THE BOOK OF EPHESIANS |
Chapter 2:1-10 LESSON 7 - REVIEW
The Church As The Temple Of Christ, Part-1
Recap:
The Church As The Temple of Christ,
2:1-22
The Temple Architecture, 2:1-10 (Lesson 07)
THE INTRODUCTION
The Chapter as a
whole is labeled “The Church As The
Temple of Christ.” In the last lesson we covered the first half of chapter 2
labeled “The Temple Architecture,” and that took us as far as verse 10, with a
brief look at verses 11-12.
We are the Temple
of Jesus Christ and we have Jesus Christ as
the foundation of this Temple and He
indeed is the “Corner Stone.” In building structures, the corner stone is exactly
a square. It is set in a prominent corner of the foundation – before any of the
building is constructed. It is from this square stone that the straight paths of
the sides can be visualized and laid. Distances are measured from the front
outside corner, and angles are judged using the perfect square of the corner
stone.
It is Jesus, our
Lord, who sets the standard for
building His Church – Like the Temple
in the future -- Perfect, Holy, Steadfast, Alive, and Living for Him – All to
the Glory of God The Father who has put all things under His (Jesus’) authority
and submission.
Imagine this Temple
of Christ, the Church, with one of our
personal names on each block that builds the entire structure.
We are His Church.
We looked at
MacCorkle’s rendering of the Chapter’s outline. There he focused upon the first
10 verses of Chapter 2 as presenting the “Temple Architecture” as being made up
of three kinds of humans: The Spiritually dead; the Spiritually Disobedient; and
the Spiritually Desirous (of everything other than the Lord God). We found out
that God is the contractor building this structure we call “The Church,” and
that He worked out His wrath against these humans through the great wealth of
His grace and the great power of His love for them – through the substitutionary
sacrifice of His only, born as a human, Son, Jesus. We also found that this new
structure work was absolutely guaranteed through God’s amazing Grace, seeing
that non of the work is actually done by any of His “Called” workers. This
structure is entirely a “New Creation.”
We also took a very
brief look at the first two verses we’ll be studying next.
LESSON 8
Part 1 of 2 - The Temple Appointments, 2:11-18
1.
A Study in Contrasts 2:11-12
a. The Ceremonial
Aspects 2:11
b. The Covenant
Aspects 2:12
2:11, THE STUDY
A Study in Contrasts, 2:11-12
a. The Ceremonial Aspects, 2:11
End of Chapter 2:1-10 gave us:
“For we (believers)
are His (the Father’s) workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”
(2:11,
Mac)
For
which reason,
keep in mind
that you were
formerly Gentiles
in terms of the flesh,
being called uncircumcision
by those called circumcision:
(that was) made by hands in the flesh,
(2:11,
NASB)
Therefore
remember, that
formerly you
who, the Gentiles
by birth and
called "uncircumcised"
by those who call themselves "the circumcision"
(that done in the body by the hands of men)
Commentary:
Remember - You Were Excluded
This set of verses starts with Paul's familiar expression,
"Therefore..." Chapter 2:4-10 (earlier studies) highlighted The Father's works
such that "The Father might show His grace" (2:7). He then noted that the works
of Man are NOT involved in that process (2:9), it is instead, "the gift of God"
(2:8).
That paragraph ends with "We are the Father's workmanship - In
Christ" - and that we were made to DO the FATHER'S good works (2:10).
"THEREFORE, REMEMBER"
As Paul
addresses the Ephesian church he addresses largely Gentiles, and it is time to
remind them of just who they were before their belief in Jesus.
Gentiles by birth
Paul brings up
their non-Hebrew heritage. The Gentile was not born into an Hebrew family. Paul
makes mention of "circumcision" as that was the sign that God gave to the
Hebrews, through Moses and the Law, that would show them as Hebrews. Paul takes
circumcision "off the table" as the symbol of sanctification. Other cultures
also practiced circumcision, but for the Hebrew male it was for a "sign." It was
a ritual marking upon him that was supposed to remind him that he belonged to
God, had a circumcised heart (a heart cut-out and set aside for God) and was a
member of a covenant community. The very physical act of circumcision was
performed by another man and not by God. We should see in this that the
circumcised heart was also man's business. It would have to be man who
circumcised his heart and not God.
Those of this Jewish community called
the gentiles the "un-circumcised." This was a negative term to them as it
implied that the Gentile did not have a circumcised heart, did not belong to the
covenant community, and outwardly demonstrated that by the lack of physical
circumcision. Oddly enough, it was the vast majority of the Jews who did not
have the circumcised heart for God, as that was what led them into captivity in
the first place. They believed that following the Law of Moses made them "holy,"
and had forgotten God.
