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verse 9, as a result of the extension of the blessings (primarily sent to
Israel) to the Gentiles. Two ministries are in view here:
(1)
Jesus Christ -- a `minister of the circumcision' (Rom. 15:8).
(2)
Paul -- the `minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles,
ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the
Gentiles might be acceptable (cf. 12:1 and 14:18, the very case
in point), being sanctified by the Holy Spirit' (15:16).
The fact of this reconciliation is taken so much as a matter of course,
that the question as to whether Gentile worship and ministry might not be
acceptable to God never enters into our minds. Indeed, today, many have gone
to the other extreme, and deny any future blessing to Israel. It is only
because the world has been reconciled to God by the death of His Son that the
gospel can go forth to the Gentiles at all. Blessed as this is, we have not
reached the height of grace. Still further and fuller blessings were to be
made known. If the estrangement of Israel could thus be blessed to Gentiles,
we may well believe that the setting aside of Israel at Acts 28 might be the
basis of still richer grace.
The Enmity that Called Forth `The Decrees' of Acts 15
The alienation, enmity and corresponding reconciliation relating to
`the both', i.e. the Jewish believer and the Gentile believer during the Acts
period, is symbolized by the Middle Wall, and manifested in the decrees of
Acts 15. As space is limited, the reader is referred for a fuller exposition
of Ephesians 2, to the article on Middle Wall3).
(5) Reconciliation, as Between the Redeemed who Constitute the Church of the
One Body, and the Heavenly Principalities and Powers, who are already in
Heavenly Places
The parallel that exists between the teaching of Ephesians and
Colossians, if recognized, will forbid the sudden application of this
dispensational reconciliation to the entire universe at some future time, as
is done by those who teach Universal Reconciliation.
The study of the reconciliation, as taught in Colossians 1:15-22, must
be conducted with due regard to the limits of the epistle. If the epistle be
written to an elect company of believers by a specially appointed apostle who
claims an exclusive ministry, and if that ministry be defined as pertaining
to the Church of the Body, and to the dispensation of the Mystery (a ministry
that fills up the Word of God, and bridges the gulf which commenced at Acts
28), then we must accept these restrictions, and so interpret any detail of
the epistle that it shall not transgress the spirit or the letter of these
terms.
We therefore feel sure that the reader will desire a study of the
context before dealing with the actual verses which contain these last
references to the reconciliation.
We have seen by our study of Ephesians 2 (see Ephesians1; Middle Wall3)
that the reconciliation, the apokatallasso, the new word of the Mystery
epistles, is a step beyond the katallasso of the earlier epistles, but must
not be considered merely as a continuation, or fruition; it is quite
distinct. The reconciliation of Ephesians 2 was effected between `the both',
making `the both one', `creating of the two, one new man', `reconciling the