Our readings during the past two weeks have celebrated the wonder of our salvation. Once dead in our transgressions and sins, we are now alive in Jesus Christ! Once objects of God's wrath (v. 3b), we are now an ongoing demonstration of the incomparable riches of His grace--"so God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us" (Ephesians 2:7, NLT).

This week, in verses 11-22, Paul describes the end of the separation between Jews and Gentiles, their new unity in Christ, the end of the law and walls that divide, and the creation of a new and central element of God's rescue plan for the world--the Church.

Ephesians 2 provides a concise summary of important doctrine, but more than just teaching on key theological concepts, Paul goes to great effort to make these truths intensely personal for his readers. Take a moment to go back to Ephesians 2:1 and the words, "As for you." As for you, you were dead in your sins. It is by grace that you have been saved (v. 8). You were separated from Christ (v. 12), but in Christ you have been brought near (v. 13). Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens (v. 19), but you are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit (v. 22).

You, he writes, are a part of a bigger story--God's big story that changes everything for you and, through you, the eternal future of mankind.

Father,

I deserve Your wrath, but You have shown me mercy, love, kindness, and the incomparable riches of Your grace! You not only included me in Your family, but You assigned me a role in Your eternal plan to bring hope and peace to a lost and dying world. Forgive me for small living that keeps me too much on the sidelines. Help me to make my hours, my minutes count for You today. Imprint the reality of Your plan of redemption on my heart and on my life.

Please read Ephesians 2:11-22. This is the text that Pastor Rob will teach from on Sunday, October 31. Today we'll look at verses 11-13 as they are found in the New Living Translation:

Whenever a Scripture text uses words like, "Don't forget," (or as the New International Version [NIV] says in verses 11 and 12, "remember") we should pay particular attention to what follows. The writer is making it plain that the next words are particularly important or they may speak the kind of truth that we could easily forget.

Don't forget, Paul reminds us, that you used to be the outsiders. Don't forget that the Jews grew proud of the outward symbol of their relationship with God even as their hearts were unaffected. Don't forget that you were once without God and without hope. Don't forget what Christ did for you.

When praise feels stilted and worship grows cold, remember. When life begins to crowd out time for God, remember. When priorities get out of whack, remember. When fear creeps in or anxiety threatens, remember.

Father,

Forgive me. I am so prone to forget, to get complacent, to be so wrapped up in the details of life that I forget all I have and who I am in You. Quiet my thoughts right now and help me remember the love that drew me to You and the grace You extended when I needed it most. Don't let me forget how much You have done for me.

Please read Ephesians 2:11-22. This is the text that Pastor Rob will teach from on Sunday, October 31.

 ¹¹Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called "uncircumcised" by those who call themselves "the circumcision" (that done in the body by the hands of men)-- ¹²remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. ¹³But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.

¹⁴For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, ¹⁵by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, ¹⁶and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. ¹⁷He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. ¹⁸For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

 ¹⁹Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, ²⁰built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. ²¹In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. ²²And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

It might have been back in a high school or college history class that you last used the abbreviation "BC" to identify a date in the distant past, but those letters mark an even more significant dividing line in the context of Ephesians 2. Before Christ (BC), we were separated from God and human beings were separated from each other.

Before Christ, the Gentiles--all non-Jewish people--were outsiders, without hope and without God. Before Christ, Gentiles were excluded by birth from God's family and from the promises of His covenant. And the Jews who hatefully looked down on them would never let them forget it. Yes, for Gentile believers of Paul's day, there was a knife-sharp line between life "BC" and their new life in Christ.

In verses 13-18, Paul uses several key phrases--word pictures that would have been easily understood by the Jewish people of his day--to describe the new way of thinking and living because of what Christ did: 1) Those who were far off were brought near through the blood of Christ, 2) Christ made believing Jews and believing Gentiles one, and 3) Christ destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility.

The third picture would have been particularly vivid to the Jews who, on threat of death, strictly limited the access of Gentiles to the inner areas of the temple--in their eyes keeping that unclean and unworthy race from contaminating God's holy place.

This was radical truth to the people of Paul's day, and it is radical truth today. In Christ, 1) the outsiders are brought in, 2) the individual becomes a living and integrated part of the body of Christ (the Church), and 3) the barriers that divide come crashing down.

Father,

Thank you for Jesus and the walls He broke down so that I can come to You and know You. Use the truth of these Scriptures to open my eyes to all You created Your church to be. Give me Your love today for outsiders and a longing to see them come to You, to be transformed by Your grace, and to experience Your peace.

Please read Ephesians 2:11-22. This is the text that Pastor Rob will teach from on Sunday, October 31.

 ¹¹Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called "uncircumcised" by those who call themselves "the circumcision" (that done in the body by the hands of men)-- ¹²remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. ¹³But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.

¹⁴For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, ¹⁵by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, ¹⁶and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. ¹⁷He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. ¹⁸For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

 ¹⁹Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, ²⁰built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. ²¹In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. ²²And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

In Christ everything changes. In Christ the dead are alive. Those cut off or separated from God are brought near, and those formerly divided into two camps, Jew and Gentile, are now united in an entirely new creation--the Body of Christ.

More than any other New Testament book, Ephesians lays out God's plan for uniting believing Jews and Gentiles into a single body, "and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross " (v. 16).

That body--the Church--is the hope of the world. It is through the Church that God is now at work drawing all people to Himself and setting in motion His eternal plan "to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under  one head, even Christ" (Ephesians 1:9-10).

Father,

Give me eyes to see the reality of Your eternal plan. Forgive me for being so caught up in the things of daily life and work and possessions and activities. Don't let me miss what You are doing in the world or miss out on what You have for me to do today. Guide my steps. Use my mouth, my hands, my feet. Make my days matter for eternity.

Please read Ephesians 2:11-22. This is the text that Pastor Rob will teach from on Sunday, October 31.

 ¹¹Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called "uncircumcised" by those who call themselves "the circumcision" (that done in the body by the hands of men)-- ¹²remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. ¹³But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.

¹⁴For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, ¹⁵by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, ¹⁶and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. ¹⁷He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. ¹⁸For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

 ¹⁹Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, ²⁰built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. ²¹In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. ²²And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

The entire book of Ephesians is full of "this changes everything" truth. And this week's text from chapter 2 is no exception.

In Christ, those who were outsiders are included. In Christ, those who were divided--the uncircumcised and the circumcision--are now united. In Christ, those without God and without hope have been brought near to Him through the blood of His Son. In Christ, peace has broken down walls of separation. In Christ, two have become one. In Christ, those who were far away have been brought near. Strangers and foreigners are now fellow citizens with God's people.

We are living bricks in God's dwelling on earth, "a building built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone."

Father,

I am overwhelmed by the beauty of what You created the Church to be. Grow my love for Your Church and for the other believers with whom I am "built together." Help us to be people of light and hope and peace who bring glory to You. Let that truth and that vision transform my heart and mind.