The Demolition of the Dividing Wall Text: Ephesians 2:11-22
Introduction: The Ache of Alienation
Man is a wall-building creature. We are born architects of alienation. From the playground to the halls of power, we are experts in exclusion. We build walls out of skin color, bank accounts, political affiliations, and national borders. We find our identity, we think, by defining ourselves over against someone else. We are the insiders; they are the outsiders. We are the clean; they are the unclean. This is the fundamental grammar of our fallen world, and it is a grammar of hostility. It is the native language of the sons of Adam.
But before all these flimsy, man-made walls, there was one wall that was divinely instituted, a wall that was, for a time, good and necessary. This was the great chasm of the ancient world, the division between Jew and Gentile. This was not a mere cultural preference; it was a theological reality established by God Himself. He chose Abraham and his descendants, gave them the covenants, the law, the promises, and the temple. He set them apart from all the other nations of the world. The Gentile was, by divine decree, on the outside looking in. The law, with its ceremonial and dietary strictures, was the partition, the very thing that made Israel distinct.
The problem was not the wall itself, but what sinful men did with it. For the Jews, it became a basis for ethnic pride, a badge of spiritual superiority. For the Gentiles, it was a source of resentment and a confirmation of their godless state. The wall that was meant to preserve the line of the Messiah became a monument to human hostility. Into this world, a world defined by this ultimate division, the Apostle Paul speaks not with a polite suggestion for cultural exchange, but with the earth-shattering news of a divine demolition. He announces that in the cross of Jesus Christ, God took a sledgehammer to that dividing wall, and He did it to build something far more glorious in its place.
The Text
Therefore, remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Uncircumcision” by the so-called “Circumcision,” which is performed in the flesh by human hands, remember that you were at that time without Christ, alienated from the citizenship 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 formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups one and broke down the dividing wall of the partition by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might create the two into one new man, making peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, having in Himself put to death the enmity. AND HE CAME AND PREACHED THE GOOD NEWS OF PEACE TO YOU WHO WERE FAR AWAY, AND PEACE TO THOSE WHO WERE NEAR; for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being joined together, is growing into a holy sanctuary in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
(Ephesians 2:11-22 LSB)
Remember Your Desperation (vv. 11-12)
Paul begins with a command that is a foundational spiritual discipline: "Therefore, remember." We cannot appreciate the magnificent reality of our salvation unless we remember the abject poverty from which we were rescued.
"Therefore, remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Uncircumcision” by the so-called “Circumcision,” which is performed in the flesh by human hands, remember that you were at that time without Christ, alienated from the citizenship of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world." (Ephesians 2:11-12)
He wants the Ephesian believers, who were Gentiles, to look their former life squarely in the face. He reminds them of the taunts they endured, being called "Uncircumcision" by the Jews. Paul subtly critiques the Jewish pride by noting that their own sign was merely "in the flesh by human hands." The sign had, for many, ceased to point to a circumcised heart and had become a mark of ethnic arrogance.
Then Paul lays out a five-fold description of their former state, a spiritual rap sheet of utter destitution. First, they were "without Christ." This is the root of the entire problem. To be without the Messiah is to be cut off from the source of all life and blessing. All other alienations flow from this one.
Second, they were "alienated from the citizenship of Israel." They were not part of the commonwealth, the covenant community of God's people. They had no passport, no rights, no standing. Third, they were "strangers to the covenants of promise." The great promises made to Abraham, Moses, and David were not addressed to them. They were foreigners to God's binding commitments.
Fourth, because of all this, they were "having no hope." This was not a subjective feeling of discouragement. It was an objective reality. Without the Messiah and His covenants, there is no solid ground for hope, only the blackness of a meaningless end. Fifth, and as a summary of it all, they were "without God in the world." The Greek is atheoi en to kosmo, atheists in the world. This doesn't mean they didn't believe in gods; the ancient world was crawling with deities. It means they were without the true and living God. They lived in His world, breathed His air, but were utterly cut off from Him. This is the bleak portrait of every person outside of Christ.
The Great Reversal (v. 13)
After that dark and desolate diagnosis, Paul gives us two of the most glorious words in all of Scripture: "But now."
"But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ." (Ephesians 2:13)
This is the hinge upon which all of history turns. The chasm has been bridged. The distance has been annihilated. Those who were "far off" are now "brought near." How? Not by their own striving, not by becoming more cultured, not by adopting Jewish customs. They were brought near by a specific event at a specific location: "in Christ Jesus." And the means was profoundly costly: "by the blood of Christ." The peace treaty that brought these aliens into the kingdom was signed with the blood of the King's Son. The price for our proximity was His life. The blood of Christ is the great solvent that dissolves all alienation.
The Prince of Peace and His Work (vv. 14-18)
Paul now explains the mechanics of this reconciliation. It is not just that Christ made peace possible; it is that He Himself is the embodiment of that peace.
