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Scott's Reference Library
Ephesians 2:11 through Ephesians 2:22 (NIV)
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.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
VERSES 11-13
Christ and his covenant are the foundation of all the Christian’s hopes. A sad
and terrible description is here; but who is able to remove himself out of it?
Would that this were not a true description of many baptized in the name of
Christ. Who can, without trembling, reflect upon the misery of a person,
separated for ever from the people of God, cut off from the body of Christ,
fallen from the covenant of promise, having no hope, no Saviour, and without any
God but a God of vengeance, to all eternity? To have no part in Christ! What
true Christian can hear this without horror? Salvation is far from the wicked;
but God is a help at hand to his people; and this is by the sufferings and death
of Christ.
VERSES 14-18
Jesus Christ made peace by the sacrifice of himself; in every sense Christ was
their Peace, the author, centre, and substance of their being at peace with God,
and of their union with the Jewish believers in one church. Through the person,
sacrifice, and mediation of Christ, sinners are allowed to draw near to God as a
Father, and are brought with acceptance into his presence, with their worship
and services, under the teaching of the Holy Spirit, as one with the Father and
the Son. Christ purchased leave for us to come to God; and the Spirit gives a
heart to come, and strength to come, and then grace to serve God acceptably.
VERSES 19-22
The church is compared to a city, and every converted sinner is free of it. It
is also compared to a house, and every converted sinner is one of the family; a
servant, and a child in God’s house. The church is also compared to a building,
founded on the doctrine of Christ; delivered by the prophets of the Old
Testament, and the apostles of the New. God dwells in all believers now; they
become the temple of God through the working of the blessed Spirit. Let us then
ask if our hopes are fixed on Christ, according to the doctrine of his word?
Have we devoted ourselves as holy temples to God through him? Are we habitations
of God by the Spirit, are we spiritually-minded, and do we bring forth the
fruits of the Spirit? Let us take heed not to grieve the holy Comforter. Let us
desire his gracious presence, and his influences upon our hearts. Let us seek to
discharge the duties allotted to us, to the glory of God.