Eph 2:11-22
SS Lesson for 08/17/2025
Devotional Scripture: Col 3:11-14
How we handle our differences in values, economic status, etc., can sever family relationships. This is a story as old as humanity. Likewise, this is a story as broad as humanity. Yet those realities don’t negate the Bible’s teaching that humanity is one large family. The solution for a fractured, divided humanity is found in today’s text. In about AD 51, a dozen or so years before writing his letter to the Ephesians, Paul participated in a meeting we sometimes call “the Jerusalem Council.” This meeting is described in Acts 15 and Galatians 2. Church leaders convened to resolve a pressing question for the first-century church: Is it necessary for Gentile men to be circumcised in order for them to be considered Christian? Simply put, the question was whether a person had to become a Jew first before becoming a Christian. Was the gateway to the church only to be found in the synagogue? The Jerusalem Council decided that circumcision was not to be required for Gentiles. However, this decision was not accepted by all. Even a dozen years later, some taught that Gentiles needed to be circumcised and otherwise “toe the line” regarding the Law of Moses. Thus, Paul found the need to revisit this issue.
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.
(Scriptural Text from the New King James Version; cross-references from the NIV)
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.
21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.
13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,
13 Not even those who are circumcised obey the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your flesh.
3 For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh- 4 though I myself have reasons for such confidence.
22 Be merciful to those who doubt; 23 snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear-hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.
4 the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. 5 Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised!
28 He said to them: "You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean.
2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him 3 and said, "You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them."
25 The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me!" she said. 26 He replied, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs." 27 "Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." 28 Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed from that very hour.
22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.
13 Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.
24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has?
14 The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
3:1 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God- 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.
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.
9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!
13 The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. 14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!
18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.
19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.
4 He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. 5 And he will be their peace.
33 "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
36 You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.
1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
10 For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them.
22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation-
39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off-for all whom the Lord our God will call."
6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
11 according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet was without sin. 16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.
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.
26 You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
6 This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.
20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,
18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
9 For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building. 10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds.
28 And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues.
9 James, Peter and John, those reputed to be pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the Jews.
11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
22 The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone;
16 So this is what the Sovereign LORD says:"See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed.
11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
16 Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?
16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people."
9 For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building.
1 Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.
If there is anything which this text teaches us it is that God has created something entirely new and unexpected in the birth of the church. Jews are no longer distinguished from Gentiles. Gentiles need not become Jews to be saved and to enter into the blessings which God promised Abraham. The church is a new entity, born by the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of its Head, Jesus Christ. Everyone who believes in Christ is a part of His body.
We are not just reconciled to God, all believers are reconciled to each other as well. To become a Christian is to be born into a family, into His body, the church. There is no such thing as an autonomous Christian. It was never imagined that a Christian would live out his life as a saint in isolation. The shed blood of Jesus Christ not only joins us to God, but it joins every Christian to every other saint.
Our text teaches the reconciliation of men with God, and of Jewish believers with Gentile saints. By implication, this text and its message has much to say to us. Let us consider some of these implications as we conclude this study.
(1) Racism and discrimination cannot be tolerated in the church of Jesus Christ. In Christ, every believer has an equal standing before God. There are no “first-class” or “second-class” Christians, only those who have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ.57
(2) Some of the tenants of contemporary church growth theology and practice fail to meet the standards of the gospel. Some of church growth theology is rooted in secular theory and practice. Thus, “homogeneous” church congregations are the ideal. “Birds of a feather flock together,” we are told, and thus churches grow faster which cater to a particular segment of society. In so doing, in my opinion, the principle laid down in Ephesians 2 is denied and violated. Paul seemed to hold the same point of view, because he strongly rebuked those in the Galatian church who hypocritically associated with the Jewish saints, to the exclusion of the Gentile believers (Galatians 2:11-21). He saw this as a denial of the gospel.
