nature, the blessed condition of perfect equality that characterizes the church

of the one body was impossible of fulfilment, and was not the subject of

revelation.  Only with the setting aside of Israel at Acts 28, and the

revelation of the new dispensation of the Mystery, could such a condition

We must now consider the way in which this reference to the middle wall is

approached.  `For He is our peace'.  `He' autos gathers up the references to

`Christ' and `Christ Jesus' that have gone before, making the meaning `He and no

other' a true rendering of the apostle's meaning.  It does not say He made peace

here, that follows at the end of verse 15, but He is our peace and made both

one.  He Himself is our peace; we are still dealing with the Kinsman-Redeemer.

The Jewish believer who becomes a member of this newly called church, becomes at

the same time a member of the Body of Christ; the Gentile believer who becomes a

member of this newly called church, he too becomes at the same time a member of

the Body of Christ, and in that new unity Christ Himself is the bond of peace.

`Both one'.  Who are the `both'?  A superficial reading of this passage

sees no more in it than another presentation of the glorious truth of the

believer's acceptance with God, but the middle wall of partition separated one

believer from another, and the words `both' and `twain' here are preceded by the

article `the'.  `The both' are made one; `the twain' are created one new man;

`the both' are reconciled in one body, and `the both' have access in one Spirit.

We might have thought that the apostle should have used the words `the both'

four times, thus:

made one.  The middle wall gone.

made one new man, so making peace.

reconciled in one Body by the cross.

have access by one Spirit,

but this is not so.  `The both' are made one, are reconciled and have access,

but `the twain' are created in Himself into one new man.  We shall discover

there is a reason for this that is of dispensational importance.  The middle

wall is said to have been `broken down'; the enmity which this middle wall

symbolised is said to have been abolished.  The word translated `broken down' is

the Greek luo `to loose'.  When used of a temple it is translated `destroy'

(John 2:19).  When used of a congregation it is translated `to be broken up'

(Acts 13:43), where the context emphasizes the difference that existed between

the Jewish and the Gentile hearers of the apostle (Acts 13:42-48).  While the

idea of `breaking down' a wall or a building is a common one in the Old

Testament, there does not seem to be a passage where the LXX has adopted this

particular word luo to translate the Hebrew terms used.

Apart from John 2:19, there does not appear to be any other instance in

the Scriptures where luo is so translated.  This being the case, some reason

must have prompted the choice of this word.  Luo is the root from which such

terms as lutroo `redeem', lutron `ransom', lutrosis and apolutrosis `redemption'

are derived, and the apostle seems to have blended the physical idea of the

breaking down of a wall with the liberation that followed the setting aside of

the condition that this middle wall typified.  The `chain' of Ephesians 6:20 is

halusis, and it is not beyond possibility that the apostle already envisaged the

bond of peace, a most blessed exchange for the fetters which were dissolved with

the breaking down of the middle wall.