Eph 2:14 For He Himself is our peace, He who has made both [Jews and Gentiles] one and has broken down the middle wall of partition, the enmity, (15) Abolishing in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances, that He might create the two in Himself into one new man, so making peace, Col 3:10 And have put on the new man, which is being renewed unto full knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, (11) Where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all and in all.
Words of Ministry ...In the new man there is no possibility for Greek and Jew, Barbarian and Scythian, bondman and freeman to exist, because the former manner of life found among these peoples has been put away. When Paul wrote the Epistle to the Colossians, there were Jews in virtually every city in the Mediterranean area. When the Jews and the Greeks in a particular city were saved, they came together as the church in that locality. In many localities there must have been not only Jews and Greeks but also Barbarians (northern Europeans) and Scythians, who, as some Bible teachers believe, were the most uncultured and barbarous of people. Therefore, in some cities it was possible for the church to include cultured Greeks, religious Jews, Barbarians, and uncultured Scythians. Furthermore, there were also bondmen, those who had been sold into slavery, and masters, those who owned slaves. What would happen if all these different peoples came together for the Lord's table [a church meeting] ? In order for them to have the church life, they had to put off the old man embodied in their former manner of life. The Greeks had to put off their philosophy; the Jews, their religious observances and dietary regulations; the Scythians, their barbarous living; the masters, their attitude toward slaves; and the slaves, the manner of life peculiar to them. In the church life there is no room for such distinctions. There cannot be Jews and Gentiles, Barbarians and Scythians, bondmen and freemen. In the church life there is room only for Christ.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Ephesians, pp. 220. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
To unsubscribe from the mailing list, either: Send an email to: [email protected] (No subject or message needed; a blank email will work) or visit www.emanna.com and fill out the unsubscribe form there.
