Ephesians 2 Part 6 (7-31-05)

Ephesians 2 Part 6
Bible Study Time July 31, 2005

In the first chapter of the book of Ephesians, the Apostle Paul enumerates all of the spiritual blessings that believers possess before he announces that the Lord Jesus Christ is now serving as the Head over all things to the Church which is His Body. In the second chapter, Paul reminds us that we were at one time dead in trespasses and sins. That we walked according to the course of this world which is under the dominion of the devil, himself.

But then Paul declares that God saved us simply because of His love, His mercy and His grace. Not by works of righteousness which we had done, but by His mercy He saved us and raised us up to sit with Christ in the heavenlies.

Of coarse, that sounds rather odd to us at first glance. How can we stand on earth while being seated in the heavenlies? In this statement Paul teaches a very important doctrine. There is a difference between the way God’s sees us and the way we see ourselves. If we are honest with ourselves, we will admit that we are far from perfect as we live in this natural world, but God does not see our imperfections.

He could never fellowship with that which is imperfect. He requires absolute perfection. Part of the good news for us is that when we put our faith in Christ, we are baptized into Christ and His righteousness. From that moment on, God sees us in the righteousness of Christ. Paul put it this way in Colossians 1:

Colossians 1:21-22 (NKJ)
21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled
22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight--

We are seated in the heavenlies because we are in Christ, and in God’s sight, we are holy, blameless and above reproach. As a result, we are challenged to reveal the glory of heaven to those around us. We may be the only tangible connection with heaven that unbelievers have. We need to make that connection real so as to attract the lost to Jesus Christ.

Being seated with Christ in the heavenlies and blessed with all spiritual blessings is not the end. God made this possible for a reason. God did these things so that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us. God has a great future planned for us, the glory of which our minds can not comprehend.

Then in verse 11 of Ephesians, Chapter 2, Paul reminds us Gentiles that we were once looked down on by the Jews because we were uncircumcised. The Law of Moses which required circumcision had kept us at a distance from the covenants of God. Paul said we were without hope and without God in the world, but verse 13 says that we have now been brought near to God by the blood of Christ.

God put an end to the law when Christ died on the cross. Circumcision and the other ordinances of the Law were abolished. God is now creating in Christ one new man from the Jews and from the Gentiles.

During the Acts period, God was offering the New Covenant Kingdom to Israel. In Romans 11, Paul said that the Gentiles were being grafted into Israel’s program. Since a grafted branch maintains its own identity and bears its own particular fruit, it stands to reason that in the kingdom program of that time the Jews had their calling, while the Gentiles had a separate calling.

In Paul’s prison epistles, that is not the case. Ephesians 2 declares that today God is calling out one new man from among the Jews and the Gentiles. There is neither Jew nor Gentile in the Church which is the Body of Christ.

Verse 17 of Ephesians 2 says:

Ephesians 2:17 (NKJ)
17 And (Jesus) came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near.

Throughout Jesus’ ministry, He was a preacher. In His hometown of Nazareth, He quoted Isaiah 61 and said it spoke of Him. Isaiah 61 says that the Spirit of the Lord would be upon Christ to preach good tidings to the poor and proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.

The Bible says that after His temptation in the wilderness:

Matthew 4:17 (NKJ)
17 . . . Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

After Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law and many others in Capernaum, the people begged Jesus to stay with them, but He said:

Mark 1:37-38 (NKJ)
38 . . . "Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because for this purpose I have come forth."
39 And He was preaching in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and casting out demons.

When Jesus sent out His twelve apostles in Matthew, Chapter 10, He said:

Matthew 10:7 (NKJ)
7 "And as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.'

But notice what Jesus told these disciples during their commissioning. In Matthew 10 and verse 5 we read:

Matthew 10:5-6 (NKJ)
5 These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: "Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans.
6 "But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Jesus told these disciples to preach only to Jews. Only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. In the gospels, Jesus was preaching the New Covenant Kingdom, and that message had to go first to the Jews. It was not until after the cross that the message of the New Covenant went out to the Gentiles who upon believing were grafted into Israel’s kingdom program.

