In this section the apostle Paul continues to tell new believers what has happened to them. In verses 1-10 he told them that once they were dead, but now they are alive. In verses 11-22 he tells them that once they were separated, but now they are united. It is a passage which teaches us two straightforward lessons.
We must never forget what we once were (2:11-12)
Do you? Or do you take time to sit down and reflect on what you might have been if the Lord had not saved you? Where would you be today if he had not stepped into your life by his grace? What sort of company might you have been keeping? What might you have been doing? What sort of character would you have? What would be your thoughts about life and death? What scale of values would you be living by and what ambitions would you be nursing? How would your family be run? What would you find pleasurable? This would be largely speculation. But there is no speculation about what we once were, and this is something we are commanded to remember (2:11).
And what were we? Verses 11-12 refresh our memory. To understand verse 11 we must recall that most of Paul's readers were Gentiles, just like most people reading this book. The Jews looked down on them. They called them 'Gentile dogs', or just 'Gentiles', saying it with a sneer on their lips. They called themselves 'the Circumcision'. On the body of every one of their boys they put the covenant sign which declared that God had had unique dealings with their nation. They called the rest of the world 'the Uncircumcision' and scornfully despised them: 'They are not the people of God, the people with whom God has made his covenant.' Paul reminds his readers of these things. As far as the Jews were concerned, they were beyond the pale; they were unwelcome outsiders.
Paul's reminder continues in verse 12. Former days must not be forgotten. 'At that time you were without Christ,' he continues. All the Jews carried in their hearts some expectancy of the Messiah, or Christ, as Greek-speakers called him. 'But you didn't. You never gave him a thought. And when he did come, you had nothing to do with him. Christ was in no sense part of your world.' And, today, we have to admit that the same thing was true of us. Sometimes his name was on our lips– as a swear-word. But we were separate from him. He was not a factor or reality in our lives.
Also at that time, continues Paul, you were 'aliens from the commonwealth of Israel' (2:12). Walking in this world is a nation to whom God has revealed himself. To that nation he gave his Word. He spoke at various times and in different ways. 'But you were not members of that nation. You were not part of that special people.'
'At that time you were ... strangers from the covenants of promise' (2:12). The Old Testament reports how God made repeated covenants with Israel. These covenants were filled with promises. Who were the promises for? They were for those with whom the covenant was made. God's pledges were for Hebrew ears. Gentiles did not belong to the privileged people. Generally speaking, they did not even know that God had made such promises. If they did, they rightly concluded it was nothing to do with them. They were outsiders. God's comforting words to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were not for them.
This being so, the Gentiles had 'no hope' (2:12). The Jews had hope, for they were expecting the Messiah. Their hope was real, for the covenants overflowed with divine promises. But their hope was unshared.
'No hope!' What profoundly empty words! Is there any more eloquent way of describing our unconverted years? We had no hope beyond this life, and no hope in it. We knew that God existed but fostered no hope of ever finding him. We realized that the world's treasures were but tinsel but nursed no hope of discovering anything better. Our present existence had no meaning and we could not give it one. Death was a blank finality which we looked at with despair. Even our bright moments wore a shroud. They can have no enduring beauty where there is no hope.
Being 'without Christ' we were 'without God in the world' (2:12). We knew about him. Conscience, creation and Scripture are how he made us aware of him, as we have already seen several times in these pages. But we did not know him. We lived in his world without him. He was not a living, bright reality to us. Some of us felt after him, in various religions, false Christianity and philosophy. But we did not find him there. We were orphans. We did not have him as our Father, as we do today. In him we lived, and moved and had our being, but we did not enjoy him. He could just as well have been a million miles away.
All this is what we once were and we are never to forget it. Only now do we see how horrendous it all was. We were separate in two ways – we were separated from God, and we were separated from his people. Countless numbers of people in today's world are still like that. Verses 11-12, which so graphically describe our unconverted misery, are a clear account of the awfulness of being non-Christians. They have no hope! They went to bed that way last night, and they have woken up like that this morning. They know that God is, but to them he is the unknown God. They are living and dying without Christ and without a personal knowledge of any spiritual privilege. If it were not for God's grace we would still be as they are. 'There, but for the grace of God, go I.' We must never forget what we once were.