“For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation”
(Galatians 6:15).
There are seven things Paul
pointed that Gentiles, historically suffered in these following areas:
1 They were Gentiles, not Jews
2 They were considered the "Un-circumcision" by the Jews
3 The were separate from and without the promised Messiah, Christ
4 They were excluded from the commonwealth of Israel
5 They were strangers of the covenants of the promise
6 They had no hope (Those things that were future for Israel)
7 They were without God (He had made His covenant with the Children of
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob)
Because of these disabilities they were "far off."
2:12, THE STUDY
A Study in Contrasts 2:11-12
a. The Ceremonial Aspects 2:11
b. The Covenant Aspects,
2:12
2:12 [MAC]
because in that
season
you were separated from Messiah,
[you
were] excluded from Israel's State, and
[you
were] ignorant of the covenants based upon the promise,
[you
were] not possessing any hope, and
[you
were] without God's help
in the world-system.
2:12 [NASB]
[You] remember that at that time
you were
separate from Christ,
excluded (Alt., "alienated") from
citizenship in Israel and
foreigners to the covenants of the
promise and
without hope and
without God
in the world
THE COMMENTARY
This means more
than that they (we) were heathen,
destitute of the knowledge and
expectation of the Messiah. As Christ is the
only redeemer of men, and the
only mediator between God and man, to be
without Christ, was to be
without redemption and
without access to God. To possess
Christ, to be in Him, is the sum of all
blessedness; to be without Christ makes you
all evil.
As the heathen were
not included in the covenant God made with His people, they held
no possession of the promise and
no part in the execution of which
that covenant secured. Their condition was therefore most deplorable. They had
nothing to hope, because they were shut out of the covenant of promise. The
promise of God is the only foundation of hope, and therefore those to whom there
is no promise, have
no hope.
And having no hope
of redemption, the great blessing promised, they were, in the widest sense of
the word, hopeless. They were
moreover without God. This meant that
they were atheists, in so far that they were destitute of the knowledge of the
true God, and served those who by nature were not gods. Jehovah was not their
God; they had no interest in Him, they were without Him. They stood outside of
that community which belonged to God, who knew and worshipped Him, to whom His
promises were made, and in the midst of whom He dwelt. In every point,
therefore, their condition as heathen afforded a melancholy contrast to that of
the true people of God, and to that into which they had been introduced by the
Gospel. Their alienation was from God and his covenant.
"(therefore,)
REMEMBER" (as in Verse 11)
Separate from Christ
Paul calls upon the
Ephesians to "remember" this list.
1.
Separate from Christ, unable to be with Him or in Him.
The Gentiles did not have the advantage of being a part of the "Nation of Israel." Two thousand years earlier God loved a man named Abram who trusted God and as a result God called him to be the "Father" of many nations. God made promises to Abram, his son Isaac, and his grandson Jacob that would ensure the longevity of both the Nation of Israel and its land. That family line became the Hebrew people, and they became the family line of the Messiah. God was with those people in a special way that he was not with the other nations of the world - the Hebrew were His people, and He dwelt among them. So, therefore, the Gentiles were not "in the covenant family" of God and His Son Jesus the Christ.
2.
Excluded, Gentiles were not citizens of Israel.
The Gentile was
"excluded" by the Hebrew people. Paul says in the Book of Romans, "How, then,
can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in
the one whom they have not heard?" (Romans 10:14). This is the condition the
Gentile was in, and because they were not "children of Abraham," the Hebrew
people (the Jews) excluded them from participating in their lives and religion.
Some, very few, were allowed to join with the Jews through the process of
proselytism, where a Gentile joined with the nation in the worship of the One
True God - but even then, the Gentile was never given full citizenship
(belonging).
3. Foreigners to the covenant of
Promise, no blessings promised except general.
The Gentile world
would be blessed by God through the nation of Israel but would not receive any
promises of blessings directly from God.
4. Without hope, no hope of being a
member of "God's people."
The "Hope" of the
Hebrew was the Messiah who was to come and free the Nation from sin, evil, and
death. Then the establishment of His Kingdom would be upon the earth. But there
was no mention of the place of the Gentile in that plan - except always separate
from the Hebrew.
5. Without God, they did not worship the
God of the Jewish people.
The Gentile world,
as a rule, never embraced the One True God. God had His Gentile priesthood
(Melchizedek for example) but as a rule the Gentiles became "a law unto
themselves" (Romans 2:14). They simply did not worship Jehovah ("there is no god
but Caesar").
