Sermon Notes: Ephesians 2:11-13 – Remember
These are the notes of a sermon preached by Andy Evans on the morning of the 11 April 2010 at Firwood Church. Click here to stream or download the sermon audio.
Ephesians 2:11–22
11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated 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 once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have 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 members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
1. INTRODUCTION – YOU GENTILES
I anticipate that it is difficult for a congregation like Firwood Church to get to grips with a text like this.
The truth is that the significant majority (if not all) of our congregation are Gentile and so the distinction Paul draws between Jew and Gentile is, to our minds, at once hazy and, perhaps, seemingly irrelevant.
There is a danger then that we neglect this text believing that Paul is addressing a problem which no longer exists, at least for us.
I begin by using this text to show you three reasons as to why Ephesians 2:11 through to verse 22 is incredibly important. In so doing, I hope to set us up for the next few weeks.
a. We are Ephesus
It is difficult for us to get our head into the mindset of a 1st Century Jew. Consider that you have been raised in a tradition grounded upon the revealed Word of God dating back centuries. You are of the same bloodline as the Patriarch Abraham with whom God made an everlasting covenant (Genesis 15 and 17). Your forefathers were among those whom Moses led through the Red Sea. You are a descendent of the nation to whom the Prophets spoke on behalf of the Lord. You are of the people that King David led in worship before the Ark of the Covenant.
You have been taught, and hundreds of years of history confirm, that you belong to the nation chosen by God from all the peoples of the earth that you might bear his name.
Only now, in Christ, everything has changed. Suddenly, in Christ Jesus, the promises of the gospel are open to everyone who believes. Moreover, miraculously and astonishingly, all who believe are now counted as Abraham’s offspring,
Galatians 3:27–29
For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
It is perhaps unsurprising then that in the early church we see a monumental pushback against this expansive gospel of grace.
This then is the problem which the Apostle Paul confronts in his letter to the church in Galatia in which it appears that Jewish converts to Christianity are pushing a hybrid form of Judeo-Christianity which insists on circumcision as a requirement of salvation.
This is no trivial matter in the eyes of Paul and is seen as a distortion of such a magnitude that in the hands of the Judaisers, the gospel becomes something else entirely bringing condemnation rather than salvation,
Galatians 1:8
But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.
We will return to this in more detail next week, but, for now, it is enough to understand that Paul is addressing something that was a very real problem in the early church. One can easily imagine the Jews in Galatia sneeringly referring to their half-breed Gentile brothers and sisters as ‘the uncircumcised’. And one can similarly imagine these same Jews wearing the badge, ‘the circumcised’, with honour.
But Ephesus is not Galatia.
The thing that strikes us as we read through Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus is just how different it is from the majority of his other letters. We know that the Apostles face opposition to the gospel almost everywhere and it is usually possible from the letters to reconstruct the nature of this opposition and to catch a dim reflection of the gospel opponents.
In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, however, we find no such inference. Yes, Paul deals with matters of doctrine and, yes, particularly from chapter four onwards, Paul addresses matters of praxis; despite this, however, there is little sense of any opposition behind the scenes.[1] As we read, there is little sense that Paul is writing in order to address false doctrine or opponents preaching another gospel.
Similarly, we find no evidence or suggestion, at least in this church, of discord between Jew and Gentile and indeed, the historical evidence suggests that this church was overwhelmingly and predominantly Gentile.
This is important, because Paul is writing to a congregation who, like us, are remote from the sharp edge of this particular controversy. He is writing to a congregation who, like us, are not labouring under the dismissive label of ‘the uncircumcised’.
I imagine, therefore, that whoever was charged with reading this letter out to the church in Ephesus may have faced a similar confused, ‘But how does this apply to me?‘.
And yet, Paul urges them,
Ephesians 2:11
…remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh…
It is as though Paul, aware of their distance from this controversy, wants them to feel their ‘Gentile-ness’. This same Paul writes to us this morning and urges us to remember.
I return to this shortly.
b. This is the gospel
The second reason we must pay close attention to this passage is because of the way in which Paul leads out of verses 1 to 10 into verse 11.
Those of you who were around in the early part of this year will remember that we spent a number of weeks unpacking verses 1 through to 10. You will, no doubt, recall that in this periscope, the Apostle Paul exults in the miracle which is the gospel.
