Ephesians 2:11-22

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Ephesians 2:11-22

What exactly is the difference between the church in Ephesus and the present church?

What exactly is the standard for a healthy or good church?

Honestly, I haven't encountered a church like the church in Ephesus in any of the churches considered relatively large in Korea.

It's not that a church must be relatively good compared to other churches,  there is only one prototype church.

Verse 11 “Wherefore remember, that you being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands.”

Remember, before we received the Word, we were Gentiles in the flesh.

You should always think back to your old self and figure out where you belong now.

In fact, true circumcision is not the tearing of the flesh, but the tearing of the heart.

It is a broken spirit.

It is a state of tearing the heart and weeping before the Word of God.

Sometimes the word of God comes like a sword.

When the heart is torn, tears flow, not blood.

Healing occurs after the surgery of the Word of God.

The spirit, soul, and body are strengthened.

That's why the Word of God is a panacea.

Many people starve for the word and end up eating it in a hurry, only to end up taking poison.

A ghost enters.

Look at them now, acting as puppets in heretical cults.

The only channels of spiritual grace are the Holy Spirit and the Bible.

These are not the words of famous people.

The Holy Spirit always conducts secret transactions through the Bible.

The authors of the Bible are witnesses between God and us.

They are always alive in the Bible.

They are the "great a cloud of witnesses" mentioned in Hebrews 12:1.

They first run the track of faith on the Word through the Holy Spirit, and then they wait to confirm‎ our faith.

Verse 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.”

We had nothing to do with God.

Yet, what we are now is truly amazing. Amazing.

Ruth, the widow who followed her mother-in-law from Moab, had at least a sliver of a connection to Israel's inheritance through her deceased husband's genealogy, but we had nothing.

The more I think about it, the more I realize how miraculous it is that we are saved by believing in the atoning grace of Christ's cross and can call God "Abba, Father" through our Lord Jesus Christ.

The more I think about it, the more I find it amazing that we are saved by believing in the grace of Christ's redemption on the cross and that we can call God "Abba, Father" through our Lord Jesus Christ.

When we were not born again in Christ and lacked pride in being new creations through the Holy Spirit, we considered Christianity a Western religion. Now, we stand at the center of it, and it's truly astonishing to see that the Jews, entrusted with the Law, are the offshoots who rejected Christ.

Verse 13: “But now in Christ Jesus you who sometime were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.”

Now, we have become near by the blood of Christ.

We must think of the blood of Christ as the blood shed on the cross and the blood of the covenant He gave us in a cup, the blood that forgives and purifies sins when we rely on that blood and come into the light.

We must rethink the line in the hymn, "I come to you now, Lord, by the blood of Golgotha."

The Bible now speaks of the blood of the covenant given in a cup.

Blood is life (Leviticus 17:11).

When we drink the life of Christ, his life is in us.

By drinking his blood, we become one with him, and he is in us and we are in him (John 6:53-56).

This is the meaning of becoming near by the blood.

Verse 14: “For he is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of partition between us.”

For(Gar) Christ is our peace.

That peace is the making of two into one.

Making two into one is the true meaning of peace.

Two (amphotera), these two are destined to be separate.

Just as the real barrier between North and South Korea is not the Military Demarcation Line, but their heterogeneous mindsets.

He has united two non-homogeneous peoples.

He has broken down the barrier that stands in the middle.

It is not the Military Demarcation Line, but the heterogeneous elements that are the biggest obstacle.

It is simply inconceivable that we become one with God in Christ.

That is why even today, shoddy theology insists that glorious salvation is attained only after death and in heaven.

The Lord says that He has given us glory so that we may become one with him (John 17:22), so why do they say that glory is a salvation that can only be attained after death?

It is because of the Jewish veil they wear.

If you say you believe in Jesus but do not believe in Christ as your Lord, you will not be able to take that veil off until you die. Sometimes, you will be on the verge of death and have to do your overdue homework.

Verse 15: “Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances, for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace.”

The law (gnomon), the law of commandments, still remains.

The law is the rational dimension of ethics and morality.

Ordinances are dogma, or doctrine.

The Corinthian church brought in issues of ethics and morality, and the Galatian church brought in the law.

However, starting with the church in Ephesus, such debates disappeared.

Jesus Christ abolished the law and the ordinances in his own body, making them useless.

Therefore, the law is still alive, but in his body the law is rendered useless, and in him the law is fully fulfilled.

For to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace.

If we are in Jesus Christ, when God looks, he does not see us, but only Jesus Christ.

Just as God looks from above at the blood applied to the mercy seat on the lid of the Ark of the Covenant, but does not see the tablets of stone within it.

