Law and Grace - Abolishing the Law
Ephesians 2:14-22 · Vern Peterman · Feb 10, 2013
Law & Grace, No. 99
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://www.hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/4926343452891

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

Good morning. We, starting last week, began looking at a couple of passages in Ephesians chapter 2. We're going to continue on after having studied chapter 2 verses 4 through 10. We're going to continue on with the passage Wayne just read for us here, Ephesians 2, 14 through 22.

This passage focuses on how the Gentiles in Israel, or the Jews, ethnic distinctions have been made into a new non-ethnic entity called the church. A church in which ethnic distinction is not made and is not critical. So, we have not particularly covered Ephesians 2, 1-3. That addresses both Jews and Gentiles.

We will cover today the passage following Ephesians 2, 11-13, and we'll briefly read that just so we can get the context. The bottom line with that is Gentiles versus 11-13 are told this, 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 separate from Christ, excluded 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 formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 2.13 ends up being a transition verse then from talking about the Gentiles before they believed now into the description that he gives in verses 14 through 22 about now that you have believed this is what this looks like. Previously they were excluded, they were strangers, they were far off, they were outside. All they could do is kind of peer into Judaism and look and see from a distance what it was like, but they had no share in it. They couldn't participate.

Christ is the one who actually did something about the Gentiles huge problem. Verse 13 is that verse that starts here that tells us that Christ did something by his death and that message is continued on in the subsequent verses as we'll see here. Here in 14-16 that Wayne read for us, this is the part that continues on and further describes what God did through Christ in order to deal with the Gentile-Jewish separation problem. Now, how did Christ do it?

We could ask. Did Christ solve the Gentile Jewish problem by kind of making a mixture of Christianity and Judaism and mixing a little bit of law and a little bit of grace and amazing grace and law? Things like that. Is that how he did it? Do we get the cross and the shadow of the cross as a menorah? Or did he make half Jews and half Gentiles and just kind of mix it up and solve the problem that way? Was that how he did it? Well, no. Christ did not bring the Gentiles near by making them Jews. He didn't do that. He didn't make them near by putting them under the law of Moses. Here's what he did do.

He, by the blood of Christ, verse 13, by abolishing in his flesh the enmity, and the enmity is actually the law itself. We'll talk about that in a minute here. Through the cross, through his death on the cross, having put to death the enmity. You'll find a number of believers who will come in and say, well, you gotta have some law, otherwise you just go hog wild, right? And so, but this says, no, this is one of the purposes that Christ carried out on the cross.

It's one of the reasons why he would voluntarily have them put the nails in his hands and in his feet. Let's compare here. Ephesians 2, 14-16 talks about abolishing in his flesh the enmity, what is it? Which is the law of commandments contained in ordinances. All 613 of those laws. Abolishing in his flesh the enmity, which is the law of commandments contained in ordinances.

Who did it? Jesus did it on the cross. But we may have a problem. Matthew 5.17, Sermon on the Mount, first chapter of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, do not think that I came to abolish the law. So what is he doing in Ephesians 2, abolishing the law? Do we have a conflict here? Did he come to abolish the law or not? Hmm. Well, you're not going to answer it. I guess I will. I'll do that.

Jesus abolished the law with regards to those in the church, that is, those from Acts 2 to the rapture. That's what Ephesians is addressing, those in the church. Taking it offline. Now, Jesus didn't make the law go away. He didn't make the law die. He took it offline, that is, of no effect, unengaged, with regards to the church. He did not abolish the law for Jews outside of the time of the church. That is, for the Jews that Jesus was speaking to there in the Sermon on the Mount, He didn't take it offline for them. He didn't abolish the law for them. He said, do not think I came to abolish the law. He did not, for those Jews.

And then there will be a future time when the church is taken out, when again the law will be applicable to the Jew. There will even be a time could be as close as seven years from now, when Christ will reign on the earth as King of Israel and the King of Kings and Lord of Lords over the Gentiles, and the Jews will be empowered by the continuously indwelling Holy Spirit to know all 613 laws of the Law of Moses by heart, without a teacher, no rabbis, to know the law and to live it out. They will live it out all the time, which means that they will be blessed all the time.

Now, the law was taken out of the way in order to form the church. That's what this passage is telling us. Christ died on the cross for several very important purposes. We've talked about what those several purposes are. One of them was to take the law out of the way in order to form the church.

If he didn't take the law out of the way, abolish the enmity, the law, with regards to the church. If he didn't do that, the church could not be formed. Why? Because the church is composed of Jews and Gentiles as one body, and the law stands in the way.

