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acquaintance with our position in Christ and with Christ when we were "made to sit
together in heavenly places". The epistle to the Hebrews teaches the same thing:--
"Having therefore, brethren, liberty to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a
new and living way which He hath consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, His
flesh . . . . . let us draw near" (10: 19-22).
It is echoed in I John 1: 7:--
"If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and
the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin."
"Let us draw near", for we have been "made nigh".
#45.
"The Holy Temple" (Eph. 2: 19-22).
pp. 116 - 119
Access unto the Father concluded the section of Eph. 2: which dealt with the
distance, the "far off" character of both Jew and Gentile in the flesh. The far off are
made nigh; the both made one. Reconciliation, peace and access are now their privilege
in place of distance, enmity and the middle wall of partition.
Without our attempting an elaborate literary structure the expansion of the theme will
be observed if we notice the following:--
Eph. 2: 11-22.
A
| Once.--Strangers and aliens
\
B | Now.--Made nigh.
\
Body
C | Unity.--The two made one.
/
D | Access.--In one spirit.
/
A | No longer.--Strangers and aliens
\
B | But.--Fellow citizens.
\
Temple.
C | Unity.--Fitly framed together.
/
D | Habitation.--Of God in spirit.
/
The value of this method of study is that it keeps prominently before us the main
theme. We Gentiles once were aliens, but we are such no longer. This is the primary
subject. The intermediate verses (13-18) explain how this can be. It is accomplished by
the blood of Christ, the destruction of all enmity in the flesh, the creation of the new man,
and leads up to access in one spirit to the Father. The second section (19-22) starting
with the altered position of the Gentiles "no longer aliens", leads on, not this time to our
access to God, but to His dwelling in us. This important order is observed in the two
prayers of Ephesians. In Eph. 1: 15-23 the believer is directed outside of himself to the
right hand of God and sees what he is "in Christ". In Eph. 3: again as a sequel to