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into their adoption and promises, when "the glory" and "the service" are indeed theirs,
the nations round about them will travel up three times a year to Jerusalem to keep the
feasts and obtain knowledge of the Lord, recognizing in this favoured nation "the priests
of the Lord" and the "ministers of our God" (Isa. 61: 6; Zech 14: 16-21).
Before passing on to consider the latter part of Rom. 9: 5, let us set out the
dispensational disabilities of the Gentiles, and compare them with the dispensational
advantages of Israel as set above.
Dispensational disabilities of the Gentiles (Eph. 2: 11, 12).
A | Gentiles. IN THE FLESH.
B | Without Christ.
C | Aliens from the commonwealth of Israel.
C | Strangers from the covenants of promise.
B | Having no hope.
A | Godless. IN THE WORLD.
What a desperate condition to be in. In the flesh and in the world, a foe within and a
foe without; and then Christless, Godless, and hopeless, having neither citizenship nor
covenant. How thankful we should be for the change that grace has made. And how
necessary to make it clear that our present calling is entirely separate from Israel's
commonwealth and Israel's covenants. Even though our abstaining from certain
observances should involve us in misunderstanding, we can surely do no less than remain
loyal to the true characteristics of our high calling, leaving the citizenship, the hope and
the covenants of Israel in their own sphere. However, we are not primarily concerned at
the moment with the doctrine and practice of the Mystery, but rather with the contrast
between the Jew and the Gentile "in the flesh", as set out in Rom. 9: and Eph. 2:
There is one further item in Rom. 9: that we have not yet dealt with, that finds its
negation in Eph. 2: Of the Gentile we read: "Ye were without Christ." Of Israel it is
written: "Of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, Who is over all, God blessed for
ever."
Left undisturbed by the opinions of men, the reader would naturally understand these
wonderful words as an ascription of the highest praise to the Lord Jesus Christ. The very
statement "as concerning the flesh" seems to demand the sequel "Who is over all, God
blessed for ever". There would be no point in the phrase "as concerning the flesh" if the
subject of the sentence were merely a man.
We cannot leave the matter here, however, for there are many who would force into
this plain ascription of Deity contrary views of their own.
With reference to this passage Wardlaw writes, in his book The Socinian Controversy:
"This seems abundantly plain, so plain, and so decisive, that if there were not another
text in the Bible directly affirming this great truth, I know not how I should satisfy myself
in rejecting its explicit testimony. It has accordingly been put upon the rack, to make it