Access
Access
This word in the Epistles of the NT is the translation of the Greek word (Rom 5:2, Eph 2:18; Eph 3:12; cf. 1Pe 3:18, where the verb is used actively). It has been treated very thoroughly in Dict. of Christ and the Gospels (s.v.). Here we shall confine ourselves to-
1. The connotation of the word.-In classical Greek, the term was used primarily for one who brings to, introduces to another as an intermediary, mainly in a derogatory sense (cf. , one who hunts for anothers benefit-a jackal [Dem. 750. 21; cf. Aristid. ii. 369, 395]; the spies of the Sicilian kings were called , tale-bearers [Plut. ii. 522 D]). It was, however, used later in a technical sense, the court being a functionary whose business it was to bring visitors or suppliants into the kings presence, came thus to mean access to the royal presence and favour. It is from this association of ideas that the word derives its religious connotation in the NT. God is conceived in the kingly relation (as frequently in the OT), as one whose favour is sought and found, and Christ as the who introduces the sinner into the Divine presence. It is thus a form of words representing Him in the light of a Mediator between God and man; and it throws light on the relation of the three parties in the transaction.
2. The light thrown on the character and attitude of God towards man.-The kingly concept represents God as supreme, one to whom all allegiance is due, and who has the power of life and death over all His subjects. In the OT, Jahweh, especially in the Psalms, is often represented as the King of His people Israel (cf. Psa 10:16; Psa 24:8-10; Psa 44:4; Psa 47:2; Psa 68:24 etc.) It is noticeable, however, that in most of these passages the Oriental awe in which alt potentates were habitually held is suffused with a sense of joy and pride in God as Israels King; His power, favour, and victorious character are mainly dwelt on. The idea which lies behind the NT references, however, is rather that of the difficulty of approach to the Kings presence, not merely on account of His loftiness and majesty, but of His alienation, which demands a process of reconciliation. It suggests that the normal relation of the King and His subjects has been disturbed by rebellion or wrong-doing. The Divine dignity has been outraged, and His claim to obedience set at defiance. There is thus no longer a right of admittance to the Divine presence unless the wrong is righted and the lost favour restored; and, till that has been secured, the protection and kindly attitude of God can no longer be relied on.
3. The light thrown on the condition and attitude of man towards God.-The suggestion is that man in conscious of being alienated from God by sin; that he has no confidence in approaching God in consequence, being uncertain of his reception; that he knows of nothing which he can do to restore the lost relation; and that he is deeply sensible of the shame and peril of his condition. The conception of the effects of evil-doing as separating God and man is one that runs through the priestly ritual of Judaism (cf. also the prophetic declaration in Isa 59:2 your iniquities have separated between you and your God), and corresponds to a fact in the consciousness of all awakened sinners. In the earlier experience of St. Paul this feeling was evidently poignantly emphasized; and the sense of deliverance that came to him through the gospel may be taken as the measure of the pain and sorrow from which he had been delivered.
4. The function fulfilled by Christ as the One through whom the renewal of the lost relation between God and man was accomplished.-The word is insufficient to represent this function. In itself it stands for the work of a functionary whose rle is to act as a merely official link between the two parties, having no active part in the process of reconciliation, and having therefore no claim to the gratitude of the beneficiary in the process. On the other band, the apostolic use of the word in its reference to the person and work of Christ includes the suggestion that the access to God referred to has been accomplished by Christ Himself, and an overwhelming sense of gratitude is awakened by this fact. This appears in the four passages in which the word is used, especially in the last (1Pe 3:18). According to this, the bringing of man to God is effected through the work of Christ in His Passion; because Christ also suffered for sins once (, meaning here once for all = a fact accomplished), the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us () to God, i.e. restore ns to His favour, and lead us to the benefits of the Divine reconciliation. In Rom 5:2, again, the access receives its meaning and privilege through its consummation in and by Christ, through whom we have also (, copulat et auget [Toletus], answering almost to our as might be expected [Alford]) got () our () access (introduction) by our () faith, into this grace wherein we stand (see Dict. of Christ and the Gospels i. 13a). Here the Person of the is chiefly thought of (this has come to us through Him); and the resulting benefit is urged as a reason for holy exultation, since it means justification as a ground for rejoicing in the hope of glory. In Eph 2:18 a slightly different emphasis is suggested: for through Him we both (i.e. Jew and Gentile) have our access in one spirit unto the Father. Here that revelation of God, not as universal King but as the All-Father, which came through Jesus Christ, is included in the benefit secured by Him for mankind at large, and the reconciliation of humanity at variance with itself as well as with God is brought into the circle of mediation (cf. Eph 2:14 for he is our peace [i.e. He is the peace-maker, the between us, Jew and Gentile, who were once far off from each other] who hath made both one by His blood [Eph 2:13]). Through this word we are thus led into the deep places of the gospel as the reconciling agency of God to man, man to God, and man to man.