One of those important purposes was to take the law offline for us in the church. So here's Jesus when he goes on the cross. He said, it is finished. I'm finished taking the law offline. That's one of the purposes that was accomplished there at the cross.

It was taken offline that allowed the Jews and Gentiles to both be made into one body. An entirely new creation, not based on ethnicity. It does not depend on whether you're Jew or Gentile in the church. It's not the primary identity. Ethnicity and the law are about earthly identity.

What does the law dictate but things here? And you're going to be blessed here according to the law, Deuteronomy 28, 1-14. You're going to be blessed here if you obey. You're going to be cursed, verse 15 to the end of the chapter, if you disobey. But it's all about blessed here, cursed here. Or, if you really do something bad under the law, you won't even be here. Right? But it's all about earthly identity, earthly actions, earthly inactions, earthly penalties.

The Church, however, has a heavenly identity. Where are you blessed? You're blessed, Ephesians 1-3, with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. You have a different basis for blessing. It's already done. you have a different place that you call home.

Now, for the Jew under the Law of Moses, the Gentiles eat the wrong food, they wear the wrong clothes, they do things on the wrong day at the wrong time, and they always say the wrong things too. Everything is wrong. It's all wrong. There is no biblical basis, however, because of what Christ has done, for tension between Jewish and Gentile believers in the church. Why? Because the law has been taken out of the way.

The Jews are no longer in a position of saying, you know, I can't come into your house because you guys wear the wrong clothes, and you eat the wrong things, and you don't wash between having the wrong food and the right food, and I just can't come into your house. I just can't even go there. I can't even have tea with you.

There is no biblical basis in the church for ethnic tension. Christ's death on the cross was totally adequate, completely adequate to deal with the ethnic tension and conflict, and it was accomplished by taking the law out of the way with regards to the church. So what is this enmity? It's not enmity. It's not an anemone. Enmity is hostility. That's what it means.

The law made a hostility between the Jew and the Gentile. You can imagine, here are some Jews, they go into the marketplace at Ephesus. They come up and here's one guy and he wants to sell them some food. He says, I got some great bacon, right? And the Jews, what are they going to say to that? We're not having anything to do with your bacon, and they back off. They go to the next booth, and some guy says, hey man, look at this.

I've got some flax and wool. What? You've got mixed fibers? That's it. We're out of here. They go from one place to the next, and there's a problem with the Jews all the time. After a while, it just gets to be hostility. What? You never have the food that I can eat. You never have the clothes that I can wear. So, would you care for another serving of hostility?

This is the problem with the law. The law puts a barrier between Jew and Gentile. That's why Christ had to take it out of the way. Now, this passage says that the Gentiles were brought near. We're not talking about horseshoes and hand grenades here. Where close is close enough. Everything that Israel had, the Gentiles were left out of, they were far away from, they were not included, and they went without. It even says they were without God in the world. The Greek word there sounds like atheist. It's atheos. They were without God in the world. They were atheistic in the world.

By taking the law offline for those in the church, both the Jews and the Gentiles are brought near together. Both brought near. So now in the church from Acts 2 to the rapture, the time when the Lord takes his church home, The primary identity is in Christ, and a saint might be Jew or Gentile, but it doesn't matter.

Now, I think there's some questions we've got to ask. Does that mean that if someone is a Jewish believer in the church, if someone's a Jewish believer, that we tell them, you can't do anything Jewish here? No, it doesn't mean that. As a matter of fact, the Apostle Paul did things that were a part of his Jewish culture. So, Jewish culture, yes. Holding the law over people, no. That's a different matter altogether. By the same token, those who are Gentiles ought not to demand that those who are of a Jewish cultural background leave that all behind. We, in fact, have Gentile culture. That's a part of what we do.

As long as it's biblical, there's not a problem. Ok, Ephesians 2, 17-22, And he came and preached 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 aliens, 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 cornerstone. in whom the whole building being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together in a dwelling of God in the Spirit."

Next we have Ephesians 2.17 in a kind of a diagram format. He was coming is actually the way the Greek comes across here.

He was coming and preached the good news of peace to those who are far away. The Gentiles were the ones far away. and peace to those who were near, the Jews. So he preached peace to both. What do we mean peace? It isn't preaching peace like inside of our heads, it's peace between the two groups. There's also an issue of peace with God, but this particular one is talking about between the two groups, because that's the issue here. Between Jew and Gentile peace.

Ephesians 2.18, and I have this slightly expanded here, a little bit of explanation and inserted verbiage to make things clear.

