One new Man

It is the concept of the one new Man, as set forth in the second chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians, that reveals beyond all argument that the Gentiles have been made an integral part of the one Israel and that there is no such entity as a "Gentile Church."

Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; (Ephesians 2:11)

Notice that believing Gentiles no longer are "Gentiles in the flesh." They were Gentiles in the flesh "in time past." Now, upon receiving Christ, they have become part of the one family of God, a part of Paul’s own people.

That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: (Ephesians 2:12)

Before receiving Christ, the Gentiles of Ephesus were without Christ. They were aliens to the nation of Israel. They had no part in the Divine promises.

But now in Christ ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. (Ephesians 2:13)

Since they are abiding in Christ, the believing Gentiles, who at one time had not been a part of Israel, have now been made an integral part of the one holy nation.

For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken the middle wall of partition between us; (Ephesians 2:14)

There no longer is a "middle wall of partition." In Christ there is no dividing wall between Jews and Gentiles.

Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; (Ephesians 2:15)

"One new man"!

By keeping perfectly the Law of Moses, and then paying the penalty for the transgressions of the Law of Moses, Christ is able to give the Divine salvation to whomever God has given to Him (see John 17:2). Therefore there no longer is an "enmity" between the Jew and the Gentile.

When the Jew and the Gentile are abiding in Christ there is "one new man."

For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. (Ephesians 2:18)

If the believing Jew has the Holy Spirit of God, and the believing Gentile has the same Holy Spirit of God, how can they be of two different churches or two different kingdoms?

If the Jew or the Gentile does not have the Holy Spirit of God, he does not belong to Christ.

But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. (Romans 8:9)

Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; (Ephesians 2:19)

Again, we have the concept of the believing Gentile being welcomed into the household of God as a fellow-citizen of the Jewish saints. The believing Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners with respect to the original Jewish saints but are accepted as one with them.

And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; (Ephesians 2:20)

The Apostles were Jewish and the Prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures were Jewish (although Paul may be speaking here of the early new-covenant prophets—who also were Jewish).

The eternal Temple of God is being built on the chief Cornerstone, Christ, and the foundation laid by the Jewish Apostles and Prophets.

In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: (Ephesians 2:21)

There are not two holy temples; there is only the one holy temple. The holy temple is the "Father’s house" of John 14:2. The Father’s House is Christ—Head and Body, the eternal Servant of the Lord, the glorified Church, the new Jerusalem.

The holy temple, the building spoken of in the verse above, is the eternal habitation of God, the "tabernacle of God" that will come down from Heaven through the new sky to rest forever on the new earth. The nations of the saved will walk in the Light and Presence of God Almighty which then will be located on the earth instead of in the heavens above.

Jerusalem shall become the throne of the Lord. In that day, the city of Jerusalem will be Heaven, for Heaven is the throne of God.

At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart. (Jeremiah 3:17)

To continue with the concept of the one new Man:

In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:22)

And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. (Revelation 21:3)

There is only the one new Man! In the Divine salvation, in the Kingdom of God, in the Bride of the Lamb, in the new Jerusalem, there is only the one new Man!

How then can any devout student of the Scriptures maintain that there is a Gentile kingdom and a Jewish kingdom; a Gentile bride and a Jewish bride; a Gentile church and a Jewish church; a Gentile new Jerusalem and a Jewish new Jerusalem? Truly, the two-kingdom, two-bride concept destroys biblical interpretation. The Gentile believer is left with an uncertain destiny if the Hebrew Scriptures are referring to natural Israel only.

There is one new Man—Christ. Notice a subsequent statement in Ephesians:

Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: (Ephesians 4:13)

We Jewish and Gentile believers are destined to arrive at the fullness of maturity as measured by the fullness of Christ. Christ is the true Israel, the Servant of the Lord. Christ is the exalted Head of the one new Man. The elect Jews and Gentiles are an integral part of the one new Man. The one new Man is destined to fill the heavens and the earth. He is the eternal Temple of God, the Governor of the Kingdom of God.

There is no such thing as a "Gentile Church"; there is only the one new Man.

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