The Great Change
The Great Change
The Holy Spirit here emphasizes the great dispensational change brought about by Calvary and Pentecost. This change abolished the fundamental difference between Gentile and Jew.
Ever since the days of Abraham the rite of circumcision had served as a covenantal sign of the unique relationship that existed between God and the Israelites. The Jews gloried in this relationship and in their insular pride contemptuously referred to the Gentiles as “the uncircumcised.” In the early church many Jewish believers felt that the church was merely an extension of Israel and insisted that Gentile converts to Christianity should be circumcised too as part of the process of coming into the good of the covenant. Gentile believers bitterly resented this requirement. The amount of space devoted to the subject in Acts and the Epistles demonstrates what a hot issue circumcision was.
I Our Natural State
Under the new dispensation, both circumcision and uncircumcision are without spiritual significance. Paul emphasized the obsolete nature of circumcision as a religious rite by referring to it as “the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands.” True, circumcision was the sign of the Abrahamic covenant made with the nation of Israel—but the church is not Israel. The seal of those who are in the true church is not circumcision in the flesh, but the Holy Spirit in the heart (Ephesians 1:13). Gentiles are brought into a covenantal relationship with the God of Israel, not by becoming proselytes to Judaism, but by putting their faith in Christ. The same is true now of Jews. There is no difference. Calvary and Pentecost effected a remarkable change. Gentiles, who had no covenantal relationship with the God of Israel such as the one the Jews enjoyed and in which they made their boast, now have just such a relationship in the new covenant.
(b) No Commonwealth Relationship with the God of Israel (2:12)
“That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world.”
This verse describes the natural state of the Gentiles. Prior to the great dispensational change that has now taken place, the only way a Gentile could partake of the spiritual blessings and covenantal benefits of Israel was to become a Jewish proselyte. Gentiles were natural-born aliens and had no part in the great covenantal promises God had made to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and David. Cut off from these covenants, the Gentiles had no hope and were without God. Their natural state apart from the gospel was deplorable; they were outside both the covenants and the commonwealth. (The Greek word translated “commonwealth” is politeia, “the body politic”)
The Gentile believers knew they had no hope. Pantheons in Greece and Rome, Egypt and the East, were filled with gods made in the image and likeness of fallen men—gods who lusted and warred, gods who openly displayed vile and violent passions. The more sophisticated Gentiles may have paid lip service to such gods, but they knew these gods were obscenities.
No wonder so many Gentiles looked longingly at the Jewish religion. But at the same time they were attracted, they were repulsed by the hypocrisy, exclusivism, and pride of the Jews. The Gentiles were attracted by the Scriptures, but repulsed by the Mishna. They were drawn to the synagogue, but repelled by the thought of circumcision. They were attracted by the noble teachings—the moral, spiritual, and ethical content of the Bible—but dismayed by Jewish provincialism and intolerance.
Then the gospel came. No wonder hundreds of thousands of Gentiles instantly recognized its authority, its simplicity, its superiority over Judaism, its glorious availability, and its power. Now they no longer needed to belong to the commonwealth of Israel; they could establish a direct relationship with God themselves.
(2) Our New State (2:13)
“But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes [once] were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.”
As Catesby Paget put it:
So near, so very near to God
Nearer I cannot be;
For in the Person of His Son
I am as near as He.
God made this nearness possible through the shed blood of the Lord Jesus. What grace! Men put Him to death on a cross of shame. It was the crime of the ages. No greater crime could have been conceived. The crucifixion of Christ was the ultimate expression of man’s hatred of God, an act of high-handed rebellion and outrage. Yet God turned the crucifixion into the means of His grace, the ultimate expression of His love for us. No greater manifestation of kindness can be imagined.
Once we were prodigals of the universe dwelling in the far country. We had spent our substance in riotous living and were in the grip of famine and want. Nobody cared. Our place was with the swine, and our daily bread was the husks that they ate. In our sin we were a disgrace to the One who had created us. We did not even have the good sense of the prodigal mentioned in the Lord’s parable (Luke 15), for we did not know our way home. We groped in darkness and blindly longed for a God we did not know. But when we were yet a great way off, the Father saw us and had compassion on us. He ran and fell on our necks and kissed us. Now we who “were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.”
II Our New State
(a) The Old Barrier Abolished (2:14–15)
“For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace.”
The enmity between Jew and Gentile was deep, acrimonious, ancient, and enduring. Jews regarded Gentiles as unclean scavenger dogs. Gentiles despised Jews as grasping, canting, religious hypocrites. Jewish ritual laws, especially the laws concerning clean and unclean food, made it virtually impossible for a conscientious Jew to have table fellowship with a Gentile, so social intercourse was practically forbidden. The commercial instincts of the Jews—developed in Babylon, practiced in Biblical times, and brought to a fine art in later ages;—made the Jews moneylenders to the world. Gentiles were often obliged to borrow Jewish money, but that did not endear the Jews to them. The Gentiles used the Jews, but detested them.
