gospel

The Grace of God Unites the Church: Ephesians 2:11-22

/ Neal Embry

I regularly meet with two guys on Monday nights for a discipleship group. We meet to discuss God’s Word and God’s work in our lives. We meet together, eat together, laugh together, pray together, and encourage each other together in Christ.

Outside of our common faith in Christ, though, I don’t have much else in common with these guys. Our hobbies are very different, and our career trajectories couldn’t be much further apart. But we are united in Christ. We are a living testimony to God’s Word in Ephesians 2:11-22. We would not usually meet together. Were it not for our faith, I most likely would not have met these guys and been able to form a friendship with them.

The grace of God, and not anything else, unites and identifies His church.

“Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called ‘the uncircumcision’ by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands–remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.”–Eph. 2:11-12

Paul addresses his largely Gentile audience, reminding them that before they met Christ, they had no hope. The Gentiles weren’t disobedient people of God–they had no knowledge of God’s covenant, no expectation that God would look at them with anything but wrath.

“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.  For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.  And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.  For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.”–Eph. 2:13-18

The “But now” here mirrors the “But God” of verse 4. Humans were powerless to act to save themselves or reconcile man to God or man to man. But God acted in His grace.

Those who were once as far from God as possible are brought near because of the precious blood of Jesus. The blood of Jesus removes our sins and removes the barrier for fellowship and relationship with God. He breaks down the “dividing wall of hostility” between us and God, and allows us to become God’s children, by His grace.

But what does any of that have to do with Joe, my annoying neighbor who also loves Jesus? What does this have to do with the guy who cheers for a different team and sits in front of me on Sunday morning? What does this have to do with the church at all? How does God’s grace actually bring us together?

Jesus destroyed the wall of hostility between God and man by “abolishing the law of commandments.” Jesus lived perfectly in order that we may be counted righteous in Him and died on the cross so that we may be forgiven. And this changes everything–literally, everything. Nothing is the same because of Jesus. We were powerless to save ourselves, but then God stepped in and sent His Son.

Because of this, our hope is in Christ. Our salvation is in Christ. This makes us humble, and destroys our pride, which could keep us from others we see as “less worthy” than ourselves. It leads us to find our identity in Christ and what He’s done for us, which, in turn, leads us to not judge or push away others in the church who are different from us, because, in Christ, we are all one. We are all the same before God. We are all sinners that have met a great Savior.

God’s grace toward us should make us so humble and so grateful that we have no room for racism, arrogance, stereotypes, or anything else that takes away from the glory of God. God’s grace should change our identity and lead us to see that it is Christ, not our careers, sports teams, or skin color that gives us identity and meaning. And when we find our identity in Christ, we will not look down on those whose careers, sports teams, or skin color is different than ours.

Even more than that, verse 18 says that we all approach the same Father through the same Spirit! The Jews and Gentiles, who once warred with each other, now share the same Father and talk to Him through the same Spirit, because of the gracious work of the Son. The Triune God has eternally acted to bring sinners from vastly different backgrounds, even and especially backgrounds that normally would not interact and may even hate each other, together in Christ in order to display His glory by His grace!

“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.  In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”–Eph. 2:19-22

It’s been said that an American Christian has more in common with, say, an African or Asian Christian, than he or she has with an non-Christian American. Our identity in Christ is rooted in what He has done, and we now relate to others in the church, not based on ethnic or racial makeup, but by a common faith in and experience of the grace of God.

Did you catch what Paul says at the end of this chapter? He says the church is “being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” This is incredible! A group of people who normally would have nothing in common is becoming more and more like Jesus because of Jesus! A group of people who have been humbled by a shared experience of grace and now find their identity in Christ are learning to live that out together, with people from various backgrounds and social statuses. This is good news!

The church is really a miracle, when you think about it. We are only together because of Christ. As I said in the beginning, the two guys in my small group became my friends because of our common faith. While they’re excellent people and fun to hang around, I likely wouldn’t have met them if it were not for the grace of God.

God destroys the wall of hostility, taking foes and making them friends, in Christ. He takes those who would not ever be together nor want to be together and calls them His children, and they begin to worship together, live together, eat together.

We are identified by Christ. We are saved by Christ. We are united by Christ. Praise God.

Lord, may we remember your grace toward us. May we remember your grace so that we can show it to others, and treat our brothers and sisters in Christ with grace. May we never forget that we are united and identified by you, and may this help us be a united church, a beautiful church, a church made up of many different people praising the same Savior.

God bless,

Neal E.

How Will You Respond to Jesus?–Matt. 7:24-29

/ Neal Embry / Leave a comment

Tonight we finish the series on the Sermon on the Mount.  God has been gracious to speak to us through His Word, and I hope and pray that by His grace, we’ve learned more of what it looks like to be a follower of Christ through this series.

We finish up with a reminder that the words of Jesus are serious, and how we respond to Him impacts where we spend eternity. Join me in Matthew 7:24-29:

“‘Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.  And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.  And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.  And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.’  And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.”