6. They were "in the world," with No god
but impotent idols.
Our modern phrase
for this is, "Anything but God."
“Circumcision made with hands”
It should be noted
that the specific part of “the Covenant” that Paul was addressing was the Mosaic
covenant of Law. It was the main barrier causing the hostility between the Jews
and the Gentiles. Wrongly, the early church was called upon by the Judaizers to
include the “customs of Moses” (the Law). The Apostles fought this intrusion to
Christianity.[1]
2:13, THE STUDY
The Temple Appointments 2:11-18
A Study in Contrasts 2:11-12
The Ceremonial Aspects 2:11
The Covenant Aspects 2:12
A Study in Combinations 2:13-18
One New Position, 2:13
2:13
[MAC]
But right now,
in
Messiah Jesus,
you
who were formerly far away
have been brought near
by the blood of Messiah.
2:13
[NASB]
“But now
in
Christ Jesus
you
who formerly were far off
have been brought near
by the blood of Christ.”
THE COMMENTARY
BUT NOW!
Paul leads off this
sentence with that transitional conjunction
"But" and emphasizes it with the immediate "now." He's emphasizing
the "back then VS. now" aspect of this truth. The "but" defines that this is a change
from that past.
Back then - you
Gentiles were far away from God.
But now! - you Gentiles have been brought
near, as the Jews had been before.
There was a time
when the people of Israel were brought near to God and He dwelt among them. But
now, through the Blood of Christ, the
Gentile believer has been brought "near" to God. Paul makes it clear that
the "Gentiles" that he is referring to are
believers when he calls them "you Gentiles," not just any Gentiles,
but "you" Gentiles - members of the
Ephesian Body of Christ.
How you
feel about the Christ (God) does not
enter into this discussion. You can
"feel" close to God, and many non-believers
feel "close to God," but you may not
GET close to God without being "IN" the
blood of Christ (the Blood of the New Covenant), being "IN" Jesus The
Christ. One must be a "God Believer, in
Christ" in order to BE close to God. When that happens, it doesn't matter
how you "feel" about it. Once you are
a member of the Spiritual Body of Christ -
you belong, and you
ARE close to Christ, close to God.
God met the 7
Gentile sufferings,(separation, exclusion, etc., Verse 12) and racial hatred
through the death of Christ. Upon that basis, God has brought about a great
model of union, namely, the Church. This proved to the world what His love and
grace could do.
There are two
separate truths here: the available
reconciliation and the actual
reconciliation.
First (the availability of salvation)
These seven
sufferings were removed at the cross for all Gentiles and thus God was able,
through the cross, to reconcile the world
to Himself and make salvation
available to all who would believe.
Second (the actuality of salvation)
The nature of the
offer requires that the anyone desiring the salvation that God has offered,
through the death of His Son Jesus on the Cross, would evaluate God's offer and
believe, henceforth becoming
reconciled to the demands of God. At that point God would be reconciled to
the individual, and the individual would be reconciled to God, and
through the act of belief be
proclaimed righteous, acquiring the
offered salvation.
The picture here is
that the Jews before the cross were "near" to God in
external relationship in that through
the covenant they had, the sacrifices, the blood of atonement, and could get to
God by the one step of faith; whereas
Gentiles had no sacrifices, no blood of the atonement (etc.) and, ceremonially
and externally, were "afar off. " It was very unlikely that they would become
"proselytes of the gate" and get in (Proselyte, Gk. “One who has come over”).
2:14a, THE STUDY
The Temple Appointments 2:11-18
A Study in Contrasts 2:11-12
The Ceremonial Aspects 2:11
The Covenant Aspects 2:12
A Study in Combinations 2:13-18
One New Position, 2:13
One New Mediation 2:14a
2:14
[NASB]
For
He (Jesus) Himself
is our peace,
2:14
[MAC]
For
He
[Jesus], and no other,
is our peace.
THE COMMENTARY
Verse 14 begins
with the word “For.” This indicates that an explanation “for” a change from
being “far away,” to “made near.” The rest of the verse tells us of this change.
He (Jesus) Himself
is our peace, our mediator, our propitiation.
