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`For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them
in secret'.
There seems to be a passing reference here to the fact that initiates
into these pagan mysteries were under a bond of secrecy, and the apostle seems
to suggest that there was good cause for this secrecy, so awful were the rites
practised on these occasions. If there is in the Scripture `the Mystery of
Godliness' we can depend upon it that there will also be the Satanic
counterpart, `the Mystery of Iniquity':
`The very naming of those abominations often produces improper
associations in the mind; the description creates polluting images before
the imagination ... Paul did not describe these vices, he denounced them;
he did not dwell upon them long enough for the imagination to find
employment, and to corrupt the soul. He mentioned the vice, and then he
mentioned the wrath of God; he alluded to the sin, and then he spoke of
the exclusion from heaven' (Barnes on Ephesians).
There are `depths of Satan' which it is commendable in the believer not
to know (Rev. 2:24). In 2 Corinthians 4:2 Paul is represented as saying that
he had `renounced the hidden things of dishonesty', but this is misleading.
To be able to say one has `renounced' anything implies previous complicity.
The word translated `renounce' is composed of apo `away' and eipein `to
commend'. Here Paul rejects with emphasis any complicity with the evil methods
adopted by teachers of falsehood. Two references to kruptos occur in Romans 2
which are important dispensationally. We will not, here, set out the structure
of the whole chapter, but will lift out the two corresponding members that
contain these words.
A
Rom. 2:15,16.
a
kardia
Work of law in hearts.
b
kruptos
The secrets of men.
B
Rom. 2:17 -25.
opheleo
The profit of circumcision.
*
*
*
A
Rom. 2:29.
b
kruptos
Secret man within.
a
kardia
circumcision of the heart.
B
Rom. 3:1.
opheleia
What profit of circumcision?
Romans 2:15,16 reveals that when the Gentiles who never received either
the law or gospel are judged, they will not be judged superficially by what
they have actually done, they will be judged by One Who knows the secret or
hidden promptings of the heart. Just one word of warning. We have met those
who maintained that the Gentile believer is intended by the `Jew which is one
inwardly', but this is not the teaching of Romans 2. There the apostle is
saying to the Jew, `your physical descent from Abraham, your entrustment with
the oracles of God, are not sufficient, these are outward; but to be a true
Jew, these need to have a corresponding inward reality' which, alas, was so
absent from the Jew at that time that he had even rejected and crucified the
very Messiah Himself.
There remain for our consideration the references to `hide' or `hidden'
in Ephesians and Colossians, which are: