MYSTERY – WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
The Athanasian (Trinitarian) Creed says that the Father is incomprehensible, the Son is incomprehensible, and the Holy Spirit incomprehensible. The word “incomprehensible” means something that is impossible to be understood; not intelligible.
This notion which the formulators of the Trinitarian doctrine attributed to the Trinity has gained such a delusive hold on many Christians that many churchgoers see almost everything about God and His word in the Bible as something that cannot be understood by the human mind. I have heard some people say things like, “You see, no one can fully understand the Bible; it is a mystery.” To Trinitarians and many Christians the word “mystery” means something that is mysterious and which cannot be comprehended by the finite human mind .
In the Bible, the word “mystery” is translated from the Greek word “musterion” which means a “secret”, something that was hitherto hidden but is later made known or revealed. The Vines Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, under “mystery” says, inter alia, “not the mysterious, but that which is made known in a manner and at a time appointed by God.” Therefore, the biblical meaning of “mystery” is quite different from the Trinitarian viewpoint which is that of something that is beyond human understanding. Even some notable Trinitarians like Albert Barnes (1798-1870) affirmed the biblical meaning of “mystery”. In his commentary on the word “mystery” used in Colossians 2:2, he had this to say:
“The meaning is the doctrine respecting God, which had been concealed or hidden, but which was now revealed in gospel. It does not mean that there was anything unintelligible or incomprehensible respecting this doctrine when it was made known. That might be as clear as any other truth” ( emphases added throughout).
Jesus Christ used the word musterion once and it is recorded in Matt. 13:11 (Mark 4:11; Luke 8:10). The Apostle Paul used it 20 or 21 times in his epistles and what he meant in the epistles was simply “secret” which had been hidden by God in the past but then revealed to His people. The notion of incomprehensibility cannot rightly be inferred from the passages where musterion is used. In fact, if the idea of something that is incapable of being comprehended was in the mind of the authors, they would have rather used anexichniastor or anexerauneta which means “incomprehensible” or something that cannot be searched out or explored. ( In 1 Cor. 2:1, some manuscripts read musterion (“secret” or “mystery”) while some others read marturion (“testimony”). This is why I said that Paul used musterion 20 or 21 times. I do not intend to dwell on the scribal discrepancy in this verse.)
Is God incomprehensible? No one can deny the fact that God is a mysterious Being, beyond human’s complete comprehension. But that does not mean that we cannot know Him.
John the apostle said, “God is spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth” (John 4:24). It is not possible to worship God in spirit and truth if we cannot understand His nature or attributes and if it is impossible for us to know the things that please or displease Him. All Christians will not be better than the Athenians who worshipped an Unknown God (Acts 17:23) if God had made Himself incomprehensible to us.
God would have remained incomprehensible if Jesus Christ had not revealed the secrets about the Kingdom of God to us. His teachings which were at the direction of God (Acts 7:16; 12:48;50) have given His followers the understanding about the true God who gives eternal life to people through His Son, Jesus Christ ( John 17:3: 1 John 5:20).
Paul prayed to the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, that He might give to the believers the spirit of wisdom and revelation so that they might grow in the knowledge of God (Eph. 1:17; Col. 1:9). The NIV says “that you may know Him better”. The Weymouth New Testament says, “to give you a spirit of wisdom and penetration through an intimate knowledge of Him”.
Paul said that God Himself, through His Spirit, revealed to him and the other apostles the secret plan of God – that the Gentiles who believe in the Christ will be co-beneficiaries with the Jews of the riches inherited by God’s children since both are part of the same body of Christ Jesus. God did not reveal this secret to previous generations (Eph. 3:3-5, compare Col. 1:26,27).
These scriptures, among many others, have revealed that God has always taken active steps to make Himself known to us even though He dwells in unapproachable light and no mortal being can see His full glory and remain alive ( Exod. 33:20-23; 1Tim. 6:16). The glorious God will not bother Himself to do all these if He wanted to be incomprehensible or incapable of being understood.
Can we understand the Bible? Jesus has given us understanding about God and His word (1 John 5:20). He taught the truth which puts those who believe in Him on the way of salvation (John 8:36; 14:6; 12:48-50). God wants everyone to be saved and to fully understand the truth ( 1 Tim. 2:4, ERV) .
Paul wrote, “We write to you only what you can read and understand” ( 2 Cor. 1:13, NCV). He went further to say, “If the Good News that we preach is hidden [incapable of being understood], it is hidden to those who are lost. The devil who rules this world has blinded the minds of those who do not believe. They cannot see the light of the Good News- the Good News about the glory of Christ, who is exactly like God (2 Cor. 4:3, 4, NCV). Words in square brackets added by me.
He also told the Corinthians, “But God has shown us these things through the spirit. The Spirit searches out all things, even the deep secrets of God. Now, we did not receive the Spirit of the world, but we received the Spirit that is from God so that we can know all that God has given us. And we speak about these things, not with words taught us by human wisdom, but with words taught by the Spirit” (1 Cor. 2:10,12,13; compare John 16:13).
Our lord Jesus Christ who is personified as the Truth has taught us that we can understand the word of God. He said to His disciples, “To you it has been given [byGod] to know the secrets of the Kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given” (Matt. 13:11). To us who believe in Him, His word is the final and true answer to any question. We are not among the millions of people who profess faith in Him and yet align themselves with doctrines of men which are opposed to His teachings. That is the faith of gullible, ignorant, men who cannot discern the difference between biblical truth and the doctrines of men. Their faith is a blind faith.
Moses said, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law” (Deut. 29:29, ESV). What Moses termed “secret things” is the same thing termed musterion or “mystery” in the New Testament. The biblical definition is “secret” something that anyone can understand once it has been revealed, unveiled, or explained.
Conclusion
The biblical meaning of musterion or “mystery” is “secret”, that is any plan or purpose of God which is kept secret or hidden until it is revealed at a time and in a manner appointed by God. It is not the Trinitarian bogus teaching of incomprehensibility which they have woven around God and His word. Their doctrine of incomprehensibility is nothing but a satanic cleverness to cause confusion in the minds of God’s people about the nature of God. The formulators of the Trinity doctrine lacked a proper understanding of God’s word. This gave the Old Serpent, the devil, the opportunity to use them to sow one big false doctrine into Christendom. The “incomprehensible” teaching of Trinitarians is one of the clever ways of concealing their numerous lies in that teaching.
It is not possible to weld steel and straw together. It is also impossible to mix the Trinitarian “tares” with God’s truth found in the Scriptures. Only the deceived and deluded multitudes are unable to see the falseness of the Trinitarian tares ( Matt. 13:24-30). The “seed” represent the word of God ( Luke 8:11). Therefore “tares” can be said to represent doctrines of demons ( 1 Tim. 4:1).
Trinitarians have always asserted that the Trinity is incomprehensible, that is, no human mind can comprehend it. Does it not sound strange to you that they teach what they say cannot be understood? Is this not deception? Does this not tell you that Trinitarians have taught the world things they didn’t understand about God, His Son and His holy spirit ( Matt. 22.29; Mark 12:24)? Seven-Up Nigeria has a popular slogan which is, “The difference is clear.” Those of us who believe in the word of God in the Bible have also seen that there are so many differences between the teachings of the Bible and the Trinitarian dogma. The differences are biblically, historically and logically so clear that only those who have been brainwashed with the big falsehood will fail to see them. The difference between the Bible and the Trinitarian creeds are so great and so clear as the differences between darkness and light and between death and life. That is why millions of Christians worldwide, though not as many as those who accept Trinity, have rejected the Trinitarian hoax.