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A Word of Explanation.--An esteemed reader has drawn our attention to the
wording of the closing paragraphs of the article in #55, page 29, suggesting that a
superficial reading "cuts out the Jew entirely from the mystery and the one body".
The constitution of the one body is "of the two", "the both in one body" as
Eph. 2: teaches, and therefore includes the Jew who believes the truth. At the same
time Scripture speaks of the dispensation of the grace of God to the Gentiles. The
predominance of the Gentile in the one body leads to the use of the word Gentile as a
covering title, although the Jew finds a place by grace, the predominance of Israel in
kingdom purposes leads us to speak of that phase of truth as "Jewish" without ruling
out the evident inclusion of saved Gentiles.
We trust no one will be misled by the paragraph in question, and we shall always
be glad to hear from readers in order that the truth may be faithfully and
unambiguously stated.
#59.
The Pater and the
Patria (Eph. 3: 14, 15).
pp. 108 - 109
The prayer is definitely made to "The Father (of our Lord Jesus Christ)". Some MSS
omit the reference to Christ. To enter here into the argument as to whether prayer should
ever be addressed to Christ will lead us away from the real and helpful reason why the
apostle so definitely prays to "The Father". In the verse following the apostle continues,
"Of Whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named".
The English word "family" is derived from the Latin famulus = "servant". The Greek
word however is derived from the word pater = "father" and is patria, a richer word.
"The whole family" is in the original pasa patria = "every family". Some are rather
nervous of this rendering, owing perhaps to the generalizing that is so common. It is
correct, however, and that alone is sufficient. We find a scriptural reason in the use of the
word in Acts 3: 25:--
"Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with your
fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be
blessed."
There are "families" therefore "of the earth" that are to be blessed and named with the
name of the Father. These families, blessed under the terms of God's covenant with
Abraham, are not the families "in heaven". Other callings and promises deal with that
sphere, and pre-eminent among them is the church of the One Body, "blessed with every
blessing that is spiritual in the superheavenlies". That the church of the One Body is to
be reckoned as a "family" in heaven is suggested by the correspondence of the opening
and closing terms of the sevenfold unity of the Spirit:--
"One Body . . . . . one God and Father" (Eph. 4: 4-6).
The word patria occurs in Luke 2: 4, where it has to do with the house and lineage of
Joseph. Apart from this personal reference, Acts 3: 25 and Eph. 3: 15 are the only