Ephesians 1:8

Which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence making known unto us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure which he purposed in him.

Which he made to abound ... This reference is to the "riches" just mentioned, "wisdom and prudence" being among the great blessings "in Christ." The difference in wisdom and prudence is this:

Wisdom: This is knowledge that sees into the heart of things, which knows them as they really are.[16] It is the ability to see the great ultimate truths of eternity.[17] It more nearly approximates our word "insight.[18]

Prudence: The three scholars just cited also defined this word as "the understanding which leads to right action," "the ability to solve the problems of each moment of time," and "wise conduct."

Neither wisdom nor prudence is merely a matter of an IQ. The only true wisdom and prudence are revealed from God through the sacred Scriptures. "It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps."

The mystery of his will ... The New Testament use of the term "mystery" is not very closely related to the modern use of the word, conveying instead the meaning of "a secret once unknown, now revealed." Mackay called it "God's unveiled secret."[19] There are many mysteries referred to in the New Testament, but that in view here is the "great mystery" (1 Timothy 3:16), embracing in its fullness the total sphere of God's dealings with his human creation. Various phases of this great mystery appear to be in Paul's thought in the dozen New Testament passages where he mentioned it. Here the mystery is God's infinite purpose of summing up all things "in Christ," mentioned in the next verse. This writer has published a dissertation on the subject of "The Mystery of Redemption"; and reference is made to that for those who might be interested in a further pursuit of the subject.[20]

[16] J. Armitage Robinson, St. Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians (London: Macmillan Company, 1903), p. 30.

[17] William Barclay, The Letters to the Galatians and Ephesians (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1954), p. 96.

[18] Willard H. Taylor, op. cit., p. 154.

[19] John Mackay, God's Order (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1953), p. 59.

[20] See under Abbreviations.