2. We must never forget what we now are (2:13-22)
You will remember that a chief concern of Paul's letter to the Ephesians is to speak to us about spiritual blessings. Christian men and women must realize how rich they are! This section is devoted to driving this home. It uses a number of pictures which are easy to understand, and yet the concepts behind them are mind-stretching.
1. One nation (2:13-18)Paul has been speaking to us about what we were 'at that time' (2:12). He opens this section with the words: 'But now...' Every true Christian can remember what he was, and can compare it with what he is now. He or she can say, 'Things are different now; something has happened to me.' Can you? How sad it is that so many people who believe themselves to be Christians cannot use this sort of language! They have never had a decided conversion. They are unable to speak of any change that has taken place. Such people are not yet true believers.
What the Ephesians had been, and what they had become, could be contrasted. 'But now in Christ Jesus you who were once far off have been made near by the blood of Christ' (2:13). 'I have reminded you', says Paul, 'that you were once cut off, both from God and from his people. This is no longer the case. Those days are over. Now that you are in Christ Jesus, everything has changed. It is the spilling of his blood that has brought you near!' The apostle is highlighting what he taught us in chapter 1. Every spiritual blessing is ours on the simple condition of being 'in Christ'. Everything in this realm comes to us by the way of the cross. Nothing comes to us any other way. It was all procured for us when the Son of God bled.
It was not just that the Lord Jesus Christ made peace. He is our peace (2:14). We understand this well enough with respect to our separation from God. Our sins were put to Christ's account, and his righteousness was put to ours. But Paul has more than that in mind here. Reconciliation has been made horizontally, as well as vertically. In fact, this is the chief thought of verse 14.
What does the verse say? 'For he himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of division between us.' Paul is thinking about the temple at Jerusalem. It was a structure that emphasized the difference between Jews and Gentiles. The Gentiles were allowed into the outer courtyard of the temple, but no further. They could admire the Jews' privileges from outside, but could not enter into them. A small wall marked the limit. Warning notices on it told all Gentiles that they went any further on pain of death. Jews passed freely by, but Gentiles had to stop. The small wall announced to all that some were welcome and others were excluded.
That wall no longer exists. This is what Paul is teaching. The division of the world into Jews and Gentiles has ended at the cross. There is no place to which a Jew can go to which a Gentile cannot also go. It is the Lord Jesus Christ who has made the difference. All the privileges which were previously reserved for the Jews alone, are now available to the Gentiles, through Christ.
We understand well enough how the cross reconciles sinners to God. But how, precisely, does it bring about reconciliation between Jew and Gentile? Paul's answer is in verse 15. The Lord Jesus Christ has 'abolished in his flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in himself one new man from the two, thus making peace'. But what does that mean?
Do you remember the ceremonial law given to the Jews in the Old Testament? It declared certain things clean, while others were unclean. Certain foods defiled you, while others could be enjoyed. If you touched certain things, a dead body for example, you became ceremonially impure. You had to go through a sometimes complicated purifying process before you could take your place in society again. Certain days were holy while others were not special in any way. There were sacrifices and rituals, garments, processions, feast days and a thousand other laws to be observed all the time. The Jew could not live a day without thinking about it all.
It was that ceremonial law which was the source of the hostility between Jew and Gentile. The Jew considered the Gentile to be unclean. The Gentile found the Jew arrogant. He saw him as someone who believed himself to be superior. The ceremonial law was the cause of hostility, tension and bitterness.
Why did God give this law to his ancient people? It was a preparation for the coming of Christ. Everything in it was full of significance, speaking in some way or other of the Saviour who was to come. But when Christ came, there was no longer any need for the ceremonial law. When he died on the cross, all the previous sacrifices became obsolete. When he entered into heaven as our great High Priest there was no need for the Levitical priesthood to continue. Now that he cleanses us by his blood and indwells us by his Spirit, all that ceremonial business about defilement and purification is redundant. There is no longer any place for it. It serves no further purpose. It must be discarded.
By his death, our Lord Jesus Christ has destroyed the cause of hostility between Jew and Gentile. He has 'abolished in his flesh the enmity'. Salvation is given to both Jew and Gentile alike on the basis of Christ's blood and righteousness. Whether it be a Jew or Gentile that comes to Christ, they are both cleansed by the same blood. They both have the same righteous life reckoned to their account. They are indwelt by the same Spirit and, for their access into God's presence, depend on the same priesthood. No barrier now divides them from each other. It is the Lord Jesus Christ who made peace between them. A new nation is to be found on earth, composed of believing Jews and Gentiles. The old way of dividing people into these two categories is now out of date and finished for ever. But there is still a division of the human race into two. Some people are members of that new nation, and some are not.
