Ephesians 2:11-22

Doug Steinert

Capt Logos Bible Study

Ephesians • Sermon • Submitted 3 years ago

Ephesians 2:11–22

Peace

Blood of Christ

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Doctrine: Our Riches in Christ—Chapters 1–3

Our Spiritual Possessions in Christ—1:4–14

First Prayer—for Enlightenment—1:15–23

Our Spiritual Position in Christ—2:1–22

Second Prayer—for Enablement—3:1–21

Duty: Our Responsibilities in Christ—Chapters 4–6

Walk in Unity—4:1–16

Walk in Purity—4:17–5:17

Walk in Harmony—5:18–6:9

Walk in Victory—6:10–24

Map

Purpose

Though no particular problem is raised in the book, the reason for writing this epistle becomes clear when we consider the contacts the apostle had with the Ephesians. On the return from his third missionary journey Paul told the Ephesian elders at Miletus (A.D. 57) to beware of evil teachers from without and of professing believers within who would teach perverse things (Acts 20:29–30). From Revelations one can see that the Ephesian church had succeeded in keeping out the false teachers (Rev. 2:2) but had failed to maintain the vibrancy of their first love for Christ (Rev. 2:4). This is substantiated in 1 Timothy 1:5, when Paul wrote from Macedonia to Timothy at Ephesus (ca A.D. 62) that the goal of his instruction was “love which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” Thus the theme of love needed to be stressed for the saints at Ephesus.

• Ephesus was a major commercial port city and an important node on the north-south and east-west road system, and thus a strategic hub for the immediate and ongoing work of a missionary/church planter like Paul and his team.

• The worship of Artemis and the city’s identity and pride were intertwined from the founding of Ephesus, making devotion to Artemis a natural rallying point against an invasive monotheistic cult.

•Ephesus enthusiastically and devoutly supported the Roman imperial cult, with a marked upsurge toward the end of the first century as it was awarded its first provincial imperial temple. This is the climate and situation to which John’s Revelation would appear to respond most directly for Ephesian Christians.

• The commercial structures and activity of Ephesus, particularly as a collection point for shipments heading west to Greece and, most especially, Rome, is another important point of connection with Revelation’s critique of the Roman imperial economy and the practices that sustain it.

Then in lesson two we learned about ‘in Christ’. Let’s take a quick look at what the ‘In Christs’ are in chapter 1 verse 1-13.

v1 - Faithful in Christ Jesus

v3 - Blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ

v4 - He Chose us in Him

v6 - Accepted in the Beloved

v7 - Redemption in Him

v9 - Know his will in Himself

v10 - Gather all things in Christ/ in Him

v11 - Gained an inheritance in Him

v12 - Praise of His glory in Christ

V13 - Salvation in Him

v13 - Sealed in Whom

The Bottom line of ‘In Christ’...Vs 3-14...explains that in Christ we are blessed, chose, accepted, redeemed, enlightened, gathered, gained, praised, saved, and sealed.

In Lesson 3, Chapter 1, verse 15-23 we talked about:

Wisdom,

Revelation,

Knowledge

Understanding

Enlightened

Calling

Inheritance

Lesson 4, chapter 2, verse 1-10 Pastor Dave talked about us being lost, lustful, sinful, wrathful, trespassers, disobedient.....But God.....then being saved by grace.

But God

Now here we are in chapter 2:11-22, but first let me show something I saw. As I was looking at the big picture of Ephesians which we need to do all the time. When we study a pericope or even one verse we can get bogged down in the micro and forget the macro. We can’t just read a verse and understand it until we know what it says and what it means in context of the verse, chapter, book, then the Bible as a whole. So, I keep going in and out. When I get done with a verse or pericope then go back out to look at back at the chapter and book.

And when I did that this time something popped out. It was like it was illuminated.

Have you every had that experience?

Here is what I found

Therefore

Check out the therefore’s in Ephesians

Paul starts out Ephesians with who Christ is and the spiritual blessing he has bestowed on us in verses 1:3-14. Everything else in Ephesians is tied back to this this. This is the anchor and subject of Ephesians. When we read everything else, we need to refer back because this is the ‘why’ for everything else.

How do I know this...well look at the transition words with me for a minute? We have talked about “therefore” and run-on sentences but look at this again there is a connector word or phrase connecting everything back to verse 3-14. Remember chapter and verse indicators were not a part of the original text but added after the fact for ease of reading and sometime breaks the thought which is why I remove them to read the text at some point in my study.

Vs 3-14...explains that in Christ we are blessed, chose, accepted, redeemed, enlightened, gathered, gained, praised, saved, and sealed.

1:15... therefor-- because of being ‘blessed, chose, accepted, redeemed, enlightened, gathered, gained, praised, saved, and sealed’ we need spiritual wisdom to apply our new found blessings.

