Summary
Just as God, through the power of the Gospel, reconciled Gentiles to himself, the Christians in Ephesus are called to extend the same reconciliation to their neighbors. The love of God is lived out in a horizontal and vertical manner. Simply put, God’s offer of reconciliation is an invitation and a call to believers to implement the gift they have received to their fellow human beings. God commands believers to live in reconciliation, peace, and love (2:1-10).
ANALYSIS
The author extends the lesson begun in Ephesians 2:1-10: God’s offer of salvationSalvation can mean saved from something (deliverance) or for something (redemption). Paul preached that salvation comes through the death of Christ on the cross which redeemed sinners from death and for a grace-filled life. More to the Gentiles is thanks to the salvific actions of the death and resurrection of Jesus, making it for Gentiles to be part of the resurrection story. In essence, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and his ascension became theirs by believing in the Gospel. Without God’s extension of love to the Gentiles, their lives would be defined by death and spiritual bankruptcy. As adopted sons and daughters of God, Gentiles were privileged to enter a relationship with God, and as such they were to accept and welcome others who were outsiders by nationality, ethnicity, and skin color. Indeed, their former lives as Jews and Gentiles were redefined by God’s love of Jesus Christ. Reconciliation as a theological treatise in Ephesians is profoundly contingent on God and the incarnationIncarnation literally means "embodied in flesh." It is a Christian doctrine, based on the witness in John's Gospel, that God's Word was made flesh in the person of Jesus Christ. The Apostles' and Nicene Creeds confess the central importance of the incarnation of Jesus. More in Jesus Christ. Lovingly, God offers salvation to spiritually dead people who by faith now believe in Jesus Christ. The gift of salvation paved the way for these people, formerly enemies, to become brothers and sisters in Christ, making it possible for all to be saved by graceGrace is the unmerited gift of God's love and acceptance. In Martin Luther's favorite expression from the Apostle Paul, we are saved by grace through faith, which means that God showers grace upon us even though we do not deserve it. More through faith in the MessiahThe Messiah was the one who, it was believed, would come to free the people of Israel from bondage and exile. In Jewish thought the Messiah is the anticipated one who will come, as prophesied by Isaiah. In Christian thought Jesus of Nazareth is identified... More (2:10).
The text highlights the work and love of God in Jesus Christ. While Jews and Gentiles once lived in isolation due to their sinful nature, they are now one in Christ as siblings and kinfolks. While originally God’s promises were only for the Children of Israel, the death and resurrection of Jesus drew Gentiles into the promises of God. Through the cross, the two nationalities–and presumably strangers–became one (2:13-16), reconciling them into a new family. However, the author of the passage teaches that God’s work of love and reconciliation comes at a cost to those who have been saved. Their reconciliation by God and to each other has vertical and horizontal implications which are well spelled out and named for both Jews and Gentiles. In other words, their relationship was not only with God, but they were to live out the meaning of being saved with their neighbors and all peoples, nations, tribes, and ethnicities of the world (2:11-22).
In warring nations, and particularly in South Africa, colonialism and apartheid brought untold wounds and death to the inhabitants of these African nations. Yet, Christian leaders of the caliber of Bishop Desmond Tutu realized urgently that there is no peace and forgiveness without reconciliation. The gospel message was built on letters such as Ephesians and the writings of the prophets where the theological teachings are primarily about nations, colonies, and indigenous people living together as members of a diversified family whose lives are determined by resisting the spiritual forces of racism, white supremacy, prejudice, and segregation. God’s reconciliation, when it is properly believed and lived out among nations, will build an alternative holyHoly is a term that originally meant set apart for the worship or service of God. While the term may refer to people, objects, time, or places, holiness in Judaism and Christianity primarily denotes the realm of the divine More templeThe Jerusalem temple, unlike the tabernacle, was a permanent structure, although (like the tabernacle) it was a place of worship and religious activity. On one occasion Jesus felt such activity was unacceptable and, as reported in all four Gospels, drove from the temple those engaged... More and a holy church in which God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit dwell in miraculous ways (2:18-19). This is one of the greatest theological teachings of Ephesians to a 21st-century global world agonizing with hate, and the death of innocent women, children, and men. It would be naïve to assert that this dream of God has been achieved in our time, but when it is accomplished, it will indeed be the greatest reversal for all nations, peoples, and ethnicities of the world. In God’s time, all nations and people will be co-heirs in Christ. The goal of Ephesians is both a prayer and proclamation of the Gospel whose main goal is to inaugurate a new creationCreation, in biblical terms, is the universe as we know or perceive it. Genesis says that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. In the book of Revelation (which speaks of end times) the author declares that God created all things and... More where God will dwell among God’s people (Ephesians 2:10; 3:9; 4:13, 22, 24; Revelation 21:1-8).