Verse 15 could not have been clearer. But even when things are as clear as can be, we are still slow to grasp them. This is why Paul writes verse 16. It does not tell us anything new. It simply drives home what we have just learned.
Christ did what he did for both Jew and Gentile 'that he might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity' (2:16). Both are restored to fellowship with God in the same way – by the same cross, by the same broken body, by the same sacrifice. This being so, there is no reason at all for them to remain separated from each other. The ceremonial law is dead and buried, and so therefore is the ill-will and antagonism which once kept Jew and Gentile apart.
Why, then, is it that some Christians still want to keep the ceremonial law alive? Why, for example, do supposedly Christian travel agents encourage us to go to Palestine to join with Jews there in the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles? And why do some Christian leaders still continue to talk of 'Hebrew Christians' and 'Gentile Christians'? Since Christ came; there are no more feast days to keep, and the world, much less the church, is no longer divided into Jews and Gentiles. There are no 'Hebrew Christians' and there are no 'Gentile Christians'. Christ has created 'in himself one new man from the two' (2:15), having reconciled them 'both to God in one body'. There are just 'Christians'.
In Christ, both Jew and Gentile make up a single nation. 'And he came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father' (2:17-18). There are not two different ways of salvation, one for the Jews and the other for the Gentiles. The same Preacher came to both, and both have access to God in precisely the same manner.
We know when the Lord Jesus Christ preached to the Jews, 'to those who were near'. But when did he preach to those 'who were afar off'; that is, to the Gentiles in general and to the Ephesians in particular?
We understand this when we understand the nature of New Testament preaching. Jesus never visited Ephesus and the Ephesians never saw him in the flesh. And yet he preached there! He did it through the preaching of Paul and those who came after him. The physical lips which announced the message were not those which spoke in Nazareth. But where the gospel is being faithfully proclaimed, there Christ is speaking. The New Testament insists on this point. Those whom Christ sends are to be received as if he himself were present; those who reject such messengers reject him. 'He who is sent is as he who sends,' says an old Jewish proverb.
So Jesus Christ himself preached at Ephesus. He was personally addressing them in the gospel that Paul announced. This is what gave the message its authority, just as it is today. Those who reject the gospel are not rejecting the preacher who brings it, but God's Son himself. Even when the divine message is proclaimed by stumbling lips, it is still Jesus Christ who is speaking to the hearers. What a great responsibility this lays upon them! How they should tremble!
The Lord has not restricted his message to either Jew or Gentile. He has preached, and he preaches, to those who are afar off; and he has preached, and continues to preach, to those who are near. Both have access to God by the same Spirit – the Spirit who gave them repentance, faith in Christ, and a heart to pray. Gentiles who believe are not outside Israel and Jews who believe have not left Israel. Together, they are Israel – the true Israel of God.
This is very important teaching. In the Old Testament, the whole of God's true Israel was found in the earthly nation that bore that name. Not everyone in that nation was a true Israelite. The vast majority did not walk with the Lord in any personal way. They were Israelites only in name. But the few true believers that existed were all Israelites. God's true Israel was found only in earthly Israel.
This is no longer the case. Today, God's tree Israel is found both in earthly Israel and out of it. In fact, most true Israelites are not physical Jews. There is only one Israel. There has only ever been one. But membership of it is no longer restricted to those in the earthly nation. Believing Gentiles are no longer outside Israel; they are not strangers to the covenants; they are actually part and parcel of the people of God. Together with believing Jews, they make up one new nation. Paul gives similar teaching to this in Romans chapters 2,4 and 9-11. He is giving it to us here so that we may never forget what we now are.
2. One building (2:19-22)What you were, 'you are no longer' (2:19). Here, once again, is the Christian language of which we spoke earlier. Believers can constantly call to mind that they are 'no longer' what they used to be. The Lord's people talk that way, but other people cannot.
Building on what he has just said, Paul tells the Ephesians (and us) that they 'are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints and members of the household of God' (2:19).
Here are two sets of opposites. No longer strangers, they have become fellow-citizens with the saints. No longer foreigners, they have become members of the household of God.