2:1...And you-- Paul explains a little more about being blessed, chose, accepted, redeemed, enlightened, gathered, gained, praised, saved, and sealed. That is is by God’s grace and not your doing.

2:11...Therefore remember--now that you are blessed, chose, accepted, redeemed, enlightened, gathered, gained, praised, saved, and sealed remember you were once in sin just like the Gentiles.

2:19...Now therefore--because we are blessed, chose, accepted, redeemed, enlightened, gathered, gained, praised, saved, and sealed we are no longer strangers but citizens.

3:1…for this reason—because we are blessed, chose, accepted, redeemed, enlightened, gathered, gained, praised, saved, and sealed. Paul is a prisoner of Christ so other can also be blessed, chose, accepted, redeemed, enlightened, gathered, gained, praised, saved, and sealed.

3:13…therefore –Paul put a double transition here to tell then not to lose heart at his imprisonment because he was blessed, chose, accepted, redeemed, enlightened, gathered, gained, praised, saved, and sealed.

3:14…for this reason-- because we are blessed, chose, accepted, redeemed, enlightened, gathered, gained, praised, saved, and sealed. Paul gives praise to God.

4:1…therefore--because we are blessed, chose, accepted, redeemed, enlightened, gathered, gained, praised, saved, and sealed walk in unity and use the spiritual gifts given to you for His will.

4:17…This I say, Therefore-- because we are blessed, chose, accepted, redeemed, enlightened, gathered, gained, praised, saved, and sealed we should no longer walk like the world because we are new people.

4:25… therefore-- because we are blessed, chose, accepted, redeemed, enlightened, gathered, gained, praised, saved, and sealed do not grieve the Spirit

5:1…therefore--because we are blessed, chose, accepted, redeemed, enlightened, gathered, gained, praised, saved, and sealed imitate God by walking in love, light, wisdom. Families and coworkers treat each other as Christ would.

5:10…finally-- because we are blessed, chose, accepted, redeemed, enlightened, gathered, gained, praised, saved, and sealed put on the whole armor of God.

I found another outline of Ephesians I really liked in the Willmington’s Bible Handbook

Likened to...

The book of Ephesians is the church of the living God:

Likened to a Body in Chapter 1

“And the church is his body; it is filled by Christ, who fills everything everywhere with his presence” (1:23)

Likened to a Temple in Chapter 2

“We who believe are carefully joined together, becoming a holy temple for the Lord” (2:21)

Likened to a Mystery in Chapter 3

“God himself revealed his secret [mystery] to me” (3:3)

Likened to a New Person in Chapter 4

“Until we come to some unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature and full grown in the Lord, measuring up to the full stature of Christ” (4:13).

“You must display a new nature because you are a new person, created in God’s likeness—righteous, holy, and true” (4:24).

Likened to a Bride in Chapter 5

“And you husbands must love your wives with the same love Christ showed the church” (5:25)

Likened to a Soldier in Chapter 6

“Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all the strategies and tricks of the Devil” (6:11).

Let get to the lesson today

Ephesians 2:11–22 NKJV

11 Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands— 12 that at that time you 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. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, 15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, 16 and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. 17 And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. 18 For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. 19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

The overarching thought in these verses are we are all one in Christ; Jews and Gentiles alike and we are united in a new temple which is the body of Christ. We don’t go into this temple, we are the temple. This was a huge cultural change for the Jews. In ancient Jewish beliefs, non-Jews could never participate in the fullness of the covenant without circumcision, although they could be saved by keeping some basic commandments. To be circumcised was to be grafted into the community of Israel, to become part of God’s covenant people. Now Paul is telling them everybody is in.

Holman Concise Bible Commentary Reconciliation (2:11–18)

Paul explained Christ’s peace mission in this section. Those who were separated from the covenant have been united, those who were alienated have been reconciled, and those who were far off have been brought near.

The first ten verses of chapter 2 dealt with personal reconciliation. The remainder of the chapter turns to corporate reconciliation, particularly the reconciliation of Gentiles. For centuries the Jews (the “circumcision”) looked with contempt on the Gentiles (the “uncircumcision”).

We can break this this pericope into three sections

Brought Near by His Blood v11-13

Christ Our Peace v14-18

Christ Our Cornerstone v19-22

Brought Near by His Blood

Ephesians 2:11–13 NKJV

v 11 has the only imperative verb in the first three chapters. Take note that it is remember. It is imperative that you remember who you were and who you are now

We must not only remember who we were but we cant forget who we are in church now and who we are now is blessed, chose, accepted, redeemed, enlightened, gathered, gained, praised, saved, and sealed and one in Christ.