"For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups one and broke down the dividing wall of the partition by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, the Law of commandments contained in ordinances..." (Ephesians 2:14-15a)
Christ doesn't just broker a peace deal; He is the peace. He is the common ground on which former enemies stand as brothers. He achieved this by making the "both groups", Jew and Gentile, into "one." And He did this through a divine act of demolition. He "broke down the dividing wall." This calls to mind the literal wall in Herod's temple, the soreg, which separated the Court of the Gentiles from the inner courts, with signs warning any Gentile not to enter on pain of death. Christ, in His death, smashed that barrier to pieces.
He did this by "abolishing in His flesh the enmity." What was the enmity? It was "the Law of commandments contained in ordinances." This is crucial. Christ did not abolish the moral law of God. He did not abolish the Ten Commandments. He abolished the ceremonial and civil aspects of the Mosaic law whose very purpose was to function as that wall. The dietary laws, the purity codes, the sacrificial system, these were the temporary ordinances that kept Israel separate. When Christ, the substance, arrived, the shadows were no longer needed. He fulfilled them, and in His flesh on the cross, He absorbed their penalty and exhausted their function. The wall's job was to guard the way to the Messiah. Once the Messiah came and finished His work, the wall became obsolete.
And the purpose of this demolition was not simply to have Jews and Gentiles hold hands. It was a creative act.
"...so that in Himself He might create the two into one new man, making peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, having in Himself put to death the enmity." (Ephesians 2:15b-16)
The goal was not to make Gentiles into Jews, or to make Jews into secularists. It was to create something entirely new: "one new man." This is the Church. It is a new humanity, a new creation. And notice the two dimensions of this peace. He makes peace between Jew and Gentile (horizontal), and He reconciles this new, unified body to God (vertical). Both reconciliations happen in one place: "through the cross." The cross is where our hostility toward each other and our rebellion toward God were simultaneously put to death.
This accomplished peace is now proclaimed. Christ "CAME AND PREACHED THE GOOD NEWS OF PEACE TO YOU WHO WERE FAR AWAY, AND PEACE TO THOSE WHO WERE NEAR" (v. 17). Through His apostles, and by His Spirit, the risen Lord announces this reality to the whole world. And the result is breathtaking access: "for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father" (v. 18). Because of Christ's work, Jew and Gentile together, in the power of one Spirit, can walk right into the throne room of the Father. The wall is gone. We are ushered into the holy of holies.
Citizens, Sons, and Stones (vv. 19-22)
Paul concludes with a torrent of glorious metaphors to describe our new identity. We are no longer defined by what we were, but by who we are in Christ.
"So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household..." (Ephesians 2:19)
First, we have a new political status. We are no longer aliens ("strangers and sojourners"). We are "fellow citizens with the saints." We have a new passport, a new allegiance, and a new King. We belong to the commonwealth of heaven.
Second, and even more intimately, we have a new family status. We are "of God’s household." It is one thing to be a citizen of a country; it is another thing entirely to be a son in the king's house. We have been adopted. We have a seat at the Father's table. We are not just subjects; we are sons and daughters.
Third, and this is the climax, we have a new architectural status. We are a new temple.
"...having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being joined together, is growing into a holy sanctuary in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit." (Ephesians 2:20-22)
This new household is also a new temple. The foundation is the unshakeable, God-breathed doctrine of the "apostles and prophets", in other words, the Scriptures. The cornerstone, the one who aligns and holds the entire structure together, is "Christ Jesus Himself." Every doctrine, every life, every ministry must be squared with Him.
And this building is alive. It is "growing into a holy sanctuary." The Church is God's construction project. He is fitting us together, stone by living stone, Jew and Gentile, male and female, rich and poor. And for what purpose? So that we might become "a dwelling of God in the Spirit." The ultimate goal of redemption, the reason the wall came down, is so that the Triune God could make His home, not in a building made with hands, but in a redeemed people. We, the Church, are the place where God lives on earth. This is the end of alienation. This is the beginning of eternal communion.
Conclusion: Stop Rebuilding the Wall
This magnificent passage is not a dusty piece of theological history. It is a declaration of present reality, and it is a solemn charge to the church. The wall is down. Christ tore it down with His own body. Therefore, any attempt to rebuild walls of hostility within the church is an act of high treason against the King. To divide the body of Christ over race, or class, or nationality, or political party is to take up a trowel and begin plastering stones back onto the wall that Christ shed His blood to demolish. It is to deny the gospel.
Our unity is not a project we must achieve; it is a reality we must live in. It was purchased at an infinite cost. We are not strangers, but citizens. We are not orphans, but sons. We are not a random pile of bricks, but a holy temple where the living God dwells by His Spirit. We must remember what we were, hopeless, godless aliens. And we must rejoice in what we now are, one new man in Christ Jesus, brought near by His blood. He is our peace. Let us live like it.