“The cross has
rendered God propitious (Gracious) toward the unsaved as well as toward the
erring saint (1 John 2:2). The fact that God has borne all sin renders God
propitious (Luke 19:13; Hebrews 2:17). Now, God does not have to be asked to be
propitious (graceful and forgiving), because He has become so through the death
of Christ.”[1]
Douglas McCorkle
reminds us that Christ is not just the peace maker - but He is peace itself (MacCorkle,
Douglas, God's Special Secret - a commentary on the book of Ephesians, p. 85)
2:14b, THE STUDY
The Temple Appointments 2:11-18
A Study in Contrasts 2:11-12
The Ceremonial Aspects 2:11
The Covenant Aspects 2:12
A Study in Combinations 2:13-18
One New Position, 2:13
One New Mediation 2:14a
One New Grouping 2:14b
2:14b
[NASB]
He [Jesus]
made both categories [into] one organism and
destroyed the barrier of the dividing wall of hostility,
2:14b
[MAC]
and (He)
having in His crucified flesh dissolved the hostility, that is, having
broken down the middle wall of separation,
THE COMMENTARY
Verse fourteen
brings in the image that represents the truth of the tearing down of the
"dividing wall."
After King
David, his son, King Solomon, built the first “Temple of The Lord” using
the Tabernacle as his “image” for the building. The inner temple was for
Jews only. Outside the entrance to the inner temple was a walled-off area
known as the Courtyard of the Gentiles. It was in this area that the money
changers, animal inspectors, animal retailers, and a mixture of Gentiles
and Jews doing business. However, no non-Jew was allowed to enter the main
part of the Temple.
In Jesus’s
time, "the dividing wall of the barrier," (the first outer court of Herod's
temple, a stone barrier enclosing the inner court, shoulder high, with a
sign "No Gentile allowed within under penalty of death."
This sign was upheld by Jewish and Roman Law.
The outer court was the place of the money changers and animal
inspection and sales. It is this stone embattlement that divided the
courtyard between the inner temple and the outer Gentiles that is the
symbolic object that the death of Christ "tore down."
The imagery
here is not that of the inner veil that split in two at the death of
Christ. While the meanings are similar, the imagery here concerns the
joining of the two peoples and not the removal of the barrier into the
Throne of God and the Mercy Seat of Christ.
Isaiah 56:3-8
Let not the
foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say, “The LORD will surely
separate me from His people.” Nor let the eunuch say, “Behold, I am a dry
tree.” 4 For thus says the LORD, “To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, And
choose what pleases Me, And hold fast My covenant, 5 To them I will give in
My house and within My walls a memorial, And a name better than that of
sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name which will not be
cut off. 6 “Also the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, To
minister to Him, and to love the name of the LORD, To be His servants,
every one who keeps from profaning the Sabbath And holds fast My covenant;
7 Even those I will bring to My holy mountain And make them joyful in My
house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be
acceptable on My altar; For My house will be called a house of prayer for
all the peoples.” 8 The Lord GOD, who gathers the dispersed of Israel,
declares, “Yet others I will gather to them, to those already gathered.”
2:15, THE STUDY
The Church As The Temple Of Christ,
2:1-22
The Temple Architecture, 2:1-10 (Lesson 07)
The Temple Appointments 2:11-18
A Study in Contrasts 2:11-12
The Ceremonial Aspects 2:11
The Covenant Aspects 2:12
A Study in Combinations 2:13-18
One New Position, 2:13
One New Mediation 2:14a
One New Grouping 2:14b
One New
Mankind, 2:15
Verses 15 and
16 are tied together, but we'll deal with each one separately for this
study.
2:15
[MAC]
(Jesus)
having rendered inoperative the law of commandments
expressed in ordinances,
He purposed
by this action
to create the two parties
into one new mankind,
in Himself —
thus making peace,
2:15
[NASB]
(Jesus)
by abolishing
in His flesh
the enmity
which is the Law with its commandments
contained in ordinances,
His (Jesus’)
purpose
in Himself
was that
He might make
(Lit., "create")
one new man out of the two,
thus, establishing peace, and….
THE COMMENTARY
By Abolishing - in His flesh
How did this
happen? The Death of Christ accomplished this. Upon His death God is
satisfied with the individual based upon that individual's free choice to
Love God instead of self. The manner of love must be through believing
Jesus Christ. Notice the wording here, "believing Jesus Christ," not just
"believing IN Jesus Christ." For belief in Christ is implied in believing
Jesus Christ. Faith is the process of believing the promises God has made
that all culminate IN His Son Jesus.
It is easy to
believe in Jesus, even the devil does that. But believing what Jesus said,
and what God has said concerning Himself and His Son is an entirely
different matter.