Around the time Paul was writing these words, arguing for racial unity in Christ, Jews and Syrians were massacring each other in the streets of Caesarea, a city where he had been not long before (Acts 23:23). Here Paul does not simply mimic a common stand against racism in his culture; he condemns racism and segregation of a religious institution even though he has to challenge his culture to do so. ~Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), Eph 2:11–22.

We need to remember that the church is under attach in our current culture and we are being called raciest for our biblical beliefs by people who are actually behaving racist toward us to justify sin.

The Life Application Bible had an illustration:

History is filled with stories of groups who hated one another for various reasons. In American folklore, we have the Hatfields and McCoys; in Ireland, it’s the Protestants versus the Catholics. In Bosnia, it’s the Serbs versus the Croats. There was no love lost between first-century Jews and Gentiles, either. The Jews considered the Gentiles little better than animals, and the Gentiles resented the Jews for their smug religious superiority. But here in Ephesians, Paul told the Gentile Christians to remember what it felt like to be treated that way, to be seen as unworthy outsiders … and he told them not to return the favor. He called on them to remember where (and what) they were when God found them: separated from Christ, excluded from his promises, without hope and without God. A bleak picture indeed—but God changed all that by his mercy. Therefore, all Christians (including us) should extend that grace to others, even former antagonists. Think what would happen to conflicts in the church—conflicts over money, race, music, personality, etc.—if we took Paul’s admonition to heart. Let it start with you.

So, before we cast the first stone let’s remember who we we before Christ.

Kids fighting illustration.

Now back to therefore and what it is there for. Therefore, appears twice in our pericope but there are two different Greek lemmas. Dio in vs 11 means ‘because of’ or ‘for this reason’. The therefore in v19 means ‘as a result of’.

We have to go back to the last lesson, that we are saved by grace and “But God” then back chapter 1 with us being blessed, chose, accepted, redeemed, enlightened, gathered, gained, praised, saved, and sealed. We have to remember who we were before Christ then understand who we are in Christ. Basically, Paul is saying you were not Israelites and had no chance of coming close to God. But look at the usage of the phrase made by hands. The first covenant was circumcision which was a blood covenant but blood by man’s hand now the covenant is with Jesus’ blood which actually draws us near to God. in other words dont worry about the first covenant which was by mans hand you made it by the second covenant which is the one that really matters as it is a blood covenant by God’s Hands.

2:11 Therefore remember Paul urges the Gentile believers to recall their life before Christ, just as the Israelites were often told to remember what God had done for them.

Exodus 13:3 NKJV

3 And Moses said to the people: “Remember this day in which you went out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the Lord brought you out of this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten.

Ephesians 2:12 NKJV

12 that at that time you 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.

Five distinct disadvantages for Gentiles:

1. They were separate from Christ, having had no expectation of a Messiah to save them.

2. They were excluded from citizenship in Israel. Gentiles could never fully partake of the spiritual privileges promised to Israel, God’s chosen people. While Gentiles could become Jews after an extensive training period, followed by circumcision and baptism, the sense of “exclusion” was never fully removed. Gentiles could never truly be citizens of Israel.

3. They were foreigners to the covenants of the promise. For Paul, the covenant promises were the basis for Israel’s distinctive. The plural (“covenants”) makes the word comprehensive—all of God’s promises to his people, all the distinctive privileges that made them his people. To these, the Gentiles were “foreigners,” meaning that they had no share or part in the promises.

4. They were without hope. There was no hope for the Gentiles to find the one true God or to obtain anything beyond physical life in this world. The pagan philosophers’ theories about life after death were at best vague and supplied no way to atone for evil committed during a person’s life. They had no “divine promise” and, thus, no basis for hope.

5. They were without God in the world. The Gentiles had many gods, but they were without the one true God. They lived entirely and only in this evil world. Without God, the world was all they had.

This was a bleak description indeed. Fortunately, it does not end here....check out the next verse

Ephesians 2:13 NKJV

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

Just like v4 “But God’ there is a bleak situation for the Gentiles and BAM!

But Now in Christ Jesus

Jesus to the rescue and His blood saved the day. The first blood covenant of circumcision could save them only preserve them till Christ could save them. This blood sacrifice was not by man’s hand but by the hand of God.

We see an echo of the Old Testament herein v13.

Isaiah 57:19 NKJV

19 “I create the fruit of the lips: Peace, peace to him who is far off and to him who is near,” Says the Lord, “And I will heal him.”

It is no coincident that the blood in our body is a life sustaining element. It transfers oxygen from our lungs to our organs. No blood no life. When you do first aid you follow the ABC’s. You check the three major functions that are an immediate threat to life. Airway, Breathing (both are for air) and Circulation (blood).

Without Blood you die. Without Jesus’ Blood you dies spiritually first then eternally by being separated from God.