Paul wants us to understand the magnitude of all we have in Christ and so presents us with a series of antithesis in order for us to feel the weight of our former state and the glory of our rescue: in Christ, therefore, we are brought from death to life (Ephesians 2:1, 4), from disobedience and wrath to position of favour (2:2, 3, 6, 10) and we are released from our former slavery to the passions of our flesh into a freedom found only in the Son of God (2:3, 5).
The summation is that this great salvation in Christ Jesus is a grace motivated, faith enabled act of God which is comparable in its magnitude to the divine act of creation.[2]
All of this leads into verse 11 through to 22. Paul signals this continuous flow of thought in verse 11,
Ephesians 2:11
Therefore remember…
The ‘therefore’ indicates that this unit of thought is linked to that which has gone before. As we have just seen, in verses 1 through to 10, Paul has used antithesis that we might see the glory of the gospel in the disparity between who we once were and who we are now made to be. Paul returns to this line of argument in verses 11 through to 22.
This is why verses 11 through to 22 are so important. No believer would dare say, ‘I do not need to know nor care that, in my former state, I was spiritually dead’. To minimise or trivialise our ‘deadness’ outside of Christ is to devalue our aliveness in Christ.
Similarly, we must take great care in dismissing verse 11 through to 22. These are not mere trivialities. Paul is unpacking truths which lie very close to the heart of the gospel.
c. The two greatest problems
The third reason we can be confident that this passage matters is because Paul seeks to deal with the two greatest problems humanity has ever or will ever face.
i. Hostility between people
The first issue that Paul deals with will occupy us next week. Paul deals with the issue of hostility between people. This is the problem addressed in verse 11,
Ephesians 2:11
Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands
The hostility in view here is between Jew and Gentile, but, in truth, it could apply to any collision of cultures, people groups or nations that you care to mention. We will unpack this at length next week, but Paul later presents the glorious solution to the monumental problem,
Ephesians 2:14
For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility
‘He’, being Christ Jesus, has brought reconciliation and peace to two groups of people previously divided in hostility and animosity. Formerly there was enmity, but now He has become our peace.
ii. Hostility between men and God
Paul then moves to the second big problem which is, in fact, the greatest problem in the universe for men and women outside of Christ.
Yes, the human race is characterised by separation, hostility and strife between one another.
And, yes, we live in a society familiar with the horror of war, the threat of terrorism and each of us live in the dark shadow of violence and danger on our streets. This is no doubt a monumental problem.
The greatest problem, however, is the state of separation between men and women and the Living God.
This, from a human perspective, is the greatest problem in the universe. This is the great theme of the gospel which Paul now addresses.
This is why this passage is monumentally important.
Paul is urging us to remember the gospel.
2. SEPARATION
a. Without a hope in the world
Paul begins by addressing the separation between people, specifically Jew and Gentile,
Ephesians 2:11
Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands—
He then moves to address the Great Problem,
Ephesians 2:12
remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
The construction here is similar to that found in verse 1 through to 10. Paul is describing our former state, ‘separated from Christ’, in the starkest possible terms.
We must never forget that our former situation was bleak and hopeless. We were without ‘hope and without God in the world’. If you are an unbeliever you must see that this is your present situation.
Paul now gives us three reasons for the desperateness of our former state.
i. We were alienated from the commonwealth of Israel
Paul reminds us that, apart from Christ, we were ‘alienated from the commonwealth of Israel’.
This sets us up for where we will be going next week as we consider problem number one, hostility between Jew and Gentile and, by extension, between people in general.
For today, however, Paul is making the point that Gentile’s were firmly on the outside of God’s purposes and promises. We were, at the very best, looking in.
Paul urges us to remember this,
Ephesians 2:11-12
Therefore remember […] that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel […]
This is the starting point for believers. God chose a nation, a particular nation, from all the peoples of the earth and that nation was not us.
The Psalmist reminds Israel of the greatness of this truth and the privilege of their chosen-ness,
Psalm 147:20
He has not dealt thus with any other nation;
they do not know his rules.
Praise the Lord!
