All right, we'll look here at
Ephesians chapter 2. Before I get started, I just
wanted to show you that we have a new booklet that's been printed.
We have copies of them called Essentials of Justification. And if you'd like to get a copy
of that, you can find it on our website also. You can read it
there. But if you want some hard copy, like I like to have a little
hard copy every now and then, you can get copies of that and
maybe distribute them. It's a gospel pamphlet. concerning the doctrine of justification,
which is at the heart of the gospel. And there's been a lot
of controversy over justification in the past few years. The reason
I wrote this is I just got to thinking about, well, what is
the essentials that we must know concerning the biblical view
of justification? And you know what justification
is. It means to be forgiven of all our sins, on a just ground. And it means to be declared righteous
in God's sight on a just ground. And it's all by grace. All by
God's grace. And that's what we're going to
look at this morning on the subject of made nigh by the blood of
Christ. I wanted to, these last verses
of Ephesians chapter two are really fascinating. And I wanted
to divide them up into two messages because There's some history
here that I want to deal with that's essential to understanding
how the Holy Spirit inspired the Apostle Paul to deal with
this subject. And it starts out like this. Think about one of the most ungodly,
and I mean ungodly, ideas that has pervaded false Christianity
and even crops up in true Christianity because what are we? We're sinners
saved by grace. We have to fight the flesh. We
have to fight that bad thinking with the word of God. So this
false idea, this bad idea crops up even in true Christianity
as so as to fight it. It's the notion that when it
comes to salvation, being saved, When it comes to justification,
being righteous in God's sight, accepted with God. When it comes
to sanctification, being set apart by God for His glory. And the false notion that some
Christians are just better than others. More qualified, let's
say, because of their works, or their obedience, even holier,
more righteous than others. Now, I'll be the first to admit,
there are some believers who are more obedient than others,
more diligent than others. Their habits and all of that,
we can talk about that in a certain context. But when it comes to
salvation, the salvation of our souls from sin, when it comes
to being justified, forgiven. You see, there's no degrees of
forgiveness. We're either forgiven of all
our sins by the blood of Jesus, or we're not forgiven at all.
Isn't that right? To be righteous in God's sight.
How am I righteous in God's sight? I'm righteous based upon a righteousness
that I had no part in producing and made no contribution to. It's the righteousness of the
Lord Jesus Christ, imputed, charged to me. And then sanctification,
this is especially an area where people go nuts with this bad
idea, you know, that I'm getting better and better, holier and
holier, and less sinful. Well, you better think about
that. Now, you know, we all want to improve, I hope. I want to
improve as a believer. I want to improve as a preacher,
as a friend, as a husband, as a father, a grandfather. I want
to be better today than I was yesterday. But that's not my
sanctification. That could be under the umbrella
of growth in grace and in knowledge. That's okay. But what is it to
be holy? It's to be set apart by God.
for his purposes. But this is the idea, you know,
people say, well, you know, it doesn't matter, you know, there's
some just better than others, some more qualified, some's gonna
receive greater rewards in heaven. The Bible doesn't teach that.
I'm reminded of the story of a preacher who was asked a question
about the man named John Wesley. Now you know Wesley is a man
who was very, very adamant, very diligent in his efforts, calling
himself a Christian. But Wesley, frankly, denied the
doctrine of Christ. Does that shock you to hear that?
Well, he did. And the man asked this preacher,
he said, will we see Wesley in heaven? And the man said, no,
he said, because when I get to heaven, I'll be so far back and
Wesley will be so much closer to the throne of God that I won't
be able to see him. Now that's an ungodly idea. I'm a preacher. Does that mean
I'm going to be closer to God in heaven than you all who believe? And the answer is no, no. And Paul had established this
in the clearest language possible. Look at it, verse eight of Ephesians
2. For by grace you're saved. For
by grace you're saved. Through faith, and that's not
of yourselves, it's the gift of God. If I have faith, it's
a gift of God. None of works, lest any man should
boast, were his creation, his workmanship, created in Christ
Jesus unto good works, which, now listen, which God hath before
ordained that we should walk in them. Now there are differences in
people and believers. There are differences in growth
and grace. Some grow faster than others.
