Sermon Tone Analysis

*/Ephesians 2:14-16/*

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            Last week we looked at Eph. 2:11-13.

The preceding section 2:1-10 was about our New Position Individually.

We were saved by grace through faith (2:8), but not only that God prepared good works for us to walk in (2:10).

We found last week that our individual salvation and pre-prepared works are not all we have.

We are not left alone but are united with other believers into an organic unity (organic meaning dependent relationship, e.g.

parts of a human body).

This is Paul’s emphasis in 2:11-22, the second main division of chapter 2. And this section “forms the basis of the discussion for the rest of the epistle.”[1]

2:11 begins with Paul giving us a history lesson.

He wants us to remember the former hostility between Jew and Gentile.

The major point of hostility in v. 11 was the Gentiles were */in the flesh/*.

This refers to the physical flesh, something about the Gentile flesh created hostility between the Jew and Gentile.

Then Paul tells us it was the circumcision.

Gentiles were not circumcised in their flesh and this caused animosity.

Jews, on the other hand, were circumcised in their flesh and this was something they were very proud of.

In v. 12 Paul wants us to remember five additional things, these are five privileges that the Gentiles lacked.

/First/, Gentiles */were at that former time separate from Christ/*.

This means they were without Messianic expectation.

They had no expectation of a Deliverer.

Why did they lack this expectation?

Because the Jews had the oracles of God.

The Jews were the people from whom the prophets came and God spoke to these Hebrew prophets.

So, the Jews had a great advantage over the Gentiles (Rom.

3:1-2).

The Jews had Messianic expectation.

This is why it was so desirable in ancient Israel to have male children.

Perhaps your son would be the Deliverer or the Deliverer would come through the line of your son.

Sons were highly desired in ancient Israel.

/Second/, they were */excluded from the citizenship/* (/politeia/)/ *of Israel*/.

The word here is not commonwealth but citizenship.

There was no Jewish commonwealth at the time of Christ.

Instead, the Gentiles did not have the privileges of being a citizen of Israel.

Living in a state does not necessarily bring privileges but being a citizen does.

/Third/, Gentiles */were strangers of the covenants of promise/*.

God made covenants with Israel.

Since this is covenants plural and promise singular this points to the unconditional covenants of Israel; the Abrahamic being the root covenant from which the other three unconditional covenants spring; namely, the Palestinian Covenant, the Davidic or Seed Covenant, and the New Covenant.

Gentiles were excluded from these covenants and there is no salvation for anyone, Jew or Gentile, apart from these covenants.

Salvation is grounded in history and these covenants form the framework for all of history.

If a history class disregards these covenants then they cannot understand the flow and dynamics of history.

Everything hinges on this basic framework and little bitty Israel.

/Fourth/, Gentiles had */no hope/*.

Since we were uncircumcised, without expectation of a “Deliverer”, excluded from the citizenship of Israel and strangers of the covenants through which salvation comes it follows that we had */no hope/*.

/Fifth/, we were */without God/*.

This is the Greek word /atheos/ from which we get the word “atheist”.

We did not believe in the one true God, we believed in many gods.

We were heathen.

We must remember our history so that we will not have animosity toward the Jews.

Having our present position in Christ we might turn against the Jewish people calling them “Christ-killers” and other racial slurs.

Paul is writing this so we Gentiles do not get on our high horse and think that we are superior to the Jews, we were atheists and God grafted us into the place of blessing.

I hope you’ve realized from this section the importance of knowing the OT.

It’s commonly thought that because we’re NT saints we don’t need to know the OT.

As I study the NT more and more I have come to realize that if you really want to understand the NT then you first have to understand the OT.

The better grasp you have of the OT the clearer the NT becomes.

I’ve also realized that there is very little new in the NT.

There’s some elaboration but basically there’s not much new.

Almost every doctrine is in the OT.

And the good thing about the OT is that it’s communicated in a very concrete way.

It deliberately ties doctrines to history.

And that’s a very important principle.

Buddhism isn’t grounded in history, Mormonism isn’t grounded in history, but the Bible grounds our faith in history.

It’s not just some idea floating out there, it’s real history and the Bible attaches our faith to history deliberately.

You can see now how important it is to learn the OT and see the faith of individuals lived out in OT history.

If it’s not history then how can you live out your faith in history?

If no one has walked the path before you then aren’t you all alone?

Now, what do you notice is different about the style of the NT epistles in comparison to the OT?

The OT is historical narrative for the most part.

But how are the NT epistles written?

They are not historical narratives, they are written abstractly.

The authors did not surround these texts with loads of historical details.

Why not?

Because the NT authors presupposed that you knew the OT cold.

They presupposed that you already knew all that history.

Think about the day of Pentecost.

Who was there in Acts 2? Was it Jews or Gentiles?

It was Jews (Hellenistic and Native).

The church started with all Jews.

It remained that way for 5 years or so (they still met in the synagogue) until Acts 8 when believing Samaritans became a part of the church and after a couple more years, in Acts 10, believing Gentiles entered the church.

So, the church was originally composed of Jewish believers.

They already knew the OT cold.

Most had memorized the Torah and the doctors of the Law had memorized the entire OT (22 books in Hebrew Canon)!

I remember Arnold Fruchtenbaum, a Jewish Christian, who told me about his father, who was a rabbi, could take a stake and drive it into the Hebrew Scriptures and wherever that stake stopped he could start quoting from that point on.

So, these were the kind of people who were reading the NT.

So, we have to know the OT Scriptures and as you’ve noticed all we’ve done last week and this week was spend time in the OT so we can understand the NT.

Otherwise, Christians just read right over this stuff never thinking twice about what it means.

So, I’m going to make it a point in the coming years to teach a lot of the OT because I know that it’s going to open our eyes a lot more to understanding the NT.

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*            2.

Explanation of the Organic Union (2:14-18)*

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*            *In verses 14-18 of chapter 2 Paul begins with the word */for /*(/gar/), indicating that he is giving an explanation for that which precedes in vv.

11-13.

He wants to explain more about the former hostility between Jew and Gentile and how we who were formerly */far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ/*.

He wants to emphasize the former hostility and what God did to tear down this hostility and create one new man.

*                        a.         Assertion of Peace (2:14-16)*

 

            vv.

14-18 can be divided into two sections: vv.

14-16: Assertion of Peace which we’ll cover tonight and vv.

17-18: Announcement of Peace which we’ll look at next week.

There is now peace between believing Jews and Gentiles.

But, for this peace to come about the Mosaic Law could no longer be in operation because it set up a rift between Jews and Gentiles.

Therefore, it had to be dismantled.

Peace is the main assertion in v 14a, what follows in vv.

14b-16 are participles that support the main assertion.

*                                    (1)        Destruction of the Wall (2:14a)*

 

            The first thing that had to happen was the destruction of the middle wall of partition that separated Jews and Gentiles outside of Christ.