So there was what Paul called a “middle wall of partition” between Jew and Gentile. Paul chose this phrase with care. In the temple at Jerusalem a stone palisade about 4-1/2 feet high warned Gentiles, on pain of death, to go no farther. They could enter the court of the Gentiles, but there they had to stop. The Jews fanatically defended the farther temple courts from Gentile intrusion. Indeed, Paul almost suffered death at the hands of a Jerusalem mob when the rumor circulated that he had taken some Gentiles beyond the wall (Acts 21:28–31). The physical “middle wall of partition” was not destroyed until the temple itself was destroyed.
Paul used that physical barrier as a type—a picture—of the great division in the ancient world between Jew and Gentile. Christ, Paul wrote, has broken down that barrier; in Him Jew and Gentile meet on common ground. We are all one in Christ. The cross has swept away the obstacles created by Jewish rituals and laws. Just as Jews and Gentiles united to crucify Christ, so Jews and Gentiles are now united in Christ and His church. The old barrier has been abolished.
(b) The New Bond Established (2:16)
“And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby.”
The church is the body of Christ. In this body all believers are common members. There are no divisions based on racial origins, religious backgrounds, class distinctions, national boundaries, or color prejudices in the true church. All believers are equal members of this marvelous, mystical body. A new bond has been established.
This truth is seen only faintly now perhaps, because of human failings. But it is an eternal truth in the counsels of God and one that will be universally displayed when the church is finally seen as that “one new man” mentioned by Paul in Ephesians 2:15.
Glimpses of this unity can be seen even in the present imperfect state of the church. At one time I met regularly with a number of Christians—Britishers and Germans, Russians and Armenians Jews and Arabs. Week after week we gathered around the Lord’s table. We were all one in Christ. United in His church, we enjoyed harmony and peace even when out in the world our national groups warred and squabbled.
(2) Peace Proclaimed to Us (2:17–18)
(a) All Difference Gone (2:17)
“And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.”
The Gentiles were afar off; the Jews were nigh. Yet both were equally lost. They were at war not only with each other but also with God. Then peace through the blood of Christ was proclaimed to both, and all differences were gone. In Romans 3:22–23 Paul wrote, “There is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” The smug and surly elder brother was just as lost as the profligate prodigal. One was afar off, the other was nigh, but both were equally estranged from the father and needed to be reconciled. The differences between them were in the outward expressions of their pride, self-will, and rebellion; they both had the same inner need of forgiveness and grace.
The gospel reduces all people to the same level. All people are brought into the great equation of salvation through the same common denominator: repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The flood in Noah’s day destroyed the people who stood on the highest mountains and those who cowered in the deepest valleys. All in the ark equally experienced God’s mercy and salvation. The gospel teaches that all people who do not trust in Christ are equally lost—the distant Gentile and the nearby Jew.
(b) All Distance Gone (2:18)
“For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.”
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit unite to bring us back to God and give us access to the Father. The Jews of the Old Testament had acceptance by virtue of sacrifices, but they did not have access. They could not go into the holy of holies. Only the high priest had that kind of access, and then only once a year, under the most stringent of conditions, after the most elaborate of precautions, and for the briefest of moments.
When the Lord Jesus “through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God” (Hebrews 9:14), God reached down and rent the temple veil. He thus rendered Judaism obsolete and at the same time opened up the way for all believers—Jews and Gentiles alike—to enter His presence. All distance is gone.
One day a little boy named Willie stood wistfully at the gates of Buckingham Palace. He longed to go in and see the king. Between him and the king, however, were iron gates, rigid protocol, armed soldiers, and watchful police. What he wanted was quite out of the question.
A policeman who was ordering the lad to leave suddenly stiffened and sprang to attention as a well-dressed, confident man approached. A brusque nod from the man and the policeman unlocked the gates and stood aside. “Come with me, sonny,” said the man, taking the little boy’s hand. “We’re going in to see the king.”
Into the palace they went. Inside were forty housemaids, fifty footmen (including one man who did nothing but wind clocks all day), and six hundred rooms. Willie and the man walked on and on—to the north wing, up stairs, along endless passages, to the king’s corridor on the main floor, and into the master suite. (They were a quarter of a mile away from the kitchens!)
The man seemed to know the way and chatted about the rooms they passed: the magnificent ballroom that contained two majestic thrones on a raised dais; the stamp rooms that housed the world’s most valuable collection; the Belgian suite with its forty-four rooms for the use of state visitors; the royal wardrobe; the music room; the dining room with a table as large as a skating rink; the dazzling green drawing room.