For through him, that is through Christ, we both, now Paul's including himself, right? We, Jew, and you, Gentiles, both, Jews and Gentiles, are having the access in one spirit to the Father. All three persons of the Trinity are involved in our access to the Father. Do you see that? In Him, Christ, and our access is through Christ, our access is in one Spirit, and our access is to the Father.

One of the things to point out here is this word access is more than just, hey, the door is open. This word access means that Jesus has the place of having a royal introduction to the Father. You get introduced as a royal introduction to the Father by Christ. He is the introducer. He is the one through whom you have access.

In the ancient times, this is the way it worked in a lot of the places of royalty, when you would have a king sitting, you couldn't just come up to the king and say, hey, king, I'd like to chat with you. You couldn't do that. Matter of fact, if you did that, the soldiers had orders to take you out. So how would you come up and possibly talk to the king?

You would do so by first getting in contact with this royal introducer, this one who introduces you to the king. And then that person would make the introduction and tell you, here's the king and here's who you are, and make the introduction so that you would be allowed to actually talk to the king. That's the word that's used here for access. We have a royal introduction by means of Christ.

Now, the big picture for verses 19 through 22 looks like this. We're no longer strangers and aliens, but fellow citizens with the saints, we are of God's household, and we are a temple of the Lord. So that's how the three things come out that are a positive statement. No longer strangers and aliens, but these three things. Verses 20 through 22 present Paul's final point and illustration here about the new character of the church composed of Jews and Gentiles created as one new body. And he takes it down to a temple of the Lord and that completes chapter 2. So let's take a look at fellow citizens with the saints and of God's household.

Philippians 3.20 tells us, we who believe, Jew and Gentile, no distinction, We who believe all have a heavenly citizenship.

The Book of Life is the list of heavenly citizens. The Book of Life is the list of heavenly citizens. When you see the Book of Life mentioned in ancient documents, you had a membership, a citizenship in a city. For example, Paul had a Roman citizenship. So in Paul's case, he being a Roman citizenship had a citizenship in the city of Rome. The list of living citizens was the Book of Life. So the Book of Life in the Bible is the list of those who have a heavenly citizenship in the New Testament context.

Those who are of the household by Jewish custom, see the Gentile custom was anybody who lived there including slaves and anyone who happened to be there. But in the Jewish custom, it's those who are directly of the family. You are of the household having a family relationship to Christ. And here's an interesting thing.

Everyone who believes is a brother to Christ. That's out of Romans chapter 8. There are no grandchildren. There are no grandchildren. Everyone who believes is a brother to Christ. You are of the household. You are of the family. There's a family relationship. So, citizens and of the household.

Ephesians 2, 20-22 goes on like this, Having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole building being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.

So Paul is drawing upon the illustration of the temple here to teach about the character of the church. That so happens that the temple in Jerusalem was still under reconstruction. So ready for a historical tour of the temple here briefly? Not this temple, a different one. Here's the timeline. 20 BC is when Herod began reconstructing the temple in Jerusalem.

Then you had that reconstruction continuing during the time when Christ, from the time of his birth to the time of his ministry, that reconstruction was continuing, which explains why the Jews were able, in the temple courtyard, to pick up stones to throw at Jesus. And then, in addition to that, you also had the disciples remarking about how phenomenal this reconstruction was, and it had better be phenomenal because the Jews were paying heavy taxes for it. And then on top of that, you had it completed in 63 AD, just in time to be completely ruined and destroyed in 70 AD.

Isn't that nice? Okay. So here is the sequence of the temple. It was under reconstruction from 20 BC all the way to 63 AD. So when Paul was writing Ephesians, it was still under reconstruction. It was a temple that was still being built. The temple area looked like this in early New Testament times.

This was the inner temple that you see in the foreground there with the area around it was an area where Gentiles were allowed to be. They were allowed to come in that far. That's this area. The Court of the Gentiles, it's called. And there were signs on each of the three entrance doors like this. And they found one and a half of those signs. There were signs at each of the entry doors, three entry doors. This was the court of women, a court of Jewish women only, not anyone else. And it wasn't just women, but certainly Jewish women were allowed to go in there.

Now this door was the entrance into the area where they did the sacrifices. On one side were administrative and priestly offices and genealogical records were kept there, including all the records of Jesus' genealogy in that part of the temple. Temple sacrifices were done here in the altar right before the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies, that tall building. The priests then would carry out the sacrifices there at the altar. The curtain was in front of the Holy of Holies, and that's the curtain that was torn when Christ was crucified. The Holy of Holies was considered the dwelling place of God.

