Scripture Reference: Ephesians 2:14-16
Believers are not under the law but under grace. However, this does not mean they can live as they please; it means they are now bound to Christ, and should live as He pleases.
As a result of abolishing the hostility stirred up by the law, the Lord has been able to usher in a wholly new creation. He has made in Himself, from the two, that is, from believing Jew and believing Gentile, “one new man,” or entity – the church. Through union with Him, the former combatants are united with one another in this new fellowship. The church is new in the sense that it is a kind of organism that never existed before. It is important to see this. The New Testament church is not a continuation of the Israel of the Old Testament. It is something entirely distinct from anything that has preceded it or that will ever follow it. This should be apparent from the following:
- It is new that a Gentile should have equal rights and privileges with a Jew.
- It is new that both Jews and Gentiles should lose their national identities by becoming Christians.
- It is new that Jews and Gentiles should be fellow members of the one Body of Christ.
- It is new that a Jew should have the hope of reigning with Christ as an heir instead of being a subject in His kingdom.
- It is new that a Jew should no longer be under the law but under the new order of grace.
The church is clearly a new creation, with a distinct calling and a distinct destiny, occupying a unique place in the purposes of God. But the scope of Christ’s work does not stop there. He has also made peace between Jew and Gentile. He did this by removing the cause of hostility, by imparting a new nature, and by creating a new union. The cross is God’s answer to racial discrimination, segregation, anti-Semitism, bigotry, and every form of strife between men.
In addition to reconciling Jew and Gentile to one another, Christ has “reconcile[d] them both to God.” Though Israel and the nations were normally bitterly opposed to each other, there was one sense in which they were united—in their hostility to God. The cause of this hostility was sin. By His death on the cross, the Lord Jesus removed that hostility by removing the cause. Those who receive Him are reckoned righteous, forgiven, redeemed, pardoned, and delivered from the power of sin. The hostility and hate are gone; now they have peace with God as well as with one another. The Lord Jesus unites believing Jew and Gentile in one body, the church, and presents this Body to God with all trace of antagonism gone.
Understand this important distinction as well; God never needed to be reconciled to us; He never hated us. But we needed to be reconciled to Him. The work of our Lord on the cross provided a righteous basis on which we could be brought into His presence as friends, not as foes.
A closing question; are you a friend of God through Christ Jesus, or are you still a foe? Only you personally can answer that!
Roland Ledoux is Pastor of the outreach Ministry, Oasis Bible Ministry, specializing in Teaching, Encouragement and Intercession (both prayer and needs) since the early 1990s. He and his wife Sue, live in Delta, Colorado and have been married for over 50 years. They enjoy two adult sons, a grandson and a great grandson. He has been ordained since 1986. Fundamental Full-Gospel, Non-denominational. To learn more about Roland visit his website.
Featured Image by David Yonatan González Aburto from Pixabay
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