Ephesians 2:11-22 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is Ephesians 2:11-22. Let’s go!
Ephesians 2:11-22 (NIV)
11 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (that done in the body by the hands of men)–
12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.
13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.
14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility,
15 by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace,
16 and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.
17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.
18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household,
20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.
21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.
22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
On verses 11-22: By the time Paul had written Ephesians, there had already been centuries worth of hostility between Jews and Gentiles (non-Jews). Generally speaking Jews and Gentiles would not interact with each other except under special circumstances. The Jews contemptuously called the Gentiles “the uncircumcised” (v11).
Even between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians, there was uncertainty as to how much they should interact with one another and how different or similar they were to each other. Since Jesus was a Jew, did that mean Jewish Christians were on a different level than Gentile Christians? Were Gentile Christians second class citizens in God’s kingdom?
In Ephesians 2:11-22, Paul boldly addresses this tension between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians in his letter to his church at Ephesus. First he acknowledges that there has been a barrier, a “dividing wall of hostility” between Jews and Gentiles (v13). He also acknowledges that before the Gentiles knew Christ, they were separated from God, excluded from citizenship in Israel, foreigners to God’s promises, and “without hope and without God in the world.” (v12)
But then Paul says that Jesus changed everything. Christ’s death on the cross destroyed that dividing wall of hostility (v14). Now because of Jesus Christ, Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians are now part of the same family (v14). In particular:
– Through his death on the cross, Jesus set aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations (v15). In other words, because of Jesus’ death on the cross, it was no longer necessary for a Jew or a Gentile to fulfill all of the Jewish law in order to have God’s blessing.
– Now God reconciles both Jews and Gentiles to Himself through the same cross where Jesus died (v16).
– The same message of peace — peace with God and peace with one another — applies to Gentiles (“those who were far”) and Jews (“those who were near”) equally (v17).
– Through Jesus, both Jews and Gentiles have equal access to God the Father through the same Holy Spirit (v18).
All because of Jesus, Gentile Christians are not “foreigners” and “strangers” to God’s people, nor are they second class citizens in God’s kingdom. Rather Gentile Christians are fellow citizens of heaven and fellow brothers and sisters in Christ (v19), together with Jewish Christians. Gentile Christians and Jewish Christians are like one building, built on the same foundation of the apostles and prophets; teachings, with Christ as the cornerstone (v20). Jesus is the glue that holds them together, making them into one building, a holy temple which God continues to build and in which God lives by His Spirit (v21-22).
Heavenly Father, thank You that when Jesus died on the cross, not only was the curtain separated me from You torn in two, but the dividing wall of hostility separating Jews and Gentiles was destroyed too. Thank You that because of Jesus’ death on the cross, we can be reconciled to You and to people from whom we were once separated. Thank You that Christians of every race, language, culture and nation are my brothers and sisters in Christ and fellow citizens with me of heaven. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
