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No.41.
The Throne Room (1: 19 - 2: 7).
"But God" (2: 4).
pp. 101 - 103
Although we may have made an advance, and learned an essential truth by
recognizing that Eph. 2: 1 does not refer to our state "by nature" dead in sins, but our
state by grace "dead to sins", we shall seriously miss our way both in Eph. 2: and
Rom. 6: which provides the doctrinal basis, if we stress this death to sin as an end in
itself. The goal is life, "that we might live unto God".
"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Let it not
be so. How shall we that are dead to sin, LIVE ANY LONGER THEREIN? Know ye
not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death?
Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised
up by the glory of the Father, even so we also should WALK IN NEWNESS OF LIFE.
For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also IN
THE LIKENESS OF HIS RESURRECTION . . . . . Now if we died with Christ, we
believe that WE SHALL ALSO LIVE WITH HIM . . . . . For in that He died, He died
unto sin once: BUT IN THAT HE LIVETH, HE LIVETH UNTO GOD. Likewise
reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, BUT ALIVE UNTO GOD
THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD" (Rom. 6: 1-11).
In Gal. 2: 20 Paul not only said that he had been crucified with Christ, but he added
"nevertheless I live". And so we come to Eph. 2: 4, 5 where the word wrongly supplied
in verse one, is at length recorded "quickened". Eph. 2: is subdivided by the notes of
time indicated by the word "in time past" and "at that time" (Eph. 2: 2, 11, 12). The
relationship of these time periods can be seen by the following set-out of the subject
matter:
A | DOCTRINE |
a | 1-3. Once. Walk. World. Flesh.
b | 4. But God. Mercy. Love.
c | 5-10. Made Alive together.
Raised
together.
Seated
together.
A | DISPENSATION |
a | 11, 12. Once. Gentiles. In flesh. In world.
b | 13-18. But now. Nigh. One.
c | 19-22. Citizens together.
Framed together.
Builded together.
"But God." At times the interposition of grammatical and exegetical features may
appear to be an intrusion where worship seems called for rather than exposition.
However, the truth has been channeled to us through words and sentences, and their