Gentiles - Ephesians 2:11-22

Our study of Ephesians has taken us now to Ephesians 2. You'll recall that Ephesians 1 presents to us our possessions in Christ. And we reviewed there briefly the blessings from God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 2 emphasizes our position in Christ, and the chapter divides itself in half.

In Ephesians 2:1-10, Paul talks about all sinners in general, and points out that every sinner is dead in trespasses and sin, that every sinner walks according to the course of the world, he is enslaved by the world, he is empowered by the devil, he is a child of wrath and a child of disobedience. It's not a very pretty picture. Ephesians 2:1-10 inform us that every lost sinner is dead, but God in his grace will raise us up if we'll put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ. So Ephesians 2:1-10 presents to us the fact that the Christian has been raised from the dead and seated on the throne with the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a tremendous spiritual truth that we must accept by faith. It's not a matter of feeling, it's a matter of faith. By faith, we trust in Jesus Christ as our Savior, he raises us from the dead and puts us on the throne.

Now in Ephesians 2:11-22, the Apostle Paul talks about the Gentiles in particular. Now when you study your Bible, by all means follow the pattern given in 1 Corinthians 10:32, giving none offense neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God. These are the three different groups that you must keep in mind as you study your Bible. God is dealing in the Bible with the Jews, with the Gentiles, and with the church. Now the church is made up of believing Jews and Gentiles. Now when you study God's word, if you apply to the Gentiles that which God says about the Jews, or if you apply to the church that which God says about the Jews, you're going to have confusion. Unfortunately, many of our false religions these days are based upon this very mistake. When they read the word of God, they fail to distinguish between the Jews, the Gentiles, and the church of God.

Now in Ephesians 2:1-10, Paul has made it very clear that whether a man is a Jew or a Gentile, he's dead in sin. But in Ephesians 2:11-22, the Apostle Paul is discussing the plight of the Gentiles in particular. Now he has already said in Ephesians 2:8, for by grace are ye saved through faith. A Jew is not saved by his Jewish religion, a Gentile is not saved by good works, nobody is. Jews and Gentiles become members of the body of Christ, the church, through faith in Christ by the grace of God. By grace are ye saved through faith, that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.

Now in Ephesians 2:11-22, he says, wherefore remember that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh. He's talking now about Gentiles. In Ephesians 2:1-10, he said in time past, all of us lived according to the course of the world, the prince of the power of the air, but now he is talking not about sinners in general, but he's talking about Gentile sinners in particular, and he points out the mess that they were in. Wherefore remember that in times past, you Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands. You see the Jews had the covenant of circumcision, the Gentiles didn't. The Jews were the children of Abraham, and God gave to Abraham the fleshly right, the fleshly ceremony of circumcision, but not so with the Gentiles. The Jews used to call the Gentiles uncircumcised dogs.

Now the Jews did have privileges. Over in the book of Romans, the Apostle Paul tells us very clearly of the privileges that the Jews had. Look at Romans 9. I say the truth in Christ, I lie not. My conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh.

Now there are two kinds of relationships. There's the physical relationship, our blood relatives, and there's the spiritual relationship, our brothers and sisters in Christ. I have a sister, I have brothers, I have uncles and aunts and cousins, they are my brethren according to the flesh. But I have a multitude of people who are my brothers and sisters according to the spirit, including some who are my brothers and sisters and my relatives according to the flesh. There's a twofold relationship here.

Now he says in Romans 9:4, these are the privileges the Jews had, who are the Israelites, to whom pertaineth the adoption. God adopted the nation of Israel, he bypassed Rome and Babylon and Egypt and Syria, and he chose the Jews, and the glory, the glory of God dwelt in the tabernacle there among the Jews, and the covenants. God didn't make any covenants with the Gentiles, but he made covenants with the Jews pertaining to the land and the law, and the giving of the law. God didn't give the law to the Gentiles. It's too bad people don't realize this.

Now Romans 1 tells us that the righteousness of the law is written on the hearts of the Gentiles. A Gentile knows it's wrong to kill, it's wrong to steal, it's wrong to commit adultery. The tribes back in the jungles have the law written on their hearts, but not the ceremonial law, not the Sabbath law. The Sabbath law was given to the Jews, never was given to the Gentiles. If people would just realize this, it would straighten them out on some things in the word of God.

To whom pertain the giving of the law and the service of God, the priests, and the promises, the wonderful promises about the future of Israel, the promises concerning the Messiah, whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came. Now these are the privileges the Jews had, but in Ephesians 2:11-12, Paul says the Gentiles didn't have these privileges. Look at Ephesians 2:11-12. You are uncircumcision, the Jews are the circumcision.

