Ephesians 2:11-22 Jew & Gentile

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

We have seen how the first half of the second chapter of Ephesians speaks of the spiritual death of all men (Jew and Gentile) and our subsequent resurrection as individuals in Christ. Now in the second half of the chapter we find the corporate experience explained, as the apostle Paul writes how, through redemption in Christ, Jews and Gentiles are made into “one new man.” While the relationship between these two groups may be of lesser concern in the 21st Century, this was the burning issue of the first Century. This is illustrated in the Apostle Peter’s initial hesitancy to fellowship with the Gentile, Cornelius (Acts 10:17-29), and his later hypocrisy in refusing to fellowship with Gentiles while other Jews were present (Gal 2:6-16). F.F. Bruce observes: “no iron curtain, colour bar, class distinction, or national frontier of today is more absolute than the cleavage between Jew and Gentile was in antiquity.” He called the unity between Jew and Gentile in Christ the “greatest trial of the Gospel in the apostolic age.” John Calvin wrote:

“… God, who was pleased to admit our fathers into the number of his own people, deserves to be held in everlasting remembrance. The calling of the Gentiles is an astonishing work of divine goodness, which ought to be handed down by parents to children, and to their children’s children, that it may never be forgotten or unacknowledged by the sons of men.”

The matter of Gentiles being saved weighed upon the apostle Paul’s thoughts in the book of Romans, where he wrote: … is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. (Rom 3:29-31). In chapter one, he made the unprecedented statement that the Gospel is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. (Rom 1:16). In the first and second chapters of this epistle, Paul proves that both Jew and Gentile are likewise under sin; but in Christ, Paul concludes in Galatians 3:28-29: There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Why is that which is astonishing, taken so much for granted in our age? First because it has been 2000 years since the dividing wall, which kept Gentiles for the most part from receiving salvation, has been removed. For two millennia, Gentiles have been coming to Christ, becoming fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, so the idea of the exclusion and alienation of the Gentiles from God’s kingdom seems remote to us. Also, today’s church emphasizes the Gospel’s work toward the individual coming to Christ and making a personal choice to follow Him; there is far less concern in the modern church for the corporate expression of the unity among the people of God. Paul writes: For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, … so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity (Eph 2:14-17). Amidst the emphasis on the individual’s atonement, the atoning or peacemaking work of Christ in bringing separated people together in Him, has been neglected in evangelical churches. Over 100 years ago, James Denney wrote:

Is the great appeal of the Cross one which is intelligible only to men of a single race …? On the contrary, there is nothing in the world so universally intelligible as the Cross; and hence it is the meeting-place not only of God and man, but of all races and conditions of men with each other. There is neither Greek nor Jew, male nor female, bond nor free, there. … But of all Christian truths which are confessed in words, this is that which is most outrageously denied in deed. There is not a Christian church nor a Christian nation in the world which believes heartily in the Atonement as the extinction of privilege, and the leveling up of all men to the same possibility of life in Christ, to the same calling to be saints. The spirit of privilege, in spite of the Cross, is obstinately rooted everywhere even among Christian men.

How tragically accurate this statement is. While the grandeur of the Biblical vision for a new and unified society cannot be overstated, today Christians continue to erect new barriers of denominationalism, racism, prejudice, jealousy, and divisive class and caste systems. Personal animosities engineered by pride separate human beings, while Christ is most glorified where there is unity and love among of His people. May this text challenge us to live as we indeed are – with all barriers which separate us from each other, torn down by Christ’s peacemaking cross-work.

Judges 10 R.S.V.P.

