07/11/17 Ephesians 2:14-22 “We, the Church, are a holy
dwelling place of God”
Ephesians 2:14 – For he
is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of
partition [between us];
he – autos, which here signifies “he
and no other”, that is, Christ.
peace – state of national tranquillity; peace
between individuals (harmony, concord); security; safety; the peace of
salvation in Christ.
He is The Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6)
Isaiah
57:19 – I create the fruit of the
lips; Peace, peace to [him that is] far off, and to [him that is] near,
saith the Lord; and I will heal him. (See Ephesians 2:13 & 17)
Many commentaries
teach that this means the peace established between Jew and Gentile, and while
this may be assumed from Vs 11-13 and Vs 16, we cannot ignore the fact that
this peace between the two groups could only come about as a consequence of the
peace established by Christ between God and man in the first place (Ephesians
2:5-6). Note that the gospel of peace was offered first to the Jews alone; in
the following this can only mean a peace between God and His people.
Acts
10:36a – The word which [God] sent
unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ
Also note that such
peace meant enmity with the world.
John
16:33 – These things I have spoken
unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have
tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
John
14:27 – Peace I leave with you, my
peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your
heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
These above verses
teach a peace between God and His people, rather than between separate groups
of people. Thus, it is clear that such peace in Ephesians 2:14 must firstly require
the peace between God and man, upon which (that is, upon the cornerstone) the earthly
peace between Jew and Gentile must consequently be built.
who hath made
both one – While many
commentaries suggest that the Jew and Gentile have been made one in Christ,
others maintain that it teaches the re-establishment of the oneness of God and
man. Note the tearing of the temple veil from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51),
signifying that the barrier between God and man had been abolished.
But, just as “He is
our peace” can relate not only to our peace with God, but also to our consequent
peace with each other in God, likewise Jew and Gentile may be made both one,
firstly with God, and then consequently with each other (see Ephesians 2:16).
Also note the dual meaning of oneness in the following:
John
17:21-23 – That they all may be one; as
thou, Father, [art] in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in
us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 22 And
the glory which thou gavest me I have given them;
that they may be one, even as we are one: 23 I in them, and
thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know
that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
partition – phragmos
(hedge; fence; that which separates, prevents two from coming together) (That
which fragments us from God?)
and hath broken
down the middle wall of partition – “and has broken down (removed; done away with)
the middle wall (partition
wall; separation) of partition
(hedge; fence).” (“between us” is not in the original)
The barrier between
God and man was sin, which was also effectively the barrier between Jew and
Gentile, noting that it was Israel with whom God made His covenant and to whom
He gave the law. Effectively, only those who came to God through Israel might
have their sins atoned for, for the day of atonement was according to the law
delivered to God’s elect nation, Israel. Only the priesthood of Aaron was
permitted to administer the sacrifices! Note that they couldn’t even accept an
offering from the hand of a foreigner (probably because of their corrupt
association with another (false) god).
Exodus
29:33 – And they shall eat those
things wherewith the atonement was made, to consecrate [and] to sanctify
them: but a stranger shall not eat [thereof], because they [are] holy.
Leviticus
22:10 & 25 – 10
There shall no stranger eat [of] the holy thing: a sojourner of the
priest, or an hired servant, shall not eat [of] the
holy thing.
25
Neither
from a stranger’s hand shall ye offer the bread of your God of any of these;
because their corruption [is] in them, [and] blemishes [be] in
them: they shall not be accepted for you.
Numbers
3:10 – And thou shalt appoint Aaron
and his sons, and they shall wait on their priest’s office: and the stranger
that cometh nigh shall be put to death.
Note the fencing in
of Israel symbolises the Law keeping Israel protected from sin.
Isaiah
5:2 – And he fenced it, and gathered
out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a
tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that
it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.
Ephesians 2:15 – Having
abolished in his flesh the enmity, [even] the law of commandments [contained]
in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, [so] making
peace;
abolished – to render idle; unemployed; inactivate; inoperative; deactivated.
Romans 3:31 – Do we then make void the law through faith? God
forbid: yea, we establish the law.
“(Christ) having abolished (rendered inactive; deactivated) in His flesh (by His sacrifice on the cross) the enmity (or the cause for the enmity) which was the law of commandments (the Law of the covenant) contained in ordinances (dogma = decrees; rules and requirements of the Law of Moses including penalties for breaking them) in order to make (create) in (by; with; through) Himself a new (fresh; unused) man (anthropos – man; people) out of two (here signifying both Jew and Gentile), [so (thus)] making peace.”
