We Are One (1)

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May 24, 2009 - Ephesians 2:11-22

Open It

  1. When was a time you felt deprived?

  2. What people have you known whose upbringing and family connections provided them with certain advantages?

Explore It

  1. What did Paul command the Ephesians to remember? (2:11)

  2. Why was being uncircumcised a desperate problem for the Gentiles? (2:11-12)

  3. How did Christ's work on the cross transform the condition of the Gentiles? (2:13)

  4. Who brought peace to Jewish and Gentile believers? (2:14)

  5. Why did Christ end the hostility between Jews and Gentiles? (2:14-16)

  6. How did the enmity between Jews and Gentiles come to an end? (2:15-16)

  7. What is the result of believing the message of Christ? (2:17-18)

  8. In Christ, how did the Gentiles achieve new spiritual and social status? (2:19)

  9. On what foundation were the Ephesian believers built? (2:20)

  10. How was Christ part of the foundation? (2:20)

  11. How was the church described as living and growing? (2:21)

  12. How were the Ephesians becoming part of God's dwelling? (2:22)

  13. How did God live in the Ephesian Christians? (2:22)

Get It

  1. How does the gospel break down religious and social barriers?

  2. Why is it that many churches maintain a dividing wall that keeps out other social and ethnic groups?

  3. How does your church treat foreigners and aliens?

  4. How should churches treat foreigners and aliens?

  5. If Paul were speaking to your congregation about reconciliation, would his words be ones of praise or disappointment?

  6. In Christ, what is every Christian's relationship to other Christians?

  7. What is your role in helping your congregation show unity in Christ?

Apply It

  1. How can you show God's love to an "outsider" this week?

  2. To what groups or individuals can you extend the peace of Christ this week? How?

NOTES (2)

2:11-13 Pious Jews considered all non-Jews (Gentiles) ceremonially unclean. They thought of themselves as pure and clean because of their national heritage and religious ceremonies. Paul pointed out that Jews and Gentiles alike were unclean before God and needed to be cleansed by Christ. In order to realize how great a gift salvation is, we need to remember our former natural, unclean condition. Have you ever felt separate, excluded, hopeless? These verses are for you. No one is alienated from Christ's love or from the body of believers.

2:11-13 Jews and Gentiles alike could be guilty of spiritual pride--Jews for thinking their faith and traditions elevated them above everyone else, Gentiles for trusting in their achievements, power, or position. Spiritual pride blinds us to our own faults and magnifies the faults of others. Be careful not to become proud of your salvation. Instead, humbly thank God for what he has done, and encourage others who might be struggling in their faith.

2:11-16 Before Christ's coming, Gentiles and Jews kept apart from one another. Jews considered Gentiles beyond God's saving power and therefore without hope. Gentiles resented Jewish claims. Christ revealed the total sinfulness of both Jews and Gentiles, and then he offered his salvation to both. Only Christ breaks down the walls of prejudice, reconciles all believers to God, and unifies us in one body.

2:14ff Christ has destroyed the barriers people build between themselves. Because these walls have been removed, we can have real unity with people who are not like us. This is true reconciliation. Because of Christ's death, we are all one (2:14); our hostility against each other has been put to death (2:16); we can all have access to the Father by the Holy Spirit (2:18); we are no longer strangers or foreigners to God (2:19); and we are all being built into a holy temple with Christ as our chief cornerstone (2:20, 21).

2:14-22 There are many barriers that can divide us from other Christians: age, appearance, intelligence, political persuasion, economic status, race, theological perspective. One of the best ways to stifle Christ's love is to be friendly with only those people that we like. Fortunately, Christ has knocked down the barriers and has unified all believers in one family. His cross should be the focus of our unity. The Holy Spirit helps us look beyond the barriers to the unity we are called to enjoy.

2:15 By his death, Christ ended the angry resentment between Jews and Gentiles, caused by the Jewish laws that favored the Jews and excluded the Gentiles. Christ died to abolish that whole system of Jewish laws. Then he took the two groups that had been opposed to each other and made them parts of himself. "One new people" means that Christ made a single entity out of the two. Thus, he fused all believers together to become one in himself.

2:17, 18 The Jews were near to God because they already knew of him through the Scriptures and worshiped him in their religious ceremonies. The Gentiles were far away because they knew little or nothing about God. Because neither group could be saved by good deeds, knowledge, or sincerity, both needed to hear about the salvation available through Jesus Christ. Both Jews and Gentiles are now free to come to God through Christ. You have been brought near to him (2:13).

Our Lives Before and After Christ

2:19-22 A church building is sometimes called God's house. In reality, God's household is not a building but a group of people. He lives in us and shows himself to a watching world through us. People can see that God is love and that Christ is Lord as we live in harmony with each other and in accordance with what God says in his Word. We are citizens of God's Kingdom and members of his household.

2:20 What does it mean to be built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets? It means that the church is not built on modern ideas but rather on the spiritual heritage given to us by the early apostles and prophets of the Christian church.

1. Adult Questions for LESSONMaker, (Austin, TX: Wordsearch, 1992), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, Under: "One in Christ - Ephesians 2:11-22".

2. Life Application Study Bible, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 1988), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 2002-2003.

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