Today, however, Jesus Christ is preaching to the Gentiles and the Jews through the Apostle Paul. Paul repeatedly emphasized that God had called him to reveal the gospel of the grace of God as well as the great mystery concerning the Church which is the Body of Christ. Those who receive Paul’s message of God’s grace through faith in Christ are added to the Church which is the Body of Christ.

In Matthew 10, when the Lord sent the disciples out to preach to the Jews, He specifically told them to:

Matthew 10:8-10 (NKJ)
8 "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons . . .
9 "Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts,
10 " . . . for a worker is worthy of his food.

These signs were evident wherever the New Covenant message was taught, whether in the gospels or during the Acts period. However, we find no hint of such things in the prison epistles of Ephesians, Philippians or Colossians.

Ephesians 2:14 says that Christ, Himself is our peace because He abolished the Law which had separated the Jew from the Gentile. In verse 17 we learn that Christ has come preaching peace to the Jew and to the Gentile because, according to verse 18, Jews and Gentiles have access to the Father by one Spirit, even the Holy Spirit of God.

The Holy Spirit of God is our lifeline to God. The Lord Jesus told his disciples:

John 14:2-3
2 . . . I go to prepare a place for you.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself.

John 14:16-17
16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it sees him not, neither knows him: but you know him; for he dwells with you, and shall be in you.

Romans 8 confirms the gift of the Holy Spirit after the fact. In verse 13 we read:

Romans 8:13-16 (NKJ)
13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father."
16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,

Indeed, all believers have access to the Father by one Spirit. Now let’s continue in verse 19 of Ephesians 2:

Ephesians 2:19-22 (NKJ)
19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,
20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone,
21 in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,
22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

What a blessing it is to know that all believers are members of the same household. When we look around and see so many different church organizations, it’s certainly confusing and somewhat discouraging. But the spiritual reality is that all believers regardless of their religious affiliations are members of the same household which Paul called the household of God.

Paul tells us that the household of God is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, yet Paul declares in Ephesians 3 and Colossians 1 that the mystery concerning the Church was never revealed to the apostles or prophets of other ages.

Both are true. The mystery concerning the Church was never revealed to or by the apostles and prophets, but the apostles and prophets did lay the foundation for the truth of the mystery for all scripture is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped unto every good work.

The Old Testament Law was a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. In it we learn about Adam’s sin and the curse. We learn about God’s righteousness as well as His longsuffering. We learn about the blood which is required for redemption. All that was written by the apostles and prophets laid the foundation for the truth of the mystery concerning the Church which is the Body of Christ.

In the household of God, the apostles and prophets are the foundation. Christ is the cornerstone which holds the house together and gives it stability, while believers are the framework with each shaped and molded for a precision fit. We are the workmanship of Christ.

But this house is not just any house. It is the temple of God. It is the dwelling place of God in the Spirit. The Spirit of God dwells in us individually, and therefore, our bodies are the temple of God. But in addition to that, believers are the temple of God in a corporate sense.

In the first chapter of this book of Ephesians, Paul emphasized that we, as believers are in Christ. Our spiritual blessings are in Christ. We were chosen in Christ. We are accepted in Christ. But now Paul says that the opposite is true as well. Just as surely as we are in Christ, Christ is also in us. In Colossians 1, Paul says that the glory of the mystery concerning the Church is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

Thank you for listening to Bible Study Time this morning. It’s been a pleasure being with you, and I’ll look forward to being with you again next week at this same time.

Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com

Church links:
http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/
http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/
http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/

Ephesians 2 Part 5 (7-24-05)

Ephesians 2 Part 5
Bible Study Time 7-24-05

In Ephesians, Chapter 2, we have been looking at the fact that God was able to abolish the Law which had resulted in a spiritual separation between the Jews and Gentiles. Christ abolished the Law when He was crucified upon the cross. In Ephesians 2:14, we read:

Ephesians 2:14-16
14 For (Christ) Himself is our peace, who has made both (the Jew and the Gentile) one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,
15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace,
16 and that He might reconcile (both the Jew and the Gentile) to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.

Last week we saw in Romans 11 that during the Acts period, Paul said that Gentiles were being grafted into the root or stock of Israel which is a far cry from the concept expressed by Paul in Ephesians 2. A branch that is grafted to a tree is dependent upon the tree for its survival. All of its sustenance must come from the tree which bears the grafted limb. In Ephesians 2, the Gentiles are not grafted into the Jewish stock, but Jews and Gentiles are reconciled to God in one body with neither being dependent upon the other, while both are completely dependent upon Christ.

In the New Covenant economy of the Acts period, believing Gentiles were waiting for the Jews to be saved because the kingdom could not come until the Jews accepted Christ as their Messiah. God’s blessings for the Gentiles had to flow through the Jewish stock. Paul told the Gentiles in Romans 11:

Romans 11:18 (NKJ)
18 do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.

Another aspect of the New Covenant economy that is seen in the grafted branch is the fact that a grafted branch never really becomes one with the tree. It always maintains its own identity, and it bears its own particular fruit. In like manner, the Jews and Gentiles never could become one under the New Covenant. They each maintained their own separate identities.

Well, this New Covenant economy had become a thing of the past by the time Paul wrote the book of Ephesians. The offer of the New Covenant Kingdom had been set aside, and Paul had been called to reveal the Church which is the Body of Christ. By this time God was reconciling both Jews and Gentiles in one body by the cross.

The analogy of the grafted branch illustrated beautifully the position of the Gentile to the Jew under the New Covenant economy, and the analogy of the body illustrates beautifully the relationship of the Gentile to the Jew in the economy of the Church, the Body of Christ. The various members of a body have different functions, but the identity of each member is lost to the identity of the whole person, while the identity of the whole person is determined by the head.

According to Ephesians 1, God gave Christ to be Head over all things to the Church which is His Body, and according to Ephesians 5, we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bone. We lose our identity as we become identified with Christ.

In Ephesians 3, Paul says that the unique feature of the Church the Body of Christ is that in this Church the Gentiles are fellow heirs and of the same body with the Jews, and they are partakers of God’s promise in Christ through the gospel.

Notice that Paul does not say that Gentiles are now partakers in the covenants of promise with Israel. Paul did not say that in Chapter 2, and neither does he say it in Chapter 3. Paul simply says that we, as Gentiles, are partakers in God’s promise in Christ through the gospel.

Isaiah spoke of the one who would be wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities. One who would take upon Himself the chastisement of our peace and would bring healing by His stripes. This is the promise in Christ which comes to us through the gospel.

Praise the Lord, we are partakers in this promise, and the ordinances of the Law no longer hold us back from the spiritual healing that comes through the blood of Christ. The Law was nailed to the cross so that now we can be partakers in God’s promise in Christ through the gospel.

In the Old Testament, Israel was physically near to God because God put His tabernacle in their camp. God talked to them through the prophets, and the required rituals were easily accessible. The Jews were able to observe first hand the Shekinah glory of God in the tabernacle and then in the temple. His glory remained with them until the temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, and at that time, Ezekiel saw the glory of the Lord depart from the temple.

Later, the temple was rebuilt, but the glory of the Lord never returned. By the time Jesus appeared in Jewish history, Herod had built a tremendously beautiful temple for the Jews, but he had hired his own High Priest. The Shekinah glory never appeared in that temple.

Jesus Christ came unto His own but His own received Him not because their hearts were far from God. The Jews of Jesus day were just as lost as the pagan Gentiles.

