The Spirit Who Brings Near

Ephesians 2:11–22 (ESV) —  Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands—  remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.  But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.  For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility  by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,  and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.  And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.  For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.  So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,  built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,  in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.  In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

In our last few articles I’ve been sketching the contours of an awesome truth: God draws near to us. 

In the Old Testament era, God made His gracious presence available to His people through the tabernacle and eventually the Temple. He promised to meet His people at these locations, and so, the tent or temple was the center of Old Testament worship. It was the center of our Lord’s relationship with His people, because it’s where they encountered His Word and where He received their worship. The New Testament era, however, is an era where this blessing of promised presence is expanding beyond any physical confines. In the years after Pentecost but before Christ’s second coming, His presence is promised to be wherever two or three are gathered in His name (Matthew 18:20). 

Now, just to be clear: His presence was never “confined” to a temple due to a lack of power. Even in the Old Testament the Lord promised His saints that He would be with them (example: Genesis 26:3 or Leviticus 26:12). Eventually, His presence was graciously placed on the Ark of the Covenant as a blessing to His people, but that never meant that that was the only place He was. He gave them a place to draw near to Him in faith, and an invitation to do so. Now however, in the era after Pentecost, that same blessing is dispersed and going out into all the world. 

In the last few newsletter articles, we’ve done some work tracking this theme of “The Meeting Place of God” through the Old Testament and up to the day of Pentecost (Acts 2.) The theology of all of this is presented in the Old and New Testament by the Holy Spirit making His presence conspicuously known through the signs of His presence (fire, smoke, wind, prophecy, healing, and even sometimes wrath). That is largely what we’ve looked at so far. 

In Ephesians chapter 2, however, The Holy Spirit led Paul to just flat out state the theology of all of this: Formerly, Gentiles had no access to God, but now they do. Formerly, Gentiles were banned from the temple of God. Now God is joining all believers, Jew and Gentile, together into His Temple. This portion of Ephesians 2 at the top of this article is key to understanding the Temple and the events of that first Christian Pentecost. 

The Division Prior to Christian Pentecost

In Ephesians 2:12, Paul makes reference to a “separation” that formerly existed between the people of faith and the Gentiles. In verse 14 the Holy Spirit had him go even further and discuss a “dividing wall of hostility” that existed between the law-abiding Jews and the Gentiles (who were a law unto themselves, Romans 2:14). In the Old Testament, Gentiles were excluded from salvation, or “sort of” excluded anyways. 

I say “sort of”, because there are numerous examples in the Old Testament of salvation being extended to Gentiles. There’s Naaman, the Syrian general (2 Kings 5). There’s Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law (see his confession at Exodus 18:10). There’s Ruth (her story gets a whole book). There’s the entire city of Nineveh, not to mention the Gentile sailors that prayed for the Lord’s mercy and then sacrificed to the Lord (see Jonah). Our God is a God of salvation (Psalm 25:5) and He has been working salvation the world over for all time.  

That said, God also gave the nation of Israel a unique manifestation of His presence. He chose Israel out of all the nations of the world to show His glory. He was their God and they were His people (Exodus 6:7). He gave them an entire system of worship to testify to the world about Himself. 

In the Old Testament, however, the Means of Grace were given uniquely to one people: Israel. At some points in their history, they despised the gift they had been given. The 10 northern tribes of Israel thought it was unnecessary to draw near to God in the place He had called them to, so they persisted in idolatrous rebellion against Jerusalem until they were eventually carried off into exile. The only two tribes left worshipping the Lord God in Jerusalem were the Jews (the genetic nation of Judah) and tiny Benjamin (which is often just referred to as part of Judah). 

Sometimes wars were fought between the Jews and the other 10 tribes about where to worship. After the 10 tribes were carried into exile, wars were fought between the Jews and Samaritans about where to worship. Wars were fought between the Jews and Gentiles like Antiochus Epiphanes. Wars were constantly being fought between God’s people and the rest of the idolatrous nations. So, when Paul says the “uncircumcision” were alienated from the commonwealth of Israel (verse 12), it is definitely not an overstatement. They weren’t just alienated, but in fact, all idolaters were enemies of the “commonwealth of Israel” (which is the nation that true believers in the Lord Yahweh were called to join), whether they were worshipping false gods or even just trying to worship the True God but through false and heretical means.  