Literature.-To the literature in the Dict. of Christ and the Gospels add John Foster. Lectures, 1853, ii. 69; R. W. Dale, The Jewish Temple and the Christian Church, 1877, p. 205; A. J. Gordon, The Twofold Life, 1886, p. 175; W. M. Macgregor, Jesus Christ the Son of God, 1907, p. 175.
E. Griffith-Jones.
Fuente: Dictionary of the Apostolic Church
access
(Latin: accedere, to approach)
(1) The tenor of those prayers which are recommended to the priest to be said before Mass.
(2) In canon law , a right at some future time to a certain benefice which is in abeyance through lack of age or other condition.
Fuente: New Catholic Dictionary
Access
(, a bringing toward) is the privilege of approaching a superior with freedom. It is distinguished from admittance thus: We have admittance where we enter; we have access to him whom we address. There can be no access where there is no admittance; but there may be admittance without access. Servants or officers may grant us admittance into the palaces of princes; the favorites of princes only have access to their persons (Crabbe, Engl. Syn. s.v.). SEE ACCEPTANCE.
1. Introduction, free admission into the presence of a superior. In the New Testament it signifies the free intercourse which we enjoy with God in the exercise of prayer, resulting from our having entered into a state of friendship with him (Rom 5:2; Eph 2:18; Eph 3:12). It is more than simple admittance; it is such an introduction as leads to future and frequent intercourse. When the vail of the temple was rent at the death of Christ, a new and living way of access to God was opened. Under the law, the high-priest alone had access into the holy of holies. By the death of Christ the middle wall of partition was broken down, and Jew and Gentile have both free access to God; before this, the Gentiles, in the temple- worship, had no nearer access than to the gate of the court of Israel. All the privileges of Christianity are equally bestowed on all believers of all nations. SEE PRAYER.
2. In Roman ecclesiastical usage
(1.) a collection of preparatory prayers, used by the priests before the celebration of the mass;
(2.) in the election of the pope, a transfer of votes from one candidate to another to secure the necessary number is called an access. If a voter wishes to change his vote to another person, he writes on his paper accedo domino, etc.
Access (Communion prayer)
the name given to the prayer, in the Communion office, beginning with the words “We do not presume to come to this thy table.”
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Access
ACCESS ().No word in the English language expresses the double meaning of . While the Authorized Version translates it invariably access, the Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 more accurately renders our access in Rom 5:2 and Eph 2:18.
The at Eastern courts acted as official introducer in conducting strangers to a kings presence.* [Note: Tholuck, Rom. l.c., and Ustcri, Lchrb. ii. i. 1, p. 101.] Whether there were any allusion to this or not in the minds of our New Testament writers, the custom illustrates appropriately one use of the word access. Christ as our Introducer obtains admission for us into the favour and presence of God. is aditus ad rem vel personam (Grotius). It means (1) introduction, admission (see references to classical Greek authors, and to Chrysostom in Ellicott on Eph 2:18); (2) liberty of approach.
Access () occurs in three passages in the New Testament, Rom 5:2, Eph 2:18; Eph 3:12. An examination of these passages will best explain what access meant in the thought of St. Paul. Then it will be necessary to consider 1Pe 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us () to God; and afterwards, the idea of the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews regarding access as the act of drawing near to God through the great High Priest must be stated.