There are differences in gifts. Spiritual gifts, Paul dealt with
that in 1st and 2nd Corinthians. They had different gifts, but
they had nothing to be proud of. He said, what do you have
that wasn't given to you? But we're, in Christ, if we're
saved, we're all equally saved. Equally justified. Equally sanctified. Equally accepted. Why? Because we're accepted in the
beloved. And it's by God's grace, based
upon the righteousness that Christ accomplished by Himself for us,
and it's freely imputed to Him, and we receive it by God-given
faith. Now, in the early New Testament
church, this really became an issue, considering for what this
means for Jewish believers and Gentile believers. For example, ask yourself this
question, were the Jewish believers more saved? Were they better
than Gentile believers? I mean, after all, the Jews were
the chosen people of God under the old covenant. Christ himself,
according to his humanity, he was a Jew. The Jews had the law,
the Gentiles didn't. Was it necessary for a Gentile
believer, as it was in the Old Testament times, to be physically
circumcised, for example, and enter into fellowship with the
nation Israel, keep certain Old Covenant laws, or was that law
done away with? And if not, if the law wasn't
done away with, does that mean that Gentile believers are somewhat
less than Jewish believers? who sought to keep the law. Were
the Jewish Gentile believers, were they second class Christians? Not as close to God. And to some,
not even really saved. Or as one preacher said, just
barely saved. I heard somebody say that about
Armenians. He said, are they saved? He said, yes, but just
barely. Is that biblical? I don't see
it in this word. We'll look at verse 11. Now,
in most of these Gentile churches, there was a mixed group. Jews and Gentiles mixed together,
all claiming to be believers in Christ. And so Paul addresses
Gentile believers here. He says, wherefore remember then
you being in time past, the time past being the Old Covenant.
in the old covenant law from Moses to the cross. You were
Gentiles in the flesh. This was your physical heritage,
your physical makeup, your pedigree. You know, some people are real
proud of their pedigree. I guess they've got papers or
whatever. But this was your pedigree. You
were a Gentile and you were called uncircumcision. Now uncircumcision,
that's the way Jews under the old covenant referred to uncircumcised
Gentiles. They were the uncircumcision. And he says, you were called
uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision in
the flesh made by hands. Now obviously he's speaking of
physical circumcision here. Of the males, that was required,
that came from Abraham. And the Jews referred to the
Gentiles as uncircumcision, and they referred to themselves as
circumcision. Now isn't that something? The
rite of physical circumcision of the males in Jewish families
connected them physically with the covenant God made with Abraham,
the covenant of promises. Now it did not connect them spiritually
to Abraham. You know what connects us spiritually
to Abraham? Faith in Christ. But it did connect
them physically and they were required to be circumcised under
that covenant. But they twisted and corrupted
this right of physical circumcision so as to make it one of the conditions
required for salvation, for righteousness, for holiness. You know, understand
historically, the Jews, the unbelieving Jews, boasted of three things
that they imagined made them right with God. Number one was
their physical connection with Abraham. They thought because
their pedigree could be traced back to Abraham, that that meant
that they were right with God. Secondly was their physical circumcision. You must be circumcised. Any
Gentile back in the Old Covenant, any Gentile who converted to
the Jewish law, the Jewish nation, the Jewish faith as you say,
which was not faith in Christ, that Gentile male had to be circumcised
or he couldn't come in. So they boasted of their physical
circumcision and thirdly, they boasted of their efforts to keep
the law of Moses. So they had Abraham, they had
circumcision, and they had law keeping, none of which can save
a sinner. Circumcision became so important
that the Jews were known as the circumcision. They labeled Gentiles
as uncircumcision, as I said. And they required any Gentile
male who converted to their religion to be circumcised. Now I know
I'm repeating this a little bit, but understand what this is about.
