Ephesians 2:11-22

FIRST THOUGHTS

Being the Son of an Air Force Sergeant, we moved around a lot. When I was 16 my father retired from the Air Force. We move back home to Florida. It was a big adjustment for me. I had grown up in a community that moved every 3 to 4 years. Now I was in a community where everyone had grown up together. Some had even played in the playpen together. So, it was hard for me to be accepted as one of the group. I soon discovered that my faith in Christ broke down barriers. I found a church to attend. The common bond we had in Christ broke down any barriers caused by where we came from. We could have a relationship built not on our backgrounds the built in our common faith In Christ. We could serve and worship the Lord together regardless of our backgrounds.

In some ways, the Ephesian believers we’re in the same situation. They had grown up in a pagan culture that believed in many gods. As a result of the preaching of Paul there were those who had come to know the one true God.

Ancient times when Jews would move into a community, they would work hard to maintain their culture. They would have very little to do with gentiles. Even today Orthodox Jews live separate from the gentle community in which they live. They work hard to maintain the purity of their race and religion.

The opposition to Paul’s preaching of Jesus was so great that he had to withdraw from the synagogue to preach in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. Despite many miracles that God performed in Ephesus, the Jews continued to resist the preaching of Christ and even attempted to do miracles in their own power. Though some converted to Christ through these events, many Jews remained hardened in their opposition to the Christian faith.

Many Gentiles also opposed Christianity. The conversion of Gentiles to Christ cut into the profit of those making idols in the worship of Artemis. Even though the climate of Ephesus was open to many religions, the one religion they would not tolerate was Christianity because it required them to give up their idols. Those profiting from that industry stirred up the people against Paul, causing a riot.

The message of the gospel is the one and only way of salvation through Christ. This is not always a politically correct message, and we can be sure our culture will strongly oppose biblical truth. However, Christians should not be the ones to build walls between themselves and the culture they are called to reach. They must stand for biblical truth, but standing for truth doesn’t require walling oneself off from the world.  If the church is going to fulfill the Great Commission, it is going to have to be unified and willing to engage the culture.

BROUGHT NEAR

Ephesians 2:11–13 (LSB)

¹¹ Therefore, remember that formerly you—the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Uncircumcision” by the so-called “Circumcision,” which is performed in the flesh by human hands— ¹² remember that you were at that time without Christ, alienated from the citizenship of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. ¹³ But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

What did Paul remind Gentile believers they lacked before salvation? What changed everything for the Gentile believers?

When we are saving come to Christ, we become part of a new community. Community of fellow believers. Paul reminds the Ephesians they were once “Gentiles in the flesh”. This was a reference That they were uncircumcised.  God instructed Abraham to circumcise his descendants to signify God’s covenant with his people (Gen 17:10–14).

To the Greeks and Romans circumcision was a disgusting, barbaric practice, and many Gentiles who otherwise followed Jewish beliefs refused to be circumcised and thus remained “God-fearers” (Acts 10:2; 13:16) rather than fully converting.

The Jews believed that you could not belong to God if you were not circumcised. To the Jews, circumcision had become another idol that prevented the true worship of God. This cause a lot of division in the early church between the Jews and the gentiles.

In verses 12-13, Paul is emphasizing who the gentiles were before salvation. They were separate from Christ, excluded for being a citizen of Israel, had no part in the covenant of promise that God gave Abraham. The gentiles prior to salvation were without God and had no hope of having a relationship with God.

Paul did not list these conditions to depress the Gentiles but to cause them to marvel at the grace of God in bringing them to Christ. Paul is goes on to tell the Ephesian believers that even though they were excluded from the nation of Israel, the blood of Jesus changed that.

When Christ shed His blood on the cross a new community was created. His death and resurrection brought together two diverse groups – Jew and Gentile – into one new community of faith.

PEACE DECLARED

Ephesians 2:14–18 (LSB)

¹⁴ For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups one and broke down the dividing wall of the partition ¹⁵ by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might create the two into one new man, making peace, ¹⁶ and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, having in Himself put to death the enmity. ¹⁷ AND HE CAME AND PREACHED THE GOOD NEWS OF PEACE TO YOU WHO WERE FAR AWAY, AND PEACE TO THOSE WHO WERE NEAR; ¹⁸ for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.

