Ephesians 3:5

Plain English Version

God didn’t tell that message to the people that lived before me. But now, God picked Jesus’s special workers and other people that tell his messages, and God’s spirit told them his plan.

Cross References

Matthew 20:7

They said, ‘Because nobody gave us a job.’ The boss said to them, ‘All right, I’ll give each of you a job. Go and work in my garden.’

Luke 11:49

Listen, God is wise, and he said, ‘I will pick men to tell everyone my messages, and I will pick men to be my special workers, and I will send them to the people. But you will kill some of them, and you will hurt some of them.’

John 14:26

Later the father will send the Holy Spirit to help you. He will be your teacher, in my place. He will help you remember all the things I told you, and he will teach you everything you need to know.

John 16:13

After the Holy Spirit comes, he will tell you what is true. He will teach you everything that is true about God. He will not say his own words, but only the words he heard from God. He will also tell you about things that will happen later on.

Acts 10:28

He said to them, “You know, you Roman people are not Jews, and the Jewish law teachers reckon that people that aren’t Jews are no good, so a Jewish man shouldn’t go into their house. But God showed me that I can’t say that anyone is no good. He showed me that it is all right for me to visit you.

Romans 16:25

God is really great and powerful, so everybody has to tell him that he is good. He can make you strong. This is his message. It is the good news about Jesus Christ. A long time ago, God planned to get both the Jewish people, and the people that are not Jews, to believe in him. But at first he kept it a secret, and he just got the Jewish people to follow him. After that, he got his men to write about it ahead of time, and their words are in his book. Now his message about Jesus is for every nation. It is not just for the Jewish people, but everybody everywhere can trust him, and they can listen to him and do what he wants. God is the only one that can think good enough to make it all work out like that. So everybody has to tell God and Jesus Christ, “You are great.” They have always got to do that for ever. From Paul

1 Corinthians 2:10

But God’s spirit shows these things to us. His spirit understands everything, even those things that God has not yet told anybody.

Ephesians 2:20

I will use a house as a picture story. It is like God used Jesus and all his people to build a special house for himself. He used Jesus Christ to start building that house. He is the most important one. Then God used Jesus’s special workers, and the other people that told God’s messages. They are like the cement slab that the house sits on. Now God is using you mob, with us Jewish mob, to make the rest of the house. It is like God’s people are the bricks and the wood. You mob are not Jews, but you are still part of that house. God’s spirit carefully joins us together, to make that house bigger all the time, and God lives in his special house. That picture of a house shows us that God is living in us all the time.

Ephesians 3:9

And God sent me to help everyone to understand the message about his plan. A long time ago, when God made everything, he didn’t tell anyone that message. He kept it secret at that time.

2 Peter 3:2

I want you to remember the words from God that his men wrote a long time ago, and the words from Jesus that his special workers told you. They told you the things that God wants you to do. Jesus is our leader, and he saves us.

Jude 1:17

But, my friends, you have to remember what Jesus Christ’s special workers said. They talked about what will happen later.