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THE APOSTLE OF THE RECONCILIATION
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power from on high, still regards himself as a man that is a Jew - and yet the tradition is still held that the church
began at Pentecost!) to keep company, or come unto one of another nation (or to come near to a foreigner); but God
hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean' (Acts 10:28).
By his own confession, Peter's doctrine and fellowship placed the pious, praying, devout, almsgiving Cornelius
with the dogs, and the swine, and the creeping things. What the effect upon Peter would have been had he been told
that not only such, but Barbarians, Scythians, and idolaters were to be made `all one in Christ Jesus' is beyond the
limits of our imagination. The church which began at Pentecost barred the door against the Gentile. `The saved
ones' of Acts 2 is the name of the believing remnant of Israel, anticipating, as Joel indicated, the great and terrible
day of the Lord. What has come in to make the difference? One word, and one alone, viz., reconciliation, fully
answers the question, and one event of necessity preceded the vision of Joppa, and that was the vision on
the road to Damascus. In other words, Paul is converted and commissioned before Peter is sent for by Cornelius.
Paul's conversion is a dispensational mark of supreme importance.
We must now make a digression in order that we may realize the character and purpose of the reconciliation.
Strange as the expression may seem at first, the writer is more and more under the conviction that to know what God
has said is even more important, in the first place, than to endeavour to find out what He means. If we simply
reason
over
the
meaning
of
`reconciliation',
we
may
still
be
off
the track of truth: but if we know the actual word that God has said, we build upon an impregnable rock. We first of
all take note of the actual words that come into this question; and then, by considering their usage, we shall hope to
*
arrive at their meaning. Katallasso, apokatallasso, katallage, allasso, and allos are all the words which we must
know in order to have a clear view of the subject before us. The root idea goes back to the word allos, which simply
means `other'. It indicates a change from one state to another. This is clearly seen in the passages where allasso is
found.
`Change the customs' (Acts 6:14).
`Changed the glory' (Rom. 1:23).
`We shall ... be changed' (1 Cor. 15:51,52).
`Change my voice' (Gal. 4:20).
`They shall be changed' (Heb. 1:12).
It is evident, therefore, that the reconciliation involves a very definite change; and such is indicated in Acts 10.
Diallassomai occurs in Matthew 5:24, `Be reconciled to thy brother'.
Katallasso occurs as follows:
`Enemies ... reconciled'; `being reconciled' (Rom. 5:10).
`Reconciled to her husband' (1 Cor. 7:11).
`God, ... hath reconciled us' (2 Cor. 5:18).
`God was in Christ, reconciling' (2 Cor. 5:19).
`Be ye reconciled to God' (2 Cor. 5:20).
Katallage, `the atonement' (Rom. 5:11). This rendering was introduced in the days when the Authorized Version
was prepared. Shakespeare uses it in a similar way, `He seeks to make atonement between the Duke of Gloster and
your brother'.
`The reconciling of the world' (Rom. 11:15).
`The ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18).
`The word of reconciliation' (2 Cor. 5:19).
Apokatallasso
*
To prevent any misunderstanding we point out that some texts and Lexicons read `tt' instead of `ss', i.e., allatto,
etc.; it is all one and the same word.