Therefore, we must acquire the habit of offering our bodies as a holy living sacrifice through the practice of godliness, becoming clothed in Christ, eating Christ, and living in the faith that dwells in Christ.

And as our inner self grows, our outer self gradually decays.

We become more and more like Christ.

This is the secret of the resurrection faith that Paul presented, "I die daily" (1 Corinthians 15:31).

The Apostle Paul consistently asserted two things: first, that we are in Jesus Christ, and if we are certain that we are in him, then we die daily in him.

The more we die, the more we are swallowed up by the Lord.

This is self-denial and affirmation of the Lord.

The Lord becomes our food, and we become his food.

So he makes a new man and makes peace with God.

It is peace (eirene). That feeling is peace.

It is a subjective feeling that comes from becoming one (joined) with God in Jesus Christ.

Verse 16: “And that he might reconcile both to God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby.”

The cross symbolizes the two becoming one body, a completely different being in a certain state.

The cross of Christ is the atonement for our sins, our death, and our resurrection.

The Lord died but rose again. He is the resurrection and the life.

But when we died, it was over.

He died with us and raised us again with him.

Therefore, our fundamental value is that we died and then rose again.

The core of Christianity is the belief in resurrection, that we live again after death.

This belief has overcome countless martyrdoms and persecutions throughout history.

The raised of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary (three days) is a sign—the sign of Jonah.

We must understand its spiritual significance.

Having abolished our enmity on the cross, death takes care of everything.

Even under current law, no matter how grave the sinner, the death of a criminal ends the prosecution and brings the trial to a halt.

By our death in him, all law and ordinances are swept away from us.

For in him we have died, so that the law and ordinances have been done away with for us.

There is only one condition: in Christ.

Verse 17 “And came and preached peace to you which were far away and to them that were nigh.”

And (Kai) He came (Erdon). We must understand the word "came" here clearly.

When people say he came, they think he came in the flesh and died on the cross, ending things.

But He is now Emmanuel, the Comforter, the Holy Spirit.

And he always comes to us(coming). He becomes the gospel of peace.

Verse 18 “For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.”

For(hoti)  through Christ, both of us (plural) can obtain the qualification to approach the Father in one Spirit (John 14:6).

In Pilgrim's Progress, the most difficult obstacle is what hinders us from approaching God.

Therefore, we must first grasp the grace of Christ's atonement on the cross, know the truth, and then hold on to Christ (Hebrews 12:1-2).

Therefore, we must constantly examine ourselves and check whether we are approaching God properly.

Verse 19: “Now therefore you are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints and of household of God.”

This means you are not a stranger, a guest who sneaks in from the sidelines.

You are fellowcitizens with the saints (Abraham, Moses, David, etc.).

You have become a member of God's household.

Therefore, always meditate on the grace of Jesus Christ's redemption.

Verse 20: "And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ  himself being the chief corner stone."

The apostles are the New Testament, and the prophets are the Old Testament. The foundation is the Bible.

We are built on it.

It is a building built in an organic relationship with the Rock, Christ, as one spirit and one life.

This cornerstone is always the standard (foundation).

In the military, if you line up with the  front of the right as the standard, it is the same as aligning exactly.

The standard is Jesus Christ, the Bible, which contains him (Canon).

No matter where you open the Bible, what I believe and live should not be blocked.

That's where I must find my way of life.

Because the Bible is the book that testifies about Jesus Christ (John 5:39).

So, the Bible is also a book that testifies about me through him.

But if we emphasize doctrine, the Bible ends up being torn into pieces.

Verse 21: "In whom all the building fitly framed  together grows unto a holy temple in the Lord."

In Christ, all buildings are connected by the Holy Spirit and the Word, growing by the Word to become a holy temple (dwelling place, tabernacle) in the Lord. 

Jesus Christ is our individual tabernacle and the tabernacle of all Christians.

It's like individual houses growing into a large town.

Verse 22: "In whom you also are builded together for an  habitation of God through the Spirit."

We are being built into a dwelling place for God in his Spirit through Jesus Christ.

Chapter 2, verses 1-10, says, "You were this way, but you have become this way."

This is what God unilaterally accomplished in Christ.

Verses 11 and onward describe what is being accomplished for us.

Therefore, it uses the participle form, indicating that we are now in the state of progress as we continue along that path.

In other words, verses 1-10 are about things that happened unilaterally, without any of our own efforts. From verse 11 onward, it describes the good works we ought to do according to the calling of grace.

Written by Ptr. Yohan Kim.

Translated by  Nancy Kim

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