1. Rom 5:2 Through whom we have also [, copulat et auget (Toletus), answering almost to our as might be expected (Alf.)] got [] our [] access (introduction) by our [] faith, into this grace wherein we stand. The Perfect tense is used in connexion with that justifying act referred to in Rom 5:1. Access is not here a second privilege of the justified, but introduction to the very grace of justification itself. We owe to Christ not only peace as the primary blessing of justification, but admission to that state which is the atmosphere of peace.
This paragraph, beginning with Rom 5:1 and descriptive of the life of the justified, is founded on the doctrinal basis just laid down. The Apostle has examined the world of men, as it appeared in the prevalent antithesis of Jew and Gentile. His spiritual diagnosis revealed the fact of universal sin and universal condemnation. A guilty race, a holy God, and a broken law, with its death penalty, were factors in the problem for solution. This problem, insoluble by man, is taken in hand by Christ. Christ provided a solution as effectual as the need for it is clamant. The summary of that solution as contained in Rom 4:24 f. is the Divine certificate of its efficacy. It was written not for the sake of Abraham alone (a typical case of its application), but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. Based on this, ch. 5 begins: Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Before getting further, the Apostle harks back in Rom 5:2 to the thought of justifying grace, access to which is by Christ.
Into the state of justifying grace we have access through Christs Passion. His introduction includes, nay, is the starting-point of, liberty of approach. The need of an introduction implies that we were outside the state into which we are introduced. St. Paul himself had experienced transition from the condition of a condemned, to that of a justified, sinner. Barnabas introduced him to the apostles (Act 9:27), and there were others that led him by the hand to Damascus (Act 9:8); but it was Christ that introduced and led him by the hand into this grace (M. Henry). Christ introduces, Contigit nobis ut perduceremur (Erasmus). He does not drag unwilling followers. Faith is the following foot. If He draws us, we run after Him.
2. Eph 2:18 For through him we both have our access in one Spirit unto the Father. Eph 3:12 In whom we have our boldness and our access with confidence by the faith of him. The old controversy as to whether access means in these verses introduction or liberty of approach, still survives. Among moderns, Alford and Ellicott take opposite sides. Alford contends for the latter as better representing the repetition, the present liberty of approach which implies, but which introduction does not give. While pressing the point that as boldness () is subjective in Eph 3:12, access there coupled with it must also be subjective, he gives away his case by admitting that the second term () is less purely so than the first (). Ellicott argues for introduction on grounds of lexical and classical usage, but also makes the significant admission that the transitive meaning of is a little less certain in Eph 3:12 than it is in Eph 2:18, on account of its union with the intransitive .
Where equally competent critical authorities thus differ, the context of the passages may be allowed to decide between them. In the paragraph Eph 2:11-22, where access (Eph 2:18) appears, the Apostle writes of a change in the Ephesians relations corresponding to the change already described as having taken place in their moral and spiritual condition. At one time they were afar off, aliens, strangers, hopeless, godless. A change was effected by the blood of Christ. Those for whom His death procured peace are now declared to be fellow-citizens of the saints, members of the household of God, stones in that living temple in which God dwells through the Spirit. There is surely something more implied by access in such a setting than mere liberty of approach to God. The Church is Christs body, sharing the privileges of its Head. The reconciliation effected by His blood is not a mere potential one. Very definite language is used to express change of relationship: Eph 2:13 were brought nigh (historic). To become citizens of a kingdom, members of a household, stones in a building, implies a definite act performed on behalf of the persons or things thus brought into these new relations. Access in the sense of introduction seems to express most fitly the alteration thus contextually described.
The argument for introduction is not quite so strong in Eph 3:12. In the context preceding, St. Paul has been speaking of his own office as Apostle of the Gentiles. He was made a minister of the gospel in order by its means to bring the Gentiles into the fellowship of the saints, and instruct men as to the eternal purpose of God in Redemption. That purpose, executed in Christ, manifested to principalities and powers in heaven the wisdom of God. Had the access been used by itself in Eph 3:12 after the above line of thought, that would not point to introduction rather than to liberty of approach. But standing as it does between boldness () and with confidence ( ), liberty of approach scarcely expresses all the authors thought. The multiplication of terms indicates an attempt to give utterance to something besides this. And so, according to the analogy of Rom 5:2 and Eph 2:18, we are warranted here also in translating , by introduction. While the former of the parallel terms (boldness) describes the liberty with which the newborn Church of the redeemed address themselves to God the Father and the unchecked freedom of their petitions, the latter (admittance) takes us back to the act of Christ by which He introduced us to the Fathers presence and gave us the place of sons in the house (Findlay in Expos. Biblc, Ephesians).