That is, having settled on the cross all accounts with God regarding sin (“It is finished" [the account has been fully paid] – John 19:30), having abolished the consequences of that sin with a just God who demanded righteousness through the application of His Law, and having removed the enmity that such sin put between God and man. The picture is of the reconciliation with a holy God that must precede any form of genuine reconciliation between man and man. Peace with God must precede peace with your fellow man! Without God, two peoples will always remain two peoples; with God, two peoples may become one (a synthesis). The key is that without the peace of the cross, there can be no peace between man and God, and therefore there can be no peace between peoples. And, that peace on the cross had to involve the death of the perfect sacrificial lamb.
Colossians 1:22 – In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
Ephesians 2:16 – And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
2 Corinthians 5:19 – To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world
unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto
us the word of reconciliation.
“And that He (Christ) might reconcile (return to a state of harmony) both (masculine plural, here signifying both Jew and Gentile peoples) unto God in one body (here signifying the Church) by (through; because of) the cross, having slain (put to death; destroyed; abolished) the enmity (or the cause of enmity) thereby (by Himself alone).”
The “one body” could signify the Church or the members of the body of Christ.
1 Corinthians 12:27 – Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.
Colossians 3:10-11 – 10 And have put on the new [man], which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: 11 Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond [nor] free: but Christ [is] all, and in all.
Ephesians 2:17 – And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
See Isaiah
57:19 – I create the fruit of the
lips; Peace, peace to [him that is] far off, and to [him that is] near,
saith the Lord; and I will heal him.
“And came and preached (euaggelizo – announced glad tidings – of reconciliation between God and man, that is, the gospel – see Romans 10:15) to you who were a long way away (from God, here signifying the Gentiles) and (also peace) to them who were near (to God, here signifying the Jews).”
Romans 10:15 – And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
This is not merely a peace established between two peoples (Jew and Gentile) but a peace also dependent upon their mutual peace with God. That is, without the peace with God there would be no peace (can be no peace) with each other.
Ephesians 2:18 – For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
This is where we are taught that the peace between Jew and Gentile is entirely dependent upon having access through Christ by the one Holy Spirit to the Father who is over all.
access – the act of bringing to; access; approach. The verb form is used in:
1 Peter 3:18 – For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
both – both groups: Jew and Gentile.
Ephesians 2:19 – Now
therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens
with the saints, and of the household of God;
strangers – foreigner; alien; without knowledge of; without a share in.
foreigners – one who dwells without the right of citizenship; sojourner.
fellowcitizens – sympolites (from syn – two who are intimately connected with each other & polites – a citizen) = all possessing the same citizenship rights. Used only here in the New Testament.
They are no longer two separate groups (that is, Jews and Gentiles, or Jews and foreigners) but fellow-citizens who are indiscernible from each other regarding the rights of citizenship. Both Jews and Gentiles are fellow-citizens of the saints (= holy or set-apart ones); both are as each other in the household of God. No longer is there a difference noted between Jews and Gentiles, for all are the same, and have the same value in the body of Christ, the Church, the household of God.
household – belonging to the household by relationship or intimate closeness; kinsfolk.
This is leading into the next 3 verses where the saints (both Jew and Gentile) are pictured as separate yet indiscernible stones in a temple of God.
Ephesians 2:20 – And are
built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself
being the chief corner [stone];
apostles – ones sent forth with orders
prophets – either Old Testament and/or New Testament
prophets
The Church here is
pictured as the building (temple) of God. Each person in the body of Christ,
the Church, is placed in position, that position being perfect as long as the
positioning of the chief cornerstone is perfect. That is, as Vs 14 above
demonstrates, For
he is our peace, who hath made both one means that such peace and oneness can only be achieved on the right
foundation.
1 Corinthians 3:11 – For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Individual
Christians are built up into a single entity, the Church, a synthesis (as we
looked at last time).
2 Peter 2:5-6 – 5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. 6 Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.
We are sympolites (fellow-citizens, Vs 19), synarmologeo (fitly framed together – joined closely together, Vs 21) and synoikodomeo (builded together, Vs 22), where each of these Greek terms signifies a synthesis, a putting together of individual parts to form a whole without discernible parts, that is, a oneness (many have been made one). Note that with all these syn terms, the making of one from many is always only achieved through union with Christ, never apart from Him.
