Kriss,this is my point, Paul has been given a new revelation. it is not something to be found in the OT, or in any of the other apostles writings. Yes, Peter and others do reveal three earth ages, but Israel was chosen since the foundation of the world, not before. Yes, the members which make up each calling were known before, but the times of choosing is different, the purpose is different, and their spheres of blessings are different.To recap:The Church of the One Body is characterized as “ONE NEW MAN” [Eph. 2:15]. The Church in the Acts economy and the Great Tribulation is likened to a BRIDE: ''For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ '' [2 Cor.11:2]Israel "according to the flesh'' had for its hope the EARTH as a place of blessing.''Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the EARTH.'' [Mat 5:5]These are of the circumcision. Christ said He came not but for the lost of Israel ONLY:“But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” [Mat 15:24] Christ did not “send” His to the gentile nations: “These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: “But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” [Mat 10:5, 6] Israel’s sphere of blessing is associated with the "Kingdom'' and an earthly city, EARTHLY JERUSALEM. In the Sermon on the Mount, the Israel was told to pray for this blessing: "Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done ON EARTH, as it is in heaven'' [Matt. 6:10].Israel’s hope in this heavenly sphere of blessing is observed as coming "DOWN FROM GOD out of heaven.'' It is seen descending after the new heavens and new earth appear [Rev. 21 :1, 2, 9, 10]Abraham looked forward to the promise of this heavenly city: “For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” [Heb 11:10]“It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:” [Isa 40:22] The church which is His body has a residence “far above all”, far above the heavens He stretched out as a curtain:“Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:” [Eph 1:21] THE MYSTERY WAS "HID'' in the heart of God: “And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:” [Eph. 3:9] FROM the beginning of the world.'' Notice that it was NOT HID IN THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES, nor revieled before Acts 28:28. It was "hid in God''. The Mystery was hid from past ages and past generations "BUT NOW is made manifest to His saints": “Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truthl:” [Col. l :26]. THE MYSTERY WAS PLANNED "BEFORE THE WORLD BEGAN'' :“Who hath saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,” [(2 Tim. 1:9] This present Church is the only company of called out believers found in the Bible to have its origin "BEFORE THE FOUNDATION of the world'': “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:” [Eph. 1 :4].The calling of the "kingdom'' is related to ISRAIL'S calling FROM THE FOUNDATION of the world'': “Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:” [Matt. 25:34].The "ONE HOPE" of the Church of the Mystery was promised "BEFORE the world began'': “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;” [Eph. 4:4]“In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;” [ Titus 1:2]THE CHURCH OF THE ONE BODY IS TO GENTILES''For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles [nations].'' [Eph.3:1]"I Therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,'' [Eph. 4:1]“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” [Eph. 2:10]“Having abolished in his flesh the enmity [the middle wall of partition], even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;” [Eph 2:15]Ephesians 2:12 says that at "that time ye [Gentiles] were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:'' Notice how this has changed by the bringing in of a new dispensation:"BUT NOW in Christ Jesus ye [Gentiles] . . . are made nigh by the blood of Christ'' [Eph. 2: 13]. It was "for this cause'' that Paul was a "prisoner of Jesus Christ for YOU GENTILES'' [Eph. 3:1]. The ministry of the Word of God has been "sent" to the Nations.Until the revelation of the Mystery, the oracles of God were committed to Israel:“What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.” [Rom. 3:2, 3]This sacred secret was promised "in Christ before the world began'' [Titus 1 :2]. The "covenants'' and the "promises'' belonged to "the fathers of Israel [Rom. 9:3-5], not to the Church of the One Body:“For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: “Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.”The promises made unto the "fathers'' were "FROM THE FOUNDATION of the world '' and the "covenants'' were made "SINCE the world began.'' The called-out believers in the church which is His body are called with a "holy calling, not according to our works. but accordingly His Own purpose and grace. which was given us in Christ Jesus BEFORE THE WORLD BEGAN” [2 Tim. l :9], this eliminates the Church of the One Body from any connection with "covenants and promises'' that were made “SINCE the world began.”Romans 5:8 says that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision [Jews] for the purpose of CONFIRMING THE PROMISES MADE UNTO THE FATHERS, not the Church of the One Body. The "covenants'' were with