Ephesians – Part 3

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Revelation of God’s Mystery

In a polarized society, you may struggle to engage with those whose beliefs differ from yours. Ephesians 2:19 offers hope by reminding us we are all part of God’s household. This week, find a local group focused on dialogue and understanding among various beliefs. Attend an event and listen actively to others’ perspectives. This engagement not only embodies Yeshua’s love but also challenges you to create connections that transcend differences.

Grace to Live By

⁸ For you have been delivered by grace through trusting [1], and even this is not your accomplishment but God’s gift.

This grace is only available through faith. God’s grace is His unearned and unmerited favor and loving-kindness toward human beings. Included in this grace is the gift of having enough faith to believe in the Good News of Yeshua the Messiah; yet this gift is not restricted to a few but is available to everyone (Titus 2:11). When a person is trusting in this Good News, that is evidence that God’s grace has in fact come to apply individually to them. To the extent that we are trusting, God can mold us, so that we become of God’s making, able to carry out the good actions already prepared by God for us to do. If we don’t do these good actions, it shows that we are not Believers after all. There is no such thing as faith apart from the works to which faith must lead.

⁹ You were not delivered by your own actions; therefore, no one should boast.

You were not delivered by your own actions; therefore, no one should boast. “What room is left for boasting? None at all” (Romans 3:27, in response to Romans 3:21–26). “Therefore—as the Tanakh says—‘Let anyone who wants to boast, boast about Adonai’ ” (1 Corinthians 1:31, quoting Jeremiah 9:23(24) in response to 1 Corinthians 1:17–30).

¹⁰ For we are of God’s making, created in union with the Messiah Yeshua for a life of good actions already prepared by God for us to do.

Although good works do not save us, we are saved for good works.

 

Barrier Broken

¹¹ Therefore, remember your former state: you Gentiles by birth, called the Uncircumcised by those who, merely because of an operation on their flesh, are called the Circumcised—¹² at that time had no Messiah. You were estranged from the national life of Isra’el. You were foreigners to the covenants embodying God’s promise. You were in this world without hope and without God.

Gentiles by flesh: Not only were the Gentiles morally separated from God (Ephesians 2:1–3), but they were also separated from God’s covenant people, the Jews. They were without any knowledge of Yeshua. They had no rights in God’s family and were not recipients of God’s covenants. They were without hope and ultimately without God. Paul did not reproach the Gentiles for their plight; he merely recorded the sad truth of the matter.

¹³ But now, you who were once far off have been brought near through the shedding of the Messiah’s blood. ¹⁴ For He Himself is our shalom—He has made us both one and has broken down the m’chitzah [2]which divided us ¹⁵ by destroying in His own body the enmity occasioned by the Torah, with its commands set forth in the form of ordinances. He did this in order to create in union with himself from the two groups a single new humanity and thus make shalom, ¹⁶ and in order to reconcile to God both in a single body by being executed on a stake as a criminal and thus in himself killing that enmity.

The shedding of Yeshua’s blood not only brings people near to God, but it can also bring Jews and Gentiles closer to one another. I know that it has been in my life. Going to Isra’el in 2000, my wife and I were so encouraged to start a Messianic Jewish Congregation upon our return stateside. Yeshua has made us both one and broken down that m’chitzah.

¹⁷ Also, when He came, He announced as Good News shalom to you far off and shalom to those nearby, (Isaiah 57:19) ¹⁸ news that through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.

The reason we have racial, ethnic, gender, and class divisions in our churches is that we have not fully and properly understood the Cross. The atoning death of Yeshua is God’s emulsifier to bring into harmony those who wouldn’t otherwise mix.

Yeshua Our Corner Stone

¹⁹ So then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers. On the contrary, you are fellow-citizens with God’s people and members of God’s family.

Believers are no longer foreigners and strangers but have been made fellow citizens and members of God’s household. Personally, I know that is very true in the church we currently attend.

²⁰ You have been built on the foundation of the emissaries and the prophets, with the cornerstone being Yeshua the Messiah Himself. ²¹ In union with Him, the whole building is held together, and it is growing into a holy temple in union with the Lord. ²² Yes, in union with him, you yourselves are being built together into a spiritual dwelling-place for God! ^[3]

Sha’ul’s final illustration of unity is a building. The church is built on the foundation of the Emissaries and the Prophets. They laid the foundation by recording and proclaiming the Word of God.

In our next post, we continue to examine Sha’ul’s Letter to the Ephesians.

Click here for the PDF version.

^[1] Stern uses “trusting” to replace “faith.”

^[2] This refers to the partition or divider that separates the women’s and men’s sections in Orthodox Jewish synagogues. Here, it just means the separation of Jews and Gentiles.

^[3] Ephesians 2:8–22.