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As the apostle Paul describes in Ephesians
2:11ff God has brought in a great dispensational change in the outworking of
His plan and purpose.
"Wherefore
remember, that ye being in TIME PAST Gentiles in the flesh, who are
called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the
flesh made by hands; that AT THAT TIME ye were without Christ, being
aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants
of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: BUT NOW in
Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of
Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down
the middle wall of partition between us; having abolished in his
flesh the enmity even the law of commandments contained in
ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having
slain the enmity thereby:.." (Eph. 2:11 16)
God's "time past" program
and dealings with the nation of Israel, which had Israel "nigh"
unto God and us Gentiles "far off", is NOT the situation
today. A change has taken place. God has temporarily suspended His program
and dealings with Israel, and He has brought in a new dispensation, or
program, of His grace for us Gentiles. God has put Jew and Gentile on the
exact same level in this present dispensation, and He is forming "of
the twain one new man", the "new creation", the
church the body of Christ. This great dispensational change was NOT
something which was prophesied about before and, therefore, expected. But
rather as the apostle Paul declares and confirms in Eph. 3:1 12, it was a
"mystery" which God kept "hid in Himself"
in "ages and generations past." God ushered it in when He raised
Paul up as a brand new apostle and revealed to him the "mystery of
Christ". We, today, live in this new dispensation of Gentile grace,
and God's program and dealings with the nation of Israel are in abeyance
"until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in."
A PROBLEM
Unfortunately, though, with many
Christians today the specialness and distinctiveness of God's present
program is not appreciated as it should be. The Bible is handled as if this
dispensation of Gentile grace has always been God's program. In so doing,
often times instructions, commands, promises and the like which God gave in
accordance with His program and dealings with Israel, (and which ONLY
pertain to Israel's program), are taken by Christians today as if God gave
them to us. As a result many today put themselves under the Law; they employ
the "rudiments of the world"; look for signs; try to
perform the signs and wonders of our Lord's earthly ministry and the day of
Pentecost; seek to establish the kingdom of heaven; and a host of other
things which do NOT pertain to God's program in this present dispensation.
All of these things are scriptural, but they are NOT part of what God is
doing today in this present dispensation of Gentile grace. Instead they all
pertain to God's program and dealings with Israel.
The failure, though, of Christians both to
recognize this and to see that such practices have nothing to do with God's
program today, arises from a basic failure to really understand and
appreciate the great dispensational change that has taken place. The
distinctiveness of what God is doing today, and its many differences from
what He was doing in "time past" just isn't grasped as it
ought to be. Consequently, God's word isn't "rightly divided"
as it needs to be, and instead confusion of doctrine and practice abounds.
One of the issues which often contributes
to this problem is the simple fact that many Christians don't truly realize
the extent and profoundness of the "far off" position we
Gentiles possessed in "time past". They don't really
understand what it was for us as Gentiles to be "far off"
and "without God in the world". The telling designation of
"Uncircumcision" doesn't communicate the status of
alienation we used to have simply being Gentiles. And, as a result, the
astonishing magnificence of this present dispensation of Gentile grace and
its great change, fails to impress them as it ought. In truth, though, in
"time past" we as Gentiles weren't simply "dead in
trespasses and sins", but we were also "dead in the
uncircumcision of our flesh". We, therefore, were TWICE dead before
God being Gentiles in the flesh. God's covenanted program and dealings were
with His chosen people Israel. He was "nigh" unto them, but
we Gentiles were "far off". All of the unenviable traits
mentioned in Ephesians 2:11 12 were real and serious disadvantages which we
possessed. They aren't over statements of what our status used to be.
Rather, they are the explicit descriptions of exactly how it was that we
stood as Gentiles in "time past", before God ushered in
this present dispensation. Each one of them testifies to just how "far
off" we Gentiles were in "time past". But each one
of them also testifies to just how special and astoundingly different this
present dispensation of Gentile grace really is, since they aren't
descriptions of our status before God today.
HOW "FAR OFF"
WERE WE?
Briefly consider the meaning of each one
of the disadvantages and drawbacks that Paul states in Eph. 2:11 12, and
note just how "far off" we Gentiles used to be.
"CALLED UNCIRCUMCISION"
This designation labeled us Gentiles as ones who were not in covenant
relationship with God; who were not especially chosen by Him; but rather
were given up by God and were outside the realm of His direct dealings. As
Genesis 17 sets forth, when God separated Abraham from the rest of the
world, and established His covenanted plan and purpose with him and his seed
after him, God instituted in his flesh a sign of that unique covenant
relationship. That sign was circumcision and it signified the
presence of God's covenant with the seed of Abraham.
