But now today all we have to do is pull out an app and type a scripture reference or a few keywords and instantly it pops up. Within 3 minutes we could read the whole chapter to see if what the Pastor is saying to us is true. 

No one is going to slide into heaven or the gospel on someone else's coattails, but rather on what have we done with Jesus. God is going to ask something like, what have you done with my Son Jesus whom I sent to you? What have you done for Jesus by doing for the least among you? How have you loved Me and My Son?

All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.  He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  

For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat; 

I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink; 

I was a stranger and you took Me in; 

I was naked and you clothed Me; 

I was sick and you took care of Me; 

I was in prison and you visited Me.’ 

“Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or without clothes and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and visit You? ’ 

“And the King will answer them, ‘I assure you: Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’  Then He will also say to those on the left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels!  

“Then they too will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or without clothes, or sick, or in prison, and not help You? ’ 

“Then He will answer them, ‘I assure you: Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me either.’ “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Matthew 25:32‭-‬41‭, ‬44‭-‬46 HCSB

https://bible.com/bible/72/mat.25.32-46.HCSB

The one who has My commands and keeps them is the one who loves Me. And the one who loves Me will be loved by My Father. I also will love him and will reveal Myself to him.”

John 14:21 HCSB

https://bible.com/bible/72/jhn.14.21.HCSB

So then, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now even more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

Philippians 2:12 HCSB

https://bible.com/bible/72/php.2.12.HCSB

The Gospel is not a mystery to those who seek it out, but only to those who will not study it out because they choose not to hear it!