We can’t invent our own way to God. We are too weak and sinful to contribute anything to our salvation. If we could, the “law of commandments” that Paul speaks of in verse 15 would be an instruction manual for us to save ourselves. Instead, the “ordinances” of God reveal only our inability to live sinlessly and the Savior who loves us and saves us anyways. 

Some people, however, misinterpreted the “ordinances” as being an actual pathway to salvation. Furthermore, it was taught among some Jews that this pathway was their unique and exclusive gift. In some ways, both of these ideas are actually true. The Law of God could be your salvation if you had the capacity to live sinlessly. Unfortunately no one does. 

Similarly, it’s true that the “ordinances” (a shorthand for “The Bible”) were given uniquely to Israel and then the Jews. To access them you needed to join their covenantal community. “Conversion” involved not only a religious conversion, but a social one as well. This is why we see Ruth’s confession of faith as both one of changing her God and her people (Ruth 1:16). Even so, Israel’s mission was to bring forth the Messiah who would be a light to the Gentiles (Isaiah 42:6 and 49:6). They never had a remit to exclude others from salvation. 

These factors did not mean that God was uninterested in saving the Gentiles though. It simply meant that the temple worship of the Old Testament was the Means of Grace that God used to point to the coming Messiah until the time of the Messiah’s arrival. The widely held, but not universally held, misunderstanding amongst the Jews about all this created the dividing wall between them and the Gentiles. It certainly didn’t help that the Gentiles were often persecuting and warring against Israel. 

These things all worked together to create a “dividing wall of hostility” that kept many in “Israel” from sharing the good news of the Messiah. Once the Messiah had come, it was time to tear down that wall. 

The End of the Division

In the last days of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, there were literally signs hung outside the sanctuary of the temple that said, in both Latin and Greek “No stranger is to enter within the balustrade round the temple and enclosure. Whoever is caught will be himself responsible for his ensuing death.” 

The dividing wall of hostility was not only spiritual. In Jerusalem, the ruling parties still believed that controlling physical access to the temple was synonymous with controlling access to God. Furthermore, like we said earlier, the Jews with this wrong idea also believed that they were uniquely and exclusively chosen by God for that blessing. Gentiles (which is the majority of our ancestors) were not allowed.  

In later chapters of Acts (chapters 21 and 22), Paul himself was confronted by an angry mob that thought he had violated the integrity of this physical division. But those events were years after the first Christian Pentecost. And those events were a clear indication that even decades later the powers-that-be in Jerusalem didn’t understand God’s presence correctly. There was a dividing line alright, but it was spiritual and they were on the wrong side of it. 

The events of Pentecost took place more than 2 decades before Acts 21. Those events were, among other things, a clarification about the end of God’s division from the Gentiles. That incredible morning God spoke His Gospel through the mouths of His messengers in all the languages imaginable in Jerusalem at that time. The implication from that miracle is not a complicated one: This Gospel is for everyone. Every nation under heaven is invited and called to come into the presence of the Lord God. The dividing wall has been broken down.  The Gentiles who formerly were threatened with death, can now draw near to God. 

Even more incredible was the good news that we don’t have to claw our way to God. He comes to us. We, who were once “far off” are “brought near” (verse 13) by the blood of Jesus Christ. We, who formerly were aliens and enemies to God now have access to His grace and peace by the “one Spirit” (verse 18). 

So you see, Ephesians 2:11-22 is actually an explanation of the change that was being proclaimed to the whole world at Pentecost. The meeting place of God was no longer a stone building. Instead the Temple of the one true God is now flesh and blood. And we Gentiles are invited to be a part of that, because God had replaced our hearts of stone with new and living hearts of flesh and Spirit (Ezekiel 36:26). 

The change in Temple has come and it is the Holy Spirit who has accomplished it. Gentiles and Jews and anyone else that you can think of all have access, together, to our Father God, and we are all fellow members of God’s household. The Temple of God is now the congregation of His believers.

In the next article we’ll return to the events of Pentecost for a closer look at the Holy Spirit’s miracles and what they signify. Paul also gives us more teaching about believers as the Temple of the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians, so in the coming months we will take that up as well.