"And God said
unto Abraham, THOU SHALT KEEP MY COVENANT THEREFORE, THOU, AND THY SEED
AFTER THEE IN THEIR GENERATIONS. This is my covenant, which ye
shall keep, BETWEEN ME AND YOU AND THY SEED AFTER THEE; Every man child
among you shall be CIRCUMCISED. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your
foreskin; and it shall be a TOKEN OF THE COVENANT BETWIXT ME AND
YOU." (vs. 9 11)
God's covenanted program and dealings were
with Abraham and his seed the people of Israel. We Gentiles were not
possessors of that special relationship with God at all. We, as Isaiah
flatly declared, were NOT God's people; were NOT ones He barest
rule over; were NOT called by His name. (Isa. 63:19) But rather,
God and His people Israel called us the "Uncircumcision".
And, in accordance with our outsider status, we were also referred to as
"dogs" and the "unclean".
With this being so, Paul also declares how
that in "time past" God "suffered all nations to
walk in their own ways" (Acts 14:16), and He "winked at"
the times of our ignorance as Gentiles (Acts 17:30).
Being "called Uncircumcision",
therefore, labeled us Gentiles for exactly how we stood with God in "time
past". We were outsiders and NOT the object of God's program and
dealings.
"WITHOUT CHRIST" Since
God's dealings were with Israel in "time past", when the
Lord Jesus Christ was here on this earth He didn't come to us Gentiles. But
rather He came as Israel's Christ and functioned just as Paul declares in
Romans 15:8....
"Now I say that
Jesus Christ WAS A MINISTER OF THE CIRCUMCISION for the truth of God, to
confirm the promises made unto the fathers:"
In perfect accordance with this the Lord
Himself, when He was here, declared in the presence of a Gentile, "I AM
NOT SENT BUT UNTO THE LOST SHEEP OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL" (Matt. 15:24).
Also, when He commissioned His 12 apostles He commanded them saying,
"GO NOT INTO THE WAY OF THE GENTILES, AND INTO ANY CITY OF THE
SAMARITANS ENTER YE NOT. BUT GO RATHER TO THE LOST SHEEP OF THE HOUSE OF
ISRAEL." (Matt. 10:5 6) In view of this, as the Gospel accounts record,
the Lord only dealt with two Gentiles in His earthly ministry, and this He
did ONLY as they took their rightful place as "dogs". (cp.
Matt. 15:21 28 and Luke 7:1 10)
The Lord, when He was here, clearly came
as Israel's Christ. He without a shadow of a doubt "was a minister
of the circumcision". This present dispensation of Gentile grace
was NOT in effect when the Lord was here. But rather, we Gentiles were truly
"WITHOUT CHRIST" being "far off".
"ALIENS AND STRANGERS" It
is particularly because we Gentiles were "aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise"
that we were "without Christ". Again, God's program and
dealings were exclusively with His nation Israel the people He formed for
Himself. The rights, the privileges, the entitlements to God's attention and
peculiar care belonged to Israel. Being formed by God for His ex press use
and purpose in the earth, and being married to Him, they were in
living union relationship with God. Israel was created for His glory and was
the "apple of His eye." But we Gentiles were "aliens"
and foreigners to the nation He begat, and were not part of its exclusive
"commonwealth". We were "strangers" to
God's dealings for they focused upon His people, and so we were estranged
from "the covenants of promise" which He made privately
with His espoused nation. Again, we were "far off."
"HAVING NO HOPE" Not only
were we Gentiles "aliens" and "strangers"
from God's special covenanted relationship and dealings with His nation
Israel, but we also had no expectation or hope of that status ever changing.
True, God's program with Israel has as its goal the blessing of the world.
But that blessing of the world is through the nation of Israel functioning
as God's "peculiar people"; as His "kingdom of
priests, and an holy nation." In the kingdom, when the Abrahamic
covenant is being fulfilled, the blessing which will come to the Gentiles
will flow through the nation of Israel. Israel will be, and will function
as, the "head of the nations." She will be God's "kingdom
of priests" mediating the blessings of God to the nations, and
representing Him to them. As Isaiah prophesied concerning Israel's "rising"
and the glory of the LORD being seen upon her, the Gentiles shall come to
her, and....
