My wife, Jane, enjoys reading a good mystery. But she occasionally likes to begin with the conclusion, so she knows how the story will turn out. Most people think of a mystery as a puzzle that needs to be figured out or a truth that is hard to comprehend. But when the apostle Paul uses the term “mystery” in 1 Timothy 3:16, he meant it in a slightly different sense.

This “mystery from which true godliness springs” is not a puzzle (v. 16). Nor is it impossible for us to understand. In a biblical sense, this “mystery” is simply a revelation. We now understand these truths because God has brought them to light. The key to true godliness is not a method or a prescribed set of religious customs. It is the person of Jesus Christ.

Godliness springs from faith in Christ. In verse 16, Paul summarizes the essence of the gospel. It is a message that has Jesus Christ at its center. Scholars sometimes refer to the statement in this verse as a hymn because of its poetic form. The Greek term translated as “beyond all question,” only occurs here in the New Testament, but it is one of a group of words that speak of agreement or mutual confession.

Verse 16 is an early confession of the Christian faith. This summary begins with the fact that Jesus “appeared in the flesh,” the miracle the church calls the “incarnation.” This is immediately followed by the assertion that He was “vindicated” or justified in the Spirit, which probably refers to His resurrection (see also 1 Peter 3:18). Jesus preached, was seen and believed upon by others, as well as taken up into glory. None of these statements makes sense without His death on the cross, which is taken for granted in this “confession.”

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