Ephesians 2:11-22 - Brought Near By the Blood of Christ

Introduction

[READING - Ephesians 2:11-22]

Ephesians 2:11–22 NASB95

11 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— 12 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. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, 15 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, 16 and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. 17 And He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near; 18 for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.

[PRAYER]

[ILLUS] When Joseph was thrown into a pit by his jealous brothers, he may have thought that was the end of it.

But then, in a manner of speaking, the pit deepened as his brothers sold him into slavery and told his father, Jacob, that he was dead.

And then the pit deepened even further as Joseph was thrown into prison after being falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife.

And then even further as Joseph was forgotten in prison by the chief cupbearer.

But though Joseph was in a deep, deep pit, he was never forgotten by God.

At the right time, God raised Joseph up out of that deep, deep pit to sit on an Egyptian throne, second in command of all Egypt.

In the same way, the Apostle Paul told the Ephesians that they were, so to speak, in a spiritual pit.

They were dead in their sins and trespasses.

They were followers of Satan.

They used to be in love with the world and disobedient to God just like everyone else.

But God in His grace because of His great love made them alive together with Christ and raised the Ephesians out of that spiritual pit and seated them with Jesus on a throne in the heavenly places.

That was Ephesians 2:1-10.

But now beginning in Ephesians 2:11, the Apostle told the Ephesians that the spiritual pit they were in before being rescued by Jesus was much deeper than they knew.

In Ephesians 1:12, Paul mentioned a group of people called “we who were the first to hope in Christ.” No matter how we look at it, the first to hope in Jesus as the Christ were Jews.

But although salvation is first for the Jews, it is the power of God for salvation for the Gentiles as well.

[Illus] In Acts 10, a Gentile named Cornelius receives a vision and a Jew named Peter also received a vision. The Holy Spirit was bringing this Gentile together with this Jew so the Gentiles could hear the good news of God’s grace in Jesus Christ.

The Gentiles did hear.

They did believe.

They did receive the Holy Spirit.

And they were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.

The two groups—Jews and Gentiles—were reconciled.

Reconciled to God.

Reconciled to one another.

Reconcile only by God’s grace and only by the blood of Jesus Christ.

Perhaps Jewish and Gentile believers in Ephesus were having a hard time understanding or accepting their reconciliation to one another in Christ Jesus…

…or perhaps some Jewish false teachers had come in and told the Ephesian Christians that they needed to keep the ceremonial law of the Jews and be circumcised in order to be really saved…

…or perhaps Paul just wanted to emphasize to Gentile believers that they had been grafted in to the people of God so they would further marvel at God’s great grace.

[CIT] Whatever the reason, beginning at Ephesians 2:11 Paul told the Ephesians that the spiritual pit they were in was deeper than they realized—deeper than even he described in at the beginning of Ephesians 2—and it was deeper because of Jewish pride and Gentile ignorance.

[TS] Let’s notice the sinful Jewish Pride first…

Major Ideas

Jewish Pride (Ephesians 2:11)

Ephesians 2:11 NASB95

11 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—

[EXP] Paul said that circumcision was performed in the flesh by human hands, but the Jewish people were proud of this fleshy, human mark because it identified them as the people of God.

Circumcision identified them as God’s people.

It meant they were Israel.

It signified that they had received the promises.

It meant that they had the hope of a Messiah, a Christ, an Anointed Savior who would come to deliver them.

It meant that they had God.

And all of this went straight to their heads.

As Paul said, some Jewish people pridefully referred to themselves as “the Circumcision” and to everyone else as “the Uncircumcision.” The terribleness of those nicknames aside, they did represent well Jewish attitudes toward Gentiles or non-Jews.

[ILLUS] There’s a story related by a Jewish writer that says a Gentile woman came to Rabbi Eleazar confessing that she was sinful. She told him that she wanted to be made righteous and had come to him because she had heard that the Jews were near to God.

The rabbi responded to her by saying, “No. You cannot come near.”

And then he shut the door in her face.

That’s what they were always doing. Shutting the door in the face of those that should’ve been welcoming into the household of God.

[ILLUS] Remember Jonah in the OT. He was a Jewish prophet called by God to preach to the Gentiles in Nineveh. Jonah was so disgusted by the thought that he ran in the other direction. It only took being swallowed by a great fish to convince Jonah that he should do as God commanded.

But when Jonah preached and the people of Nineveh repented, Jonah was not happy. The Bible says, “it greatly displeased Jonah and he became angry,” (John 4:1).