It was so burnt into their minds that even when some of the Jews
claimed to believe in Christ, they still required Gentile believers
to be circumcised in order to be really saved, in order to
be really righteous and holy. But you know, the Lord himself
made it clear that when it comes to eternal salvation and righteousness
and holiness, physical circumcision meant absolutely nothing. Look at Romans chapter four.
The rite of physical circumcision was a physical sign of a covenant
God made with Abraham. And so Paul here, by inspiration
of the Spirit, he uses Abraham as an example. Was Abraham accepted
with God? Was he justified before God by
physical circumcision? The answer's no. Look at verse
two, he says, or verse one, what shall we say then that Abraham
our father as pertaining to the flesh hath found? What did Abraham
gain by the flesh, by circumcision, by his works? Verse two, for
if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof the glory
to boast, but not before God. For what sayeth the scriptures?
Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
What did he believe? He believed God would send Christ
into the world. Now to him that worketh not is
the reward not reckoned of grace, but to him that worketh not,
but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith, the gospel,
Christ, is counted for his righteousness. And then he goes back to David,
who was a circumcised Jew, Even as David also describeth the
blessedness of the man in whom God imputeth righteousness without
works. Think about that, look over at
Galatians 6. And I can just read these to
you, most of you know about these. But the Apostle Paul made it
clear that when it comes to salvation, when it comes to forgiveness
and being declared righteous, When it comes to being accepted
with God, a physical connection with Abraham meant nothing, physical
circumcision meant nothing, and trying to keep the law meant
nothing. Why? Because our law keeping, it always
falls short. In order to be accepted with
God, we need a righteousness that is perfect. And the only
way we can find one that's perfect is in Christ. who kept the law
perfectly, who died a perfect death for the sins of his elect
imputed to him. But look at Galatians 6, 14,
but God forbid, Paul says, that I should glory or that I should
boast except in one thing, the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
That's the blood, that's the death. That's the righteousness
of Christ. By whom the world is crucified
unto me and I unto the world, for in Christ Jesus neither circumcision
availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. A new creation. Now isn't that clear? And then
turn back a page to Galatians 5. Listen to what Paul says here.
Now in Galatia, the churches of Galatia, Jewish, People who
claim to be believers in Christ were infiltrating these Gentile
churches, claiming that if you really want to be saved, if you
really want to be righteous, if you really want to be holy,
you've got to be circumcised. You've got to do this. This is
vital. Well, look at what Paul wrote
in Galatians 5.1. Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty wherewith
Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the
yoke of bondage. That legal bondage. Grace is
free. And he says in verse two, behold,
I, Paul, say unto you that if you be circumcised for the reason
that they're trying to get you circumcised, Christ shall profit
you nothing. If you submit to their commandment
to be circumcised in order to be holy, in order to be righteous,
in order to be saved. Christ will profit you. You're
denying Christ. He says, for I testify again
to every man that is circumcised that he's a debtor to do the
whole law. All that does is put you in a state where you've got
to keep the whole law and you can't do it. Neither can I. That's clear. And here's another thing, I'll
go back into the Old Testament here, Deuteronomy chapter 10. The right of physical circumcision
was not given to Abraham and his physical descendants as a
way of salvation. It was not given to Abraham and
his descendants as a way to be qualified, to earn salvation
and to be made righteous. It was a type and a picture of
a greater circumcision, not made with hands, could not be achieved
by human effort, will, or works. It was a type and a picture of
spiritual circumcision. And that's called circumcision
of the heart. Look at Deuteronomy chapter 10. And look at verse 12. And now Israel, what doth the
Lord thy God require of thee but to fear the Lord thy God,
to walk in all his ways, to love him and to serve the Lord thy
God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, to keep the commandments
of the Lord and his statutes, which I command thee this day
for thy good? Now that's what the law required.
And that imperfection. Somebody said, well, why did
God require that of them when He knew they couldn't do it?