(3) It is my opinion that Messianic Jewish congregations operate dangerously close to the evil condemned by Paul in Galatians chapter 2. A distressingly large number of Jewish converts to Christianity are unwilling to shed their Jewish identity and to identify with a normal church congregation. They wish to retain their Jewishness, and seem unwilling to associate with any degree of intimacy with predominantly Gentile congregations. I believe the practice, if not the motivation, is highly suspect.
(4) When we cease to be “strangers and aliens” to the commonwealth of Israel, we become “strangers and pilgrims” to this world. When we find a new identity in Jesus Christ, our old identification with the world rightly changes. As Christ was hated and rejected by the world, so will those who identify with Him (see Hebrews 11:13-17, 32-40; 1 Peter 1:1; 2:11-17; 4:12-19).
(5) The Scriptures do not even conceive of an individual coming to personal faith in Jesus Christ, and yet somehow not become intimately associated with and committed to a church. There are autonomous Christians around, who confidently claim Christ as Savior, but who feel free to live their lives independently of the church of our Lord Jesus Christ, of which He is the head. Ephesians 2, along with other related texts, should expose this belief and practice as inconsistent with the gospel. You can be a part of the visible church without being a Christian, but you cannot be a Christian without being a part of His church.
(6) The unity which Paul elsewhere calls upon Christians to preserve, practice, and promote, is the unity which Ephesians chapter 2 is speaking. In chapter 4, Paul will challenge the Ephesians to “preserve the unity of the Spirit.” Ephesians chapter 2 describes the essence of the unity which we are called to express in chapter 4.
(7) Jesus Christ is the key to reconciliation. The hostility between Jews and Gentiles is deep-rooted and intense. World peace efforts today fail to grasp the depth of this division, or to comprehend that only Jesus Christ can make enemies fellow-saints. Christ alone is the key to reconciliation. Apart from Him, there can and will be no real and lasting peace. Peace will not be arbitrated or negotiated by politicians or diplomats; peace has been accomplished by Christ. All those in Him are reconciled.
For a number of years I have taught prison seminars. In one seminar, I had the opportunity to make the acquaintance of another instructor. He told me a wonderful story of reconciliation which he witnessed in a prison in Florida. As I remember the story, a young woman was attacked and brutally killed by her assailant. The killer was apprehended, convicted, and sentenced to prison. The mother of this young woman was a Christian. The Spirit of God began to convict her concerning her hatred of her daughter’s killer. Eventually, she gave way to God’s leading and wrote to the man. She told him that God had enabled her to forgive him, and not to hate him any longer. After a while, she found that she must see the man face to face. When my fellow-instructor taught a seminar in the prison where this killer was serving his time, both the killer and the victim’s mother sat side by side in the meetings. And the Bible which the young man held in his hands was a gift from the mother, with this inscription, “To my son.” That, my friend, is reconciliation. Only God can bring about this kind of reconciliation. And He has done so through the cross of Calvary.
There is no alienation so great, no hatred so strong, that the cross of Calvary cannot reconcile men with men or men with God. The cross of Christ reconciles sinners to God and sinners with one another. The church should be a living testimony to the reconciliation which God has accomplished on the cross.
May your life demonstrate this reconciliation, if you have been reconciled to God in Christ.
(Adapted from URL:https://bible.org/seriespage/9-guilt-men-and-grace-god-part-2-ephesians-211-21)
What a picture Paul gives of Christ’s church! We are a global, multiethnic, transcultural, multiclass people, men and women, adults and children, all reconciled by Christ’s blood, indwelt by God’s Spirit, fulfilling the promise of Israel’s temple. We are the household of God, his family, fulfilling his purpose to restore humanity to him as one family. Being a family takes work. Little wonder, then, that Paul spent half the Ephesian letter, beginning in Ephesians 4:1, instructing Christians to live in unity in a manner worthy of the gospel. We have our own issues that divide us today, and circumcision is not one of them. Even so, Paul’s instructions for overcoming a divisive issue of the first century are of great value for us in the twenty-first century. We see the vision of God’s temple. Are we willing with the Spirit’s empowerment to live as we must to see it built up and not torn down?