In fact, Jonah was so disgusted by the salvation of those Ninevites that he prayed for death, “Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life,” (Jonah 4:3).

Such was the attitude of most people of the Circumcision toward those of the Uncircumcision.

Circumcision of the flesh did mark the Jewish people as the people of God, but it made them prideful.

They didn’t understand that they were blessed by God to be a blessing to the rest of the world.

They didn’t understand that they had received the promises of God to herald those promises to the rest of the world.

They didn’t understand that they were to be a shining light in a dark world, obeying God and receiving His blessings, making other nations want to know their God.

Instead of blessing and heralding and shining, the Jewish people were busy shunning others and creating animosity betwen themselves and all other people groups.

And this is a huge problem if you’re a Gentile because salvation is from the Jews. This is why its a big deal to be excluded from the commonwealth of Israel as v. 12 mentions.

In order to be saved, we must somehow be included.

Whether they want us or not, we must be spiritually joined to Israel if we are going to be saved.

[ILLUS] Now, despite their shunning ways, this is exactly what we see on a couple of occasions in the OT—we see Gentiles who join themselves to the people of God in order to be saved.

For example, when Naomi, a Jewish woman, told Ruth to go back to her own people, the Gentile Moabites, Ruth told her mother-in-law, Naomi, “Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God,” (Ruth 1:16).

Notice the order: “Your people shall be my people,” and then, “your God shall be my God.”

Ruth understands that before she can worship Naomi’s God, she must become one of Naomi’s people.

She must become an Israelite rather than a Moabite.

Another example is the healing of Naaman, a Gentile army captain of Aram or Syria who had contracted leprosy. A Jewish girl told him about a Jewish prophet named Elisha who could heal him. Naaman goes, finds the prophet, is healed, and then only wants to worship the God of the Jews. Naaman said, “…please let your servant at least be given two mules’ load of earth; for your servant will no longer offer burnt offering nor will he sacrifice to other gods, but to the Lord,” (2 Kings 5:17).

Why does Naaman ask for two loads of earth? Why does he ask for dirt from Palestine, the Promised Land, the land of God’s people? James Montgomery Boice said it better than I can. He wrote…

“We must imagine that the work is done and the caravan of horses with their riders, followed by the mules with their burden of earth, returns to Syria. Word runs ahead that Naaman is returning and that he is cured of leprosy. The travelers arrive. There is a joyous reception. But then, before night comes and Naaman retires, the earth which has been brought from Israel is poured into a frame made to receive it, and Naaman takes his place upon the earth of Palestine to pray to Jehovah—a Gentile who was willing to come as a Jew, relying on the same grace that was shown by the Jews’ God when He healed him.”

Now, let me ask you a trick question: Was Naaman circumcised? What about Ruth, was she circumcised?

The answer is yes. Let me explain.

You see, when Paul used the phrase “in the flesh” to describe what had separated Jew and Gentile—i.e., Jewish pride related to circumcision in the flesh—it reminds me of what has reconciled Jew and Gentile in Christ Jesus—i.e., circumcision of the heart.

In Romans 2:28-29 Paul wrote…

Romans 2:28–29 NASB95

28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. 29 But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.

Whether we are Jew or Gentile, it’s the Holy Spirit that reveals to our hearts that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed Savior who redeems His people!

It’s the Holy Spirit that shines the light on Christ Jesus so that we call on Him for salvation!

It’s the Spirit that humbles us and circumcises our hearts—marks our hearts as belonging to the true Israel of God in Jesus Christ!

It doesn’t matter if we are male or female, if we are marked by the Spirit, then we belong to the true people of God in Jesus Christ!

It doesn’t matter if we are Jew or Gentile, if we are marked by the Spirit, then we belong to the true people of God in Jesus Christ!

The mark of the Spirit is faith in Christ Jesus!

For we are all sons and daughters of God through faith in Christ Jesus (Gal. 3:26)!

Now there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for we are all one in Christ Jesus (Gal. 3:28)!

And there is no place for pride!

There is only room for the praise of God’s grace in Christ Jesus!

[TS] Ok, well, that’s v. 11. At this rate, we should be through with v. 12 by 1 o’clock. Maybe the potatoes will still be warm.

Let’s look at Gentile Ignorance in v. 12.

Gentile Ignorance (Ephesians 2:12)

Ephesians 2:12 NASB95

12 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.

