Ephesians 2:11-22

Read Ephesians 2:11-22

Helpful Background Information:  

• This passage starts with a “Therefore” meaning it’s always good to look back a bit to see what the author was saying. Here in Chapter 2, Paul is writing to the church in Ephesus about the grace of God that comes through faith and that leads into their oneness with Christ.

• While Jesus was on the earth, part of his ministry was towards the foreigners and teaching that they too would be grafted into the family of God. Jesus’s great commission to his followers included proclaiming the gospel to the whole creation (Mark 16:15). This would have naturally included the foreigners. His ministry was the ground work the disciples saw and then mimicked even after Christ’s ascension. 

• From the beginning of time, God’s intention was to include the foreigners. Laws were written to make sure God’s people helped the foreigners. In Ruth’s story we see this when she is allowed to harvest the outer edge of the field (Lev 19:9-10).

• Sojourner, foreigner, alien, stranger are all words that we see in Scripture talking about a certain group of people. These words referred to people who are from another tribe or nation, those who were not from the line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Everyone that was from the line of Abraham was circumcised to set them apart from the rest of the world (Gen 17:10-14). A symbol of God’s chosen people. Now, Paul is saying that those who are strangers (the uncircumcised Gentiles) get to be part of God’s chosen people because it’s about their faith in God- not the actual circumcision. 

•  So when Paul uses these words, there was a group of people that would come to mind- and Paul says, even they are heirs to the throne when they have faith in Jesus.

Reflection Questions: 

• In Ephesians 2:11, Paul talks about being circumcised by hand and in verse 13 he says that those who are uncircumcised have been brought near by the blood of Christ. Since there is a difference between being circumcised by hand and being circumcised by the heart, how would you explain this to someone who is new to the faith?

• What would it look like to view every believer you came into contact with as “fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God”? What are some actions or thoughts would you need to repent from?

• As a foreigner yet fellow citizen yourself- how are you going to join together and continue to grow the kingdom of God?