As an example:
when Abrahm was called of God - a gentile (for there was no Hebrew or
Jewish nation at the time). When God said pick-up your stuff and move to
this other city, Haran, where I will lead you - Abraham picked-up his stuff
and moved to this other city where God led him. Abraham BELIEVED God. When
God spoke, Abraham listened and was obedient to God, he believed that God
was who He said He was, and that if God said, 'Pick-up your stuff and move
over there," Abraham believed that God had that right to ask him of this,
and Abraham obeyed God, because he Believed Him.
Because Christ
would eventually (speaking from the time of Abraham) die on the Cross
(paying the price for sin and sins against God), God was able to witness
Abraham's BELIEF and PROCLAIM Abraham RIGHTEOUS. Paul speaks of the enmity
brought forth with the institution of the Laws that God gave Moses. He,
Paul, says that the Law can only bring judgment and death, especially when
ultimately the Law says that every offense is a Capital offence. Since man
cannot live by the Law, he becomes an enemy of God's Law (The very
character of God Himself).
With the death
of Christ that "enmity" is abolished for those who believe that which is
defined as belief (believing Jesus Christ). This "belief" is now extended
to both Jew and Gentile.
Why? In order
that God may now consider not only the believing Jew as righteous, but also
a believing Gentile - One New Mankind, which is neither Gentile or Jew but
a member of the Body of Christ.
HOMEWORK: |
LOOK AT THE QUESTION AND IGNORE
THE ANSWER… THEN STUDY THE ANSWER!
(2:11)
"Therefore
remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Uncircumcision”
by the so-called “Circumcision,” which is performed in the flesh by human
hands—"
Q-1 What is the "Therefore" there for?
A-1 Makes us remember -
that it is The Father's Grace that has placed us into the Body of Christ,
and that it was a simple gift from Him.
Q-2
Who are the "uncircumcised?"
A-2 The Gentiles.
Q-3 Why?
A-3 Because God gave the "sign" of
circumcision to the Children of Jacob, through Isaac, through Abraham, but
not until the time of the giving of God's Law by Moses at Sinai.
(2:12)
“remember
that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the
commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having
no hope and without God in the world.”
Q-1 What were the characteristics of the "before Christ" Gentile?
A-1 Separate from Christ, Excluded from
Israel, No Covenant, No Hope, Without God.
(2:13)
Think About This:
Therefore: Saved by God to demonstrate His grace and accomplish
His good works
remember you were called uncircumcised
separate
excluded
without hope
without God
in the world
The Holy Buts: But Now
In Christ
brought near
FOR
He is our peace
He made the two one
He destroyed the barrier
He abolished the Law
His Purpose
to create one new man out of two, making peace
in one body to reconcile the two
The cross put the hostility to death
The Tabernacle and the courts
He came and preached peace to far and near (both)
FOR
through Him we have access - by one spirit
Consequently - no longer foreigners
no longer aliens
BUT
citizens - with God's people and God's household
built on Foundation of Apostles and prophets, and Christ Himself - the
Keystone
He is central figure - the whole thing is a temple in the Lord
similarly you too are being built
as a dwelling
in which God lives, by His spirit.
(2:13)
“But now in
Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the
blood of Christ.”
Q-1 What two words tell us that something has changed in the Gentile
believer's relationship to God?
A-1 "But, Now"
Q-2 What two
phrases describe that change?
A-2 "Once you were far away," "have
been brought near."
Q-3
Through what agency did this take place?
A-3 Through the Blood of
Christ.
(2:14)
“For He
Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the
barrier of the dividing wall,”
Q-1 In the context of the verse...
How is Jesus Christ our peace?
A-1 His blood removed the "dividing wall of
hostility" between the Jew and the Gentile believer.
Q-2 Can you describe how John 3:16
relates to this verse?
A-2 The death of God's Son on the Cross
brought about the reconciliation of God to the World. Both Jew and Gentile
now had equal opportunity, without the issue of sin, to be reconciled with
and to believe in Jehovah.
(2:15)
“by
abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments
contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one
new man, thus establishing peace,”
Q-1 How could one be saved while
the Law ruled?
A-1 As long as the
law was the standard no man could be saved - the law could only condemn -
sin had to be atoned for the Jew awaiting redemption.
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The Book of Ephesians
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The Outline and Expanded Translation Text presented in this study is from
Dr. MacCorkle's God's Special Secret - The Case Paul Argues in the Epistle
to the Ephesians, Copyright
1993 by Douglas B. MacCorkle. Printed and bound in the United States of
America. Published by the not-for-profit MacCorkle bible Ministries, Inc.
Books, P.O. Box 320909, Cocoa Beach, Fl. 32932-0909.
Jeremiah 18:15
"Don't stumble
from the Ancient Path.”