[EXP] This world is cursed by sin and death and continually groans for deliverance. There are disasters, diseases, and destructions. Everyone suffers in the world.

The Jewish people have done more than their fair share of suffering in the world.

They suffered under slavery in Egypt.

They suffered curing their exile in Babylon.

They suffered under Roman occupation.

They suffered in Nazi concentration camps.

But at least they had true hope in this world—the hope of a Messiah, a Christ, a champion who would come to their rescue.

At least they had the comfort of knowing they were the people of God—the commonwealth of Israel.

At least they had the promises of the covenant—especially the Abrahamic Covenant, “And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed,” (Gen. 12:2-3).

At least they had God.

Gentiles didn’t have any of that.

Because Gentiles were excluded from Israel and strangers to the covenants which promised a Savior, they were separate from Christ, which means that they didn’t even know about a Christ. They were ignorant! They didn’t know that a Savior was coming to undo all the wrongs and make His people right with God!

And because they didn’t know they had no true hope.

No one can have true hope if they don’t know the true God.

[ILLUS] Now, to be certain, the unbelieving Gentiles who lived around the Jews in Paul’s day would’ve said that they had hope. They hoped in all manner of false gods and goddesses, in many wicked kings and queens, and in various politicians and military champions—but hope is only as good as the one on whom it is placed.

Thus, the only hope that’s any good is the hope placed on Jesus.

This reminds me of our Sunday School lesson this morning. Paul preached to the Areopagus in Athens but on his way through the city, he saw many temples to many different false gods and even an altar to an unknown god.

Paul, of course, told them about the true God; the one who sent His Son to die for their sins; the one who would send His Son back to judge the world, having given proof of this by raising Him from the dead.

Now, if Paul had asked the Athenians on the Areopagus, “Where is your hope? What do you hope in?” Someone would likely have said, “All those gods you saw as you walked about! That’s where our hope is!”

But Paul knew all those false gods were false hope, because true hope is only found in the true God.

As we’ve discussed, the Jews were to be proclaimers of the true hope found in God, but instead they kept God to themselves and many of them rejected the true hope of God when they rejected Jesus Christ.

But in His grace, God saved some. And that some told many others so the Spirit could mark them as the people of God in Jesus Christ as well.

Jews like Paul preached to Gentiles like these Ephesians and those who formerly were far off—without Christ, excluded from the people of God, strangers to the promises of God, no hope, no God—those far off Gentiles were brought near by the blood of Christ!

Brought near means they were included!

Included in Jesus Christ!

Included in the people of Jesus Christ!

Included in the promises of Jesus Christ!

Included in the hope of Jesus Christ!

Included in God because Jesus Christ is the Son of God, God in the flesh who gave His flesh to reconcile us to God and to one another!

[APP] Brothers and sisters, we have been sealed by the Holy Spirit! We have been marked with faith for the day of salvation! We have been brought near! We have been included! We have been grafted in!

Now we have true hope in this world!

The hope of Jesus Christ!

Now we have hope for after this world—even in the face of death!

The hope of Jesus Christ!

[TS] But notice a Final Command…

The word ‘remember’ mentioned in v. 11 and implied in v. 12 and I think we could think of it in v. 13 as well…

Final Command: ‘Remember’ (Eph. 2:11-13)

Ephesians 2:11–13 NASB95

11 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— 12 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. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

[EXP] I imagine as the Ephesian believers were first reading and understanding this, that said to one another, “We were worse off than we realized! That pit was much deeper than we ever knew! How amazing is God’s grace that brought us near by the blood of Christ!”

You see, in the same way that stars shine brightest in the sky against darkest night, so God’s grace shines brightest in our hearts when understand just how dark our existence was before He brought us into His glorious light.

[APP] So, remember, brothers and sisters. Remember.

Remember that the pit was deeper than you knew.

You were dead in your trespasses and sins.

You followed Satan.

You didn’t even know about a Savior.

You didn’t know about the people of God, the promises of God, the hope of God.

You didn’t even know about God.

You were just suffering in the world clinging to whatever false hope came along next.

But remember God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ!

Remember that it is by grace that we have been saved…

…from death!

…from Satan!

…from our own ignorance and hardness of heart!

Remember that we have been raised up with Him, and seated with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus!

Remember that we have been circumcised not in the flesh but in the heart!

We have been marked by the Spirit with faith in Jesus Christ!

Remember that in Christ Jesus we who were formerly far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ!

Remember and praise God for His grace!

[TS] …

Conclusion

[PRAYER]