THE SACRED SECRET

In the books, articles, videos, and audio teachings of Spirit & Truth 
Fellowship we call the administration in which we live "the 
Administration of the Sacred Secret," and we translate the Greek word 
musterion as "Sacred Secret."  We believe that "Sacred Secret" is 
the best translation of the Greek word musterion, a Greek word that 
most Bible versions translate as "mystery." For years we have 
translated musterion as "secret," but noticed that in Rotherham's 
Emphasized Bible, Joseph B. Rotherham, who was a biblical scholar of 
the first rank, translated musterion as "sacred secret." We studied the 
subject and have come to agree with Rotherham, and our reasoning for 
using "sacred secret" as the translation of the Greek word musterion is 
presented below.

Although many Bible versions render the Greek word musterion as 
"mystery," that is not a good translation. In fact, "mystery" is a 
transliteration of the word musterion, not a translation of it. 
"Transliteration" is when the letters of a word in one language are 
brought across into another language. The prefix "trans" means 
"across," and the Latin littera means "letter." Thus, transliteration 
is literally "bringing across the letters." In contrast, "translation" 
is bringing the meaning of a word in one language across into another 
language. If we are going to have the meaning of the Greek brought into 
English, we must translate, not transliterate.

The English word "mystery" means something that is incomprehensible, 
beyond understanding, unknowable. Thus it is common in religious 
circles to speak of things such as the "Trinity" as "mysteries" because 
they cannot be understood. In contrast, a "secret" is something that is 
known by someone but unknown by others. A surprise birthday party is a 
"secret" to the person having the birthday, but known by those who will 
attend it. The Greek word musterion does not mean "mystery," it means 
"sacred secret," that is, a secret in the sacred or spiritual realm 
that must be made known by God. That musterion refers to a secret, and 
not to our standard meaning of "mystery," is well documented by Greek 
scholars, and because this point is vital to the thesis of this 
article, we will cite a number of sources.

    Musterion: In the NT it denotes, not the mysterious (as with the 
Eng. Word), but that which, being outside the range of unassisted 
natural apprehension, can be made known only by divine revelation, and 
is made known in a manner and at a time appointed by God. 

    But whereas "mystery" may mean, and in contemporary usage often 
does mean, a secret for which no answer can be found, this is not the 
connotation of the term mysterion in classical and biblical Gk. In the 
NT, mysterion signifies a secret which is being, or even has been, 
revealed, which is also divine in scope, and needs to be made known by 
God to men through his Spirit. 

    But while the musterion thus implies something hidden, and 
inaccessible to the unaided reason, and usually also of weighty import, 
it by no means necessarily denotes anything strictly mysterious and 
incomprehensible. The fact or truth, though requiring to be revealed, 
may, when revealed, be of a very elementary character.

    Mystery in the NT does not deal with the unknowable, but with what 
is imparted by revelation. 

    The mystery of the New Testament has been described as an ‘open 
secret'; matters previously kept secret in God's eternal purposes have 
now been or are being revealed (Eph. 3:3-5; 1 Cor. 2:7-8). 

Numerous other sources give the same information, and the point is that 
the word musterion does not mean "mystery," and should not be 
translated that way. Although God kept His Sacred Secret a secret for 
years, it has now been made known.  There are a number of verses 
showing that a musterion can be revealed by God and understood by 
mankind. Because it is important to understand this point, I will quote 
quite a few of them.

    Matthew 13:11b (KJV)
    ...it is given unto you to know the mysteries [musterion] of the 
kingdom of heaven...

    1 Corinthians 2:7, 8a and 10a, (KJV)
    (7) But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery [musterion], even 
the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
    (8a) Which none of the princes of this world knew...
    (10a) But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit...

    Romans 16:25b and 26a
    (25b) ...the mystery [musterion] hidden for long ages past,
    (26a) but now revealed and made known through the prophetic 
writings by the command of the eternal God...

    Ephesians 1:9
    And he made known to us the mystery [musterion] of his will 
according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ,

    Colossians 1:26
    the mystery [musterion] that has been kept hidden for ages and 
generations, but is now disclosed to the saints.

Now that we have established that musterion does not mean "mystery," 
and that a musterion can be revealed and understood, we will show why 
we translate it as "sacred secret" and not just "secret." The Greek 
language uses musterion for secrets in the religious sphere, but has 
another word, kruptos, for secrets that are in the secular realm. 
The word kruptos appears in many places in the New Testament. For 
example, Jesus said to give alms in secret (Matt. 6:4-KJV); he taught 
that every secret thing will be brought to light (Mark 4:22-KJV); he 
went to Jerusalem in secret (John 7:10-KJV); God will judge men's 
secrets (Rom. 2:16); and, prophecy reveals the secrets of the heart (1 
Cor. 14:24 and 25).

The verb krupto also appears many times in the New Testament. Examples 
include: a city on a hill cannot be hidden (Matt. 5:14); the wicked 
servant hid his talent in the ground (Matt. 25:25); a Christian's new 
life is hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:3); and, Moses' parents hid 
him after he was born (Heb. 11:23).

From the above information we see that translating musterion as 
"secret," which some versions do in some places, does not bring out the 
true meaning of the Greek text. Anyone reading the Greek New Testament 
immediately understands whether God is speaking of a secular secret 
(kruptos) or a sacred secret (musterion), and a good translation brings 
out that difference. When a version translates both words as "secret," 
the truth that God so clearly communicated in the Greek text is lost. 
When translators use "secret" for kruptos and "mystery" for musterion, 
the words are not confused, but the English Bible is made to say 
something that it just does not say—that the things of God are 
mysterious. 

Is there a way to translate kruptos and musterion such that the meaning
of the Greek words is communicated clearly into English? Yes, there is. 
There is not one time in the New Testament where musterion cannot be 
fittingly translated as "sacred secret."  If we translate kruptos 
as "secret," and musterion as "sacred secret," the meaning of the Greek 
is communicated clearly, and we English-speaking people are in a better 
position to know and understand what God has said in His Word.

From:
http://www.truthortradition.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=554