As John the Baptist and Jesus came preaching the message of the New Covenant Kingdom, their focus was upon the Jews. John and Jesus went only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel telling them to repent and be baptized for the kingdom of heaven was at hand. After the cross the Apostles went preaching the message of the New Covenant Kingdom and again went only to the Jews until Acts, Chapter 10, when God convinced Peter to talk to Cornelius. God called Paul to go the Gentiles, but as he went preaching the message of the New Covenant, he said that he also went to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

At Mt. Sinai, God had called Israel to be a kingdom of priests, and Peter confirmed this hope when, as the Apostle to the Jews, he said:

1 Peter 2:5 (NKJ)
5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 2:9 (NKJ)
9 . . . you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

The Jews were given every opportunity to believe, but they never responded to the call of God. God was calling them to Himself. He was offering them the kingdom for which they had been waiting for thousands of years. But when their Messiah stood before them at the Passover, they said, “Crucify Him, we have no king but Caesar.” When the Spirit of God was poured out upon the Apostles at Pentecost, they said, “These men are drunk.”

When God set their program aside and began calling out members of the Church the Body of Christ, God did not focus on any one group of people. In the economy of this church, all people have an equal opportunity to come to God. All people come to God on the same basis, by recognizing their sinful state and clinging to Jesus Christ for the salvation which He freely offers to all who call upon His name. God is now reconciling both Jews and Gentiles to Himself in one body through the cross.

Last week we talked a little bit about when this economy of the Church the Body of Christ began, and this could be an important question. If we see two different programs with different expectations and different manifestations, we might need to know when one stopped and the other started. We might need to know which program we are a part of.

In the New Covenant economy the focus in on the Jews, the rituals of water baptism and circumcision were practiced, and the sign gifts of the Holy Spirit were evident. In the economy of the Church the Body of Christ, we see a focus on all people everywhere while the rituals and sign gifts are absent.

When did the Church which is the Body of Christ begin? Paul stated that it was made possible when Christ abolished the Law at the cross. This tells us that it did not start before the cross.

Paul specifically taught the details of the Church which is the Body of Christ in his prison epistles. Therefore, this church had to have begun before the these epistles were written.

In Acts, Chapter 2, we read that 3000 people were added to the church, but this was a church which clearly was waiting for the New Covenant Kingdom. This is evident by the presence of water baptism and the sign gifts as well as by the fact that they sold all of their possessions and lived together.

Some people believe that the Church the Body of Christ began at Acts Chapter 9 with the salvation of Paul, while others believe that it began in Acts 13 when Paul said to the Jews:

Acts 13:46 (KJV)
46 . . . It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.

Others believe that it began in Acts 28 when Paul quoted Isaiah 6 to the Jews and then said:

Acts 28:28
28 Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and they will hear it.

Well, none of these passages really gives us a definite answer, nor does any other passage. We know that this church started sometime after the cross and before the writing of the prison epistles.

We also know that if God did start the Church which is the Body of Christ during the Acts period, He never allowed Paul to reveal in his writings the unique features of this church until the writing of the prison epistles.

Several times in Paul’s Acts period epistles, he got very close to the doctrines of the prison epistles. In Romans and in I Corinthians, he referred to the body of Christ, but he never specifically referred to this body as the Church whose institutional Head is Jesus Christ.

In Romans and Galatians, Paul said that there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles, but it is obvious that Paul was speaking about their spiritual state because in both books he continued to emphasize Israel’s unique position in regard to the New Covenant hope.

Since God did not tell us when the Church the Body of Christ began, it is evident that we do not need to know when it began. It is really more significant to know when the New Covenant ministry was set aside because that is the ministry with which the rituals and sign gifts were associated.

When we look at the internal evidence of the prison epistles, suddenly there is no mention of the New Covenant while the rituals and sign gifts are conspicuously absent. From this we judge that the New Covenant ministry was set aside somewhere between the events of Acts 28 and the writing of the prison epistles.

Next week we will finish Ephesians 2 and maybe even get into Ephesians 3 in more detail than we did today. Thank you for joining me for Bible Study Time this morning. I’ll look forward to being with you again next week at this same time.

Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com

Church links:
http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/
http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/

http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/

Ephesians 2 Part 4 (7-17-05)

Ephesians 2 Part 4
Bible Study Time 7-17-05

In Ephesians, Chapter 2, the Apostle Paul first reminds us that we were at one time dead in trespasses and sins but that God has now saved us by His grace and brought us to life in Jesus Christ. Then he reminds those of us who are Gentiles that we were at one time aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from Israel’s covenants of promise.

Now when Paul says this about our past relationship to Israel’s covenants, we just kind of naturally expect him to conclude that we have now been brought into the commonwealth of Israel and that we have now become partakers in Israel’s covenants of promise. However, that is not Paul’s conclusion. Paul simply says that now we have been brought near to God by the blood of Christ.

Under the economy of the Mosaic Law. Gentiles had to come to God through the ceremonies and rituals of the Law. For instance, when God gave the rules for observing the Passover, He said:

Exodus 12:48 (NKJ)
48 " . . . when a stranger dwells with you and wants to keep the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as a native of the land. For no uncircumcised person shall eat it.

A Gentile had to be circumcised to draw near to God under the Law. This kept the Gentiles at a distance.

Therefore, in Ephesians 2, Paul was announcing a dramatic change. He said that now Gentiles can draw near to God not through Israel’s covenants of promise but through the blood of Christ. In fact, Paul is going to conclude in the next few verses that the commandments relating to ordinances were abolished by the work of Christ upon the cross.

Rather than being brought into Israel’s covenants as a result of Christ’s work on the cross, we have been brought near to God apart from the covenants of Israel. This understanding is tantamount to understanding the position and hope of the Church which is the Body of Christ.

In Ephesians 1, Paul said that today God has given Christ to be Head over all things to the Church which is His Body. In Ephesians 5, he said that believers today are members of Christ’s Body, of His flesh and of His bone. Here in Ephesians 2, he says that we come to Christ through simple faith in the power of the blood which was shed for us. The commandments regarding rituals and ceremonies were nailed to the cross.

In Colossians 2:13 we read:

Colossians 2:13-14 (KJV)
13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

This clear teaching of the Apostle Paul refutes any idea that the Church today has replaced the nation of Israel in God’s overall plan and purpose. Some have theorized that the Old Covenant Law was for the nation of Israel, but when Israel rejected the New Covenant, God gave it to us as members of the Church.

If that were the case, then certainly, those things which were associated with the New Covenant, such as water baptism and sign gifts, would belong to us. But the Bible plainly declares that the New Covenant belongs to Israel just like the Old Covenant Law belonged to Israel.

God spoke through Jeremiah and said:

Jeremiah 31:31-33 (NKJ)
31 "Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah--
32 "not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD.
33 "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

Jeremiah 31:35-37 (NKJ)
35 Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for a light by day, the ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night:
36 "If those ordinances depart from before Me, then the seed of Israel shall also cease from being a nation before Me forever."
37 "If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, says the LORD.

In other words, God’s commitment to Israel is as sure as the sun and the moon and the stars in the heavens. According to the scriptures, when Israel rejected the New Covenant, God set Israel’s covenants aside on a temporary basis to call out the Church which is the Body of Christ. Our relationship with God is not based on Israel’s covenants of promise. Our relationship with Christ is based on the blood of Christ.

After the cross the New Covenant Kingdom was offered to Israel and was confirmed by many signs such as speaking in tongues, healings, and the casting out of demons. These signs were given to demonstrate the power of the Holy Spirit. The New Covenant Kingdom was offered to Israel throughout the Acts period, but Israel steadfastly refused to accept it.

Then God revealed the Church which is the Body of Christ through the Apostle Paul in Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians, and quite suddenly we see no water baptism and no sign gifts.

