 |  |
Mediator. The doctrine of the One Mediator is the central theme of the
oldest book in the world, the book of Job, and its glorious presence enriches
the types of the law, the visions of the prophets, the praises of the Psalms,
as well as the record that announces the birth of Him Who is Emmanuel, and
speaks of Him as the Mystery of Godliness, `God manifest in the flesh'. The
only reason for thus introducing so great a doctrine into the pages of an
analysis that must keep closely to the dispensational side of truth, is the
statement made by the apostle in 1 Timothy 2:5,6:
`For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man
Christ Jesus; Who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due
time'.
`To be testified in due time' hardly does justice to the actual intention of
the apostle. To marturion kairois idiois, should be rendered `the testimony
for its own peculiar seasons', thereby stressing the supreme importance of
this basic truth in the present dispensation of grace. We cannot say more
without touching upon doctrinal ground, so must content ourselves with the
fact that the dispensational importance of this doctrine has at least been
acknowledged here.
Member. The Greek word melos, which is translated `member' in the New
Testament, is according to Heyschius, a grammarian of Alexandria, applied to
the parts of the body, from their harmonious adaptation to one another and to
the body. For the Greeks call everything congruous and harmonious melos,
which also signifies musical harmony, songs, etc., whence our word melody.
In this latter sense it occurs in Ecclesiasticus 47:9. This relationship of
the members of the Body with harmony and melody, appears in a passage in the
epistle to the Ephesians:
`From Whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that
which every joint supplieth' (Eph. 4:16).
The word translated `fitly joined together' in the Greek is sunarmologeo and
contains the word harmonia, the origin of the English `harmony'. Melos
occurs thirty -four times, and is always translated `member'. Two references
only are found in the Gospels (Matt. 5:29,30), all the rest are in the
epistles, three being found in James (Jas. 3:5,6; 4:1), the remainder being
found in the epistles of Paul. Of this number, three references only are
found in the
Prison epistles (Eph. 4:25; 5:30; Col. 3:5) the remaining twenty -six
occurrences being distributed between 1 Corinthians and Romans, sixteen being
found in 1 Corinthians and ten in Romans. The references in Romans 12:4,5
like those in 1 Corinthians 12, use the figure of a body with its many
members to illustrate the principle `diversity in unity' as it relates to the
distribution and employment of supernatural gifts. For a fuller treatment of
1 Corinthians 12, see the articles Baptism1 and Body1. Melos occurs only in
the practical section of Ephesians, and the one reference in Colossians
relates to the actual members of the believer's physical body. This means
that Ephesians 4:25 is the only reference to the believer in the epistles of
the Mystery as a `member' and although the `body' is necessarily implied it
is not stated.
`Put on the new man ... putting away lying, speak every man truth with
his neighbour: for we are members one of another' (Eph. 4:24,25).