The Blood of Christ enabled us to be blessed, chose, accepted, redeemed, enlightened, gathered, gained, praised, saved, and sealed.

The Blood of Christ brought us together as one in Christ

The Blood of Christ took strangers without hope and made sons and daughters.

Christ Our Peace

Ephesians 2:14–18 NKJV

14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, 15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, 16 and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. 17 And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. 18 For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.

V14

Paul writes this letter from prison because he has been falsely charged with taking a non-Jew inside the temple in Jerusalem (Acts 21:28). Taking a non-Jew beyond a particular dividing point in the temple was such an important breach of Jewish law that the Romans even permitted Jewish leaders to execute violators of this law. Paul’s readers in Ephesus and Asia undoubtedly know why Paul is in prison (Acts 21:27, 29); thus for them, as well as for Paul, there can be no greater symbol of the barrier between Jew and non-Jew than “the dividing wall” of verse 14. But Paul says that this dividing wall is shattered in Christ.

Let’s not lose sight of the fact that not only was the wall between Jew and Gentile broken down the barrier to God was also broken down and we now have access to the Father through the blood of Christ. The curtain between the Jews and Gentiles was torn and so was the curtain covering the Holies of Holy; the very presence of God. We now can talk to God face to face like Adam and Eve did in the garden.

Jesus is our peace with man and with God which echos Isa 9:6

Isaiah 9:6 NKJV

6 For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Ephesians 2:15 NKJV

15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace,

The law demanded death for sin. People are sinful so we should be put to death for our sin. The law demand it. We could never fulfill the law which is one point God made with the law. We need a savior, hence Jesus. But the laws still needs to be fulfilled. In this verse Paul is giving the law human attributes and using the word ‘enmity’ meaning mutual hatred just like in Genesis Chapter 3:15

Genesis 3:15 NKJV

15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”

The law demands death for sin, you sinned and the law wants you dead. It hates you for still living. Back to v13 But now Jesus....his blood fulfilled what the law needed so this enmity of needing you dead is now gone.

Remember our overarching theme of this pericope is one in Christ. One with God, one with each other, one with the Body of Christ or better yet... one body in Christ.

Ephesians 2:16 NKJV

16 and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.

Here we can apply the same thought above about the law to the Jews and Gentiles. The law created barriers between Jews and Gentiles which created this enmity between them…wait for it... yep... But now Jesus. Having torn down all the veils in the temple at His death that separated:

God from Man (Jews)

Priest from non-priests

Jews From Gentiles

Men from Women

The temple was set up so the closer you came to God’s presence the more restrictive and exclusive it because.

All these barriers we torn down at the death of Christ and replaced by the blood of Christ. So there still is a barrier between God and man and it is the blood of Christ.

There is only on barrier now and it is between God and man. Those who accept the blood of Christ and those who don’t. When God look on man he either sees the blood of Christ and communes or he see sin and turns from it. Hence it is by grace you are saved. Not by what you did, but now Jesus and what Jesus did.

Ephesians 2:17 NKJV

17 And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near.

here is an allusion to Isaiah again

Isaiah 57:19 NKJV

19 “I create the fruit of the lips: Peace, peace to him who is far off and to him who is near,” Says the Lord, “And I will heal him.”

Isaiah 57:19 could be understood as referring to the scattered seed of Israel as those “who were far away,” but not long before this passage God had promised that his house would be for foreigners too (Is 56:3–8).

Isaiah 56:3–8 NKJV

3 Do not let the son of the foreigner Who has joined himself to the Lord Speak, saying, “The Lord has utterly separated me from His people”; Nor let the eunuch say, “Here I am, a dry tree.” 4 For thus says the Lord: “To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, And choose what pleases Me, And hold fast My covenant, 5 Even to them I will give in My house And within My walls a place and a name Better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name That shall not be cut off. 6 “Also the sons of the foreigner Who join themselves to the Lord, to serve Him, And to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants— Everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, And holds fast My covenant— 7 Even them I will bring to My holy mountain, And make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices Will be accepted on My altar; For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.” 8 The Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says, “Yet I will gather to him Others besides those who are gathered to him.”

This text thus fittingly expresses Paul’s point concerning the unity of Jew and Gentile in the new temple also Acts 2:39.

Acts 2:39 NKJV

39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

Ephesians 2:18 NKJV

18 For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.

The culmination of everything Christ did on the cross

Christ Our Cornerstone

Ephesians 2:19–22 NKJV

19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Therefore again because you are blessed, chose, accepted, redeemed, enlightened, gathered, gained, praised, saved, and sealed from Chapter 1 and that Christ tore down the dividing walls and made us all one in Christ we are no longer strangers.....

Paul gives us an example of the temple being built. I happen to know a little about building...

There are two reverences to cornerstone that Paul could be referring to. A corner stone or a key stone.