`in Christ'.  Its practical outworkings are `in the Lord', and the special

feature with which Ephesians 3:6 is in direct contrast is given in Ephesians

2:11, en sarki `in flesh'.  In verse 12 another sphere is mentioned, `in the

In the world

is contrasted with

in the heavenlies.

In flesh

is set over against

in spirit.

With the addition of the word `one' the change is found indicated in

2:18, `access to the Father in One Spirit', and again in 2:22, `an habitation

of God in spirit'.  In chapter 3 the apostle pursues the theme of the change

of dispensation.  The inspiration of Scripture or of apostles is extraneous

to the subject.  Consequently, as we are free to choose, we feel that 3:6

must commence with the words `in spirit'.  This is the essential condition of

blessing in this dispensation.  The blessings themselves are `all spiritual'

and can only be received by those who are `in spirit'.

In the next place we pause to note the class who are spoken of as being

thus blessed in spirit.  It is usual for the words to be added, at least

mentally, to make the verse read, `that the Gentiles together with the Jews

should be fellow -heirs, etc.', but this idea is unwarranted.  If for the

moment we concede that the Jew is in view, the teaching then must be accepted

as a veritable revelation of an hitherto hidden mystery, for where, since the

call of Abraham to the writing of the epistle to the Romans (where the

apostle says `the Jew first', etc.) has the Gentile ever received the

threefold equality revealed here?

Millennial blessings which fulfil the promises to Israel, necessarily

give the blessed Gentile a secondary place; they who were once aliens to the

commonwealth of Israel, but who are finally blessed under the covenant of

promise, are nevertheless `tail' and not `head', and their national

distinctions remain.  Here, in the dispensation of the Mystery, the sphere is

`in spirit' and the equality is concerning the Gentiles.  The only place that

a Jew can have in the dispensation of the Mystery is to lose his nationality

and enter this equal calling as a sinner saved by grace, even as the Gentile

The threefold equality of this new sphere must now be noted:

Summetocha

In each case the word commences with su which means `with'.  The best

word in English to fit the three statements is the word `joint'.  We can say

`joint -heirs', a `joint -body',  and  `joint -partakers'.

In Hebrews 11:9 we read of Isaac and Jacob who sojourned with Abraham

as `heirs with him of the same promise'.  God does not call Himself merely

the God of Abraham, or the God of Abraham and Isaac.  His full title in this

connection is `The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob'.  They were co -heirs.

In 1 Peter 3:7 the husband, though recognizing his wife as a `weaker vessel',

is nevertheless enjoined to remember that they were both `heirs together of

the grace of life'.  The equality among all believers in the dispensation of

the Mystery is expressed in similar terms, namely co -heirs.  This

inheritance is the subject of Ephesians 1:11 and 18, and of Colossians 1:12.

It is a predestinated allotment, it is `in the light'.