Ephesians 2:11-22 · One in Christ

11 Therefore, 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)-- 12 remember 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. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.

14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by 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, 16 and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

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

Dividing Walls
Ephesians 2:11-22
Sermon
by Gibson “Nibs” Stroupe
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"Welcome to the center of the world!" This is the message of the first chapter of Ephesians. The author of Ephesians has told the Gentile-based churches that they have been brought into the center of all that is — in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the rest of this letter, he will be seeking to tell them the meaning of this great news. He wants to stress that this relocation of themselves by God's motivating grace means that they are called to change the way they understand their lives and the way that they live their lives.

Later on, he will list specific guidelines for the living of their lives, but in chapter 2 he speaks about a change in their imaginations, a change in the way they see themselves, and a change in the way they see others. He begins chapter 2 by fo…

CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Sermons for Sundays after Pentecost (First Third): Eyes on The Prize, by Gibson “Nibs” Stroupe