Now that little phrase made by hands suggests that there is a circumcision not made by hands. Colossians 2:11 talks about this. The Jews had a physical circumcision that did not change their hearts. But when you receive Christ as your Savior, God performs a spiritual operation on your heart and makes you a different person. That at that time ye Gentiles were, number one, without Christ, separated from Christ, without Christ. Over in Ephesians 4:18, he says this, having the understanding darkened, being alienated, separated from the life of God, without Christ.

Someone has well said you can summarize the entire Christian life with prepositions. Without Christ, that's condemnation. In Christ, that's salvation. Like Christ, that's sanctification. With Christ, that's glorification. Without Christ, these Gentile sinners had no Savior. Being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel. God put a wall between the Jews and the Gentiles. That beautiful temple there in Jerusalem where Jesus taught, had a wall that separated the court of the Gentiles from the rest of the temple. Any Gentile who went past that wall was killed.

Now there were several walls that separated the Jews and the Gentiles. There was a physical wall. The Jews were the seed of Abraham, the Gentiles were not. It was a physical wall that separated the Jews and the Gentiles. There was a legal wall that separated them. God gave his law to the Jews, and that law was their priceless possession, and because they possessed the law, they looked down upon the Gentiles. And there was a spiritual wall. The Gentiles had their pagan idolatry, the Gentiles had their awful heathen religion, they didn't have the spiritual covenants that the Jews had. The walls that separated Jew from Gentile.

Without Christ, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope. That's an awful thing to say about somebody. As a pastor, it's my privilege to visit many people in the hospitals. I called on a man some months ago about whom they said he had no hope. He died just recently, no hope. When a person believes he has no hope, he gives up.

Now Ephesians 2:12 describes unsaved people today. If you've never been saved, you're without Christ, outside of Christ, separated from Christ. You're outside the family of God, strangers to God's promises. You have no hope and without God in the world. What do we have here? We have distance, without Christ. We have division, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel. Strangers from the covenants of promise. Everything separated the Gentiles from God.

But now in Ephesians 2:13, we have those wonderful two words, but now. You recall back in the previous part of this chapter in Ephesians 2:4, we have but God. Ephesians 2:1-3 describe the awful plight of the dead sinner. And then he says, but God who is rich in mercy. Now in Ephesians 2:11-12, he describes the awful plight of the Gentile sinners, then in Ephesians 2:13 says, but now. You see God has done something. Were it not for the grace of God, every Gentile would have been lost forever. Were it not for the grace of God, you and I would be lost.

But now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes or before times were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. In other words, the distance has been broken down. The Gentiles were afar off, but now they have been made nigh. Now when you read the book of Acts, you discover that they had a problem in the early church. The Jews thought that the Gentiles had to become Jews before they could be saved. The Gentiles were being saved, and the Jews got together and had a committee meeting. You read about this in Acts 15. They said, how can these uncircumcised Gentiles be saved? How can a Gentile be saved until first he becomes a Jew? And God made it very clear that the only way anybody can be saved is by grace. A Jew is not saved in any different way from a Gentile. The fact of the matter is, the conclusion was that the Jews had to be saved like the Gentiles. A high, proud, arrogant Jew had to admit he was a sinner.

You see, the word of God teaches that the word that the sinner, the word of God teaches that the sinner, whether he be Jew or Gentile, is condemned. The ground is level at the foot of the cross. Someone says, well, I'm I'm religious, I belong to a church. God will save me in a little in a different way from the way he'll save the bum in the gutter. Oh no. No, no, no. God saves people only one way, through the blood of Jesus Christ. Now these Gentiles were afar off, but now they have been made nigh. I want you to notice that this word made is used several times in this passage. Ephesians 2:13, made nigh by the blood of Christ.

For he is our peace. Now what does he mean by this? Well, there was war between Jews and Gentiles. There was division. There was dissension between Jews and Gentiles. The Jew was religious and therefore he was saved. The Gentile was an uncircumcised dog, therefore he was lost. And God came along and said, look, both of you are lost. The Jew's circumcision is not going to save him, and the Gentile's uncircumcision is not going to lose him. We're all saved by faith in Jesus Christ. The blood of Christ made peace between Jew and Gentile.

He is our peace, who hath made both one. Now Ephesians 2:13, the Gentile was made nigh by the blood of Christ. In Ephesians 2:14, the Gentile was made one with the Jew. Now this is the mystery that was given to the Apostle Paul. I wish that people could somehow distinguish what God teaches in the Bible. We're going to see in Ephesians 3 that God gave to Paul a very special, a very wonderful message to proclaim. You won't find this message back in the Old Testament.

