energizes the sons of disobedience, the selfsame word (energeo) is used of

that power which raised up Christ from the dead and seated Him, and which

raises up the members of His Body and seats them.

The Selahs of the Psalms are wonderful, but what shall we say to this

`Selah' written for us and about us!

We have considered the doctrinal Selah of Ephesians 2:2 -7, and now

turn our attention to the dispensational Selah of Ephesians 2:11 -19.  The

two passages have much in common.  They turn the reader's attention back to

`times past' (Eph. 2:2,3,11,12); they describe the terrible condition of that

period.  One has to do with trespasses and sins, the other with distance and

alienation.  The desperate condition of the former position is met by `life',

and the equally hopeless condition of the dispensational position is met by

`access'.  In the former condition the Gentile is seen `alienated from the

life of God' (see `walk' and `conversation' in Eph. 4:17 -22), and in the

latter condition `aliens from the commonwealth of Israel'.  In the first we

see a sinner and his need, in the second a Gentile and his far -off

condition.  In Ephesians 2:2 -7 we saw that environment and heredity, `the

world' and `the flesh', played their part.  We find these two influences

repeated when the apostle treats of the dispensational disability of being a

Gentile.  He was `in the flesh' (Eph. 2:11) and `in the world' (Eph. 2:12).

If his need so far as sin, death and life are concerned could only be met by

the Selah of Ephesians 2:4 `But God', his need so far as distance and

alienation are concerned, could only be met by the Selah `But now' of

Ephesians 2:13.

Let us now give our attention to this second great theme, the one

dealing not with sin, but with dispensational disability.  We must endeavour

to put ourselves back into the time when Ephesians was written.  It is `a

prison epistle', and therefore was written during the `two whole years' of

Acts 28:30.  Up till then the Jew had been `first' (Rom. 1:16; 2:9).  The

believing Gentile was reminded that he was after all but a wild olive grafted

contrary to nature into the true olive (Rom. 11:17 -25).  Israel as a nation

was a people `near unto the Lord' (Psa. 148:14), even though as individuals

they were sinners as were the rest of the world.  Ephesians 2:11 calls upon

the Gentile to `remember' his position `in time past'.  He was typified by

the Gentile Syro -Phoenician woman, who, recognizing Israel as her `Lord',

accepting her own position as `a little dog', was glad to be permitted to eat

the crumbs that fell from Israel's table.

`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 with 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' (Eph. 2:11,12).

`In the flesh' these Gentiles were the `Uncircumcision'.  `In the

world', they were `without God'.  It was impossible for any uncircumcised

person to have part or lot with the covenant promises of Israel in the flesh

(Gen. 17:14; Exod. 12:48).  Such were `aliens' so far as the `citizenship'

(politeia) of Israel is concerned, and `strangers' so far as the covenants of

promise are concerned.