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remember that that church, as the Acts of the Apostles shows,
largely was associated with the synagogue, both of the land and
of the dispersion. Today, in the light of the Mystery, the word
`church' has taken upon it a higher meaning. The church of
Ephesians was most certainly not within the range of Moses and
the prophets; but, while Israel as a nation stood before God,
there was the kahal, the called-out people, the church of God,
and while the hope of Israel remained, as it did until the end of
the Acts (Acts 28:20), there could be but one `assembly' or
`church', and to this the Gentile believer was added.
We trust that the reader has by now satisfied himself that Paul
meant exactly what he said in his defence before Agrippa.
Should further and fuller confirmation be sought, let each reader
take up the Book and examine its testimony. We do not fear the
result. Not only did Paul say that he had not said anything
outside the testimony of Moses and the prophets, but he also
said at the close of this first ministry:
`I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God' (Acts
20:27).
This of course, did not mean that Paul had exhausted the mind
of God; but simply that everything that had then been made
known he had honestly and unreservedly declared.
In conclusion, may we say that we are grateful to the
correspondent who originally challenged us on this question?
Truth has nothing to fear from examination: the more it is
investigated in the right spirit, the clearer it will become.
C.H.Welch