JESUS BRINGS JEWS AND GENTILES TOGETHER IN HIS FAMILY
by Tim Thomas
December 4, 2005
Ephesian 2:11-18
Amplified Bible
11Therefore, remember that at one time you were Gentiles (heathens) in the flesh, called Uncircumcision by those who called themselves Circumcision, [itself a[5] mere mark] in the flesh made by human hands.
12[Remember] that you were at that time separated (living apart) from Christ [excluded from all part in Him], utterly estranged and outlawed from the rights of Israel as a nation, and strangers with no share in the sacred compacts of the [Messianic] promise [with no knowledge of or right in God's agreements, His covenants]. And you had no hope (no promise); you were in the world without God.
13But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were [so] far away, through (by, in) the blood of Christ have been brought near.
14For He is [Himself] our peace (our bond of unity and harmony). He has made us both [Jew and Gentile] one [body], and has broken down (destroyed, abolished) the hostile dividing wall between us,
15By abolishing in His [own crucified] flesh the enmity [caused by] the Law with its decrees and ordinances [which He annulled]; that He from the two might create in Himself one new man [one new quality of humanity out of the two], so making peace.
16And [He designed] to reconcile to God both [Jew and Gentile, united] in a single body by means of His cross, thereby killing the mutual enmity and bringing the feud to an end.
17And He came and preached the glad tidings of peace to you who were afar off and [peace] to those who were near.a
18For it is through Him that we both [whether far off or near] now have an introduction (access) by one [Holy] Spirit to the Father [so that we are able to approach Him].
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5Arthur S. Way, The Letters of St. Paul to Seven Churches and Three Friends. aaIsa. 57:19.
New International Version
11Therefore, 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) -- 12remember 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. 13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.
14For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15by 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, 16and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
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Gentile believers have much to be thankful for! We were not part of God's "chosen people", Israel, and so were excluded from relationship with God. Though God's desire has always been to draw all people to Him (Genesis 12:3, 18:18, 22:18), His initial strategy was to use the descendents of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to show others what it is like to be in relationship with the one and only true God (Leviticus 20:26; Psalms 67:1-2). As such, for people to come into relationship with God, they had to become Jewish. Some notable converts to Judaism include Ruth, from Moab, who is one of Jesus's ancestors (see book of Ruth; also, Matthew 1:5), and another of his ancestors, Rahab, who was from Jericho (Joshua 2, 6; Matthew 1:5). There were some exceptions to the requirement to become Jewish, but these came before the Law was given to Moses. Consider Melchizedek, a foreshadow of Jesus, who was King of Salem (which eventually became "Jeru-salem") and High Priest of the Most High God, who blessed Abraham (Genesis 14:18-20; Hebrews 5-7). Also Moses's father-in-law, Jethro, who was high priest of Midian, and seemed to be counted as worshipping the True God (Exodus 3:1, 4:18, 18:1ff).
The Law kept people at arm's length from God -- some people moreso than others. But through Jesus, all may draw near to God. It is not simply that Jesus made us good enough to worship God just like the Jewish people who did not put their trust in the Messiah -- what Jesus gave us far surpassed anything that an unredeemed Jewish person could hope to experience.
Now in Christ, Gentile believers and Jewish believers are made to be one. They are both reconciled to God, AND they are reconciled to each other. The wall that divided them -- knowledge of the Law and access to God -- was broken down and the two are now one in Christ. It seems odd to me that some Christians still expect a system of animal sacrifices to be restored if and when the temple is rebuilt in Jerusalem. I think the entire message of the Good News is that Jesus, the promised Messiah, came to set people free so that they no longer have to depend on a system that mirrors or points to God's plan of reconciliation with mankind, but can actually experience the real thing. There is no other way to reconciliation with God except through Jesus the Messiah.
Looking to verse 15, we see that the Law has been abolished! Why do so many Christians -- particularly many "big name" pastors and teachers with radio and television ministries -- want to keep the Law alive? I suppose it is frightening to religious leaders to imagine how awful people will become without the Law. But God said in Joel and elsewhere in the Old Testament that one day He would replace our hearts with new hearts, ones that are for Him. So our good behavior as Christians ought to come not because the Law dictates how to behave, but because we are so in love with God that we only want to please Him. We take on His heart and mind and learn to be His hands and feet and mouth (and even webpage -- WWJB: What Would Jesus Blog?!).
As long as Christians are under the Law, they cannot be what God created them to be. You cannot live dependent on God and dependent on your self-discipline to obey the Law. You must choose. Pastors must choose, too, because people in churches are going to be held back if pastors will not believe that God is really there to Himself lead their people. Sure, it's a bit scary, because as people begin walking in freedom, some will be unwise and the flesh will lure them into unprofitable actions. But people will learn how to resist the flesh and how to walk in intimacy with God in due time.
Verse 18 concludes this passage by reminding us once again that through Jesus we have access to God the Father by means of the Holy Spirit. This reinforces the point I made in the last paragraph: God want us to draw near to Him, and He will indeed respond to us as we seek Him.
Addendum: After writing boldly about the Law being abolished, as the NIV renders it in verse 15, I checked many commentaries on this verse, and to my surprise, most commentaries seek to understand the verse in such a way that part or all of the Law is still alive. If this were the only verse in the Bible that suggested something like this, then I would indeed have not gone so far out on a limb with it. But the lesson of Romans chapters 5 to 8 and the entire book of Galatians is that Christians are to walk by faith and live under grace. I'm certain that every commentator I read is a lot smarter than I am, but it seems that they were afraid to embrace fully the Good News that we are indeed free from the Law. I felt I needed to put this addendum in, however, because I want my readers to be fully informed of what other genuine Christians have come to believe, especially when it is contrary to what I have written.
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