How God Saves Gentiles (Eph. 2:11–18)

Series: Ephesians: Building the ChurchText: Ephesians 2:11–18

By: Shaun Marksbury Date: January 29, 2023

Venue: Living Water Baptist ChurchOccasion: PM Service

Introduction

Today, there remains quite a bit of discussion about social justice and the gospel. There are some folks, perhaps with good motives, within practically every denomination, utilizing unbiblical means to address the sin of partiality known as racism. Some have adopted critical methodologies, like critical race theory, which come from atheistic and secular philosophies while talking about things that initially sound good, like racial reconciliation. The error comes in because of unorthodox and even heretical anthropologies, such as saying only one group of people is capable of this kind of sin (like the white people) while saying only another group of people truly understands the gospel because of oppression (like the black people). Touting reconciliation, these individuals ironically foster division.

Thankfully, we see a corrective in this passage. Here, we’re dealing with the question of different ethnic groups coming together in Christ. We see this illustrated in the division between Jews and Gentiles, two groups that naturally scorned each other, yet they somehow came together in the Ephesian church and worshiped God.

Reconciliation is certainly needed, but the problem isn’t racial, and it’s deeper than we know. As such, the teaching today can even apply to other divisions within the church. The good news of the gospel provides the unity we need to have as a church, whatever the causes for division might be. We see in this passage that the Gentiles need reconciliation, but the Lord grants it. May our trust in this truth grow as we study this passage.

The Gentiles Need Reconciliation (vv. 11–12)

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—remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

Paul begins v. 11 with the command to remember what was past. Conceptually, this passage bears a good deal of semblance with the previous passage we studied, vv. 1–10. For instance, there is a past, present, and future concept, just as there was in the first ten verses, where the past is hopeless save the grace of God. Paul also spoke in terms of “you” (Gentiles), “we” (Jews), and “us” (Christians), which he develops more here. He hammers home the gospel, for we need constant reminders and reflection upon it.

This time, he reveals an important aspect of their ethnic unity in Christ, but he starts here in these two verses with the bad news. He lists four disadvantages in these verses: Gentiles were separated from the Messiah, from the nation of Israel, from the promises of Scripture, and from hope in God — all essential to understand before getting to the good news in Christ. For our church, most of us are Gentiles — not Jewish according to the flesh — so this bears weight concerning how we are ourselves to be saved. What do we learn?

We Were Separated from the Messiah

If Paul is calling Gentiles to once again consider the past, then we are once again rewinding to a time before Christ. Paul may once again consider this for his own people, the Jews, who were caught up in the flesh (circumcision vs. uncircumcision), but that is not the point right now. Paul is focusing more so on the plight of the Gentiles.

Let’s consider v. 12 for a moment, then. Here is the paramount disadvantage to the Gentile peoples. They are “separate from Christ.” We’ll note that they were also separate from Israel, the Scripture, and hope in God, so there was no way they could have Christ. They had no knowledge of Jesus and were separated from the source of knowledge.

Some Christians play with the idea that non-Jewish people in far-flung locales having no knowledge of Christ might still be saved by Him. Perhaps, some have pondered throughout the years, there are “secret Christians” — those who have Jesus and don’t even know it! However, passages like this demonstrate that those who don’t believe in Jesus because they don’t know Him don’t have Him. Of course, that makes sense, but we need to remember that there is clearly a time when unbelievers lack any saving relationship with Him and are “without hope.”

This is an insurmountable problem all on its own. Yet, the problem becomes even greater as we consider it.

We Were Separated from the Nation of Israel

Again, the word “Gentile” emphasizes separateness. We are part of the ethnos, the various ethnic peoples of the world. Strangely enough, while we as Americans focus on issues of color, we ignore how the Bible unites us “according to the flesh” or “in the flesh.” Our very DNA gives testimony to our exclusion from the Jewish people.

Moreover, a particular mark of the flesh bespeaks the otherness of the Gentiles — uncircumcision. Today, hospitals will sometimes give infant boys circumcisions for health reasons, but it wasn’t that way in the ancient world. In fact, Gentile males took as much pride in their lack of “disfigurement” as the Jews took in bearing the mark of God’s promise. Pride is a key word here, both in the mark and the lack thereof.

To be clear, this was a mark that God commanded of Israel to make them separate — this sign reminded them that they were children of the promise, and that they would become progenitors of more children of promise. Of course, the physical mark was to point to spiritual circumcision (Deut. 10:16; Jer. 4:4), but that is not the point here.

