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Paul wrote these paragraphs to show how Christ's death has made those who were formerly outsiders become insiders. First of all, this means that religious exclusiveness and antagonism have been abolished. But it also means that cultural and racial barriers have been "broken down." We're going to look at this passage through this second lens.

Ephesians 2:11-22

1. Are you friendly only to those people who are like you? Those whom you like?
2. What barriers could or do divide you from other Christians?
3. In what specific ways (vv. 14, 16, 18, 19, 21–22) has Jesus' death removed the walls that people build between themselves?
4. How, according to verse 15, did Jesus break down the "wall of hostility" between two groups?
5. How, then, does continuing to think and react in terms of separate groups undercut Christ's sacrifice for you?
6. Do you think non-Christians see believers from varied backgrounds relating harmoniously and conclude that they are "carefully joined together" (v. 21) into a temple where God lives?

Ask God to put you out front with others who deliberately embrace fellow believers from ethnic backgrounds different than their own.

11 Don't forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders by birth. You were called "the uncircumcised ones" by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. 12 In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from God's people, Israel, and you did not know the promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. 13 But now you belong to Christ Jesus. Though you once were far away from God, now you have been brought near to him because of the blood of Christ. 14 For Christ himself has made peace between us Jews and you Gentiles by making us all one people. He has broken down the wall of hostility that used to separate us. 15 By his death he ended the whole system of Jewish law that excluded the Gentiles. His purpose was to make peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new person from the two groups. 16 Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death, and our hostility toward each other was put to death. 17 He has brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and to us Jews who were near. 18 Now all of us, both Jews and Gentiles, may come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us. A Temple for the Lord 19 So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God's holy people. You are members of God's family. 20 We are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. 21 We who believe are carefully joined together, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. 22 Through him you Gentiles are also joined together as part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.

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Prayer for the Week

Lord, if I'm part of the problem for unity in Your Church, make me willing to take action to become part of the solution.

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