We are One Body in Christ
October 20, 2019
Commentary
Spiritual birth must lead to spiritual growth as we become more like Jesus Christ (vv. 14–16). If we are maturing in Christ, we will show it by speaking the truth in love. Satan, who is both a liar and a murderer (JOH 8:44), loses power when believers live by truth and love. Christ has de-stroyed the barriers that people build between themselves. When we grow in Him, we learn to forgive, accept, and care for one another as members of one body.
Christ came with a message of peace so that Jews and Gentiles could be at peace with each other through faith in Him. Both now have access to God through the same Savior. It is in Christ Jesus that the Jew and the Gentile become one, for “He is our peace.” A Gentile does not need to become a Jew to be saved, nor does a Jew stand above a Gentile. Both come to God in the same way—through the cross. As Paul wrote, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (GAL 3:28).
Paul emphasizes the unification of Jews and Gentiles in Christ by repeating the word “one” throughout this passage: “made both one” (v. 14), “one new man” (v. 15), “one body” (v. 16), and “one Spirit” (v. 18). Christ came and preached peace to the Gentiles, who were far from God, and peace to the Jews, who were near (v. 17). Spiritual divisions are completely overcome in Him. Christ’s purpose was twofold—to create a new kind of humanity unit-ed in Himself, and to remove every cause for division, so that all believers might have access to God the Father through one Spirit.
Application
Do I truly live as one with other believers, or do I still hold barriers of pride or culture in my heart? Christ broke down every wall that divides people. How can I “live peaceably with all people”(ROM 12:18) today? I want to forgive quickly, love freely, and remember that all of us belong to one body in Christ.
Ephesians 2:14–18 (NET)
14 For he is our peace, the one who made both groups into one and who destroyed the middle wall of partition, the hostility, 15 when he nullified in his flesh the law of commandments in decrees. He did this to create in himself one new man out of two, thus making peace, 16 and to reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by which the hostility has been killed. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near, 18 so that through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.
Stay together and stay warm
The German philosopher Schopenhauer compared the human race to a bunch of porcupines huddling together on a cold winter’s night. He said, “The colder it gets outside, the more we huddle together for warmth; but the closer we get to one … Continue