Ephesians 2:11–18 · WEB Classic
11 Therefore remember that once you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “uncircumcision” by that which is called “circumcision” (in the flesh, made by hands), 12 that you were at that time separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off are made near in the blood of Christ. 14 For he is our peace, who made both one, and broke down the middle wall of separation,
15 having abolished in his flesh the hostility, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man of the two, making peace, 16 and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, having killed the hostility through it. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far off and to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.
Paul tells Gentile believers to remember their former condition. They were called uncircumcision by those who bore circumcision in the flesh. The distinction involved a real covenant sign, but the language had also become a way of identifying outsiders. Those who possessed the sign could use it to speak contemptuously of people who did not.
The Gentiles were separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world. Paul does not mean they had no religion. They could have plenty of gods and still be without the true God. Their problem was exclusion from the saving relationship and promises through which God was bringing his purpose to fulfillment.
The covenants belong to a particular history. When God calls Abraham, he promises descendants, a land, and blessing reaching the families of the earth (Genesis 12:1–3). Abraham does not begin as the patriarch of a substantial nation. God is promising to create the people through whom the blessing will come. The promise is enlarged and confirmed in Genesis 15 and 17, and Israel’s later history takes place within that divine commitment.
At Sinai, the descendants brought out of Egypt receive the covenant that orders their life as God’s people. They have commandments, a priesthood, sacrifices, and a sanctuary where God makes his presence known (Exodus 19–25). Centuries later, God promises David an enduring royal house and a son whose throne he will establish (2 Samuel 7:12–16). The prophets address the sins and judgments of this same people while announcing forgiveness, renewal, and the coming reign of God. Jeremiah speaks of a new covenant, and Isaiah describes the servant bringing salvation to the ends of the earth (Jeremiah 31:31–34; Isaiah 49:6).
Now consider what Paul’s Gentile readers had been outside. This was the history in which the promise of the Messiah had been carried, clarified, and preserved. They had not merely missed a few religious festivals. They stood outside the covenant people through whom God was making his saving purpose known. Paul tells them to remember the distance because he wants them to understand what being brought near actually means.
Those covenants are related without being interchangeable. Sinai does not cancel the promise to Abraham, and the promise of a Davidic king has its own place within the history. Paul makes the first distinction explicit in Galatians 3:17: the law given later cannot annul God’s earlier promise. The Messiah’s arrival fulfills a purpose greater than the period during which the Mosaic covenant distinguished Israel from the nations.
The promise to Abraham already named the nations as beneficiaries. Their former exclusion was therefore never the final boundary of God’s purpose. Galatians 3:8 identifies the promise of blessing to the nations as an announcement beforehand of justification through faith. The historical distinction between Israel and the nations prepared the setting in which Israel’s Messiah would become the blessing of both. The gospel’s welcome fulfills that promised generosity.
Being brought near by Christ’s blood means receiving access through the event that answers guilt and establishes the new covenant. Gentiles do not gain nearness by discovering a forgotten bloodline or becoming culturally indistinguishable from Jewish neighbors. Their relationship changes because the crucified Messiah reconciles them to God. The contrast between far and near concerns genuine access to the living God, not merely a warmer social welcome.
Remembering this condition keeps their inclusion from becoming a reason for pride. Gentile believers owe their place in the promises to Israel’s Messiah. Gratitude is the fitting response to being brought near; contempt for the people through whom those promises came contradicts the history of the gift.
One new humanity
Christ himself is our peace. He has made the two one and broken down the dividing wall of hostility. Paul explains the reconciliation through Christ’s flesh and the abolition of the law of commandments in ordinances. The Mosaic covenant’s commandments had distinguished Israel from the nations. Christ’s death removes that covenantal division as the boundary governing access to God.
The temple in Jerusalem gave separation a visible expression. Josephus describes a stone barrier with notices prohibiting foreigners from entering the inner sanctuary precincts (Jewish War 5.193–194). Acts 21:27–29 records the accusation that Paul had brought a Greek into the temple, based upon an assumption about Trophimus. The hostility surrounding Gentile access was something people could encounter in a particular place. Paul’s wall language may evoke that barrier, although he explains the separation more broadly through hostility and the law rather than identifying a particular piece of masonry.
The law named here is not merely a collection of later customs invented by prejudiced people. Paul speaks of commandments expressed in ordinances. Christ’s cross changes the covenantal standing of the Mosaic law as a system governing the distinct people under it. Circumcision, food regulations, sacrifices, and the ordered approach to the sanctuary belonged within that administration. Requiring Gentiles to come under that covenant in order to approach God would rebuild the distinction Christ has overcome.
Yet the removal of the Mosaic covenant as the governing order does not make lying, theft, adultery, or hatred acceptable. God’s moral character does not expire when a covenant reaches fulfillment. Paul teaches believers under Christ’s lordship and explicitly appeals to the command to honor parents in 6:2–3. A command can express enduring moral truth without requiring the church to enter the entire Sinai covenant under which Israel received it. The new covenant brings forgiveness and God’s law written upon the heart; it does not establish a moral vacuum (Jeremiah 31:31–34).
Christ’s stated purpose is to create the two in himself into one new man, making peace, and reconcile both to God in one body through the cross. The two groups do not receive separate saving destinies in parallel covenant communities. Believing Jews and believing Gentiles belong to one new humanity in the Messiah. Their different histories remain real, but those histories do not establish different levels of access to the Father.
Nor does this mean unbelieving people automatically enjoy reconciliation because of their ancestry. Both groups are reconciled through Christ. Gentile inclusion does not create a salvation apart from Israel’s Messiah, and Jewish ancestry does not create a salvation apart from him either. The same cross answers the guilt of both.
One access to the Father
Christ proclaimed peace to those far away and peace to those near. The language recalls Isaiah 57:19, where God speaks peace to the far and the near and promises healing. Paul identifies the fulfillment in Christ’s reconciling work. The nations’ inclusion belongs within God’s promised restoration rather than arriving as an unrelated second project.
Through Christ both have access in one Spirit to the Father. The sentence gives the practical meaning of peace. The barrier is removed, the hostility is answered, and people who once stood apart now approach the same Father through the same Son in the same Spirit.
There is no separate entrance through which the less desirable members must apply. Both groups receive access through the same Son, in the same Spirit, to the same Father. If someone insists that another believer may come near only after acquiring the right ancestry, he is adding a qualification the cross has removed. If he treats that believer as a tolerated inconvenience, he is denying in his relationships what he confesses in his theology.
A church that preserves contempt while celebrating this passage has missed its demand. We cannot confess that Christ has made one people and then treat fellow believers as permanent outsiders because of background, ethnicity, or social standing. The cross has settled who may draw near. We do not get to rebuild the wall because we liked having a place above somebody else.