B. From Dispair in Religion     12

12 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.

Theological deficiencies increasing in religious destitution. The terms following without Christ might be elaborations of it, but if not, the meaning is pretty lucid: a despairing spiritual state exists without a relationship with God through Christ.

No Christ= no Messianic savior. Only held by Old Covenant Jews, Jn 4:22; Rom 9:4,5
No Commonwealth= alienation from God and His theocratic rule.
No Covenant (covenants in original)= no participation in the promises of God to His people--Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc.
No Hope= no purpose in life. cf. 1 Ths 4:13. Only in Christ can Gentiles find hope, Col 1:27.
No God = the nadir of pagan life and of human existence. Despite their pantheism, they were without the true God, the God of Israel, cf. 1 Cor 8:5; Gal 4:8; 1 Ths 4:5.

Transition: From these conditions of pre-converted life we now turn to the effects of salvation on us and on our relationships. We answer the questions: what has God done for us in Christ? Into what condition has He brought us? He has brought us:

C. To Deliverance by Regeneration     13

13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

The gap has been closed; the distance has been removed-- all by the propitiatory, sacrificial blood of Christ, our Mediator with the Father, 1 Tim 2:5, our Reconciler with the Father, 2 Cor 5:19, and with one another.

Amplification: Not a mere transition but rather a radical transformation from the Gentile past to the Christian present. The phrases but now vs who once; were far off vs have been brought near, highlight the contrasting change. Here:

1. A Reversal of the Prior Condition
But now in Christ= a remarkable turn-around; an astounding U-turn in their relation with Jews caused by their new status, in Christ.

2. A Rejection of the Prior Condition
once were far off have been brought near

3. The Reason for the Present Condition.
In Christ Jesus=the locus of our salvation. See Eph 1:3-14 for its insistent refrain in the order of salvation.
By the blood of Christ= without it there is no forgiveness of sins, Heb 9:22, and no reconciliation of sinners with God.

4. The Reconciliation from your Previous Condition
you who once were far off have been brought near..

A.T. Lincoln in Ephesians,: "..often in the OT, the Gentile nations can be described as "far off" (..Dt 28:49; 29:22; 1 Kgs 8:41; Isa 5:26; and Jer 5:15), while Israel is thought of as near ... to God (cf. Ps 148:14). To hold a non-Israelite at a distance was to reject him as a proselyte; to bring him near was to accept him as a Jewish convert. "But the language of coming near undergoes a transformation. Because of Christ's work, it can be used of Gentiles in general.. " 138-9.

Drawing near of aliens = a 2-fold reconciliation: Gentiles to God and Gentiles to Jews.

Application: Christ's blood sprinkled on our consciences purifies and purges our hearts of past prejudices and paves the way for friendship and fellowship in Christ. Christ's blood produces a new inclusivism among all on whose hearts it has been sprinkled. Jew and Gentile, Black and White, etc., there is no difference. The universal democracy of human depravity necessitates a universal cure: the blood of Christ.

All peoples are commonly united in/by sin, Rom 3:23; all must come drawn to the cross to be saved, Jn 12:31-33; all must be washed at the same fountain–no Jewish and Gentile, no Whites Only, Blacks Only facilities. All are saved through the same instrument--faith, which He gives to all, Eph 2:8-10!! Gentile sins carry the same cost as Jewish sins and Black sins cost the same as White sins—death. All are cosmic treason against God. There is no difference.

In Christ: there are no degrees of nearness to God when we are or because we are in Christ. The old covenant distinctions of nearness are gone.

Summary: Christ's blood has effected a drastic change in our condition. We have seen The Drastic Change In The Condition of the The House That God Builds. Let us now observe its
second characteristic:

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