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he to the Son also to have life in himself." And "it was the good pleasure of the Father that in him [the Son] should all the fulness dwell; and through him to reconcile all things unto himself, having made peace [having completed union] through the blood of his cross "2-in the bonds of an everlasting covenant -between those who before were separated by sin.

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Remember, that aforetime ye, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that [people] which is called Circumcision, in the flesh, made by hands, that ye were at that time separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus ye that once were far off are made nigh in the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who made both [Jew and Gentile] one, and broke down the middle wall of partition, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained. in ordinances; that he might create in himself of the twain one new man, so making peace; and might reconcile them both in one body unto God through the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: and he came and preached peace to you that were far off, and peace to them that were nigh: for through them we both have our access in one Spirit unto the Father "3 1 John 5: 26. 3 Eph. 2: 11-16.

2 Col. I: 19, 20.

THE VEIL REMOVED.

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"For in him [Christ] dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, and in him ye are made full, who is the head of all principality and power: in whom ye were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ."' 'For ye all are one man in Christ Jesus. And if ye are Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, heirs according to promise "2_ inheritors of the blood-covenant promises of God to Abraham his friend.

No longer is there a barrier between the yearning, loving, trusting heart, and the mercy-seat of reconciliation in the very presence of God. We who share the body and the blood of Christ, by faith, are one with him in all the privileges of his Sonship. "For by one offering he hath perfected [hath completed in their right to be sharers with him] for ever them that are sanctified [that are devoted, that are consecrated, to him]. And the Holy Ghost also beareth witness to us: for after he hath said,

This is the covenant that I will make with them

After those days, saith the Lord;

I will put my laws on their heart,

And upon their mind also will I write them ;

then saith he,

And their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.

1 Col. 2: 9-11.

2 Gal. 3: 28, 29.

Now where remission of these [of sins and iniquities] is, there is no more offering [no more need of offering] for sin. Having, therefore, brethren, boldness [the right of boldness] to enter into the Holy Place [the Holy of Holies] by the blood of Jesus, by the way which he dedicated for us, a new and living way, through the veil, that is to say his flesh; and having a Great Priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart in fulness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our body washed with pure water [there being no longer need of blood-sprinkling or blood-laving, to those who are sharers of the divine nature-the divine blood]."1

No more an altar of sacrifice, but a table of communion, is where we share the presence of Him in whom we have life, by the blood of the everlasting covenant. To question the sufficiency of the "one sacrifice" which Christ made, "once for all,"3 of his body and his blood, as a means of the believer's inter-union with God, is to count the blood of the covenant an unholy, or a common, thing, and is to do despite unto the Spirit of grace. "Wherefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a communion of the blood of Christ?

1 Heb. 10: 14-22.

3 Comp. Heb. 9: 24-28; 10: 10.

The bread which we

2 See page 167 ff., supra.

4 Heb. 10: 28, 29.

THE ETERNAL COVENANT.

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break, is it not a communion of the body of Christ?1 Seeing that we [believers together in Christ], who are many, are one bread, one body: for we all partake of the one bread."

"Now the God of peace, who brought again from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep with [or, by; or, by means of] the blood of the eternal covenant, even our Lord Jesus, make you perfect [complete] to do his will, working in us that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be the glory for ever and ever.

"3

Amen."

1 The Covenant of Bread and the Covenant of Blood are two distinct covenants, in Oriental practice as well as in biblical teaching; although this difference has been strangely overlooked by biblical students in the realm of Orientalisms. The Covenant of Bread is temporary; the Covenant of Blood is permanent. The one secures a truce; the other secures a vital union. Symbolically, the one gives nourishment, the other gives life. The Covenant of Bread is an exhibit and a pledge of hospitality, and it brings one into family or tribal relations with those proffering it. The Covenant of Blood is immediately personal and

individual. There seems to be an unconscious trace of this distinction in the refusal of the Romish Church to include the laity in the symbolizing of the Covenant of Blood, at the Lord's table.

21 Cor. 10: 14-17.

3 Heb. 13: 20, 21.

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