Eph 2:11–13 — Gentiles No Longer

Verses 11-22 are a unified section dealing with the inclusion of the Gentiles into the household of God and the reconciliation of the hostility between Jews and Gentiles by their being made into one new man through Christ 11-13: Our former condition as Gentiles - strangers to the covenants “But now in Christ Jesus” we have been brought near 14-18: The centerpiece of the paragraph Explains HOW we were brought near - through Christ’s cross. The dividing wall has been broken down, so that we now have access to the Father - one new man created out of the two. The cross of Christ is central to this grand reconciliation 19-22: The enduring results of this reconciliation Two images:

We are God’s household built on foundation of apostles and prophets, Christ the cornerstone. We are God’s dwelling place a holy temple in the Lord so that God might dwell among us by his Spirit If you include vv. 1-10, the entire 2nd chapter of Ephesians contains several strong allusions to the prophecy of Ezekiel Chs. 36-37: The new heart and the resurrection of the dry bones. This corresponds to the first half of Eph. 2:

when you were dead in your trespasses, he raised you up with Christ Chs. 40-48: God reconstitutes Israel in the land which is centralized in a focal point of worship and holiness. This corresponds to the second half of Eph. 2:

the eschatological temple. The purpose of redemption is worship and covenant fellowship To glorify God and to enjoy him forever Eph. 2 as a whole follows directly from 1:15-23 where Paul prayed that the Ephesian Christians might have the eyes of their heart enlightened so that they might be able to appreciate the power of God exercised on their behalf in raising Jesus from the dead and exalting him to his right hand. The resurrection and exaltation of Jesus did not occur for the sake of Jesus alone but for our sake Ch. 2 then spells out the way in which God’s activity in Christ constitutes the surpassing power of God “toward us who believe” (1:19) 1-10 - His resurrection constitutes the resurrection of the new Israel 11-22 - His cross breaks down the barrier between Jew and Gentile creating one new man in Christ.

Verse 11

“Remember” Parallel to Deuteronomy where God repeatedly says to Israel “You shall remember that you were formerly slaves in Egypt” (e.g., Deut. 5:15) Paul wants us to recall our previous state outside of Christ so that we will have a greater appreciation of the mighty reversal that Christ has accomplished for us by his death and resurrection. The gravity of our previous situation outside of Christ (death, bondage to Satan, strangers and aliens to the covenant) serves to highlight the wonder of God’s grace thus evoking praise and thankfulness in our hearts “formerly” Notice the “formerly … but now” scheme 1-4. Formerly you were dead in sins, walking acc. to the course of this world. But now you have been made alive and raised with Christ in his resurrection 11-13. Formerly you were uncircumcised, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel. But now you who were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. Notice that the same event is being spoken of in redemptive historical language taken from the history of the Old Covenant people of God, but with contrasting points of view “From death to life” The readers’ past is expressed in terms of Israel’s previous position of spiritual death at the time of the exile “From strangers to fellow citizens” The readers’ past is expressed in contrast with Israel’s previous privileged position in special covenant with Yahweh “Gentiles in the flesh” NIV says “Gentiles by birth” But probably refers not so much to birth as to the fact that Gentiles are uncircumcised (which is what Paul goes on to say in the very next clause) “Who are called ‘Uncircumcision’ by the so-called ‘Circumcision’” Circumcision was what set Jews apart from the Gentiles. It was given by God to Abraham in Genesis 17 to be a sign of the covenant between Yahweh and his elect people Israel Circumcision therefore pointed to the exclusive covenant relationship between God and Israel. Those who refused to be circumcised were to be “cut off” from the fellowship of the covenant community. They had no right to the privileges of God’s covenant. They were covenant breakers and hence under divine judgment Similarly, Gentiles who never received circumcision were regarded as also cut off from God’s favor estranged from God and under God’s wrath “the so-called circumcision” Paul is evaluating the importance of circumcision here from the point of view of Christ Prior to Christ, of course, circumcision was a divine institution that had genuine meaning as a covenantal marker defining the people of God and separating them as holy unto the Lord in distinction from the unclean, idolatrous Gentiles around them. But now in Christ circumcision no longer has any significance. It is merely what the Jews call themselves. It is an empty boast in something that is merely external Circumcision gives the Jew no spiritual advantage in the sight of God “Performed in the flesh by human hands” Contrast between that which is merely constructed by man and that which has its origin in God himself Compare with Col. 2:11 “The circumcision of Christ” is a circumcision “made without hands” The true circumcision is the cutting away of the flesh that occurred historically, once-for-all on the cross when God decisively judged sin in the flesh. This was predicted in the OT itself Jer. 4:4 “Circumcise yourselves to the Lord and remove the foreskins of your heart” Ezek. 36:26 “I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh” Therefore, Paul can say, “we are the true circumcision” - Phil. 3:2-3.

