I.                 Reconciliation of the Jews & Gentiles

A.                 The Alienation of the Gentiles (Ephesians 2:11-13)

1.                 Background

Jews are the nation God chose as his own special nation, chosen to be his representatives throughout the world (Gen. 12:1-3). The Gentiles are everyone else.

Circumcision was the custom introduced by God to distinguish Jews from Gentiles. It is a dividing line or mark of division. Circumcision was the physical division between Jews and Gentiles. But there were deep factors that divided Jews and Gentiles.

·         Religion:  Jews had one God; Gentiles had many pagan gods

·         Race: Jews were a dispersed Semitic people, who tended to be xenophobic; Gentiles of Paul’s time were members of the Roman Empire, a diverse cosmopolitan world.

·         Background: God as the Chosen people chose Jews. Gentiles had no such national calling.

2.                 Alienation for the Gentiles

Paul lists the spiritual distinctions between the Jews and Gentiles before the Gentiles came to know Christ.

1.       Without Christ (they had no national messiah)

2.       They were aliens, outside of Israel

3.       They did not have the covenants of Israel

4.       They had no hope

5.       They were without God.

The Gentiles were not part of God’s program. He was dealing with the Jews. While this does not mean Gentiles were unable to be “saved,” God’s focus was on this nation, and it was through this nation that the rest of the world would hear the gospel and be blessed.

B.                 The Reconciliation of Jews and Gentiles (Ephesians 2:14-18)

1.                 Christ has reconciled us.

But now, after Christ, God has reconciled the Jews and Gentiles. This has been accomplished by the following.

1.       Christ abolished the Jewish law (2:15). The law was no longer the mechanism by which God revealed his grace. Now God revealed himself through Christ.

2.       Both Gentile & Jew must come to God through Christ (2:16). The plan of salvation  is now the same for all (2:18). It is by God’s grace, not works, so neither can boast (2:10).

3.       The dividing lines have been erased and the two groups have been made one (2:14, 17).

2.                 Conflict between Jew and Gentile in the early church.

Jew-Gentile relations were the central issue of the early church. Whether in a theological question of whether or not Gentiles needed to follow the Jewish law or be it in divisive attitudes and behaviors found within Jews and Greeks in the church, the inclusion of Gentiles into the church was the focus of much of the New Testament, and especially the writing of Paul.

a)                The Jerusalem Council (Acts 15)

In Acts 15, the first and only church council found in scripture dealt with the relationship between these two groups. The controversy specifically was that some Jewish Christians felt that Gentiles would need to first become Jews (“be circumcised”) and follow the Jewish law and customs before they could be saved.  Others, namely Paul and Barnabas, felt that they were not bound to the Jewish law.

The apostles debated this point extensively. The conclusion, stated by Peter, was that Gentiles did not need to follow the Jewish law to become Christians, for “we believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are. ”(Acts 15:11)

b)                The Book of Galatians

The book of Galatians deals specifically with the issue resolved in the Jerusalem council. Paul scolds the Galatians for demanding that the Gentiles follow the Jewish law and for the conflicts between the two. His point is that neither the Jew nor the Gentile can earn their salvation.

²⁶For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. ²⁷For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. ²⁸There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise. (Galatians 3:23-29 NASB)

Since we all find salvation through faith rather than through obedience to the law, there is now no distinction between Jew and Greek. Neither is their distinction between male and female, nor slave or master. All are one in Christ.

C.                 The Church United (Ephesians 2:19-22)

Paul uses a number of metaphors to drive home the point that all in the church, Jew and Gentile are united together in one community, one nation, one household.

1.       Jews & Gentiles are citizens of one nation, no longer strangers and foreigners.

2.       Jews & Gentiles are members of the same household of God.

3.       Jews & Gentiles are parts of the same building, established on Christ and the apostles.

II.             The Mystery of Reconciliation (Eph. 3:1-13)

A.                 The “Paul’s a Prisoner Parenthetical”

Paul states his imprisonment is "for the sake of you Gentiles." Such a statement could have been troubling to his readers, so he breaks off his train of thought and expands on this point. The entire paragraph from 3:2 to 3:13 is a parenthetical explanation of how his imprisonment benefits the Gentile readers and why they should not be discouraged by his trials.  Paul picks up his thought in 3:14, where he repeats the connector, “For this reason.”

B.                 The Mystery Defined

Paul was to preach to the Gentiles “the unfathomable riches of Christ.” The riches of Christ refer to the rich blessings imparted by Christ.[1] Specifically, for the Gentiles, these riches are the grace that made redemption (1:7) possible for the not only the Jews, but also the non-Jewish nations (3:6). The Gentiles would now be “chosen” (1:4-5) The Gentiles would now be adopted into God’s family (1:5). The Gentiles would now receive an inheritance (1:14).

This is the mystery of which Paul speaks. Namely, (3:8)“… that the Gentiles are…fellow-heirs and fellow-members of the body and fellow-partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” The mystery is that the gospel of Christ that now is available to not only the Jews, but the Gentiles as well

C.                 The Revelation of the Mystery

This mystery was hidden and (3:9)“in other generations was not made known to the sons of men.” Paul is referring to a time when the Gentiles were excluded from Israel and were strangers to the covenant of promise (2:12), namely the age of Israel before Christ. In the Old Testament, God hid the mystery from the prophets and teachers of Israel. Charles Ryrie states, “The mystery spoken here is not that the Gentiles would be blessed (for that was predicted in the OT) but that Jews and Gentiles would be equal heirs in the one body of Christ. This was unknown in OT prophecy.[2]”

D.                 The Purpose of the Mystery

The second reason Paul received grace was (3:9) “to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery.” Paul was to illuminate how the mystery was managed and cared for.

Paul declares the mystery is now to be brought to light so (3:10) “the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known.” Manifold is not a commonly used word today, and likewise the Greek word from which it is translated is also rarely used. It means literally, “marked with a great variety of colors.[3]” So the mystery is brought to light so the great many shades and hues of God’s wisdom could be made known to the principle and chief angels.[4]

This process might seem backwards to our normal impression of things. Normally we think that angels reveal God’s wisdom to the church. But, Paul tells us it is just the opposite. It is the church that reveals God’s wisdom to the angels.

E.                 The Humility of Paul

Paul concludes this parenthetical section telling the Ephesians that they have no reason to be discouraged about Paul’s imprisonment. He states “therefore,” reminding them that his imprisonment is a result of his calling by God to preach the gospel and to reveal the mystery. Paul sees this as a privilege that puts his imprisonment in perspective. Furthermore, the Ephesians can have boldness and confidence in life.

Paul’s perspective on his current troubles provides a lesson for us. Paul sees his tribulations as a privilege from God. As for us, when tribulations surround us, rather than despair, we can hold on to the fact that God will use the process to refine us, to develop hope within us, and to show the world the mystery of his salvation.

III.         Paul’s Prayer for the Ephesians (Eph. 3:14-21)

This is perhaps one of the most beautiful and expressive passages in all of Paul’s epistles, as he prays that God would strengthen the Ephesians that they might know and understand the incredible depths of Christ’s love.

Having reminded himself of Christ’s great love for us, in verse 20 he almost spontaneously breaks into praise of God.