Colossians 1:25, and can be rendered in all cases by the word

The Greek word is oikonomia, and appears in English as economy, which in its

primary sense refers to administration either in politics or in domestic

Turn now to Galatians 2:7,9.  There you have Peter and Paul.  The

leaders at Jerusalem recognized that Paul had been entrusted with the gospel

of the uncircumcision, and that Peter had been entrusted with the gospel of

the circumcision, and that one was right in going to the heathen and the

other equally right in limiting himself to the circumcision.  So that it

appears in this case that two stewardships connected with two sets of good

news, addressed to two divisions of the human race, were in operation at one

and the same time.

A -- If that is the meaning of the word dispensation, then I must admit

the possibility.

B -- When God gave the law of Sinai to Israel, that nation was under

the dispensation of law.  The nations of the earth were under the

dispensation of conscience and creation; that is another illustration of the

same principle.  (See Rom. 1:18 to 2:29; Acts 17:25 -28; 14:16,17).

A -- If I admit the possibility of two dispensations running together,

I shall have to reconsider another item about which I have expressed myself

rather strongly.

B -- What is that, if I may ask?

A -- It is a question of the membership of the church of the One Body,

but I think I will leave that for another time.

B -- By all means, only let your love for truth outweigh any feeling

you may have in the matter.  Better to confess error a thousand times than

through foolish pride entertain untruth to one's own spiritual hurt.

A -- Thanks for your help.

The greatest difficulty we seem to have is

the necessity to unlearn.

A -- I believe you teach that the church of the One Body did not come

into being until after Acts 28?

B -- To be exact, I believe that the church of the One Body did not

come into being until after the all -day conference recorded in Acts 28:23 -

28, but during the two whole years of Paul's detention at Rome, when the

three `in prison epistles' were written.

A -- Does that mean that membership of this church depends upon Paul's

imprisonment? or upon the acceptance of some particular truth?  If that is

what you teach I certainly cannot bring myself to believe it.

B -- If you turn to the opening chapter of Ephesians you will find that

every single member of the One Body is an elected person, having been `chosen

in Christ before the foundation (or preferably "overthrow") of the world'.

So that in the first instance membership of this company depends neither upon