The oppression against the Israelites had shattered their lives. They were subjected to a foreign nation; their homes were destroyed; their property and crops confiscated, possessions stolen, and spouses and children abused. People were brutalized and often killed. Under this cruel, savage treatment, the hearts of God’s people were crushed and broken. At long last, helpless and hopeless within themselves, the Israelites cried out to the Lord, confessing their sins. Crying out to the Lord for help was the result of the chastisement of the Lord, a clear picture of calling on the Lord only in times of emergency. They confessed their terrible desertion of God and their having engaged in false worship and idolatry. But note the response of the Lord. Shockingly, He did not accept their confession. Why? – because it did not include repentance. They were confessing

their sins, but they were not turning away from their evil. They wanted forgiveness and acceptance, but they wanted to continue in the ways of the world. They wanted the pleasures, wealth, and comfort of the world without having to suffer the oppression and evil that permeated the world and that is so characteristic of heathen nations.

Confession without repentance is never accepted by God. God reminded the Israelites that He had repeatedly rescued them from the oppression of their enemies In fact, He had rescued them from seven major enemies, the very enemies whose gods they were now worshipping. Because of their terrible evil of false worship, God charged them with repeated apostasy. He charged them with having forsaken Him and turning to the false idols and worship of this world. Consequently, He refused to hear their confession and to rescue them. And He challenged them to cry out to the false gods they were following. Let these false gods deliver them from their distress! Their trust in false religion and false gods was a perversion, a deception and a lie; for these false gods could do nothing to help the Israelites. God’s children had done the unthinkable: they had forsaken the Lord God Himself in order to worship the false gods of this earth – gods created in the minds of men. God issued His challenge for the Israelites to cry out to the false gods they had chosen over Him. In the past, He had responded to their cry, but no more. There had to be more than just crying out: there had to be genuine repentance.

The Lord’s rebuke or chastisement was all the Israelites could bear. In desperation, they again confessed their sins, but this time they repented. They totally surrendered themselves to God and to His will for them. They cried out for God to do with them whatever He thought best, but begged Him to rescue them immediately. They clearly could bear no more. Their repentance was not just a verbal confession; but they turned away from false worship, destroyed the false gods they had been worshipping, and they began to follow God in a renewed commitment. Once the Israelites had confessed and repented, God responded in compassion. He heard their cry and began the movement to deliver His dear people from their cruel, crushing oppression.

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Ephesians 2:10 Faith Works

For we are his workmanship , created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

In vs. 10 of chapter 2 of Ephesians, Paul concludes the thought which he began back to chapter 1, where he expresses the content of his prayer for the church: that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe … The hope, riches and power of which he writes, were first demonstrated in the resurrection of Jesus Christ and then the resurrection of all those who are join with Him, by faith. It is God’s intention to display His glorious grace by raising dead men, who are bound in sin, walking according to the course of the world, to life by His grace. We become the beneficiaries of being the objects of God’s lavish love and mercy – a love which we not only receive but one that actually transforms us into the image of His Son from glory to glory. As trophies of His grace, the effect of God’s undeserved favor toward us will shine out of God’s ‘china cabinet’ for all eternity.

Paul is quick to remind us that this glory which we display is not from ourselves as a source of origin. Our salvation is a gift of God, so that no one may boast as having deserved or earned it. It is also received through faith which excludes boasting. This is stated in one of the clearest passages on how one is saved in all the Bible – Ephesians 2:8,9: For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. Rather than working for our own salvation, Paul continues in verse 10, for we are His workmanship. As God’s workmanship – the product of His hands – His masterpiece – we understand that we are displays of His glory, not only in the ages to come, but in this age, where we are created in Christ Jesus for good works. Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount that our good works are meant to be on display to the world. Read Matthew 5:14-16. The light of good works which the church reflects, displays the glory of God. The time for final exhibition is yet to come; heaven is the final showroom, but here on earth God is already showing what He can do through His church.

