What Is the Meaning of "the Fellowship of the Mystery" Ephesians 3:9?
1) Direct Answer
“The fellowship of the mystery” is the shared participation believers have in God’s once‑hidden plan now revealed: that the one God, who was manifested in Jesus Christ, would indwell a redeemed Body made of Jews and Gentiles as one new man. It is communion in the very Life and purpose of Christ—Christ in you—uniting us to God and to one another as His Bride.
2) Scriptural Explanation
- Ephesians 3:3–6, 9–11: The mystery was revealed to Paul “that the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel,” and his commission was “to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery… to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers… might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God.”
- Colossians 1:26–27: The mystery “hid from ages… now made manifest… which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
- 1 Timothy 3:16: “Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh”—first in Christ, then through Christ in His Body.
- Ephesians 2:14–16: He broke down the middle wall, making “one new man” in Himself.
- Ephesians 5:30–32: We are “members of his body… This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.”
- 1 John 1:3; 1 Corinthians 1:9: We are called into fellowship with the Father and His Son, and with one another in that same Life.
- John 17:21–23: “That they all may be one… I in them,” the very nature of this fellowship.
- Revelation 7:9–17; 20:4: This one Body called out of every nation is the Bride who will reign with Him.
3) Simple Clarifying Logic
- “Mystery” means God’s plan hidden in Himself, now revealed by the Spirit—not learned by human wisdom.
- “Fellowship” means sharing—communion, participation—in that revealed Life and purpose.
- Put together: God’s purpose was to reveal Himself in Christ, then in Christ’s Body by the Holy Ghost. When that Life enters a believer, he becomes a fellowheir, of the same Body, and a partaker of the promise. That is real fellowship—not around creeds or organizations, but around the revealed Word and the indwelling Life of Christ. Through this living union, the church displays God’s manifold wisdom to spiritual powers.
4) Reinforcing Statement
Now notice, this fellowship is Christ-centered, Spirit-given, Word-governed, and Bride-forming. It is God having the preeminence in a people—Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Ask a Follow-up Question
What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?
Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
Fellowship
56-0212 §40
...into this secret place with the Lord, knowing that no matter what come, or went, He still stayed right with it. Israel's only place in the Old Testament where they ever had fellowship was under the shed blood. No matter where people was they come up through the temple where the blood was shed, and there they had fellowship with each other there under the shed blood. No other fellowship no where else. When he come into the temple the first thing he did, come up, be cleansed by the washing of the water, a separation...
Fellowship
62-0519 §47
That's as clean as I know the gospel, brethren. That's the only salvation I know of. That's only where my faith is built, right there---the blood of Jesus Christ---Emmanuel's veins, where sinners plunged beneath the blood lose all their guilty stains. And when we come into that, underneath that blood and recognize ourselves sinners, and come out on the other side, and He seals our belief like that by his Holy Spirit---the same Holy Spirit that wrote the Bible and put every word into it---how can that Holy Spirit tu...
Fellowship by redemption
55-0403 §66
Then, the next thing, you start towards the fellowship. Here you go. "Well, Brother Branham, where can I fellowship?" In Christ, in the temple, the tabernacle of His dwelling. "How do I do it?" First, you walk to the door. You've heard the Word, then you walk to the door. You've got a mental faith. You say, "Yes, I heard the Word. I believe it." Now, before you can enter into this place, there's a blood veil hanging there, for the cleansing. And you must recognize that blood as an innocent substitute. Through the p...
Fellowship
60-0611B §49
I notice some little red dots on His coat. Let's question. What are those? What are those little red dots on the back of His coat, as He goes up the hill? As farther He goes, the brighter those little dots get, and the wider they spread, spreading farther, farther. And the first thing you know, all of them go into one great big red splotch, and the blood's beating across the legs like that. What was it? God making a provision for fellowship. God making a way---from the foundation of the world---of fellowship, that...
Fellowship
55-0501A §29
...the Hebrew children, walked right into the fiery furnace before He ever turned a hand. He's always there; don't be scared. He's always present. Amen. Then if the footsteps of a righteous man is ordered of the Lord, what've we got to fear? God be for you, who can be against you? Oh my, think of it. All the dynamic forces of heaven gathers together in a meeting. Amen. Just trying to find that out, that is the Holy Spirit taking the Word and pounding away like a air hammer against a rock. Oh, my! Break up our stony h...