The Gentiles were excluded, and Paul uses national categories to emphasize it. They were “excluded [or “alienated”] from the commonwealth of Israel.” The only other time this term is used in the NT is when a Roman commander is speaking to Paul about Roman citizenship (Acts 22:28). God had a covenant relationship with Israel, not with the other nations, though God promised to ultimately bless the nations through Israel (Gen. 12:3).

So, running parallel to the thought of being “separate from Christ,” Gentiles are not a part of the Jewish people. (Indeed, at no point does Paul say they have ceased being who they are according to the flesh, but that is a discussion for later.) The disadvantages mount, including also the next one.

We Were Separated from the Promises of Scripture

We’ve already intimated this point, so we won’t dwell long here. God chose the Jews from among the nations (Amos 3:2). To them belong “the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises” (Rom. 9:4). God chose to reveal Himself to the Jews.

So, to be clear, Gentiles don’t have and are not part of the covenants of promise. Ultimately, this means that unbelievers are not promised eternal salvation or anything else promised to Israel. That leads to the final disadvantage:

We Were Separated from the Hope of God

In fact, this last point is two points. The first is that the Gentiles were without hope. That is, they were without any reason to expect a remedy to their situation. It’s not that they could not achieve much from a human perspective. More to the point, they were without hope that God would forgive their sins.

That is what Paul plainly says with the next words. Literally here, Paul says they were “atheists in the world.” As Matthew Henry explains, “for, though they worshipped many gods, yet they were without the true God.” Regardless of whether the Gentile had a superstitious past, worshiping at the altar of a false god, he was an atheist, being without the true God. As the apostle says elsewhere, idols represent no gods (1 Cor. 8:4), and Gentiles fool themselves into thinking they worship something true.

So, this brings us full-circle — if we’re separated from Christ and the rest, we’re without God. Indeed, those who don’t have the Son don’t have the Father (1 John 2:23). No one should fool himself into believing that Christ is one of many ways to God.

However, just as vv. 1–10 turn upon the grace found in Jesus Christ, so do these verses. Look now to v. 13.

The Lord Reconciles the Gentiles (vv. 13–18)

But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near; for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.

Here, we see the reversal of the bad news before Christ. The “at that time” of v. 12 is contrasted here to “but now” in v. 13. Just as the bad news of 2:1–3 turned on the “but God” of v. 4, the bad news of vv. 11–12 turns on the “but Christ.” Note to the use of the passive; you “have been brought near.” The Gentiles are separate, and they could not bring themselves near, but the Lord reconciles them.

Through the good news of the gospel, we experience reconciliation. We’re seeing in these verses just how Jesus is reconciling us. We’ll see that Jesus is reconciling us to the Jews, to Himself, to God, and to the promises of Scripture. In the end, we’ll see that the gospel of reconciliation turns all the bad news of the previous verses on its head.

Christ Reconciled Us to the Jews and to Himself (vv. 13–15)

Verse 13 again contains an emphatic pronoun — “But now in Christ Jesus you, you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” Perhaps this serves to contrast their uncircumcision and farness from the promises. The promise of God included those who were afar (cf. Isa. 57:19; Acts 2:39), but it was only fulfilled in Christ.

Since we are talking about emphatic pronouns, we find another in v. 14. We see it directly translated in the English: “For He Himself is our peace.” You were far off, but by His blood, He has brought you near. He alone is our peace because He’s the Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6). Thus, the believing Gentile is no longer separate from Christ.

Moreover, with v. 14 comes another shift of pronouns — He’s “our peace.” No longer is Paul talking about “you” but now “us.” Jesus has made peace between Jews and Gentiles.

We see Gentiles first come to Christ in Acts 10. In Acts 15, the Jerusalem Council concludes that Gentiles who trust in Christ are fully included in the community of faith. Specifically, we see this peace not only between God and man (which Paul will discuss in vv. 17–18) but also peace between man and man, Jew and Gentile.

We are part of one another now. Jesus spoke of a second fold of sheep (John 10:16), the Gentiles. Jesus has made the groups of sheep into “one” fold now. In fact, this is the same use of “one” in Galatians 3:28–29, which says, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.” Such fleshly divisions do not matter to Christ in His work of salvation, and so it does not matter in how we are to treat one another.

There are those who wrongly decry what’s come to be called “colorblind theology.” This is contrary to figures from the civil rights era, such as Martin Luther King Jr., who taught that we should treat each other without respect to the color of our skin. That is a concept influenced by biblical teaching; we should not treat each other with partiality, preferring one type of people over another. Those Christians who decry such a colorblind approach warn that this will erase racial markers that partially define who a person is, but passages like this teach that we all, in fact, become a new race in Christ.