What two reconciliations did Christ bring about and how did He do so?

The work of Christ in bringing Jew and Gentile together in one new community is emphasized in verses 14-18.

The Jews kept the law, with its commandments and regulations. Gentiles did not. This created a barrier between them. Jesus’ death satisfied the law and therefore eliminated it as a barrier. The barrier that the Law had created between Jew and Gentile has be removed. Everyone is seen in God’s eyes as one group needing a salvation.

Paul declared that Jesus was the peace between two groups who had often lived in hostility. The peace that Paul refers to here is a Biblical peace, first with God (our horizontal relationship) and with those around us (our vertical relationships).

The blood of Christ brings a restoration and peace in our vertical relationships with those around us. Christ created a new, undivided humanity. Jews are no longer Jews, and Gentiles no longer Gentiles. They’re all one in Christ. Union with Christ logically means unity with one another. Through His Spirit, Christ ushers all believers into God’s gracious, loving presence. We have a restored horizontal relationship with God.

CITIZENSHIP GRANTED

Ephesians 2:19–22 (LSB)

¹⁹ So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, ²⁰ having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, ²¹ in whom the whole building, being joined together, is growing into a holy sanctuary in the Lord, ²² in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.

How do the images of God’s kingdom and family promote unity within in the church?

In times past the Gentiles had been foreigners and aliens, left out of all the gracious providence of God for his special people. But the status of pagan Gentiles changed when they became Christians. Taking the one true God as their King, they have been naturalized into his kingdom and have become fellow citizens with the saints. They are born again and are members of God’s household, his family. They are brothers and sisters of the Jewish believers who have been reborn in the same way.

In ancient times the building began with the cornerstone. That stone was squared precisely and laid in exactly the right place. Then the other foundation stones were lined up with it, and the stones of the walls were placed on the foundation. God’s household was built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ being the cornerstone.

Paul describes the church as a growing, living, holy temple.  This temple is built on the foundation on the teachings of the apostles and prophets. The cornerstone is Jesus.  Those who have been saved are the stones that make up the structure of the temple.

The Holy Spirit takes up residence in the hearts of those who trust Christ. God now makes Himself at home in the life of the believer. As Christians unite together with the same faith, God makes His dwelling there. Instead of a provincial temple, where only the Jews were welcomed into the inner portion, God longs for all people—Jew and Gentile—to enter beyond the dividing wall that once separated them. He wants all His children in His presence.

SUMMARIZE & CHALLENGE

What’s the only lasting solution to society’s lack of peace? How can we live in the reality of Jesus’ reconciling work?

• No matter how many treaties negotiated, and laws passed, there is no real, lasting peace apart from Jesus. Jesus is peace. He signed a peace treaty with His blood and proclaims peace to all.
• The only way to have genuine peace with God, others, and ourselves is to place our faith in Christ.
• The church is to reflect the reconciliation Jesus accomplished. We must strive for unity in our diversity and seek to be at peace with all people.

Personal Challenge: Do you function as one who is reconciled, or do you keep up barriers? How will you be an agent of Christ’s peace at home, church, work, and the world?

Bibliography

• David O. Dykes, General Editor, Explore the Bible: Leaders Guide, Fall 2019 (Nashville, TN: Lifeway, Christian Resources, 2019)
• David O. Dykes, General Editor, Explore the Bible: QuickSource, Fall 2019 (Nashville, TN: Lifeway, Christian Resources, 2019)
• Grant R. Osborne, Ephesians: Verse by Verse, Osborne New Testament Commentaries (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2017)
• Jonathan Underwood, Ronald L. Nickelson, and Jonathan Underwood, eds., The NIV Standard Lesson Commentary, 2004–2005 (Cincinnati, OH: Standard Publishing, 2004)
• Legacy Standard Bible. 2022. Three Sixteen Publishing.