He was showing them the reality of their sin. We need to be shown
that. If you think salvation is conditioned
on you in any way, you need to learn something, a hard lesson,
that if it's conditioned on you or on me, we're dead. Grace is
salvation conditioned on Christ. And so look at verse 15 here.
Only the Lord God had, only the Lord had a delight in thy fathers
to love them and he chose their seed after them, even you above
all people as it is this day. Now he chose them to bring Christ
through them. Circumcise, verse 16, circumcise
therefore the foreskin of your heart and be no more stiff necked. proud, unbending. Now what is
that circumcision of the heart? Look at Romans 2 and verse 28.
Book of Romans chapter 2. Now God said circumcise therefore
the foreskin of your heart. What is that? Look at Romans
2 28. Paul writes, for he's not a Jew
which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is
outward in the flesh, it's not physical, but he is a Jew which
is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the
spirit, and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but
of God. Circumcision of the heart is
the new birth, friend. And you know what? We are unable
to bring that about. That's a work of God. Sovereignly,
exclusively, we can't do it. You're not born again by your
works. You're not born again by your decisions. You don't
believe in Christ and then as a result you're born again. The
Bible teaches no such doctrine. You're born again by the Spirit
under the preaching of the gospel, and you're given the gift of
faith that reveals that you've been circumcised in heart. Well,
why did God tell them to circumcise, therefore, the foreskin of their
heart back in the old days? He was showing them their inability. It's kind of like this. It's kind of like an old publican.
You know what publicans were, don't you? infamous sinners, who's been broken by the Spirit
of God to see himself as he really is. And he cries out to God,
God be merciful to me, the sinner. And if God's pleased, he'll give
you life. He'll circumcise your heart. Paul, when dealing with this
subject in the book of Philippians, had the same problem in the church
at Philippi. Jewish people who claim to believe
in Christ trying to get Gentile believers to submit to physical
circumcision in order to be saved. Back here in Ephesians 2.11,
he says, you were the uncircumcision by those who called themselves
circumcision. You know what Paul said in Philippians
3.3? He says, we are the circumcision. Now who's he talking about there?
Believers. We are those who have been spiritually
circumcised, born again by the Spirit. How do you know? We worship
God in the Spirit, not with outward forms of religion and works. We rejoice in Christ Jesus. We boast in Christ. His blood,
His righteousness, His glory, His work, and have no confidence
in the flesh. Well, look back here in Ephesians
2. Paul writes that at that time,
that is under the old covenant, that time of the old covenant,
from Moses to the cross, you were without Christ, being aliens
from the commonwealth of Israel. strangers from the covenants
of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. Now,
it's important we understand that what he's talking about
here is their state in the world. In the Old Testament, God chose
to use the nation Israel as his instrument, first to bring the
human body and the human soul of Christ into the world, the
humanity of Christ. and then to reveal himself and
his word in the world. And he did it through types,
through pictures, through the priesthood, through the prophets
in Israel. And in the beginning, God spoke
to the fathers, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. He called them and he
made them the fathers of the nation. And as time went on,
he gave to them the revelation of God, not only through Moses,
but also through the prophets so that salvation could be truly
said to be of the nation Israel. And it only means this. Back
then, generally speaking, if you were gonna hear the gospel,
you had to go to Israel. That's pretty much it. Somebody
said, well, were there any exceptions? I don't know. In the Bible, we
see Gentile believers coming to Israel to hear the gospel,
but not many. So the Jews under the old covenant,
the physical nation, they were instruments used by God first
and foremost to bring Christ into the world. Secondly, to
be instruments of God's revelation. But here's the thing. Even though
throughout their history the majority of the nation had the
word of God in types and pictures and prophecies, most of them
disobeyed and perished in unbelief. Most of them who were physically
circumcised, the Bible tells us, they perished in unbelief.
