Ephesians 2:13-16

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.

Ephesians 2:13-16

Those who were once far off have now been brought near.  They are brought near by the blood of Christ.  This is done by the fact that Christ himself is our peace.  This means that there was hostility or conflict between Jews and Gentiles.  But now, that hostility is gone because he is our peace.  By making both Jews and Gentiles into one, there is no longer hostility.  There isn't a distinction anymore.  Paul goes on to explain this further, saying " 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".  I'm jumping a little bit here, but we see that making two into one makes peace.  Also, reconciling both Jews and Gentiles to God is what kills the hostility.

There are a lot of ideas here or points in what Christ has done and what has been done in this whole thing.  Yes, Gentiles are brought near by Christ's blood and he is our peace.  He creates one out of two (Gentiles and Jews) and reconciles both Jews and Gentiles to God.  One way to sum it if up is what is said at the beginning of verse 15, "by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances".  This is how all this is done.  It is still by his blood and he is still our peace and he still creates one out of two and reconciles both of them to God.

So, what does this mean?  I have been thinking about this for a while and at first I feel as if Jesus' words in Matthew 5 contradict, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them".  But, though at first seeming contradictory, I think they're actually quite different.  Yes, Jesus does fulfill the law and thus becomes the perfect sacrifice.  But it's different here in Ephesians 2.  AMP puts it this way, "by abolishing in His [own crucified] flesh the hostility caused by the Law with its commandments contained in ordinances [which He satisfied];".  It's not that he abolished the law, otherwise it's contradictory to Matthew 5.  Instead, AMP gives more insight in telling us that Jesus abolished the hostility caused by the Law.  What is the hostility caused by the law?  Well, if Paul is talking about hostility between Jews and Gentiles, I think of the fact that the Jews have the law and the Gentiles do not.  In fact, it might have been something the Jews wrongfully prided themselves in.  They did in fact pride themselves in being descendants of Abraham in a few occurrences in the New Testament.  Perhaps there was a hostility in the fact that the Gentiles had no access to God because of the keeping of the law which they did not have.  But the keeping of the law to be made right with God is now done away with by the blood of Christ.  As we just read in the first part of Ephesians 2, it is by grace through faith that we are saved, not by works.  What are the works he was referring to that we are not saved by?  It is not by works of the law that you might be made right before God.  So now, Gentiles are brought near because all have access to Jesus.  He paid the price and died for all, not just Jews.  There is no longer hostility, but peace, "for he himself is our peace".