15 … by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, 16 and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.
The dividing wall was torn down between the Gentiles and the Jews; the two have been made into one group, as the previous verse declared. Now, Paul continues by explaining how that came to be. That dividing wall was the Law of Moses and it distinguished the Jews from all others. They were unique, set apart from the rest of the world. The Law was the sticking point for Gentiles. Prior to Christ coming, in order for Gentiles to experience the full blessing of God, they had to embrace the Law of Moses, that is, they had to become Jews. They had to become, as it were, proselytes, converts to Judaism. So, in that sense, the Law was “enmity,” or the cause of friction between Gentiles and Jews. Contemporary Judaism made a big deal of this distinction.
In Christ, now, the sticking point is neutralized, it is no longer the barrier to Gentile blessing as it once was. Note particularly that this took place through a physical event, “in His flesh…through the cross.” Christ’s death removed the division. His death fulfilled the Abrahamic covenant of blessing to the nations of the earth (that is, Gentiles) by removing the distinction of Jew/Gentile in terms of receiving the blessing. This was a complete surprise! It had been so ingrained in the Jewish mindset that they were a special people to God, that their ethnicity became a source of enormous pride. The Jews by and large had difficulty with the notion Paul writes of here, as can be seen by their constant harassment of him in his travels.
God’s plan to reach the world was through the Jews first (Romans 1:16). The message and promises come through the Jews (Romans 3:2). Jesus, the ultimate message, was a Jew. But that didn’t mean Gentiles had to become Jews to be rightly related to God. God brought the two together not by Gentiles becoming Jews, but by both being made into one new group. God reconciled that new group to Himself, re-establishing peace with His image-bearers.
In coming to faith, Jewish people must accept the fact that, just like Gentiles, they must come to God by grace through faith (Eph 2:8-9). To be sure, God still has a unique plan for the Jewish people, played out in the prophetic future. But in terms of salvation and the spiritual life, there is no difference now between Jew and Gentile. There are not two churches, one for believing Jews and one for believing Gentiles. There is one Church and one faith (see Eph 4:5).
Lord, thank You for making peace for us by Your grace!
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