They rejected the revelation of God. But generally speaking also,
if a Gentile was ever made a true believer, given the gift of faith
from God, he heard that truth from a Jewish source and became
a citizen of Israel, a proselyte, and he was circumcised under
the Old Covenant. But here's the thing, God's people,
Jew and Gentile, are born again by the Spirit and brought into
the kingdom of God by God's grace and the power of the Holy Spirit
through the revelation of the gospel. For I'm not ashamed of
the gospel of Christ. It's the power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believeth. The Jew first and the Greek or
the Gentile also, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed
from faith to faith. As it is written, the justified
shall live by faith. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing
by the word of God. And it's true that many Gentiles
converted to become Israelite. They joined the majority in their
perversion of the word of God. And in fact, the temple When
Paul's writing this, before the temple at that time was destroyed,
the third temple, in that temple, they had constructed a wall. And inside the wall, as you got
closer to the holy place, that was for the Jews. Outside the
wall, that was for the Gentiles. They had to be separate. So here, Paul is speaking generally
of Gentiles in the Old Testament, their natural state in the world.
They were without Christ. You know, that was us before
we were born again. Now, I'll tell you something,
just to make sure we understand this. If you're one of God's
elect, you have never been without Christ totally, even before you
knew him. He's had His hand of grace and
His hand of love upon you even when you were a rebel. I've been
studying that for our Bible studies coming up on Hosea and Gomer. You remember the prophet Hosea
and his wife Gomer? She was a prostitute. She left
him. Hosea took care of her and she
didn't even know he was taking care of her. And that's the way
we were before we're born again, before we come to a saving knowledge
of Christ. God takes care of us. And we
don't even know it. And in fact, God's taking care
of us. We attribute it to an idol. Gomer
did that. She thought her lovers were providing
for her. It wasn't her lovers at all.
It was old Hosea, whose name means salvation. But in their state in this world,
they were without Christ because they were aliens, it says here.
Look at it in verse 12. Aliens, strangers from the covenants
of promise, the promises given to Abraham, having no hope and
without God in the world. That's our state by nature. Isn't
it? Because we're unbelievers. We
don't know God. But look at verse 13. But now,
listen to that, but now, But now in Christ Jesus, you who
sometime were far off are made nigh. Now how were they made
nigh? Brought near, that's what that
means. Made near to God. How? Because you were physically
circumcised. Because you joined the group
over here. Because you're keeping the law?
No. You're made nigh by the blood of Christ. Period. Hebrews chapter 10. In Hebrews chapter 10, listen
to this. This is beautiful. I mean, it's
just so appropriate to what we're talking about. He says, verse
19, And he's been talking about the blood of Christ which put
away all our sins. For by one offering he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. It wasn't by circumcision, it
wasn't by our works, it was by his one offering. And verse 19
says, having therefore brethren boldness to enter into the holiest
by the blood of Jesus. Made nigh by the blood of the
cross. brought near to God, accepted
in the beloved, in fellowship with God. And when did that happen? When we were born again by the
Spirit under the preaching of the gospel, and God revealed
the promises that are fulfilled in and by Christ to our hearts. We were brought into fellowship
with God. We were reconciled to God. God
was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself. Not imputing their trespasses
unto them. Not charging our sins unto us.
Now we're reconciled to God on that same ground. Peace between
God and sinners by the blood of the cross. And that's when
it was established. Look at verse 14. For He is our
peace. Christ is our peace. Not circumcision. Not law keeping. Not a pedigree,
Christ is our peace, who hath made both one, that's Jew and
Gentile in Christ, believers, both one, equally one, and hath
broken down the middle wall partitioned between us. Just like that wall
in the temple separated Jew and Gentile, well in Christ, that
which separated us is broken down. There's neither Jew nor
Gentile, All of it. Look at verse 15,
and I'll close with this. He says, having abolished in
his flesh the enmity, that hatred that separated us, even the law
of commandments contained in ordinances, that law that kept
them separate has been abolished, for to make in himself, in Christ,
of twain, of two, one new man, so making peace, one in Christ,
brought nigh by the blood of Jesus Christ. Isn't that precious? May the Lord bless His word to
our hearts.