Once again, I remind you, when you read your Bible, make a distinction between the Jew, the Gentile, and the church of God. Unless you do, you have confusion. Over in Ephesians 3, Paul says this, Ephesians 3:3, how that by revelation he, God, made known unto me the mystery. Now what is this mystery? Ephesians 3:5, which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. Now what is the mystery? Ephesians 3:6, that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs and of the same body and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel.

Here's the strange thing. Back in the Old Testament, God built a wall between Jews and Gentiles. In the four gospels, that wall is still standing. Down in the temple of Jerusalem, a veil stood in the holy place to separate the holy place from the holy of holies, and a wall stood out in the court to separate the Jews and the Gentiles. The Old Testament, the four gospels, you have separation, division, distinction. But then Jesus Christ came and made peace. He broke down, Ephesians 2:14 tells us, he is our peace, who hath made both one. He's put Jew and Gentile together in something new, the church. And hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us.

Now that wall there in the temple court was a symbol of the division between Jew and Gentile. I want to make this clear, the law given to the Old Testament Jew was never given to the Gentile. If anyone listening to my voice right now is trying to apply the Old Testament law to the Gentiles, to the New Testament church, you'd better read Ephesians 2. Because the word of God tells us that there was a wall, that wall was the law. The law was given to the Jew.

Ephesians 2:15, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, the warfare, the dissension, the disagreement between Jew and Gentile, even the law of commandments. Now I pointed out that there was a physical law, a physical wall that separated Jew and Gentile. The Jew was the heir, was the child of Abraham. He had Jewish blood in his veins, the Gentile didn't. Now the Lord Jesus Christ broke down that physical wall because through the Holy Spirit, Jews and Gentiles are made one in Jesus Christ.

Right now while I'm speaking, there is dissension between Jews and Gentiles in this world, everywhere except in the church. When a Jew is saved and a Gentile is saved, the physical wall is broken down and they're one in Christ. Some of my closest friends are Jewish Christians, people whom I love in the Lord. And the fact that I'm a Gentile and they're Jews doesn't make a bit of difference. Jesus Christ broke down the physical wall. He made us one in Christ. He broke down the spiritual wall, the distance. He made the Gentile nigh. And then he broke down the legal wall, that wall of law, because in Ephesians 2:15, he he abolished the law of commandments. The law that the Jew could not obey. The law that the Gentile could never receive has been set aside.

Now Ephesians 2:15 makes it very, very clear that the law of commandments, the ordinances have all been set aside. Now right away somebody jumps up and says, well, that just means the the ceremonial law. I don't think you'll find anywhere in the Bible a distinction made between the ceremonial law and the moral law. It was all the law of Moses. Nine of the Ten Commandments are repeated in the New Testament for Christians to obey. One of them is not repeated for us to obey, and that's the commandment about the Sabbath. The Sabbath was not a moral law, the Sabbath was a law given to the Jews. It never was written on the heart of the Gentiles. And so these walls were broken down at the cross. These walls were torn down by the blood of Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 2:15 says he abolished the law. Some people today are trying to build up the law. They tell me it's wrong to worship on the Lord's Day. They tell me that it's wrong to eat pork. They tell me I shouldn't do this or shouldn't do that. I shouldn't work on Saturday. My Bible tells me Jesus Christ abolished all of these ordinances. And he's written a brand new law in our hearts by his Holy Spirit. So he made peace. Ephesians 2:14 says he is our peace. And the only peace there ever will be between peoples is through Christ.

I attended an international convention some years ago at which we had people from many, many nations. Some had been had been at war with each other just a few years before. And yet in Christ there was peace. He is our peace. Ephesians 2:15 says he made peace. For to make in himself of the two, of the Jew and Gentile, one new man. Now what is this one new man? The church. The church of Jesus Christ is the new man. Up in Ephesians 2:10, it's the new creation. We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus.

So Jesus Christ on the cross, with one arm reached out and took the Jews, with the other arm reached out and took the Gentiles, and he's put us together in a new thing, the church. You won't find this in the Old Testament. This is why it's a very dangerous thing to apply Old Testament covenants to the New Testament people, the church. He made peace. Ephesians 2:16, and that he might reconcile both unto God. That means the Jews had to be reconciled. Oh, the Jews thought they were God's people. The Jews didn't need to be saved. No, no. Ephesians 2:16 says that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby. And so on the cross of Jesus Christ, the law was set aside, and believing Jew and believing Gentile are joined together in the church, the body of Jesus Christ.

Shall we pray together? Our Father and our God, we thank thee for the work that Jesus did on the cross. We thank thee his work is finished, that we need not add to it. We thank thee that by faith in Christ there is life and peace and reconciliation. We pray that some listening today will find peace by receiving Christ as their Savior. Bless the word that we have studied. Help us to be good stewards of thy word, for Jesus' sake we pray. Amen.