"...ye shall be
named the Priests of the LORD: men shall call you the Ministers of
our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall
ye boast yourselves." (Isa. 61:6)
The fulfillment of God's program with the
nation of Israel does not see a change in the status of the Gentiles. Israel
will be acknowledged as the people blessed of the LORD. But a share in those
blessings will only be the Gentiles as God's covenanted purpose with Israel
is realized by them and as they submit to it. In "the kingdom of
heaven" on this earth Israel's supremacy with God will be
undeniably established, and the Gentiles, for their own good, will admit
this and they will confess, "Surely this nation is a wise and
understanding people. For what nation is there so great, who hath God so
nigh unto them." By so doing, the nations will be blessed of God.
But Israel's first class status will not be lost or diminished.
"WITHOUT GOD IN THE WORLD"
What an utterly bleak, somber, dark, and destitute sound there is to these
words. They state with a chilling and shuddering effect just how "far
off" we Gentiles were in "time past". Nothing less
than the coldness and darkness of the absence of God was our
possession as Gentiles. Israel, on the other hand, was with God in the
world. They were called by His name. He walked in the midst of them and
He dwelt among them. They possessed the light and warmth of God's
presence in His exclusive program and dealings with them. But, again, such
was not the case with us Gentiles. We were "without God in the
world." No other words could express with such force just how
"far off" we Gentiles were in "time past".
THE MIDDLE WALL OF
PARTITION
On top of all this, in "time past"
God even erected a "middle wall of partition" between His
people Israel and the Gentiles. In so doing He made all of Israel's
advantages and all of these Gentile disadvantages evident, and He also
enforced them. As Paul describes in Eph. 2:14 15, the Law covenant which God
had made with Israel functioned as this "middle wall of partition."
Clearly, a "wall of partition" is designed to keep things
on either side of the wall apart from one another and distinct from one
another. And this is just what the Law covenant did. By it God clearly
manifested the exclusiveness of His program and dealings with Israel, and
that the Gentiles were "far off".
THE GREAT DISPENSATIONAL
CHANGE
It is indeed a most astounding thing when
after describing the utter destitution of our "time past"
status and situation as Gentiles, the apostle Paul goes on to herald the
great dispensational change that God has brought in.
"But now in
Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of
Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down
the middle wall of partition between us; having abolished in his
flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in
ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making
peace;...For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you
Gentiles, if ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which
is given me to you ward: how that by revelation he made known unto me the
mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, whereby, when ye read, ye may
understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) which in other ages was
not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy
apostles and prophets by the Spirit;..." (Eph. 2:13 3:5)
What a phenomenal change God has ushered
in! God has now temporarily suspended His program with Israel and has
brought in a dispensation of His grace for us Gentiles. But, again, this was
NOT the case in the Old Testament, or when our Lord was here as recorded in
the Gospels, or even in the opening chapters of the book of Acts with the
ministry of the 12 apostles. Search the Scriptures and see how that all of
those Gentile disadvantages and drawbacks were in effect at that time. Up
until God raised up the apostle Paul as a brand new apostle God's exclusive
program with the nation of Israel was in effect; "time past"
was in effect, and all the instructions, promises, injunctions, and
activities of God pertain to God's program and dealings with Israel.
But when the Lord Jesus Christ
unexpectedly came back from heaven, as historically recorded in Acts 9, He
raised up Paul as a new apostle, and revealed to him the change in programs
He was bringing in, and sent him out as the "apostle of the Gentiles"
to proclaim the new dispensation, just as Paul declares in his epistles.
We, today, live in this dispensation of
Gentile grace that God has brought in. Believers, today, are members of the "new
creation" which God is now forming; the "one new man";
the church the body of Christ. Naturally enough, God's program and dealings
with us today is different from that which pertains to the nation of Israel.
It is crucial, therefore, that Christians "rightly divide the word
of truth" recognizing that it is in the epistles of the apostle
Paul, who is our apostle being the "apostle of the Gentiles",
that we have the doctrine and instructions from God which are expressly TO
US and ABOUT US today.
God expects us realize what He is doing
today, and the great change that it is from "time past". He
expects us to understand and appreciate this present dispensation of Gentile
grace, and for us to live in proper accordance with it. He expects us to
live our lives in line with what He is doing today. But what a shame it is
that so many Christians fail to even recognize the great dispensational
change that has taken place and they, instead, endeavor to live, and make
God live, in "time past."
This study is available
in the doctrinal tract titled
“‘Time Past’ and ‘Now’”
on the Literature page.
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