Israel: Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers:” [Rom I5:8]In Jeremiah 31:31-36, the Lord promised a NEW COVENANT with the "house of ISRAEL and JUDAH'', not the Church of the One Body. The Mystery was not veiled in language in the OT, it was "hid in God'' [Eph. 3:9], and the Mystery has no connection with any "covenants" either "old'' or "new''. God's present purpose was planned BEFORE the world began. This eliminates the need for any ties with "promises or covenants.''"The company of the One Body is ASCENDED, ACCEPTED. BLESSED, and SEATED together "IN HEAVENLY PLACES in Christ Jesus'':"And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:'' [Eph.2:6]'' To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved." [Eph. 1:6]''Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:'' [Eph. 1:3]THE WORD "CALLING" ~BEFORE ACTS 28:28Rom. 11:29 "For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance"1 Cor. 1:26 "For ye see your calling, brethren.."1 Cor. 7:20 "abide in the same calling wherein he was called".2 Pet. 1:10 "…give diligence to make your calling and election sure…"2 Th. 1:11 "…count you worthy of this calling,"AFTER ACTS 28:28Eph. 4:4 "…called in one hope of your calling"Eph. 1:18 "…what is the hope of his calling"Phil. 3:14 "…the prize of the high calling of God..."2 Tim. 1:9 "Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling…" It is scriptural and acurate to say that the word ''calling'' is a word used by the LORD GOD to make known dispensational truth. The word “church” is a word relating to a “called” out people or nation.It is an elementary and fatal error to join the church before and after Acts, and yet, we see both of these periods joined and further spiritualized together with Israel in most every doctrine of man taught today, effectively severing the Head from the Body.THE PRAYER IS FOR THIS HIGH CALLING, THE MYSTERY BODY"The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints” [Eph. l:18]It is a new calling, it is a HIGH CALLING:“I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” [Phil. 3:14],and a "HOLY CALLING'': “Who hath saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,” [2 Tim. l:9],“and we are to know "what is the HOPE OF HIS CALLING'': “The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints” [Eph. l:18]Again, one component making these blessings diametrically apposed to that of Israel and the church of God during the Acts, is that this calling places "the Church which is His Body, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all'' at the very seat where Christ sitteth, far above all. The hope is in the holy of holies. This calling was never before revealed, and is not on the earth, as the hope and calling and promise to Israel and those graphed in un naturually are only "in the earth", as revealed in the OT. I am pointing out that God has made several dividing lines in His letter to us, the Bible. He had chosen to use several specific words to point out where He makes these lines of division. The word "calling" is one of the important ones.This is why when we look up this word, and apply it to the people who God is addressing, thru the vessels who penned them, we see huge differences in their hope and promise from God.The church which is His body, is the only company of called out ones in the entire Bible who have their hope far above all, where Christ sits, at the right hand of God.This has not even ever been offered to an angel, and yet, we are offered that sure hope of our high calling.THE PROBLEM WAS that many went out from them - the apostles - but they were not of them. It is foretold in Genesis 3:15, and Christ put the capstone on the situation in John 8:44 if memory serves, as well by saying the scribes and pharisees sit in Moses' seat, meaning the seat of authority.Ezra documents it for us as well, reporting that there were none of the house of Levi. That was God's wake up call, for him to count the people. And what did he find? That the priests and scribes were all of the lineage of Cain, and none of the lineage of the true priests, the Levitical priest of Levi.The result was not so much unbelief, in fact they did believe, which is why they had to do something about Christ, and the subsequent reoffer of the kingdom. But that only lasted long enough for everone to hear and acknowledge the offer, make their choice; which took about 35 years.At that point, God told them they were unusable, removed the offer, & "sent" the word to all nations, and the miracles and everything that accompanied them ceased. Paul wasnt even able to heal his own son. All the apostles sent to the lost of Israel disappeared from God's word to us.The next thing to happen, was for God to give further revelation to Paul, the sent one for the nations, and Paul revealed to us, the Mystery of the new dispensation, and a new calling with a new hope.Israel according to the flesh was a called out nation from among other nations, and is referred to as Jehovah's WIFE that is now cast off, but will be reunited in the Millennium. (Hos. 2: 19-20; 3:3-5). Each of three spheres of blessing is associated with a peculiar destiny. WIFE_______________BRIDE _______________ONE NEW MANthe earth_______New Jerusalem________Far Above All Heavens