of God in power according to the spirit of holiness, by means of a resurrection from the

dead." It is the risen One, whose physical connection with Israel has been transcended by

the spiritual extension of His power in resurrection, that Paul had to proclaim. In

II Cor. 5: 16 it is the same truth in the same connection. Again, reconciliation has

brought the far off and the nigh together "in Christ," and they who were "without a

Messiah" rejoice that they are blessed "in and with Christ."

The two central members  c  c,

the pivot and turning point of the structure,

emphasize with no uncertainty the "dispensational" as distinct from the "doctrinal"

condition under notice. The Gentiles were "aliens" and "strangers." In another passage

(Eph. 4: 18) we have an alienation of a moral kind, "alienated from the life of God."

This has to do with walk, and is an explanation of the passage which declares that we

were "dead in (or to) sins," and walked according to the age of this world. The alienation

from the life of God, but from the "commonwealth of Israel."

The word

`commonwealth" is politeia, and in its one other occurrence (Acts 22: 28), it is rendered

in the A.V. "freedom in a very suggestive context, emphasizing the difference between

the purchasing of a citizenship, and the being born a freeman of the city.  The

reconciliation altered this condition. While "in the flesh" is followed by "being aliens

from the citizenship of Israel," "in the Spirit" is followed by "now therefore citizens

(sumpolites) with the saints (appallotrioõ) are both derivatives from the same word allos,

which we have already found in the word translated "change" in Rom. 1: (allassõ) which

necessitated the reconciliation (katallassõ) of Rom. 5:  Every item in this passage

demands a volume, for the Old Testament is full of illustration and precept regarding this

alienation and this citizenship, and its exclusiveness can be traced in the Gospels and the

Acts. Without the reconciliation (apokatallassõ) it could never have been written that the

Gentiles were "joint heirs and a joint body and joint partakers of His promise in Christ by

the gospel of whereof I (Paul) was made a minister," any more than the gospel of God

could have been sent to the Gentiles without the reconciliation (katallassõ) of Rom. 5:

and 6: being in operation.

It must be kept in mind, further, that there is no element of universality in this passage.

The reconciliation is between "the both," and these are created into one new man, have

access to the Father, are fellow-citizens with the saints, and are being builded into a holy

temple. This is not true universally; it is only true of those who believe, and have been

saved by grace through faith. This has no reference to mankind as a whole, and to use the

term humanity in this connection is to introduce an element at variance with the peculiar

and elective nature of the subject.

The next item, "strangers from the covenants of the promise," places yet another

barrier between the Gentile and blessing, to be removed and swallowed up only in the

reconciliation. The word "strangers" is not so emphatic as the word "aliens." It is

translated "host" in Rom. 16: 23, and in the LXX sometimes it means "guest," although

this rendering does not occur in the A.V. The stranger had an allotted place in the

economy of the Law. He shared the feasts and many of the privileges pertaining to

circumcision, but he was a "stranger" nevertheless, and had not the same position that the

true born child possessed. The covenants (except those made prior to Abraham) belong