The Promise Series

Ephesians 2:11-12 [11] Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called "the uncircumcision" by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands--[12] remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. (ESV)

Even a pandemic can’t stop long standing grievances. The killing of a black individual by a white officer in Minneapolis has resulted in anger, rioting and rightful charges against the officers. One of the great tragedies of these events has resulted in further alienation between groups of people and loss of property, livelihood, and the taking of more lives.

A study of the history of the ancient world tells us that none of today’s social distinctions — none of our racial barriers, our narrow nationalisms, our (cultural divisions) — are more exclusive or unrelenting than the separation between Jews and Gentiles in Biblical times. The Jews believed the Gentiles were created to fuel the fires of Hell. A common motto was, “The best of the serpents crush … the best of the Gentiles kill.” It was not lawful to aid a Gentile woman in giving birth, for that would bring another heathen into the world. The Gentiles, even apart from their animosity for Jews, had their own (closed-minded) hatreds for anyone not like them. Plato said that the barbarians (anyone non-Greek) were his enemies by nature. The Roman Livy confirmed this in his day, saying, “The Greeks wage a truceless war against people of other races, against barbarians.” And of course this was eminently true of the imperialistic Romans. The collision of Gentile/Jewish exclusiveness was monumental. The Gentiles were dogs in Jewish (discussion), and the Jews were homicidal enemies of the human race in Gentile terms. … The answer to this division, like all division, is not social or cultural but spiritual. We must understand that though our text in verses 1–10 has shown that both Jews and Gentiles were spiritually alienated from God, there was in one sense an even greater distance to the Gentiles’ alienation. Our text shows how this was overcome in reconciliation. (Hughes, R. K. (1990). Ephesians: the mystery of the body of Christ (pp. 87–89). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.)

Inspired by Satan, the world will find and multiply the methods of division. As people continue to divide over race, class, sex and ethnicity, only the Gospel of Jesus Christ can bring about healing and enable a true bond of unity. As you may differ from people who are different from you, as you may have learned prejudice, and formed biases and deep seated hate, the Promise of the Gospel can bring healing to your relationships, family, neighborhood and your world.

In Ephesians 2:11–12 Paul shows the need for the work of Christ, the Promise of the Gospel of reconciliation, for Jew and Greek by First, Describing the former Social (Ephesians 2:11) then Spiritual alienation of Jews and Gentiles (Ephesians 2:11).

The Promise of the Gospel of Reconciliation is needed because of:

1) Social Alienation (Ephesians 2:11)

Ephesians 2:11 [11] Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called "the uncircumcision" by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands-- (ESV)

This important section begins with the word therefore, indicating that the next line of thought regarding the new identity of these Gentile Christians is built on what Christ has done to give them life and eternal blessing, as described in verses 1–10. It is as if Paul is calling them to be so grateful for their deliverance from their old situation that they come to fully appreciate their new situation of union with all other believers. Nothing more inspires gratitude in a saved sinner than a look back to the pit from which they have come. As such, they must “remember” their previous condition. This is a PRESENT ACTIVE IMPERATIVE. These Gentiles are commanded to continue to remember their previous alienation from God. (Utley, R. J. (1997). Paul Bound, the Gospel Unbound: Letters from Prison (Colossians, Ephesians and Philemon, then later, Philippians) (Vol. Volume 8, p. 89). Marshall, TX: Bible Lessons International.)

Paul calls his readers Gentiles in the flesh in order to emphasize the physical, external nature of the distinction, and he calls on them to remember who they had been before coming to Christ. The privileges now enjoyed by Gentile believers in Christ would be appreciated all the more gratefully if they bore in mind the state of life from which they had been delivered Whether they are recent converts or those of long standing, they are told to keep on remembering (the verb is in the present tense) the change in their position. Since what has happened in the past (the exodus, the cross) creates the present, ...here believers are not summoned to recollect the great things God has done externally in the past but what he has done in their own lives: once they were outside his people, now they are within (Best, E. (1998). A critical and exegetical commentary on Ephesians (p. 237). Edinburgh: T&T Clark International.).