Unified In Christ Series

Unified in Christ

Ephesians 2:11-22

Ephesians 2:11 (NLT)

Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders by birth. You were called "the uncircumcised ones" by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts.

Born an Outsider

Status was based on the external

• Uncircumcised

• Considered unclean

• Unchosen

• Separated from God’s favor

• Circumcised

• Thought of themselves and pure as righteous

• Nationality

• Religious practice

 The heart remained unchanged

Ephesians 2:12 (NLT)

In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from God’s people, Israel, and you did not know the promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope.

Separated from Christ

Living without Christ

• Separation from the blessings of God

• Separation from the promises of God

• A life without hope

Lack of Unity

• Prejudice

• Separation

Ephesians 2:13 (NLT)

But now you belong to Christ Jesus. Though you once were far away from God, now you have been brought near to him because of the blood of Christ.

You Belong

Your life was bought with a price

• Paid for by Jesus

• The price was his body and blood

No longer distant

• Sin separates man from God

• Jesus paid the price of sin

• Abolishing the divide

• Drawing you close to God

Ephesians 2:14 (NLT)

For Christ himself has made peace between us Jews and you Gentiles by making us all one people. He has broken down the wall of hostility that used to separate us.

Jesus the Mediator

Breaking down the wall of hostility

• The ground is level at the foot of the cross

• All have sinned and come short of God’s glory

We are one

• Through Christ the Jew and Gentile have been brought together as the body of Christ

• The body works together for the glory of Christ

Ephesians 2:15-16 (NLT)

By his death he ended the whole system of Jewish law that excluded the Gentiles. His purpose was to make peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new person from the two groups. [16] Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.

No Longer Under the Law

The law brought exclusion

• The gentile was condemned by exclusion

• The Jew was condemned by failure to comply

• Romans 3:20

Romans 3:20 (NLT)

For no one can ever be made right in God’s sight by doing what his law commands. For the more we know God’s law, the clearer it becomes that we aren’t obeying it.

No Longer Under the Law

The law brought exclusion

• The gentile was condemned by exclusion

• The Jew was condemned by failure to comply

• Romans 3:20

Living in grace

• The law no longer separates but unifies

• Romans 7:4

Romans 7:4 (NLT)

So this is the point: The law no longer holds you in its power, because you died to its power when you died with Christ on the cross. And now you are united with the one who was raised from the dead. As a result, you can produce good fruit, that is, good deeds for God.

Ephesians 2:17-18 (NLT)

He has brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and to us Jews who were near. [18] Now all of us, both Jews and Gentiles, may come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.

The Good News

The message is for all people

• Jew

• Gentile

• No one is excluded

Only through Christ

• Salvation is found

• John 14:6

John 14:6 (NLT)

Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.

Ephesians 2:19 (NLT)

So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family.

Welcome to the Family

Citizens of the kingdom of Heaven

• Not based on nationality

• Not based on race

• Based solely upon the blood of Jesus

Sons and daughters

• Adopted into the Kingdom

• Joint heirs with Jesus

Ephesians 2:20 (NLT)

We are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself.

God’s House

The church is not a building

• The church is the people of God

• Not bound by place or time

Built upon a foundation of faith

• The faith of the prophets

• The faith of the apostles