Confusion has been created by expositors insisting that access must, in the three passages where the word occurs, always mean either introduction, or liberty of approach exclusively. But the larger concept, introduction, includes the lesser, liberty of approach. To put it in another waythe latter term follows from the former. Presentation at the Court of Heaven gives one the right to return there. It secures habitual access to God at all times.
3. 1Pe 3:18 Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us () to God. The Apostle does not set himself in this Epistle to expound the theology of the Passion. His general purpose is to comfort and sustain Christians who are suffering persecutions. Some of them were slaves, enduring wrongs from cruel masters because of their faith in Christ. These were directed to the exemplary character of Christs sufferings. In 1Pe 3:13 St. Peter assures them that it is better to suffer for well-doing than for evil-doing. Then in 1Pe 3:18 he links them in thought with the suffering Saviour. But it is not on the exemplary significance of Christs sufferings that he enlarges. That is left behind. The writer is spellbound by the very mention of the Cross, and for a moment he forgets his purpose of directing some wronged slaves to Christ as the supreme example of suffering innocence, that he may state again the wider and deeper meaning of his Lords Passion. Christ suffered in connexion with sin once for all (). The unique significance of His death consisted in its being the death of a righteous person for the unrighteous ( ); and His action had this end in view, that He might conduct us () to God: ut nos, qui abalienati fueramus, ipse abiens ad Patrem, secum una, justificatos adduceret in clum, 1Pe 3:22, per eosdem gradus quos ipse emensus est, exinanitionis et exaltationis (Bengel). And if the soul bear back still through distrust, He takes it by the hand and draws it forward; leads it unto His Father; presents it to Him, and leaves not the matter till it [the reconciliation between a sinner and God] be made a full and sure agreement (Leighton).
4. The word is not found in the Epistle to the Hebrews. Access is expressed there in different language from that in the passages considered, because it is associated with somewhat different ideas. The author of Hebrews, writing as a pastor, not as an evangelist, aims at conserving rather than initiating faith. Instead of the Pauline and Petrine idea of the Saviour leading in a sinner, we have the sinner coming to the Saviour. Introduction () becomes access, liberty of approach, approximation. Sinners are represented in the very act of approachingare exhorted to approach. The worshippers under the law were , the comers (Heb 10:1); not those that come to the worship, but those who by the worship come to God (Owen). Under the gospel (Judaism evolved) their attitude and character remained the same: Heb 7:25, Heb 11:6 (singular) or Heb 4:16, Heb 10:22, where believers are exhorted to draw near ().
As a Hebrew Christian addressing Hebrew Christians, the writer of Hebrews makes large use of Old Testament conceptions and Old Testament rites familiar to himself and his correspondents. Urging upon them the truth that the faith of Christ is the true and final religion (Davidson), he presents a series of contrasts between what was elementary in Judaism and the finished product of Christianity. Modern readers are apt to lose themselves amid unfamiliar details here. But it is possible to set these details in the background, and yet grasp the permanent truths, which are as important for us as for the readers to whom such details became the most effective illustrations. We shall keep this in view when attempting now to summarize the great facts associated with the idea of access in the four Epistles already referred to.
(1) The need of access to implies separation from Godwant of fellowship like that enjoyed by those who walk in the light. We are by nature afar off (Eph 2:13), aliens (v. 12). There is an enmity which must be slain before peace is effected. The wrath of God is revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men (Rom 1:18). The Ephesians were by nature children of wrath (Eph 2:3). That exhortation used in Hebrews to draw near (Heb 4:16; Heb 10:22) could be addressed only to those who are at a distance from God. Whereas it is emphatically affirmed that He is able to save unto the uttermost, it is supposed that great oppositions and difficulties do lie in the way of its accomplishment (Owen).