When we talk about the prophecies concerning the kingdom, we have to account for the prophecies regarding the antichrist and the tribulation period. Some who claim that God has given us Israel’s kingdom, also claim that the prophecies concerning the antichrist were fulfilled when the Roman General Titus destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Apparently, Titus did go into the temple and declare himself to be God. It follows that if Titus was the antichrist of prophecy, then the tribulation period has already come and gone, and we are now in the New Covenant Kingdom.

There are several problems with this theology. First, Paul said that we, as members of the Church, have been brought near to God by the blood of Christ. He did not say that we have been brought near to God by Israel’s covenants of promise. If God has given us the kingdom, then we have been brought near to God through the covenants of promise. Paul never said that.

Second, the Apostle John gave new prophesies concerning the coming antichrist in the book of the Revelation which was written around 90 A.D., some 20 years after Titus destroyed the temple in Jerusalem. John did not say that the antichrist has come. He said that the antichrist will come.

Third, this theology has no explanation for the revelation of the mystery which was given to Paul in the prison epistles. Paul said that the revelation given to him concerning the mystery of the Church had been hidden in God since before the creation of the world and was never made known to men of other ages. If God has simply given to us the blessings which were promised to Israel, then all of our blessings are a matter of prophecy which were many times foretold.

Fourth, if believers today are simply the beneficiaries of Israel’s New Covenant Kingdom then why did the miracles cease after the Acts period? Why did the rituals which were part of Israel’s program pass away.

Well, this is just a partial list of why we can not be in the New Covenant Kingdom now. We do not have time to look at all of the prophecies regarding the kingdom, but even a quick look at the prophecies will reveal that the kingdom awaits its fulfillment at some point in the future.

We today come to God through the blood of Christ. No longer are we held at bay by Israel’s covenants of promise:

Ephesians 2:14-16 (NKJ)
14 For (Christ) Himself is our peace, who has made both (Jew and Gentile) one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,

Today, there is no distinction between the Jew and the Gentile in the sight of God because God’s covenants with Israel have been set aside. Jesus Christ broke down that middle wall of separation:

Ephesians 2:15-16
15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace,
16 and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.

Now this is one of those areas which really stands out as being different from Paul’s Acts period epistles. In Romans 11 we read in verse 26:

Romans 11:26-29 (NKJ)
26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: "The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;
27 For this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins."
28 Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers.
29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

Here it is evident that God was still dealing with the Jews and the Gentiles as two separate groups of people. In Romans 3, Paul said that there was no difference between the Jew and the Gentile in the sense that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God and in the sense that all who come to God in faith are justified freely by His grace.

However, in Romans 11 there was still a big difference between the Jew and Gentile in regard to the election. He said that concerning the election the Jews were beloved of God for the sake of the fathers. In other words, God was not going to turn His back on the promises He had made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Earlier in Romans 11, Paul had said that the Gentiles were being grafted into the stock of Israel, and as we all know, a grafted limb maintains its own identity and bears its own distinct fruit.

In Ephesians 2, Paul says that today, Jesus Christ has broken down the middle wall of separation between the Jew and Gentile. Obviously, Israel’s program has been set aside, and the concept of Israel’s election is no longer operative. Today, God is reconciling both the Jew and the Gentile to God in one body by the cross.

As I close this morning, I would just like to say that these things may seem irrelevant to some who say, “I believe in Jesus and that’s all I need to know.” Well, it is a wonderful thing to know that all we have to do to be saved is to believe in Jesus, but we can not have that assurance unless we have a clear understanding of Paul’s teachings concerning the Church which is the Body of Christ.

When theologians go back to Israel’s program, inevitably you find other things thrown in to the process of salvation. It may be church membership, a ritual, or a spiritual gift. When we see Paul’s message for us, we can rest assured that faith alone in Christ alone is God’s requirement for salvation.

If you don’t know the Lord today, I would invite you to accept Him even now. If you have faith alone in Christ alone, you can be saved today. Call unto Him and He will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not.

Thank you for listening to Bible Study Time this morning. I’ll look forward to being with you again next week at this same time.

Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com

Church links:
http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/
http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/
http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/

Ephesians 2 Part 3 (7-10-05)

Ephesians 2 (Part 3)
Bible Study Time 7-10-05

In Ephesians 2, the Apostle Paul reminds us of two things regarding our past. First, we were at one time dead in trespasses and sins, but now by God’s grace we have been made alive in Jesus Christ. Before we were transferred into the kingdom of light, we desperately pursued our own personal happiness. This allusive dream resulted in frustration and disappointment. We were spiritually dead.

Ephesians 2:4-6 (NKJ)
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

Then the next verse says that God did this so that:

Ephesians 2:7 (NKJ)
7 . . . in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

If you recall, back in Chapter 1, Paul prayed that we would know the riches of the glory of God’s inheritance in us. And this is it. Every blessing that God bestows upon us throughout all of eternity will bear a constant testimony to His grace. The more He blesses us, the more His name is glorified. I believe we would have to call that a win/win situation.

The second thing that Paul reminds us of in Ephesians 2 concerning our past is that, as Gentiles, we were at one time far from Israel’s covenants and promises. In verse 11 we read:

Ephesians 2:11-16
11 Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh -- who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands --
12 that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

This passage shows the contempt that the Jews had for the Gentiles. This contempt was based on a misinterpretation of some Old Testament passages. For instance in Genesis 17, God told Abraham:

Genesis 17:13-14 (NKJ)
13 "He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.
14 "And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant."

At first glance, it appears from these verses that God really hates the uncircumcised, but a closer look reveals only that God was very serious about this ritual of circumcision and that He intended for it to be strictly enforced.

However, the Jews of the succeeding generations took this commandment to mean that God literally despised the uncircumcised nations. This false notion was reinforced by God’s commandment that Israel refrain from making alliances with pagan nations. As the nation of Israel entered into the promised land, God said:

Deuteronomy 7:1-4 (NKJ)
1 "When the LORD your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you, . . .
2 "and when the LORD your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them.
3 "Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son.
4 "For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; so the anger of the LORD will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly.

If these were the only words of the Old Testament, we would almost have to conclude that God really despised the uncircumcised nations. However, if we consider all of the Old Testament scriptures, we quickly see the heart of God.

When God brought Israel to the foot of Mt. Sinai, the first words He spoke to Israel were:

Exodus 19:5-6 (NKJ)
5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.
6 And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

Israel was called as a special treasure to God above all people, but she was called to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. A priest is one who acts as a mediator between God and man.

Therefore, Israel’s special calling was to serve the Gentile nations and lead them to God. They would do this by means of their example of holiness and devotion to God. Then, as God blessed the nation of Israel above all other nations on the face of the earth, this would also draw the nations to Christ.

God did not hate the Gentile nations at all. On the contrary, He wanted to show His great love for them by bringing them to Himself through the nation of Israel. At Mt. Sinai, God gave Moses the rules for the eating of the Passover and said:

Exodus 12:43-45 (NKJ)
43 "This is the ordinance of the Passover: No foreigner shall eat it.
44 "But every man's servant who is bought for money, when you have circumcised him, then he may eat it.
45 "A sojourner and a hired servant shall not eat it.

Exodus 12:48-49 (NKJ)
48 "And when a stranger dwells with you and wants to keep the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat it.
49 "One law shall be for the native-born and for the stranger who dwells among you."

From this it is clearly seen that God’s intention was to maintain the integrity of the symbolism contained within the ritual of circumcision. Circumcision symbolized the cutting off of the flesh. Today we know that no person can come to God except he be spiritually circumcised through faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

God was not using circumcision as a means of discriminating against all Gentiles. In reality, God was opening His arms to the Gentiles. All they had to do was show their love and devotion to God by being circumcised. After their circumcision, they could live with full privileges in the Jewish community. God made it clear that there was to be one law for everyone, whether Jew or Gentile.

