Taken from Things That Differ: The Fundamentals of Dispensationalism by C. R. Stam, Berean Bible Society, Chicago, 1985, pp. 64-6.
| Prophecy | The Mystery |
| Concerns a kingdom; a political organization | Concerns a body; a living organism |
| The kingdom to be established on earth | The body given a position in heaven |
| Christ to be its King | Christ its living Head |
| The kingdom prophesied "since the world began" | The body chosen in Christ before the world began, but "kept secret since the world began" Rom. 16:25, Eph. 1:4-11, 3:5-9 |
| Israel to be given supremacy over the nations | Jew and Gentile placed on the same level
before God Rom. 10:12, 11:32, Eph. 2:16,17 |
| The Gentiles to be blessed through Israel's instrumentality Gen. 22:17,18, Zech. 8:13 | The Gentiles blessed through Israel's obstinacy Acts 13:44-46, Rom. 11:28-32 |
| The Gentiles to be blessed through Israel's riseIsa. 60:1-3, Zech. 8:22,23 | The Gentiles blessed through Israel's fall |
| Prophecy mainly concerns nations as such | The mystery concerns individuals |
| Prophecy concerns blessings, both material and spiritual, on earth | The mystery concerns "all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies" |
| Prophecy concerns Christ's coming to the earth Isa. 59:20, Zech. 14:4 | The mystery explains Christ's present absence from the earth Eph. 1:20-23, Col. 3:1-3 |
| In prophecy salvation by grace through faith alone is not contemplated | Salvation by grace through faith alone lies at the very heart of the mystery |
| The proclamation of the prophetic program committed particularly to the twelve | The proclamation of the mystery committed particularly to Paul |
| The prophetic program revealed through many of God's servants | The mystery revealed through one man: Paul |
| Old testament writers frequently did not understand the prophecies made known through them | Paul both understood and longed that others might understand the mystery revealed through him |