(2) The great separating barrier is sin. All have sinned (Rom 3:25): and the correlative of universal sin is universal condemnation. Sin and death are so associated as to be completely one (Rom 5:12; Rom 5:14-15; Rom 5:17; Rom 5:21). The Ephesians are represented as dead in trespasses and sins (2:1).
(3) All three Persons of the Godhead conspired to deal with the problem of sin, in a way corresponding to its magnitude. Access is (a) to () the Father (Eph 2:18)representing the God to whom we are to be reconciled and introduced, and into whose family we are to be adopted; (b) through () the Son (Rom 5:2, Eph 2:18); (c) by () the Spirit (Eph 2:18).
(4) This is the special work of Christ. He bridges the gulf which sin has created between God and man. We have access into the grace of justification through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood (Rom 3:24-25). The double alienation from God and His Church discussed in Ephesians is removed through Christby His blood (Eph 2:13), by His flesh (Eph 2:15), by His Cross (Eph 2:16).
The steps whereby access was effected by Christ are clearly laid down in 1Pe 3:18. His death has a connexion with sin. He suffered once for all (), so that to them who lay hold on Him this holds sure, that sin is never to be suffered for in the way of strict justice again, as not by Him, so not by them who are in Him (Leighton). The unique significance of Christs suffering in connexion with sins is expressed in the words the just for the unjust ( ). In dying, the righteous One took on Himself the liability of the unrighteous. Access to God was, in St. Peters estimation, thus purchased at an unspeakable price. A righteous One has once for all faced, and in death taken up and exhausted, the responsibilities of the unrighteous, so that they no more stand between them and God (Denney, The Death of Christ, p. 102).
The author of Hebrews explains and illustrates by a method sui generis, how Christ obtains access for us. Christ is the great High Priest interceding for men in the heavenly sanctuary, and the function which He discharges in heaven is based on the death which He died on earth. A priests duty is to establish and represent fellowship between God and man. Christ found that sin barred the way to this fellowship, and accordingly dealt with sin. He was appointed with a view to this endto make propitiation for the sins of the people (Heb 2:17). In contrast with the Levitical priests and their duties, Christs Person and work are perfect (). He deals with sin by way of sacrifice. This He did once when He offered up Himself (Heb 7:27). Once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, (Heb 9:26). Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many (Heb 9:28). For by one offering he hath perfected for ever [to perfect, , is to bring into the true condition of those in covenant] them that are sanctified [to sanctify, , is to make to belong to God, Davidson].
Associated with the same conception of sacrifice are the references in the Epistle to the blood of Christ. He entered into the Holy Place by () His blood (Heb 9:12). The blood of Christ, who offered Himself to God, purges the conscience from dead works (Heb 9:14). We have boldness to enter into the Holiest by the blood of Christ (Heb 10:19). Access is therefore dependent on Christs Person and work. In reliance on His sacrifice (Heb 10:19), along a way consecrated by His death (Heb 10:20), mindful of their High Priest (Heb 10:21) in heaven, believers are exhorted to draw near to God. The exhortation in Heb 4:16 to come boldly unto the throne of grace is also founded on Jesus having passed into the heavens as our great High Priest: and it adds the thought of Christs sympathy, as having experienced infirmities and temptations Himself, in order to encourage suppliants for mercy and grace. The truth put hortatively in these passages is also taught directly in Heb 7:25, where access is linked with intercession. This intercession, of which an example is preserved in John 17, is continued in heaven, and derives its power from the sacrifice which Christ offered on earth.
(5) Faith is the subjective condition of those who have access (Rom 3:25; Rom 5:2, Eph 3:12). He who comes to God must believe that he is (Heb 11:6). The eleventh chapter of Hebrews is a record of faith in action, faith as illustrated in the lives of saints, who first came to God, and then acted and endured, because sustained by the strength of God.
Literature.The Commentaries on the passages discussed, especially Sanday-Headlam on Romans; Ellicott, Meyer, H. G. Miller, and Armitage Robinson on Ephesians; Delitzsch, Davidson, Westcott, and Bruce on Hebrews; also Calvins Institutes, iii. xiii. 5, xx. 12; Cremers Biblico-Theol. Lex.; Denney, The Death of Christ; Expositor, 4th series [1890], ii. 131; 2nd series [1882], iv. 321.