Paul was writing in the first century. In that ancient world, two sorts of people lived within a city's walls. There were those who came from elsewhere but had no right of residence, and no say in the city's affairs. They were tolerated, because of the businesses they ran. The word used for these people is the word translated 'strangers' in verse 19. Then, of course, there were the citizens who belonged there by right. As far as the true Israel of God is concerned, we are no longer 'strangers', but as much citizens of it as were Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses or David. Gentiles who believe are in no way inferior to them. They are fellow-citizens with the saints.
The second pair of opposites speaks of a family. Under the same roof are sometimes found family members, but also others who are outside the family circle. These others live there, but they do not belong by right, nor do they enjoy the closeness of bond which the family members have with each other. Gentile believers are no longer like those outsiders. They are as much members of the family as anyone else. Chapter 1 told us that all believers are the adopted children of God. It follows that each one is a full member of his family and household.
Paul is using picture after picture to explain great truths. The one which will dominate verses 20-22 is that of a building. To see it clearly, we must imagine two walls standing at right angles to each other. At first sight, it looks as if these two walls are nothing to do with each other. But they are, because they are both built on the same foundation (2:20). The Gentile wall and the Jewish wall are both built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets.
If you are a Christian at all, it is because you have come to believe the message proclaimed by those whom the Lord Jesus Christ appointed to be authoritative teachers and interpreters of the Christian faith – the apostles. The Spirit of Christ had already announced the same message in the Old Testament; it was he who was at work in each ancient prophet. There were also prophets in the New Testament church until such a time as the Scriptures were completed, and these received direct revelation from the same Christ, given by the same Spirit. All believers, whether their origin be Jewish or Gentile, build on the same foundation.
The two walls of which we are talking meet at a corner. Supporting that corner is the cornerstone. If that cornerstone were taken away, the whole structure would collapse. There is only one cornerstone for the two walls. It is the same for both. It is the Lord Jesus Christ. True faith, wherever it is found, relies entirely on him.
The picture continues in verses 21-22. The bricks which rest on this foundation and which rely entirely upon this cornerstone also fit into each other. They are 'joined together' (2:21). Each believer is a brick and new bricks are being added all the time. The structure is thus seen to grow, and it is growing into a temple!
No Gentile believer has to stand outside and fondly long to be admitted into the temple. Together with other believers, whether they be Jew or Gentile, he or she is the temple! That is the only temple that God has today. In his providence, he swept the physical temple out of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 and it will never be rebuilt. Even if an earthly temple was rebuilt, God would have nothing to do with it. The only temple in which he is interested is that spiritual one which is composed of all believers put together. The true Israel and the true temple are one and the same thing. The new covenant is not about earthly nations and buildings. It is about the spiritual realities of which these things were only pictures.
The old temple was God's dwelling-place on earth. The new temple is his dwelling-place on earth. It is not in a physical structure anywhere, but in his spiritual temple, that the glory of God is seen in the world. No church, chapel, cathedral or basilica is graced with the presence of God. He lives in people, by his Spirit. There are no holy places on the whole of this planet. No believer needs them. He and all other Christians 'are being built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit' (2:22).
What marvellous things God has done for us! He has given us all a memory, and commanded us never to forget what we once were. This we do with shame and horror. He also commands us never to forget what we now are. We do this with humility – we are only what we are because of the cross, but it was our sins that put his Son there. However, we also do it with rejoicing, for our privileges are greater than we could ever have imagined. We were once separated from God, but now we are united to him; what a wonder! We were once separated from each other; now we are one nation, not many; now we are one building, not just separate bricks, unconnected to each other.
Will we learn two important lessons from this section? The first is that we should glory in the cross. We should revel in it. What the Son of God has done for us by his death should be ever in our thoughts and constantly on our lips. Paul never tires of this theme, for he sees that all our privileges without exception depend on Calvary.
The second lesson concerns the unity of the church. We are not talking about that false unity which parades under the banner of the World Council of Churches and similar bodies which have no attachment to the gospel. We are talking about the unity of those who love and honour the Lord Jesus Christ, especially in the context of local churches. It makes a mockery of what we have seen in God's Word when individual bricks fall out with each other and behave as if they do not belong to each other. Next to God's law and the gospel itself, there is nothing more important on earth than the oneness and unity of those whom the Saviour has redeemed. If we do not believe that, we have not even begun to understand the passage we have just studied.