This is the western wall. Some of the rocks on the western wall that still exist now weigh as much as 50 tons. Huge, huge stones. Impressive. The temple building was under construction and almost completed in that reconstruction by the time Paul wrote the book of Ephesians. It was exceedingly impressive. Even See those spikes up on the top of the building?

Those are designed to keep the bad birds off. They made them out of gold, because even the things to keep the bad birds off had to look good, right? So having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, he uses that building picture. The apostles were special messengers from the Lord sent to convey good news of Christ. That was their assignment, Acts 1-8. And the prophets, these are not the Old Testament prophets here, that the prophets were one who served an interim role because they didn't have the complete New Testament. So we just got to ask, are prophets profitable? Are apostles profitable?

Apostles and prophets in the book of Ephesians, we have Ephesians 2.20, this is the first instance.

We also have two more places, Ephesians 3.5, And Ephesians 4.11, where this pair of words, apostles and prophets, shows up.

And then it says here in this passage, Jesus Christ himself being the cornerstone. So nobody in biblical times would have thought of building a temple without a solid, well-founded cornerstone. They would craft the cornerstone very, very carefully, great precision, And they would place it very carefully because everything else was going to be set off of that cornerstone. God had done so, done that very thing in Christ. Very, very carefully placed Christ as the chief cornerstone. The entire temple consisting not of stone or other earthly materials, but of Christ and those being conformed to his image. Christ and those being conformed to his image is what this temple is made out of.

The last two verses in this passage are in a Hebrew poetry pattern, and you may have picked up on that already, noticing that it starts off with, in whom, on both of them, and then the whole building, that is, you also, and then what we see there is being fitted together is growing into, and are being built together into, and then a holy temple and a dwelling of God in the Spirit. And then finally, in the Lord and in the Spirit, as a similar pattern. So this is a Hebrew poetry pattern. Now notice, the Hebrew poetry pattern is written in such a way, we call it a Hebrew poetry pattern. Why? Because the Jews would recognize that as, this is written like we write. This is said like we say things.

So they would listen carefully to this message. And to think about this, the Jews were the ones who would be hard to convince, because it would be them having to let go of the law. It would be them having to say, I've got to let go of the law. Christ died to set the law aside, to put the Jews and Gentiles together.

So you have here this pattern here that's similar. Each verse has bookends, placing the temple, the process of building, and its status as a dwelling of God, that is a temple, between in whom and in the Lord or in the Spirit. So this pattern here sets the pattern. So what is happening?

It is one whole building that he's pointing out. One whole building made up of Jews and Gentiles. One body, one building, God's building it. God's doing the building. Being fitted together, being built together, That's what God's doing, and that's what God is doing here. God is building us up as a temple, a together temple in the Lord. So why does Paul align these verses to fit the progress of the temple in Jerusalem and also write verses 21 and 22 in Hebrew poetry pattern here?

Why would he do that? Ready, aim, write. Directed to the entire church, this message from Paul is lovingly aimed at the Jews. Imagine Paul thinking, how can I get my fellow Jews to let go of their law and love their Gentile brothers? How can I get them to do it?

I know. I'll write about a temple because they know about that. And the temple is under reconstruction. And I'll write it in a Hebrew poetry pattern so they get the message. That's what I'll do. And you can imagine Paul putting that together so that the Jews would have every reason to understand why God was doing this and what God was doing.

So here's the court of the Gentiles. Here is the sign that says, if you go past this door, you're going to die. So the Gentiles are not allowed in. So what did God do? God took out that dividing wall. took out the dividing wall altogether between Jews and Gentiles. It was a word picture that Jews would understand. He abolished the law in order to take the division, the separation, the enmity out of the way.

And this isn't stone cold. This isn't just a building, although he uses that word picture. As magnificent as any earthly temple might be, It's still made of just matter. It's dead and immobile. It's not live. It is not dynamic. It's not living. Beautiful? Yes. Living? No. What Paul describes the body of believers doing here is living and growing. Living and growing. So this is not just a building. One of the reasons why we make the distinction. Holly Hills Bible Church is not just an organization. It's an organism. It's an organism.

There's nothing in our position of Christ nor God's dwelling among us that would make us God's frozen people. We're not God's frozen people. We're not stone cold. God's work in the church creates connectedness, adjoining together. Not under law, but under grace. Living grace. Living grace. Because we serve a living God. Let's pray.

Lord, as we look at this passage here, we see that you took the law out of the way because you wanted us to be one body before you. And we see in this passage, too, that we are to be a living temple, showing forth your life, not only from each of us, but among us. And we thank you for that picture. We thank you for what you've laid out here because you love us and care for us so very much. We give you thanks in Jesus' name. Amen.