Ver. 15. +Having abolished in His flesh the enmity.+--The enmity of Jew and Gentile; the abolition of their enmity to God is mentioned later. "First be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift," for reconciliation to God. +The law of commandments contained in ordinances.+--The slave whose duty it was to take the child to his teacher might say, "Don't do that." St. Paul does not regard the function of the law as more than that (Gal. iii. 23-25). +One new man.+--Trench, in an admirable section, distinguishes between the new in time (_recens_) and the new in quality (_novum_). The word here means new in quality, "as set over against that which has seen service, the outworn." "It is not an amalgam of Jew and Gentile" (_Meyer_). Ver. 16. +That He might reconcile both unto God.+--The word "reconcile" implies "a _restitution_ to a state from which they had fallen, or which was potentially theirs, or for which they were destined" (_Lightfoot,_ Col. i. 20). +The cross having slain the enmity.+--Gentile authority and Jewish malevolence met in the sentence to that painful death; and both Gentile and Jew, acknowledging the Son of God, shall cease their strife, and love as brethren. Ver. 17. +Came and preached peace.+--By means of His messengers, as St. Paul tells the Galatians that Christ was "evidently set forth crucified amongst them." +To you afar off, and to them that were nigh.+--Isaiah's phrase (Isa. lvii. 19). The Christ uplifted "out of the earth" draws _all men_ to Him. Ver. 18. +For through Him we both have access.+--St. Paul's way of proclaiming His Master's saying, "I am the door; by Me if _any man_ enter in he shall be saved"; including the other equally precious, "I am the way: no man cometh unto the Father but by Me." "Access" here means "introduction." Ver. 19. +So then.+--Inference of vers. 14-18. +Strangers and foreigners.+--By the latter word is meant those who temporarily abide in a place, but are without the privileges of it. There is a verb "to parish" in certain parts of England which shows how a word can entirely reverse its original meaning. It not only means "to adjoin," but "to belong to." +Fellow-citizens with the saints.+--Enjoying all civic liberties, and able to say, "This is my own, my native land," when he finds "Mount Zion and the city of the living God" (cf. Heb. xi. 13, 14). +And of the household of God.+--The association grows more intimate. The words might possibly mean "domestics of God" (Rev. xxii. 3, 4); but when we think of the "Father's house" we must interpret "of the family circle of God."