D. A. Mackinnon.
Fuente: A Dictionary Of Christ And The Gospels
Access
ACCESS (Gr. prosagg).The word occurs only in Rom 5:2, Eph 2:18; Eph 3:12, and the question (regarding which commentators are much divided) is whether it ought to be understood in the trans. sense as introduction, the being brought near by another, or in the Intrans. sense as access or personal approach. The trans. sense is most in keeping with the ordinary use of the vb. prosag in classical Gr. (cf. its use in 1Pe 3:18 that he might bring us to God)the idea suggested being that of a formal introduction into a royal presence. Access, moreover, does not so well express the fact that we cannot approach God in our own right, but need Christ to Introduce us; cf. by [RV [Note: Revised Version.] through] whom (Rom 5:2), through him (Eph 2:18), in whom (Eph 3:12). The word access does not occur in Hebrews, but the writer has much to say on the subject of our approach to God through Christ, esp. for the purpose of prayer (Heb 4:14 ff.) and worship (Heb 10:19 ff.).
J. C. Lambert.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Access
This, in Scripture language, means, the drawing nigh to a throne of grace, and having a nearness, and audience with God in Christ. The apostle Paul hath a short but comprehensive verse, (Eph 2:18) which explains this most fully; and at the same time shews, how each glorious person of the GODHEAD takes part, in the distinct office of each, on those sweet and blessed occasions. “For through him (that is the Lord Jesus) we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.” It is through the mediation of the Lord Jesus believers draw nigh, and have access unto the Father; and this, by the gracious leadings and influences of the Holy Ghost. And I beg the reader to note yet farther; the blessedness of this access to the throne. It is not simply as introduced by Christ, but beheld, and accepted also in Christ. He is our peace, our cause, both of access and acceptance: for it is “to the praise of the glory of JEHOVAH’S grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved.” (See Rom 5:2; Eph 1:6; Eph 2:18; Eph 3:12; 1Pe 3:18.) This seems to be the scriptural sense of access.
Fuente: The Poor Mans Concordance and Dictionary to the Sacred Scriptures
Access
akses (, prosagoge, a leading to or toward, approach): Thrice used in the New Testament to indicate the acceptable way of approach to God and of admission to His favor. Jesus said, I am the way (Joh 14:6). His blood is the new and living way (Heb 10:20). Only through Him have we access by faith into this grace wherein we stand (Rom 5:2); Through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father (Eph 2:18 the King James Version); in whom we have … access in confidence, through our faith in him (Eph 3:12).
The goal of redemption is life in God, unto the Father. The means of redemption is the cross of Christ, in whom we have our redemption through his blood (Eph 1:7). The agent in redemption is the Holy Spirit, by one Spirit, sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise (Eph 1:13). The human instrumentality, faith. The whole process of approach to, and abiding fellowship with, God is summed up in this brief sentence Access to the Father, through Christ, by the Spirit, by faith.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Access
lit., “a leading or bringing into the presence of” (pros, “to,” ago, “to lead”), denotes “access,” with which is associated the thought of freedom to enter through the assistance or favor of another. It is used three times, (a) Rom 5:2, of the “access” which we have by faith, through our Lord Jesus Christ, into grace; (b) Eph 2:18, of our “access” in one Spirit through Christ, unto the Father; (c) Eph 3:12, of the same “access,” there said to be “in Christ,” and which we have “in confidence through our faith in Him.” This “access” involves the acceptance which we have in Christ with God, and the privilege of His favor towards us. Some advocate the meaning “introduction.”
Fuente: Vine’s Dictionary of New Testament Words
Access
free admission, open entrance. Our access to God is by Jesus Christ, the way, the truth, and the life, Rom 5:2; Eph 2:18. Under the law, the high priest alone had access into the holiest of all; but when the veil of the temple was rent in twain, at the death of Christ, it was declared that a new and living way of access was laid open through the veil, that is to say, his flesh. By his death, also, the middle wall of partition was broken down, and Jew and Gentile had both free access to God; whereas, before, the Gentiles had no nearer access in the temple worship than to the gate of the court of Israel. Thus the saving grace and lofty privileges of the Gospel are equally bestowed upon true believers of all nations.