Lest anyone think that these works are of human origin, Paul concludes the statement confirming what he has already said about our salvation. That just as God chose us for salvation from the beginning (2 Thess 2:13) and we are elect according to grace, likewise our ensuing sanctification and conformity to the image of Christ are also the work of God and not of man. Paul writes that the works for which we were created in Christ are prepared beforehand. While it is true that this preparation came both in His giving of the law, and was fulfilled in Christ, the text is quite clear that the very particular good works that we perform as individuals have been predestined for us to do. God guarantees that these works will be done, not merely by teaching us what is good and by providing Christ as an example, but by recreating us with a new heart and the power to perform these works. Until God has done this, any virtue that any man may have of his own accord is useless – as the prophet Isaiah wrote, all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags (Is 64:6). So there is no meritorious work that anyone can do to please God prior to being recreated by God. Legalists have always tried to hang the accusation of antinomianism over sola fide (faith alone), but what they seem incapable or unwilling to understand is that, it has been the understanding of the Gospel from the time of the Reformation that: “justification is by faith alone, but not by the faith that is alone.” In other words, good works (sanctification) is the necessary product of true saving faith.

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Judges 9:22-57 A Kingdom Divided

After Abimelech had reigned over Israel three years, God sent a spirit of ill will between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech … Thus God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech, which he had done to his father by killing his seventy brothers. And all the evil of the men of Shechem God returned on their own heads, and on them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.

Judges 9:22-23, 56-57

Judges chapter 9 verses 22 – 57 deal with the rebellion against Abimelech. What now happens is a clear picture of division, of a divided kingdom that could never stand. In the words of Jesus Christ: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand” (Matthew 12:25)

The root of the rebellion was a spirit of division aroused by God between Abimelech and Shechem. Note that the “evil spirit of division” was sent by God Himself. God’s purpose was to execute judgment upon this tyrant and upon the citizens of Shechem because of their horrible sin and evil. Abimelech’s rule had been brief, lasting only for three years. No doubt, his rule had been that of a tyrant, and opposition against him was soon aroused. In direct opposition to Abimelech, the leaders of Shechem hired bandits to ambush and rob the traitors (caravans) doing business with Abimelech. By being a major city, Shechem sat on one of the major routes of trade; therefore, the merchants passing through or spending the night in the city were an easy mark for bandits. But this was not the only problem created for Abimelech.

A conspiracy was being plotted by a man named Gaal who moved into the city with his brothers. He set out to exploit the displeasure of the citizens with their renegade king by seeking their political support. God was about to apply the principle of sowing and reaping in Abimelech’s life.

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Ephesians 2:8-9 The Gift

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

This is perhaps the clearest description of what it means to be a Christian in the whole Bible. Whether one is saved or unsaved is determined by the application of this single verse. Historically, most of the trouble and dispute in the church over how one is saved has arisen at this point. It is because so many have never been clear on this foundation, that they are still confused about so many things. Confusion often arises when people take clear, great statements such as this and make them matters of controversy; and this verse has been used to stir up much confusion.

Let us look at what this verse clearly says. First, this verse tells us that we are Christians entirely and solely as a result of the grace of God. He is not obliged to save anyone; He is fully within His right to apply His law and have its penalty fully inflicted upon us as children of wrath. We have already seen in the previous verses, that our contribution to our regeneration is our trespasses and sins, in which we were dead – until God, by grace, makes us alive (v. 1-5). There is no indication whatsoever that salvation is God’s response to anything in us; we have no right to it nor can we merit it; we have no plea with God, His justice or His holy law. But God in His own wondrous and sovereign mercy, love and kindness has granted us the gift of salvation. Spiritually dead creatures have been made alive – how has it happened? God has done it! Salvation is of the Lord! That is what grace means. And so, we are in the words of the great hymn, “debtors to mercy alone.”

We have also seen that our salvation is an eternal display of grace (v. 7); it is so, because it is all of grace. “By grace” (the Greek preposition, gar = by) suggests the source or origin of salvation. But then it comes “through faith,” (the preposition dia = through) denotes the subjective means or instrument of its operation. Grace, which is completely objective, takes its place in the human heart, and thereby activates faith, which is the human conduit through which we are saved. It is clear from this verse that faith is not the first cause of salvation, but the grace of God in the Lord Jesus Christ is. Thank God that it is this way – God forbid that I should glory in anything but the cross of Christ! By grace, through faith eliminates any and all grounds for boasting.