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ACCESS
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The terms `in Christ' and `in Christ Jesus' abound in Paul's epistles and the choice therefore of this title in
Ephesians 1:6 is all the more obvious in its deliberate intention. Let the mind attempt to comprehend `the love of
Christ', it will for ever be a subject that `passeth knowledge'. What then must the Beloved Himself be in the eyes of
His God and Father? When we can comprehend that most sacred relationship, then shall we be able to appreciate
the high favour that has been bestowed upon the members of the Church which is the body of Christ.
ACCESS. Prosagoge. This word is a compound of pros, a preposition denoting `toward' and ago `to lead'. The
verb prosago is used in 1 Peter 3:18 in the statement that Christ once suffered for sins, `the Just for the unjust, that
He might bring us to God'. The usage of prosago in the LXX version of Leviticus and Numbers had already
invested this word with a sacrificial meaning.
Prosagoge, the act of bringing anyone to or towards another is found only three times in the New Testament,
Romans 5:2, Ephesians 2:18 and 3:12. The reference in Romans is purely doctrinal in character and is a truth
unchanged by the change of dispensation. There are things that are permanent and things that are passing in the
epistle to the Romans, the permanent being doctrine that is basic to all callings, the passing that which was true at
the time but true no longer. The two references to access in Ephesians contain truth that is peculiar to the
dispensation of the Mystery.
`For through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father' (Eph. 2:18).
Here it is a company that can be called `the both' that have this access. This expression and a parallel one `the
twain' links that section of Ephesians which covers 2:14-18.
A
`The both' made one.
B
`The twain' created one new man.
A
`The both' reconciled.
B
`The both' have access in one spirit.
The complete structure of this passage will be found in the article devoted to EPHESIANS (p. 275), and the
explanation of the terms `the both' and `the twain' will be found under the heading, MIDDLE WALL OF PARTITION3.
Suffice it here to say that the access contemplated in Ephesians 2:18 is experienced by that newly-created company
that before the breaking down of the middle wall, consisted of believing Jews and believing Gentiles, each having
their own code and often grieving one another. This new company is no mere evolution from the Acts dispensation,
it is `created' (ktizo, Eph. 2:15, A.V. `make'), the result being `one new man'. The second and last reference to this
access is found in Ephesians 3:12, which arises out of the `eternal purpose' or `purpose of the ages' (see AGE p. 47)
of verse 11. This access is spoken of as being exercised with `boldness' and with `confidence'. It is said to be `by
the faith of Him'. This subject `access' is an adjunct to a larger one, namely RECONCILIATION4 which should be
consulted, with which it is associated both in Romans 5:1-11 and in Ephesians 2:11-19, and this great subject should
be known by all who would appreciate what the `access' in the dispensation of the Mystery entails.
ACKNOWLEDGE. Epiginosko, epignosis.
Epiginosko. In the A.V. this is translated acknowledge 5 times, have knowledge of 1, know 30, know well 1,
perceive 3, take knowledge of 2.
Epignosis, acknowledging 3, acknowledgment 1, knowledge 16, with marginal reading acknowledge 1,
acknowledgment 1. The distinction between knowledge and acknowledge, was not so sharply drawn in earlier days
as it is now.
`We knowledge Thee to be the Father of infinite majesty' was the recognized form in the year A.D. 1535. Today
`knowledge' stands for the `stuff' of knowledge, the information gathered, and the intelligence possessed, but this is
a secondary meaning as any good English dictionary will reveal. The primary meaning of `knowledge' in the Oxford
English Dictionary is `acknowledgment, confession, recognition of the position or claims of any one'. Epignosis
does not mean the mere piling up of information, neither does it mean full knowledge, but rather does it mean