Finally they arrived in the king’s presence, and the man spoke. “Hello, Father. Here’s a little boy who wants to meet you. Meet my friend Willie. Willie, this is the king.” The little boy had taken the hand of Edward, prince of Wales, the king’s son. Through him, Willie gained access to the king.
We too have taken the hand—the nail-printed hand—of the King’s Son, the Prince of Peace. Through Him and Him alone, Jews and Gentiles alike have access by one Spirit to the Father.
c. The Building That Delights (2:19–22)
III Our Never Crumbling State
(1) The New Household (2:19)
“Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God.”
In Ephesians 2:19–20 Paul used the illustrations of a fellowship, a family, and a foundation to explain the new relationship Gentiles now have with God through Christ.
The first illustration is that of a fellowship. Once the Gentiles were strangers and foreigners (sojourners). In Old Testament times if they resided among God’s people, they were known as “strangers within the gates.” Their status was that of tolerated aliens, unless they became proselytes. They did not enjoy citizenship and had no part in the divine covenants. No matter how good or godly such a sojourner might be, he was never known as a saint—although such men as Uriah the Hittite and Araunah the Jebusite are royally mentioned in the holy Scriptures.
For many years I have lived in the United States and enjoyed life among warmhearted, generous Americans. But as a Canadian citizen, my rights in the United States have been limited. I have been free to work, travel, own property, raise a family, and pay my share of taxes! But I have not been free to vote or have any say in government. For a long time I was required to register my whereabouts every year with the Department of Immigration, and at all times I have had to carry a card identifying me as a registered alien. In other words, I am constantly reminded that I am a stranger and a sojourner.
This is reminiscent of the situation of the Gentiles living amidst the Old Testament people of God. No matter who they were or what they did, no matter how good their intentions were or how exemplary their lives, the Gentiles were simply resident aliens. There was friendship with the Jews perhaps, but not true fellowship. How could there be when the Gentiles were uncircumcised strangers from the covenants and commonwealth of Israel?
But now, through Christ, Gentiles are fully integrated into the body politic of the true commonwealth. There is a new fellowship. Gentiles are fellow citizens with the saints. The Greek word translated “fellowcitizens” is sumpolitēs. Sumpolitēs comes from the word politēs, from which we derive our word “politics.” sumpolitēs means “a member of a city or state” and conveys the idea of belonging to a country. In Ephesians 2:19 the word implies full union, the possession of the same citizenship.
In Christ Gentiles enjoy a new citizenship. They are full citizens in the heavenly Jerusalem, and the seat of their government is in Heaven. Jews and Gentiles alike now share in the same fellowship. They are equal members of a new society, of another and better country, of a new and far more glorious commonwealth.
The second illustration is a family. Jews and Gentiles alike are now members of a new household, the household of God. No longer are Gentiles excluded from the family because of their birth. It was a rare privilege in Old Testament times to be born into a Hebrew family, to be a child of Abraham and an heir of the covenants of God. Now, by virtue of the new birth, both Jews and Gentiles become full-fledged members of God’s family. They are Abraham’s true spiritual descendants, heirs of the new covenant, children of the living God, members of His household, and brothers and sisters in the royal family of Heaven.
(2) The New Habitation (2:20–22)
(a) The Foundation of the Building (2:20)
“And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone.”
The third illustration used to explain the new relationship Gentiles have with God is a foundation. Paul described the church as a glorious building that rests on a magnificent foundation: Christ and His apostles. The Holy Spirit says, “Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:11). Everything rests on Him. Without Him there would be no building. If we build on anything else but Christ, we build in vain, for we build on sand (Matthew 7:24–27).
Before their conversion the Gentiles were building on men’s idle philosophies or on vain pagan religions. The Jews were building on burdensome rabbinical traditions. None of those foundations could last. They were sandy foundations, firm enough to stand for a while but inadequate when storm tides came. After accepting Christ, both Jews and Gentiles rested on the enduring foundation described in Ephesians 2:20.
The Holy Spirit identifies the apostles and prophets as being part of the foundation of which Christ is the chief cornerstone. They are included because the New Testament revelation was committed to them (John 14:25–26; 15:26–27; 16:12–13). It was the apostles who received the Holy Spirit’s inspiration to declare New Testament truth. It was the apostles who received the Holy Spirit’s illumination to disseminate New Testament truth. Thus in a sense the apostles and prophets of the New Testament were God’s foundational gifts to the church. Their ministry ceased when the New Testament was written and published; their particular kind of work was no longer needed.