And the Jews felt the weight and privilege of this. The practicing Jew would, therefore, daily thank God that he had not been born a Gentile.[3] To be a Gentile was to be apart from the chosen people and to thus be separated was to be on the outside of God’s purpose and promise.
To be on the outside was to be without a hope.
Paul exhorts us to remember this. This is where we once were. This is who we once were.
ii. We were strangers to the covenant promises
Moreover Paul urges us to remember that we were also ‘strangers to the covenants of promise’,
Ephesians 2:11-12
Therefore remember […] that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise […]
We see that this problem stems from the first. God chose a particular nation and to this nation revealed his Word, his Law and his promises. Paul reminds us of this elsewhere,
Romans 9:4–5
They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.
Consider for a moment the significance of this.
The principal means by which God revealed himself was entrusted to a particular people group. God revealed himself to and through the Patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, Moses and Joshua, in a unique way and Israel was the beneficiary of this grace. Similarly God spoke to and through the Prophets and, again, Israel was the beneficiary of this glorious grace.
To Israel alone God revealed his character, nature, power, will and promises. They alone had heard the voice of God: ‘The Lord says…’
Now consider what it means to be on the outside of this. Imagine what it means to have not been chosen. To have not received the prophetic word. To have not received the Law. To live in ignorance of the Word of God.
This is our state outside of Christ.
Without Christ you and I would be firmly on the outside. Worst still, in our ignorance, we were unaware of what even constituted ‘inside’ and ‘outside’. Without Christ we were literally floundering in the dark not even knowing what it is like to bask in his glorious light.
Without Christ our state, as Gentiles, is hopeless.
iii. We were far off
All of which leads Paul to conclude that because of this, we Gentiles were alienated, strangers to the things of God and far off from him. The glory of the gospel, however, is that God intervenes, becomes flesh and hunts us down.
Jesus Christ came to seek and save the lost,
Luke 19:10
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.
As we will see over the coming weeks, the glory of the gospel is this,
Ephesians 2:17
And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.
b. Now in Christ
i. But now
In Christ, everything changed.
No longer is the revelation of God limited to a particular people, in Christ the light of the glory of God is visible to all. We see this confirmed as Simeon prays over the baby Jesus at his presentation in the temple,
Luke 2:29–32
“Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
according to your word;
for my eyes have seen your salvation
that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel.”
As Gentiles, before Christ we were lost and blind to the things of God. In Christ, however, the light of the revelation of God now goes forth to all peoples.
This is why the Apostle Paul is able to declare,
Ephesians 2:13
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
But now something has changed.
But now there is hope.
But now Christ has come.
This is ground-shaking.
Formerly we were without a hope in the world, but now something has happened, God himself has intervened.
Christ Jesus has come.
ii. In Christ
The advent of Christ changes everything: now the light has gone forth to the Gentiles. Moreover, the terms of inclusion have radically and dramatically changed.
Formerly, under the Old Covenant, one had to be incorporated into Israel in order to participate in the promises and benefits of God. For the Gentile this meant conversion and circumcision.
Under the New Covenant, however, salvation is not linked to nationality or ethnicity, rather, those who are in Christ are brought near.
This is glorious news for Gentiles everywhere. In Christ, we are brought near. In Christ, as we shall see in the coming weeks, we are incorporated into the covenant community of the people of God.
In Christ there is hope.
All of which makes this passage incredibly personal.
Perhaps your security is grounded in the fact that your parents, grandparents and great grandparents attended church. Perhaps you feel safe because you yourself have attended church for year upon year. Perhaps your security is grounded upon the fact that you read your bible, perhaps you even study your bible diligently. Paul blows all of this out of the water. The only test that matters is this: are you in Christ?
Have you surrendered your desires, ambitions, wants; your very life to him, to such an extent that he has become your Lord and your very great reward? Are you able to say with the Apostle Paul, ‘For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain’ (Philippians 1:21)?
This is what it is to be in Christ.
c. Now brought near
We were once without hope, without identity and far off from God and all of his promises. Now, however, in Christ Jesus, we are brought near. More specifically, we are brought near because of the cross. Consider,
Ephesians 2:13
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
In this we see something of the glorious sufficiency that is found in Christ.
We Gentiles were without hope. We were far off from the things of God, but something changed.
Christ came.
