Paul describes himself as “less than the least of all saints.” The Greek is a comparative of a superlative – elachistoteros – a grammatically awkward coinage that seems almost deliberate. He is reaching past the ordinary language of humility to say something more extreme: that of all believers, he occupies the lowest rank, and yet to him was given the highest commission.

This is the grace of God operating at its most paradoxical.

“Unsearchable riches.” The word unsearchable – anexichniastos – means something that cannot be tracked, that leaves no footprints. You cannot trace it back to its source because the source is inexhaustible. There is no bottom to find.

This is what Paul was sent to announce. Not a religion. Not a moral reform programme. Not a new philosophy of life. The unsearchable riches of Christ – grace stacked on grace, blessing upon blessing, all of it freely given to those who have believed.

The mystery that Paul refers to had been “hid in God” from the beginning – not concealed maliciously, but held in reserve, waiting for the appointed time of its disclosure. That time came through Paul’s ministry. The Body of Christ, Jew and Gentile together on equal footing, with no distinction, blessed with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places – this is what was hidden and is now revealed.

It is an inexhaustible subject. These posts are one reader’s attempt to dig in.