36

ALIEN

There was nothing personally wrong in being a Gentile, but being born a Gentile carried with it great

dispensational disabilities.

`He sheweth His word unto Jacob, His statutes and His judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any

nation: and as for His judgments, they have not known them' (Psa. 147:19,20. See also Amos 3:2; Rom. 3:2).

We observe in Ephesians 2:11,12 that the sphere of Gentile disability is `in the flesh'; so also is the sphere of

Israel's privileges. Some of these privileges are set out by the apostle in Romans 9:

A

According to the flesh ... Brethren.

B

C

Adoption (placing as sons).

D

E

According to the flesh ... Christ (Rom. 9:3-5).

In the flesh, the Gentile is without Christ. He can only be in Christ `in the Spirit'; in the flesh he is without hope,

for it was of Israel according to the flesh, that Christ came. Thus the words en pneumati (Eph. 3:5) really preface

the threefold fellowship of the mystery detailed in verse 6.

At the close of the dark list of Gentile hopelessness are the words `in the world'. The world is at the present time

an abandoned evil, the enemy of God and of truth. Its prince is the devil, for the Saviour's kingdom is not of this

world. The whole world lieth in wickedness, and its rudiments are antagonistic to Christ. It is totally oblivious of

the work and witness of the Spirit. Its elements hold the Gentiles in bondage. Nothing but utter hopelessness,

therefore, can be the condition of those who are `in the flesh' and `in the world'.

From this pit of corruption, and from this godless, Christless, hopeless wilderness, God, in His rich mercy,

stooped and saved those whose destiny is to be blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ.

The Syrophenician woman shows us something of the meaning of the words:

`Aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise' (Eph. 2:12).

The Gentile was by nature `far off'. How could he be made nigh? The answer is that, while the dispensation

that included the nation of Israel lasted, Gentile believers could be grafted into the olive tree of Israel. Romans 9

does not refer to a merely national position - those addressed were `brethren' and were reminded that they stood `by

faith' (Rom. 11:20,25). The justified Gentile during the Acts period did not become a member of the body of Christ;

he became a graft in the olive tree of Israel of which Abraham was the root.

`But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ' (Eph. 2:13).

When we realize something of the slavery of Satan and the dominion of sin (Eph. 2:1-3), with what relief do we

read the words of Ephesians 2:4, `but God'. Again, when the helplessness and the hopelessness of the Gentiles' case

dispensationally, as set forth in Ephesians 2:11,12 is realized, how blessed the `but now' of verse 13. The blood of

Christ which accomplished deliverance from the bondage of sin (Eph. 1:7) now breaks down all barriers and gives

perfect access. The former condition of alienation is closely linked with a special enmity. The new status brings in

peace, evidently the result of the cessation of that enmity.

The reader should refer to MIDDLE WALL3, DECREES p. 212, BOTH p. 125, and ADOPTION p. 40, to obtain an

all-round view of what this alienation involved, and how it has been met by grace.