seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Ephesians 2:1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
11 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)— 12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
a. Ephesians 2:3 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit.
This is from the easy English site.
We have this sinful nature as the result of Adam’s sin. It means that I am at the centre of my life. Apart from God, I live with me at the centre. I think about myself. And I do what I want to do.
There is nothing wrong with physical desires. We have many of these. Some desires are for food, sleep or sex. God made our body to want these things. But they are wrong when we eat too much. They are wrong when we sleep too much. They are wrong when we have sex outside marriage.
Paul says that we all ‘did what our physical body wanted. God was angry with us.’ We all have Adam’s sinful nature. It comes to us by Adam’s sin. By his sin, we share his sinful nature. That is how we are children of Adam.
We need to understand the meaning of ‘God was angry with us’. It does not mean that he is in a bad temper. Nor that he hates us and he wants to punish us. God’s anger (or wrath) means that he is always an enemy of evil things. He hates evil things. He hates them very much. He never stops hating them. This is because he is God. He is a righteous God. By his very nature, he cannot stop being angry against sin.
We were objects of God’s anger. We are now objects of his love. Think about what God has done to change our state. He has saved us. ‘God’s grace has saved you.’ By his death, Christ suffered for our sin. Our sin was like a wall between God and us. It separated us from him. Jesus’ death removed that wall. By his resurrection, he won the battle against death. God raised Christ from death. Because of that, he raised men and women from being dead in sins. He won both in his body and in his spirit. Now we have a new life with Christ and in Christ.
Here Paul writes about Christ’s church. All together, we are one body ‘in Christ’. It does not matter what our nationality is. It does not matter whether we are men or women. It does not matter who we are. We are a part of Christ. Also, Christ is on the throne (the seat of the king). So we are there too. We have a new life. We know that God is real. We have a new love for him and his people. We were dead and we are now alive. It was as if we were in chains. Christ has removed them. We are free. Now we sit with Jesus on the top seat!
Everything, including faith, is a gift from God. He wakes us up, spiritually. He causes us to think and to ask about him. Only by God’s power are we able to receive from him. We can live good lives and be good people. But that cannot save us. However, if God saves us, we will want to be good. That will be because we love God. And because we want to please him.
Those who were once ‘far away’ were the Gentiles. Sometimes a Gentile might want to become a Jew. Then the teacher would say that he would ‘come near’. There is good news for the Gentiles. They can now be in Christ Jesus. God has brought them to him by the blood of Christ. It was like a closed door. Now it is like an open door. Gentiles were ‘far away’ from God. Now God has brought them ‘near’. The door is open to everyone. We are now ‘in Christ’. We can now come near to God our Father.
Between the Court of the Gentiles and the rest of the Temple there was a wall. The Jews did not allow the Gentiles to pass this wall. There were warning signs on the wall. The message to the Gentiles was this. ‘If you go past this sign, you will die!’
A few years ago, someone found one of these signs. It reads, ‘Let nobody from any other nation come inside the fence and boundary round the Most Holy Place’. It warned also that such a person would be responsible for his own death. This boundary, therefore, was like a fence to a Gentile. Jews thought that God was present in the Most Holy Place. So this fence kept the Gentiles away from the place where God lived. The ‘wall between’ in the Temple separated Jews and Gentiles. This made them enemies. God ‘destroyed’ this wall.
Jesus said that he did not come to end the law. (See Matthew chapters 5-7.) He ended the laws and customs of the Jewish religion. But he did not end the moral law. That is about right and wrong actions. Jesus came to show us how to live as God intended. He did this by the example of his own life. Paul explains it in another way. He says, ‘the law is like a master at school. His job is to bring us to Christ’ (Galatians 3:24). Jesus died on the cross. By his death, he ended these customs.
Jesus brought a new way for salvation – faith in him. He made the law complete. He brought new meaning to it. But we no longer have to keep the moral law as a way of salvation. We cannot save ourselves by our good actions. We cannot always do right things, however hard we try. We ought always to obey the moral law. That is what God requires from us. But it is impossible for us to do this. Not to obey the moral law separates us from God. It also separates us from each other. When we do not obey God, the result is death. However, the good news is this: When we confess our sins, God will forgive us our sins. He will make us clean us from all that is wrong in us (1 John 1:9).
God accepts us not because we keep the moral law. He accepts us because we believe in Jesus Christ. Jesus obeyed the moral law completely in his life. He took our failure to keep that law upon him. He took all our sin in his own body when he died. His death made it possible for God to accept us. Now both Jews and Gentiles come to God in the same way. They come not by keeping laws. They come by faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus put away the regulations that were about ceremonies of the law. The moral law tells us that we are wrong and guilty. He put away that guilt too. Jesus put both things aside by his death on the cross.
Before, the Gentiles in Israel were ‘strangers and foreigners’. They might live with the people of Israel. But they did not own land. They had no rights. But it is not like this in the church. Gentiles have the same rights as other people in the church. They are all citizens together. They are citizens of King Jesus. They are in the kingdom of God. They are also in the family of God. They are all together his children. God is their Father.
When I opened this chapter... and started to post this chapter..... I titled it "Worldwide Invitation". After reading pages and pages and pages of commentary.... I'm pretty sure the title is good. Back in the days when the Christian Church was just beginning..... they were still dealing with the "fear" of God. "Fear" of God had a different meaning back then. They heard about Sodom and Gomorrah. They knew about the Noah and the flood. They knew God was really not very easy to reason with when He got angry. The Jews knew God to be something bigger and badder than the incredible Hulk when He got angry. They didn't want that on their watch.... so they had to do everything just so. That's why there has been so much talk about circumcision and food laws. They were trying.... but they were always failing....
According to Paul.... God sent Jesus to show us how to live without fear. He showed us how to do it right. So now.... since Jesus was here... and Jesus Himself included the Gentiles in His ministry.... we are included. Everyone... everywhere...
On top of that... Paul says... once we accept Jesus.... once we Believe that He came to help us..... He changes us.... there's something new inside of us that lets us do right. We just naturally, somehow, change... and we can overcome obstacles..... and we want to overcome obstacles.
I am reminded of being back in school as a child. I recall a few times when, for one reason or another, one classroom full of kids would join another class next door to learn the same lesson. Now there was always excitement when the kids from the other class filed into the room.... where to sit... where to stand... who to privately... only hip high.... a little hand wave... who to privately "wave hey" to as we entered. Then when the teacher stepped to the front of the room..... sometimes.... well most times... because we Believed it was the right thing to do.... we calmed down... and settled in... we were all invited... we all wanted to be there.
When I was a kid.... there were kids in the neighborhood that I was not allowed to play with. They were the "bad kids". They had a reputation at the age of 6 or 7.... it was more that their parents had the reputation... but still I wasn't allowed to play with them. That's how it was back in the days of the beginning of the Christian Church... the Jews and the Gentiles lived in the same neighborhood but they weren't allowed to play together... Those Gentiles weren't circumcised... they ate the wrong foods... so they couldn't play together.
Jesus changed all that..... when Jesus showed up... He picked His team from both the Jews and the Gentiles. It's like when the best player in the school picked us to be on His team. We could all play together and win. We want to play together and win.
Jesus is willing to let anyone play on His team. It's a Worldwide Invitation.