Whether the people listening to Him realized it or not, the reason Jesus spoke with authority was because He is the authority!  According to Him, how we respond to Him shows not only whether or not we are wise, but whether or not we stand in the storm of God’s judgment.

In the story Jesus tells, the one who endures through “the storm” will be the one who builds their house on the rock, and the one who dies is the one who builds their house on the sand.  As is always the case with the words of Jesus, this is serious.  Jesus is talking about life and death.  He’s not talking first and foremost about the “storms of life.”  Although that’s a popular viewpoint, it’s wrong, and the context of the passage helps us see that.

Jesus has just finished talking about those who He will send to hell because he never knew them.  Before that, He discussed how those who fail to bear the fruit of true faith will be “cut down,” that is, they won’t be joining Him in heaven.  And, lastly, before that, Jesus discussed the way into eternal life with Him, through a narrow gate and hard way.  Based on the context, the “storm” Jesus is describing is the coming storm of God’s righteous judgment.

So what does it mean to “build our house on the rock?”  How can we make sure we have done this, and will stand secure at the judgment?  By listening to the words Jesus has said.  This is in reference to the previous words in the Sermon on the Mount. Make no mistake, the Sermon on the Mount is not a guide to earning salvation.  Jesus, in the beginning of His sermon, commends those who know they need mercy, and commends the broken-hearted, and calls them blessed.  All of the moral imperatives flow out of the gospel, out of a relationship with Jesus.  I had a seminary professor explain it this way: “The Sermon on the Mount is not a guide on how to get into the kingdom of God, but a description of what life looks like in the kingdom of God.”  Listening to Jesus’ words and obeying them is commanded, but it is only possible if we are a disciple of Christ.  So, the next obvious question…how do we become a disciple of Christ?

Before Jesus preached this sermon, He preached a much shorter sermon (at least from what’s recorded), in Mark 1:15: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of heaven is at hand: repent and believe in the gospel!”  We build our lives on the rock when we trust in Jesus as our God and receive Him as our Savior.  We build our lives on the rock when we repent and believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Repentance involves a confession of sin, an agreeing with God about our sin, and a turning from it, a desire to no longer go on in it, and a trusting in Christ as Lord to help us obey Him and kill our sin.  As we turn from sin and trust Christ to help us follow Him, we trust Him to save us, to give us His righteousness, to forgive us through His death on the cross.  We trust that what He’s done He’s done for us.  So following Christ, then, is not an exercise in earning righteousness, but in living it out.  We’ve come under the Lordship of Christ, and He has given us His righteousness.  He has changed our hearts.  He has forgiven us of our sin.  We now live to be who we are in Him, to bring Him glory and to tell others about Him, and toward this end, we listen to and cling to every word He says.  This is why Bible study is essential for the life of the Christian.  Simply put: You won’t follow Jesus well, if at all, without consistent time in His Word and in prayer.  Jesus Himself knew the Scriptures and prayed daily….how much more should we?

Knowing Jesus is what makes you wise.  Knowing Jesus and being united to Him is what allows you to live out what He’s said in the previous three chapters, and knowing Him in a saving way is what allows us to stand righteous before the Father on that great day of judgment.  Know Him.  Trust Him.  Follow Him.

Did you notice what happened to the other guy?  The guy who built his house on the sand?  In case you didn’t catch it, let’s read it again: “And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.  And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” 

Not listening to Jesus’ words, not submitting to Him as King, not admitting I need Him and trusting in Him as Savior, leads to eternal damnation.  We must not be so naive as to think that God is simply okay with us telling Him we’re not interested.  He’s God.  It doesn’t work that way.  Would it ever be acceptable for a child to look at His parents and say, “You know, I know you created me and everything, but you really don’t have a place in my life?”  Of course not!  Assuming the child has decent parents, there’s no excuse for such disrespect.  In the same way, while only those who know Jesus are children of God, we have all been created by God, and all have a responsibility to recognize Him as God, and when we don’t, God is rightly offended.  God alone is God, and it is terribly wicked for someone or something else to be recognized as “God” in a person’s life.  The punishment for our sin is hell.  Praise God He’s sent a Savior so we don’t have to fear judgment or hell, but can rejoice in Him forever.

If you learn nothing else from my posts, learn to trust in the finished work of Christ for your salvation and to commit your life to Him.  Learn to repent, to confess your sin and trust in Christ to help you follow Him.  Trust His grace.  Trust in Christ.  Learn Christ.  If you forget everything else, learn Christ.  If you forget everything else from the Sermon on the Mount (and I hope we won’t!), remember to build your life on the words of Christ, in this passage and in all of Scripture.  Make your life about Jesus.

Lord, may we never stop praising you for who you are.  May we continue to listen to your Word and follow you.  May you graciously lead us as our Lord and continue to stand for us as our Savior.  May you be glorified in all we think, say and do.

God bless,

Neal E.

I’m not sure when the next blog post will come.  School has started, work is picking up, and I’m involved in a new ministry this semester, so blogging unfortunately gets moved to the back-burner.  But if you subscribe, I promise you won’t miss anything!  Again, God bless!