Isaiah 28:16 – Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner [stone], a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
Ephesians 2:21 – In whom
all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
fitly framed together – synarmologeo – here meaning the members of the body (from syn + harmos = a joining + lego = used in the original sense of “laying”, that is, placed or laid down together in harmony with each other) Used twice in the New Testament.
The picture is again of many individual parts making up a whole where the individual parts cannot be separated nor discerned from each other, a synthesis. Many Christians in the Church, yet the end result is a single holy temple in the Lord.
synarmologeo is used in the following to demonstrate one body from many parts.
Ephesians 4:15-16 – 15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, [even] Christ: 16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
Ephesians 2:22 – In whom
ye also are builded together for an habitation of God
through the Spirit.
are builded together – synoikodomeo – here again meaning the individual members of the body of Christ, the Church (from syn + oikodomeo – to build a house from the foundation upward) Only used in this verse.
Again, many individual parts but one complete whole. Many members of the body of Christ yet only one habitation of God results. We are not added to the building as the Church grows, but become a synthesis, as much a part of the building as if we had never been absent!
We are (both individually and collectively) a habitation (dwelling place) of God.
1 Corinthians 3:16 – Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and [that] the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1 Corinthians 6:19 – What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost [which is] in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
A major theme of Ephesians is the building together of the individual saints of God into one homogenous whole. There are six Greek words in Ch.2 alone that signify a synthesis of parts into one without separate parts. Three of them signify a synthesis between Christ and man to bring about salvation:
syzoopoieo (Ephesians 2:5) – to make alive together (with Christ) Used 3 times in NT
synegeiro (Ephesians 2:6) – to be raised up together (in or with Christ) Used 3 times in NT
sygkathizo (Ephesians 2:6) – to be made to sit together (in Christ) Used 2 times in NT
This does not signify in any way that man does any of the work; merely that man is brought to salvation with or in Christ, that salvation cannot occur without man being in union with Christ during salvation – where “union” means a uniting into one. The word “unity” (henotes) is found only twice in the New Testament, both in Ephesians (4:3 & 4:13). The idea of being in union with Christ, or in union with one another in the body of Christ, thus presenting a synthesis, one out of many, is a theme running throughout Ephesians.
Ephesians 4:3-6 – 3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 [There is] one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 One God and Father of all, who [is] above all, and through all, and in you all.
This being in union with Christ also brings about a union with one another. This is emphasised in today’s passage where we have those other three syn words:
sympolites (Ephesians 2:19) – fellow-citizens, or citizens together (with one another)
synarmologeo (Ephesians 2:21) – fitted together in harmony (with one another)
synoikodomeo (Ephesians 2:22) – built together (into the body of Christ, a dwelling place for God) (with one another)
And all of these three rest upon the chief cornerstone, Christ, thus forming a three-way union or synthesis, That they all may be one; as thou, Father, [art] in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: (John 17:21)
Thus, it can be seen that Ephesians is all about the building up of the Church into a single body of Christ. Oneness and unity are key ideas, as is the idea of one single whole being built from many diverse parts, a synthesis. All the teaching in Ephesians is aimed at the building up of the saints unto the measure of the stature of Christ.
Ephesians 413-16 – 13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: 14 That we [henceforth] be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, [and] cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, [even] Christ: 16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
All this, of course, makes a mockery of the calvinist claims that Ephesians teaches so clearly their false doctrine of unconditional election, that “choosing” (without any conditions imposed) by their God, of a people to be “born again” (they greatly prefer the term “regenerated”) in order that they might then believe and be saved by Christ. They cannot preach their gospel to the lost, for their God must “regenerate” the lost before the gospel, before faith, before belief, before knowing Christ! (All these apply only after you have been born again!) They teach that the gospel cannot be applied to the non-elect, for their Jesus never died for any of the sins of the ones their God did not choose for salvation. If you weren’t chosen by God for salvation, then you can never be saved, ever! Your sins were never paid for on the cross of the calvinist Jesus.
When Ephesians talks about predestination (Ch.1), it is in the context of the saints being built up into a holy dwelling place for God. There is nowhere that Ephesians teaches or preaches a gospel of salvation. Paul has written it to those who already believe and are saved: “to the saints which are at Ephesus”. Everything must be seen in this context. For the calvinists to teach otherwise must therefore totally ignore the obvious context of Ephesians!
Hoppers Crossing Christian Church homepage