A Wall Broken-Down (v. 14-18)

Soreg – Paul has a very handy image that he can use to describe the inclusion of the Gentiles. He says that the middle wall of separation has been broken down. In the Jerusalem Temple, as you walked through the courtyard outside the Temple, you had pass through gate in a low wall the soreg. This wall was a picture of the barrier that separated sinful men (Gentiles) from God’s holiness (Jews).

Trophimus – In Acts 20, Paul leaves Ephesus right after the famous riot. And we are told that he takes seven companions with him on this trip. One of these companions was Trophimus (Acts 20:4, also mentioned in 2 Tim. 4:20). But in Acts 21:28-29, when Paul was arrested in the Temple, it was because they thought that he had brought Trophimus the Ephesian past the soreg.

Peace – Where there once was hostility, now there was to be peace (14, 17). Peace is literally completion, that sense of being brought together so that there is nothing lacking.

The Veil – However, on the night that Jesus died, what separation was removed? It wasn’t the soreg, it was the veil inside the Temple (Mat. 27:51). The soreg pointed to a more fundamental separation.

A Holy Temple (v. 19-22)

The Gentiles, who once were excluded from the Temple, are now, in Christ, being built into the Temple. Those who were once dead, aliens, strangers, hopeless, and far off have now been brought into that from which there were previously excluded.

There were two fundamental movements that are described here – being brought near and being brought up. Being brought near is just a picture of being brought up.

But look back at v. 11. “You who are called uncircumcision,” present tense. They are still currently treated as excluded by Jews. Jesus came as a stone, a stone that would be either a cornerstone on which we are built into a temple, or a stumbling stone on which we become offended.

What was the offense? The inclusion of the Gentiles was offensive because it necessarily implied the guilt of the Jews. The horizontal reconciliation that God requires of us is a way of underlining our need for vertical reconciliation. Rejecting the first will end with us rejecting the second.

The Church

Paul uses an assortment of images to help us understand the Church. It is a building, a temple, a man, a marriage, a family, a job, a kingdom, a mountain, a sea, a tree, a vine, etc. It is all of these things. And it is simply Jesus, who is our peace.

Death to Life

Last week we looked at how Paul understood that salvation is all wrapped up with the doctrine of resurrection. Because Jesus rose from the dead, and we are in him, we have risen from the dead. Salvation is a passing from death to life (2:1 and 2:5).

The Significance of Baptism

God taught the Israelites that if they wanted to be in fellowship with him, they had to be separated from the world of death. So God gave them a whole host of
rules and regulations that distinguished between Jews and Gentiles and made them live separately. And there was special care taken in any matter that dealt

directly with death or the dead. You washed everything that came in contact with the dead (Num. 19).

Baptism for the Dead

The Jews concluded that if you needed to be baptized when you have been touching something that is dead, then anyone who converted to being a Jew would need to be baptized, because Gentiles were all dead people.

This is why, in 1 Cor. 15, when Paul is confronting the people at Corinth who are denying the resurrection, he says to them, why do you then baptize for the dead (1 Cor. 15:29)? Paul isn’t talking about a separate special kind of baptism (as the Mormons teach). He is talking about the baptism that we all have received. All baptism is baptism for the dead. And Paul is saying, why would we go through this ceremony about separating ourselves from death if death if there is no resurrection?

Brought Near (2:11-13)

You who were once far off, who were once dead and excluded from this life, have now been brought near. Remember where God has taken you from. Maybe you don’t remember a moment of conversion. But surely you see what unbelief looks like. God has redeemed you from that. This is what you should talk to yourself about.

By Grace (2:8-10)

So conversion is about going from death to life. But if that is the case, then that says something about the very nature of conversion, doesn’t it? This means that it is totally, fully, solely, completely, accomplished by God alone and not with our contribution. “By grace you have been saved” (2:5). You see that connection? Because you were dead when God came for you, you contributed nothing.

Gratitude

This is why this is something that Paul is thanking God for. That’s what you do when something has been given to you. It is either gratitude or boasting (Luke
18:9-14).

Because of the Resurrection

Paul’s letter to the Ephesians was written when Paul was in prison. This was an imprisonment that began when he was arrested at the Temple, recounted in Acts 21 and 22. When Paul is questioned he asserts two things – first, that he has a clean conscience (Acts 23:1), and second, that he believes he is actually being arrested because of his belief in the resurrection of the dead (Acts 23:6).

Pharisees Versus Sadducees

This appeal to the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead revealed a division between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, a division which Paul seems to be
exploiting. The Sadducees only received the Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament, and rejected the oral tradition which was received by the Pharisees. Because of this, the Sadducees did not believe in angels, miracles, or the resurrection of the dead. The question is, when Paul appealed to the doctrine of the resurrection, was he bringing up the subject merely to exploit the difference between the two parties? Or was Paul really convinced that the doctrine of the resurrection was the reason for his persecution?

A Good Conscience and the Resurrection

Paul links a good conscience and the resurrection again in the next chapter, when he testifies before Felix, the Roman governor, where again maintains that it is because of the resurrection that he has been arrested (Acts 24:15-16, 21). In fact, throughout his letters, Paul regularly connects his message to the idea of the resurrection. But he does this most pointedly in his letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 15:12-19). Here Paul explains the close connection between the concept of a resurrection, the resurrection of Jesus, and the hope that we all can have of a good conscience.

Made Alive

This brings us to Paul’s letter to our text from Ephesians. In the previous chapter, Paul has just explained how the power that is at work in us is the same power that raised Christ from the dead (1:19-20). We have what Christ has because he is the head and we are the body (1:22-23).

2:1-3 Now, we who were once walking in death, have been made alive in Christ. This is true of both Gentile and Jew.
2:4-6 This resurrected life is made possible by the mercy of God, which flows from his eternal character.

2:7 And, lastly, this mercy is poured out on us with the purpose of preparing us for more grace.

Thankful

1:15-16. Paul blesses God in 1:3 for every spiritual blessing, which is enumerated in 1:3-14. And then Paul thanks God in 1:15, once again for what will be enumerated in the following verses. But specifically, he is thanking God for what has happened to the Ephesians.

Enlightenment

1:17-19. Paul describes what he is praying for when he prays for the Ephesians–a spirit of wisdom and revelation, enlightened understanding, and to know the hope, riches and glory that God has in store for us. This all describes a new frame of mind, a realization of what God has already done, not a set of steps in order to get God to do something

The Power Which God Worked in Christ

1:20-23. This power, which Paul says is at work in the Ephesians, is the same power that was at work in Christ, when he rose again from the dead and ascended into heaven. That the Messiah would conquer his enemies and then be enthroned, everyone knew. The Old Testament foretold it – Ps. 110:1.

Jesus conquered sin and death. That this is why he took on flesh, so that he could fight this fight on our behalf. He rose from the dead and then he ascended into heaven. And in heaven he now sits, with all of his enemies under his feet – Heb. 2:7-12.

What happened to Jesus is what happened to you (1:19-20). The power that was on display when Jesus rose from the dead (the Holy Spirit) is the power that is working in you now. The great victory that he won, you have won.

In the incarnation, when Jesus took on a body, he connected himself to us. Because of this union that we have with him, we are considered to be “in him.” This means that what Jesus has received, we receive, because we are in him. Everything that Jesus now has, you now have. That is why Paul has been saying that you were chosen, adopted, accepted, and beloved. The Son has come so that all the bless ings that he has from the Father are now yours.

And this is why Paul wants us to meditate on these things. The news is far, far better than what you think.