Christ is called the chief cornerstone because of its key position in the foundation. The cornerstone was hewn out first, and its corners, planes, and angles were all true. It was dropped into place last to bind all the other stones together and to ensure that all the foundation’s lines were accurate. The cornerstone is called “the stone of testing.” Likewise the doctrines of the church must line up squarely with what Christ revealed.
A Mormon once asked me which church I attended. I told him and he replied, “Does your church have apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers?”
I answered, “We have evangelists, pastors, and teachers, but we do not have apostles and prophets.”
“How can your church be the true church,” he said, “if it does not have all the gifts mentioned in Ephesians 4:11?”
“You are overlooking Ephesians 2:20 and Ephesians 3:5,” I responded. “These Scriptures are as important as Ephesians 4:11, for they make it clear that the work of the apostles and prophets was to build the foundation of the church. When I build a house my first concern is to get a proper foundation laid, so I call in men who know how to do that. Once the foundation is in, I don’t need them anymore. Instead I need carpenters, bricklayers, plumbers, electricians, roofers, and painters. It would be foolish to keep foundation men on the payroll once their job was done. The apostles and prophets completed their foundation-building job in the first century when they wrote the New Testament and then shared it with the world. The church no longer needs them.”
“What would you say,” he asked, “if I told you that God has raised up a new prophet for these latter days?”
“I should want to know what he prophesied,” I replied, “because if it’s in the Bible, I don’t need it, and if it’s not in the Bible, I don’t want it.”
“I am here,” the man said, “to testify to you, sir, that God has raised up another prophet. His name is Joseph Smith, and the new revelation is the Book of Mormon.”
“Well sir,” I could only say, “based on Ephesians 2:20 and 3:5 Joseph Smith is a false prophet and the Book of Mormon is a book of lies.”
The ultimate touchstone, the true cornerstone, is Christ Himself. Mormon doctrine concerning Him is from the evil one.
(b) The Framework of the Building (2:21)
“In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord.”
In this Epistle Paul compared the church to a body, a building, and a bride. Two of these metaphors stand in remarkable contrast. A healthy body is complete at birth; a building grows by addition.
When a normal baby is born, all his parts are already in place. His body will grow, but not by addition. David wrote, “In thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them” (Psalm 139:16). Likewise the church was complete in the purposes of God from the council chambers of eternity. Its growth as a body is directed toward maturity.
A building, on the other hand, starts from a plan and grows when parts are added a bit at a time until it is complete. This is the growth Paul had in mind in Ephesians 2:21. His dear friend Luke had described this kind of church growth in the progress reports in the book of Acts (Acts 2:41, 47; 5:14; 6:1, 7; 11:21; 14:1; 17:12, 34; 18:8; 19:10).
It is fashionable in some church circles to decry numbers. “This is the day of small things,” some say. Others say, “The Lord said, ‘Fear not, little flock’ ” (Luke 12:32). This attitude is as wrong as the one that takes pride in large crowds and great numbers. Numbers in themselves can be misleading and they are no certain yardstick for measuring success in a ministry, but the church should experience steady growth. There should be an increase in numbers as well as growth in grace.
(c) The Function of the Building (2:22)
“In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.”
In Old Testament times God chose to dwell among His people in material buildings: first in the tabernacle and later in the temple. The types of the temple are millennial; the types of the tabernacle are mystical. The one relates to Israel, the other to the church.
The tabernacle was built of fifty boards. Each board had been part of an acacia tree, the gnarled tree of the wilderness. After the tree was cut down—its old life terminated—the boards were fashioned. Each board was completely encased in gold so that the board itself was hidden forever. Each board stood on a socket of silver, shoulder to shoulder with its fellow board. The boards were held together by four visible bars and one invisible bar that ran through the heart of each board.
Today God dwells not in a material house, but in a spiritual one. Believers are “an habitation of God through the Spirit.” Like the acacia trees, each believer was once firmly rooted in this desert world until the axe of conviction laid him low. Cut off from the old way of life, he is put “in Christ” and made to stand on redemptive ground, shoulder to shoulder with other believers. Four visible ties hold believers together: the apostles’ doctrine, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayer (Acts 2:42). One invisible bond unites us: the Holy Spirit, whose great work runs through the heart of each believer. Together we form the church, whose function is to be the habitation where God is pleased to dwell today.
The word translated “habitation” in Ephesians 2:22 occurs in only one other place in the New Testament. Describing the fall of commercial Babylon, the imperial city of the beast to be built on the banks of the Euphrates, John recorded the angel’s words: “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird” (Revelation 18:2). Evil spirits will take up their abode in the haunted ruins of that cursed Vanity Fair of the beast’s empire. In contrast, God resides on earth in His glorious church through His Spirit. Thank God that as long as He dwells on earth, the devil can never set up a permanent habitation here.