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

For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, 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, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.

Ephesians 2:11-18 NKJV

2:11 “Therefore remember…” Paul moves on to the next building block of his message. There is an ethnic component to this statement that needs to be considered. A Gentile is any ethnicity foreign to ethnic Israel. Paul is reminding the Ephesians who they were according to the flesh. Bible teachers have taken this in a lot of different directions throughout Church history. Many would argue that by receiving Jesus, the non-Jew becomes the full inheritor of the promises given to ethnic Israel, yet this is not what Paul is saying. The next few verses highlight Paul’s intended meaning.

2:12 Our previous condition was separation from the Jewish throne of Christ. We were complete foreigners concerning the laws and citizen rights of national Israel. We belonged to an ethnicity disconnected from Jewish covenant. We possessed no earthly birthright from God.

2:13 Now, in Christ, we have been brought near to the Jewish inheritance by the blood of Christ.

2:14(a) “For He Himself is our peace.” Jesus Himself is what knits us together in wholeness.

2:14(b) Jesus makes both (Jew and Gentile) one.

2:14(c) The phrase “has broken down” is just one word in the Greek, which is: lysas. This word means to loose or to untie. It is the same word used in Matthew 16:19, when Jesus taught the disciples about binding and loosing. Jesus untied the hostility between Jew and Gentile. What is this middle wall of hostility/alienation?

2:15 The enmity which Jesus “untied” in His flesh (human ministry) was the law of commandments contained in ordinances. He did this to create one new man from the Jew and the Gentile, and in doing so He knit Jew and Gentile together in wholeness/peace.

The idea of “one new man” does not remove that which distinguishes the Jew from the Gentile. Both remain their “Jewishness” and “Gentile-ness”, or in other words they keep their ethnic identities (and the earthly inheritance that comes with it). The primary change of condition is the removal of enmity between Jew and Gentile. In other words, Jesus removed the division that stands in the way of peace, fellowship, and unity between those who have been made alive together.

2:16 By making peace, God fully reconciles us. This means that God restores an attitude of honor and well opinion towards one another among us. This is a major emphasis of what Jesus did on the cross. Yes, He became our salvation, but He also bought our wholeness unto Him and to one another. Jesus not only healed the relationship between God and man on the cross, but He also healed the relationship between man and man.

2:17 Christ preached to the “far off/alien” and to those who were near. This passage is transitional, and a reminder that we are still addressing both Jews and Gentiles.

2:18 In Christ alone both Jew and Gentile have access by the same Spirit to the same Father. This is the pinnacle of the message. It is in unity with one another that we have the greatest access possible to Father God. We have been gathered into adoption unto the Father by one Spirit, and by the same Spirit we have access to Him.