Christ died and, in his death, made it possible for those of us who are in him to be brought close. But, close to what?
Paul picks this up later in the passage,
Ephesians 2:18
For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.
We will spend some time unpacking this in the coming weeks, but for this morning, allow the glory and wonder of this to wash over you.
We Gentiles, we who were without a hope and ignorant to the things of God.
We who were far off.
We Gentiles, have now been brought near to God.
How near? We have been graciously given access to the very throne room of God. This is the glorious good news of the gospel for Gentiles everywhere.
3. REMEMBER
Paul begins by exhorting ‘we Gentiles’ to remember our former hopeless state,
Ephesians 2:11–12
Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
All of this remembering is intended to awaken us to the glory in verse 13,
Ephesians 2:13
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
In all of this, Paul, I think, intends us to see three specific responses.
i. Humility
We will return to this next week, but it is worth considering how Paul deals with the disparity between Jew and Gentile,
Ephesians 2:11
Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands—
We need not know a huge amount about the context of this to understand that the term, ‘the uncircumcision’ is not intended as a complement. In truth, Paul reminds us as Gentiles that the Jews sneer at those of us who are outside Israel. Paul then moves on to emphasize why we Gentiles are at such a disadvantage.
This is not to say that these Jews are right. Paul indicates this by undermining their confidence in the covenant sign, in their case, this circumcision ‘is made in the flesh by hands’.
The gospel is emphatic, both Jew and Gentile need Christ Jesus.
And yet our state as Gentiles was more desperate and hopeless than theirs. We were the ones who were far off.
This should fill us with incredible humility. This should feed our dependency upon Christ Jesus.
There are two components to the gospel.
Firstly, the Gospel content which is centred around the person and work of Christ Jesus. God becomes flesh in order that he might rescue us through his death on the cross and his miraculous resurrection. Without the content of the gospel there can be no salvation.[4]
Secondly, however, we must understand the need for a Rescuer. This is Paul’s intention in verse 1 through to 10 and this is Paul’s intention here.
If you are an unbeliever, Paul wants you to feel your desperate need for a Saviour, that you might run to Christ Jesus. He wants you to feel your alienation, your separateness and the distance which remains between you and God and (as we shall see next week) between you and your fellow man.
Believer and unbeliever alike.
Paul wants you to see that you might be humbled. He wants you to be humbled that you might cling to Christ as the only hope in this world.
ii. Confidence
But none of this is intended to remove the confidence which comes with verse 18,
Ephesians 2:18
For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.
Through Christ Jesus we both, Jew and Gentile, have access to the Father. This is glorious good news. This is the heart of the gospel. There are no second class citizens in the kingdom of God.
And with all of this comes a holy confidence rooted in the cross of Christ Jesus,
Hebrews 10:19–23
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
iii. Praise
This sermon series is entitled ‘His Glorious Grace’ for a reason.
Throughout these first two chapters Paul has held the gospel in his hand like a precious jewel, turning it this way and that so that it might catch the light and we might see His manifold glory.
Paul reminds us of who God is that we might see his glory magnified in the gospel. Paul reminds us of all God has done in and through Christ Jesus that we might see his glory in the gospel. And Paul reminds us of who we were and who he has made us to be that we might see the magnitude of his awesome glory in the gospel.
And the focus of all of this glory is upon his grace. He poured out grace abundantly in and through Christ Jesus and we are the beneficiaries of this glorious grace. Paul’s intention is that we see this. Paul’s intent is to magnify his grace that we might depend upon it and glory in it now and for all of eternity.
To him, be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen (Ephesians 3:21).
[1] This is not to suggest that there was no opposition in the church in Ephesus at any time. Paul warns the Ephesian elders that ‘fierce wolves will come in among you’ (Acts 20:28-30) and, tragically, in Revelation, we find that this same church has abandoned ‘the love [they] had at first’ (Revelation 2:4).
[2] Paul strengthens this association in verse 10 in presenting believers as the pioema [workmanship] of God. I discuss this in more detail elsewhere.
[3] Bruce, F. F. The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians. The New International Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1984. 292
[4] Consider, for example, that which Paul states to be of first importance in 1 Corinthians 15:1-11, the death, burial and resurrection of Christ and the actual bodily appearance of the resurrected Son of God.