But Israel hardened her heart to the plan of God and rejected her calling as a kingdom of priests. Rather than leading the nations to God, Israel chose to follow after the nations. They came to Samuel and said, “We want a king like all the other nations.” Samuel was furious, but God said, “Samuel , they have not rejected you. They have rejected me.”

Israel made alliances with the Gentiles nations and followed after their gods. In this condition, they were no longer God’s special treasure. However, they did not realize their fallen state. They continued to think that they were God’s chosen people simply because they had the sign of circumcision, but they were dead in trespasses and sins.

They despised the uncircumcision They could not teach the true meaning of circumcision because they could not teach what they did not know. Circumcision symbolized the cutting off of the works of the flesh, but the Jews were immersed in the lusts of the flesh.

In Ephesians 2, Paul reminds the Gentile believers that they were once aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants and the promises. The circumcision looked down on the uncircumcision, but the Jews themselves were largely responsible for the lost condition of the Gentiles.

After the death of Christ, God offered Israel the opportunity to become a true kingdom of priests under the power and authority of the New Covenant. The Lord Jesus had shed the blood of the New Covenant and with that blood came the power for the Jews to become the Sons of God, as Hosea had prophesied. But Israel once again refused.

When Paul got to Rome at the end of the book of Acts, Paul said, “Let it be known, that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear it.” From his Roman prison, Paul wrote Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians, and in these letters, Paul revealed the Church which is the Body of Christ. In these letters, he never mentioned Israel’s hope of the New Covenant Kingdom.

In Ephesians 2, Paul says:

Ephesians 2:12-13 (NKJ)
12 . . . you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

Israel failed God, and she failed the Gentile nations. But this did not surprise God at all. When Moses struck the rock in the wilderness for the second time, he was told that he would not be allowed to go into the promised land. This pictured the fact that the Old Covenant Law could never take Israel into the promised kingdom.

Israel could only enter into the promised kingdom through the power of the blood of the New Covenant. But here in Ephesians, Israel had already rejected the resurrected Christ and the blood of the New Covenant, and Paul tells the Gentiles, “Now, you who were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” The blood which Israel rejected is the same blood that has brought us into a relationship with God.

Well, if our relationship with Christ is not based on Israel’s covenants and promises, what is the basis for our relationship with Christ. In this letter to the Ephesians, Paul spells out the details of our relationship with Christ. In Chapter 1, and verse 22, Paul says that God gave Christ to be Head over all things to the Church which is His Body. Then in Chapter 5, he says that we are members of His Body, of His flesh and of His bones.

This is new. This is different. This doctrine is found only in Paul’s prison epistles. From the time of Abraham, the only plan that God revealed for human beings was the plan that He revealed through Israel. In Israel’s plan, God’s arms were open to Gentiles, but Gentiles had to come to God through Israel.

Now, in the Church which is the Body of Christ, believing Gentiles come to God on an equal basis with believing Jews. When Israel rejected the resurrected Christ, it opened the door for God to reveal this program of the Church which He had kept secret since the foundation of the world. This was a great mystery.

Someday God is going to catch up the Church to be with Him in heaven. At that point our mystery age will be over, and God will resume His dealings with Israel according to the covenants and promises.

It may be that as you have listened to God’s word this morning, you have become aware of your need for Jesus Christ. If that is the case, I have good news for you. You can accept Christ as your personal Savior right now, right where you are. You do not have to go through any ritual, and you don’t have to join any earthly organization. Simply call upon the name of the Lord and thou shalt be saved. No one can pray that prayer for you because that is something between you and God. But if you believe that Christ died on the cross for your sins, and that He was buried and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures, if you call upon Him today, He will save you.

When you accept Christ, you may have questions or just need someone to talk to. Feel free to call me or write to me, we will try to help you any way that we can.

Thank you for listening to Bible Study Time this morning. I’ll look forward to being with you again next week at this same time.

Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com

Church links:
http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/
http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/

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