Verse 12

Paul now mentions 5 aspects of what it meant to be an uncircumcised Gentile. A 5-fold spiritual predicament defined by the lack of the rich spiritual privileges enjoyed by the Old Covenant people of God “separate from Christ” Prior to the incarnation of the Son of God Israel was not separate from the Messiah. For they possessed the coming Messiah by faith as he was revealed ahead of time in the types and sacrifices Paul says of the rock that followed Israel in the wilderness and provided them with water in times of distress, “that rock was Christ” “excluded from the commonwealth of Israel” The term “commonwealth” in Greek is politeia It refers to the body politic of the nation Israel As Gentiles we were not member of the theocratic Kingdom of God in its Old Covenant manifestation Certainly there were Gentiles who lived within the borders of Israel but they were resident aliens not citizens by birth To be excluded from the commonwealth of Israel meant you were a just object of Holy War. You could be wiped out like Jericho “strangers to the covenants of promise” The covenants of promise focuses primarily on the Abrahamic Covenant in which God swore an irrevocable oath to give Abraham a seed and a land. Why does Paul use the plural “covenants”?

Some commentators see here a reference to all subsequent covenants - including the Mosaic Covenant. However, it seems more likely that Paul is referring exclusively to the Abrahamic and the Davidic Covenants because they were unconditional covenants of promise Paul never speaks of the Mosaic Covenant as a covenant of promise In Galatians 3:18 he specifically contrasts it with the Abrahamic promise As Gentiles the rich blessings God had promised his people did not apply to us Actually, in Gen. 12:3 the Abrahamic promise does include a reference to the Gentiles “In you all the families of the earth will be blessed” But this was as yet only a promise Living in darkness, without the light of the gospel, the Gentiles were unaware of this hope “having no hope” Because we were strangers to the promises we were without hope. Having no hope means that we lived as if this life is all there is. We had no assurance of a heavenly, resurrection life Ours was a desperate existence clinging to what fleeting and momentary happiness we could find in this life but we were continually disappointed. The only way out was to deceive ourselves into thinking that we were happy “and without God in the world” God revealed himself to Abraham “I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you” (Gen. 17:7). We Gentiles had no such covenant promise that God would be God to us and to our descendants. Thus, we were without God in the world Oh yes, we had countless gods of our devising but we had no genuine relationship with the only true and living God. We had rejected him and worshipped and served the creature instead of the Creator.

Verse 13

“But now in Christ Jesus you who were far off have been brought near” The preceding 5-fold description of our spiritual bankruptcy outside of the sphere of God’s covenant is now summarized in one phrase - “you who were far off” But in Christ Jesus we have now been “brought near” A dramatic change has occurred. The hopelessness, the absence of a saving relationship with God, the fact that we were strangers to God’s covenants of promise and separated from the commonwealth of Israel, all of this has been reversed in Christ. And how were we brought near?

“In Christ Jesus … by the blood of Christ” The blood of Christ always refers to the death of Christ. He had to accomplish redemption for us to bring us into the covenant fold. But it is not just the death of Christ that Paul speaks of Remember the previous context dealing with the resurrection of Christ. All of this is ours in Christ Jesus Continuity and discontinuity Continuity: God fulfills his promises to Israel. The Gentiles have entered into the heritage of Israel Christ enters into Israel’s history and fulfills the very concept of Israel breaking the ethnic and national and institutional barriers that defined Israel in the OT thus creating a new Israel, composed of both Jews and Gentiles who believe in Jesus, one new man “in himself” (v. 15) Jesus was “the servant of the circumcision” (Rom. 15:8) both to uphold God’s covenant faithfulness to Israel and to show God’s limitless mercy to the Gentiles Discontinuity: a new creation has emerged in Christ. Not simply an expansion of the boundaries of Israel to include Gentiles. Not simply an amalgam of Jews and Gentiles creating a tertium quid. But an eschatological new humanity which transcends the old creation. The blessings and privileges we Gentiles enjoy are founded upon God’s fulfillment of his promises to Israel but they also transcend the blessings originally promised to Israel. We are Gentiles no longer!

A new creation, a new man has been inaugurated in Christ Col. 3:10-11.