I.　On the cross Christ created the new man in Himself by abolishing in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances, the middle wall of partition—Eph. 2:14-15a:

A.　The law spoken of in 2:15 is not the law of the moral commandments, but the law of ritual commandments, such as the ordinances of circumcision, keeping the Sabbath, and eating certain foods.

B.　Ordinances are the forms or ways of living and worship, which create enmity and division:

1.　On the cross Christ abolished all the regulations regarding living and worship, regulations that have divided the nations—v. 15; Col. 2:14.

2.　Christ's death was not only for our salvation, liberation, sanctification, and victory but also to abolish the ordinances in order to create the church as the one new man.

C.　From the time of Babel, mankind has been divided by ordinances concerning the ways of living and worship; in God's economy in the church life, we must overcome Babel—Gen. 11:1-9:

1.　Due to man's fall there are many ordinances, many customs, habits, ways to live, and ways to worship.

2.　All these differences among peoples have divided, scattered, and confused mankind.

3.　One of the main elements of ordinances is language; our very language can become an ordinance:

a.　On the day of Pentecost, the divisions caused by language were overcome, and the church as the one new man came into existence— Acts 2:1-11.

b.　If we can overcome the difficulty presented by language, a great part of our problem with ordinances will be solved—6:1 and note 1.

c.　When we stay for a long period of time in another country, or even live there, we should, if possible, learn the language of the people there and not insist on our native tongue.

D.　Christ should be our only source; we should not allow anything of our background, culture, or nationality to be our source—cf. Col. 3:10-11.

E.　The worldly people regard cultural differences as a mark of prestige, but in Christ we have lost this prestige:

1.　For the church to be the new man means that the church is a new mankind, a new humanity, a new human race.

2.　Now our only prestige is Christ and the genuine oneness.

3.　If we are willing to let go of our cultural pride, it will be possible for the Lord to have the proper church life.

II.　The more we are in the mingled spirit, in the mingling of the divine Spirit with the human spirit, the more we shall be set free from ordinances— Eph. 2:18, 22:

A.　The cross abolished the ordinances in order to give place to the Spirit, in whom we have access unto the Father—v. 18:

1.　If we have ordinances, we do not have the Spirit, but if we have the Spirit, we shall not have ordinances:

a.　The church life does not consist of ordinances, but of the living Spirit.

b.　The church is the reprint of the Spirit—Zech. 4:2-6.

c.　"No Spirit, no church. More Spirit, more church"—1 Cor. 12:13; Eph. 4:4.

d.　As long as we are not in the Spirit, anything we do is an ordinance—cf. 2 Cor. 3:6.

B.　"For neither is circumcision anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creation is what matters"—Gal. 6:15:

1.　The only thing that matters is the new man as the new creation, the masterpiece of life with the divine nature—v. 15; Eph. 2:10.

2.　To be a new creation is to have Christ wrought into our being—3:16-17.

3.　When Christ is realized through the Spirit in our spirit, we become the new creation, the new man—Gal. 6:18; Eph. 4:23-24.