Believing Gentiles are now with Christ, just as are the believing Jews, having equal standing. In fact, all believers are promised a circumcision made without hands (Col. 2:11; cf. Rom. 2:28–29; Phil. 3:3), so physical circumcision (or lack thereof) has no bearing on one’s standing before the Lord. In fact, baptism becomes the new sign, something that doesn’t leave a permeant mark on the body.

This is likely what Paul refers to here when he says that Christ has broken down the “dividing wall.” One commentator, Peter O’Brien, notes the following:

The real barrier was, in fact, the Mosaic law itself with its detailed holiness code. And since it is best to understand having broken down the dividing wall, the fence as paralleled by having abolished… the hostility, the law…, then the most natural reference to the fence is the law. Certainly, the oral law was understood in Judaism as a fence around the law (Mishnah Abot 1:1), but even the law itself provided a fence around Israel. It separated Jews from Gentiles both religiously and sociologically, and caused deep-seated hostility. The enmity which was caused by the Jews separateness was often accompanied by a sense of superiority on their part.

That helps make sense of v. 15. The main enmity, the warfare, was between the Gentiles and the Scripture. Part of the purpose of the Law was to set the Jew apart from the Gentile. For example, the dietary restrictions served, in part, to demonstrate a difference between Israel and the other nations, a holy standard. However, after Christ purified food, and called Peter to take up and eat, the Jewish believers were no longer to entertain these divisions.

The commandments and ordinances must refer to the Mosaic Law. Jesus came to fulfill the righteous standards of the Law that no one, Jew or Gentile, could attain (cf. Matt. 5:17, 20). He fulfilled the civil and ceremonial law, law that would keep Gentiles apart, thereby abolishing it. Such sacrifices the Law demanded excluded the Gentiles by partition, but now, all can draw near. That brings us to the next point:

Christ Reconciled Us to the Lord and His Promises (vv. 16–18)

If we have been reconciled to Christ and the believers within the nation of Israel, then the rest should be no surprise. Notice first in v. 16 that it says that He reconciled “them both in one body.” That is, the two peoples have become one. Stated another way, the two now comprise but one body.

This reconciliation, we see, is “to God.” It would be improper to view believers as now being “without God.” The fact is that they now have access.

What is the instrument of that access? Verse 16 continues by stating it is “through the cross.” Of course, we speak of the sacrificial death of Christ here. The verse further explains that “by it” — by the cross — He “put to death the enmity.”

His blood signifies the New Covenant, so it is no surprise that the promise of bringing Gentiles in occurs through His blood. This excludes the Gnostic view that Christ did not really die on the cross. Even so, we must remember that the blood of Christ has no mystical properties; the point here is that Jesus died sacrificially for all those who are His.

Following the context, we’re reading about the antagonism between Jew and Gentile created both by our sinful natures and the Law. Christ fulfilled the righteous requirements of the commandments on the cross, and Christ defeated sin on the cross. Ours is not to now seek racial reconciliation, then, but instead to believe in what Christ has done and walk in light of Holy Scripture.

Of course, we also theologically understand that our enmity was primarily against God. Thus, we have the message that Christ preached in v. 17 — whether we are Gentiles (those “far away”) or Jews (those “who were near”) — is peace. We are now promised, v. 18, that through Christ “we have our access in one Spirit to the Father.”

Our righteousness is no longer found in the Law, but in Christ (Rom. 3:21–22). In fact, our faith in Christ doesn’t nullify the Law, but rather, establishes it (Rom. 3:31). Thus, the access won in Christ is the necessary link we need to the promises given through the covenants. We now have access to the promise.

Conclusion

Scripture gives us a proper perspective of where we are. We’re all leveled as sinners who are apart from Christ, from the nation of Israel, from the promises of Scripture, and from hope in God. We are silly to pride ourselves or to focus on issues of history that don’t personally involve any of us; it all seems petty by comparison.

We all need reconciliation, both to God and to each other. Only the gospel can accomplish this — not programs, committees, or politics. We need the grace of God to make us one in Christ. If you are a Christian in here, there is nothing more for you to do than to simply believe “He Himself is our peace.”

If you’ve been listening to this and are fearful that you are not reconciled to God, then flee to Christ and find your comfort in His work. Only He can save. Only He is the Prince of Peace.