A questioner asks:
“ ‘And that He might Reconcile both unto God in one Body by the Cross,
having slain the enmity thereby’ (Eph. 2:16). This one verse alone
refutes an Acts 2, 9, 13, 18 or 28 position—from a Pauline prison
epistle no less. How would you address this insurmountable problem?”"
Answer found in Question Box:
"Your statement seems to imply that you believe the Church, the Body of
Christ, began at the Cross. However, this particular Passage is not stating
when God Reconciled us, but how He Accomplished It. It was not until
after the conversion of Paul that we learn that both Jews and Gentiles
are now Reconciled to God By the Cross, thus Forming the Body of Christ
(I Cor. 12:13).
While the Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Christ were Revealed as a
fact in time past, Paul was the first to present them as Good News.
Furthermore, he was the first to proclaim them as the terms of
salvation for Jews and Gentiles in this dispensation. Two passages
in Paul’s epistles confirm the above:
(P Sadler)
Please Be Very RICHLY Encouraged And Edified In
The LORD JESUS CHRIST, And His Word Of Truth, Rightly
Divided (+ I and II).
Grace, Peace, And JOY!...
“ ‘And that He might Reconcile both unto God in one Body by the Cross,
having slain the enmity thereby’ (Eph. 2:16). This one verse alone
refutes an Acts 2, 9, 13, 18 or 28 position—from a Pauline prison
epistle no less. How would you address this insurmountable problem?”"
Answer found in Question Box:
"Your statement seems to imply that you believe the Church, the Body of
Christ, began at the Cross. However, this particular Passage is not stating
when God Reconciled us, but how He Accomplished It. It was not until
after the conversion of Paul that we learn that both Jews and Gentiles
are now Reconciled to God By the Cross, thus Forming the Body of Christ
(I Cor. 12:13).
While the Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Christ were Revealed as a
fact in time past, Paul was the first to present them as Good News.
Furthermore, he was the first to proclaim them as the terms of
salvation for Jews and Gentiles in this dispensation. Two passages
in Paul’s epistles confirm the above:
“For This Is Good and Acceptable In The Sight of God our Savior;
Who will have all men to be saved....For there is One God, and
One Mediator between God and men, The Man Christ Jesus;
Who Gave Himself A Ransom for all, to be testified in due
time. Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle
...” (I Tim. 2:3-7).
“For I delivered unto you first of all That Which I also Received
[From The Lord By Special Revelation], how That Christ Died for
our sins According To The Scriptures; and that He Was Buried,
and that He Rose again the third day According To The Scriptures”
(I Cor. 15:3,4).
"(P Sadler)
Please Be Very RICHLY Encouraged And Edified In
The LORD JESUS CHRIST, And His Word Of Truth, Rightly
Divided (+ I and II).
Grace, Peace, And JOY!...
