EPHESIANS: Without Hope Without God

EPHESIANS Number 25:
Without Hope Without God

Ephesians 2:11–12 (KJV 1900)
“Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world.”

These verses begin with “in time past” and end with “but now.” It is very important that we keep that in mind. In time past we “were”, but now we “are.”

There is no arguing about these verses. They present no significant translation challenges. They use simple sentences comprised of commonly understood words. These verses make a clear and vitally important statement.

We were of “the nations” we were heathen Gentiles.
We were without a Savior.
We were foreigners, excluded from the people of Israel.
We had no part in the covenants of promise.
We were without hope and without God.

Many have taught, and not a few still teach, that Christianity is essentially a “Judeo/Christian” religion. Many have been told that at least some part of the covenant of the Law handed down from God to the nation of Israel by Moses applies to us today. Most would exclude the ceremonial laws and the sacrificial laws, even the dietary laws. But, they say, we need to keep the moral laws. The idea is that the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, which instituted and ratified a new covenant, somehow merged parts of the old, incorporating them into the new as a kind of addendum.

This is nothing new. Such teaching was prevalent in the decades following the Resurrection. We studied this at length as we worked our way through Galatians. Here is a link to the first installment if you’re interested in checking it out: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2018274/episodes/13694307

I want us to notice that we who are not part of the Hebrew nation were never under the old covenant to begin with. The new covenant that Jesus ushered in did not make things worse. It was, as we read in Hebrews 8:6 “But now hath he [that is Jesus] obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.” (KJV 1900)

The old covenant was established on the promise of the Israelites. Here is the record from Exodus 19:8 “And all the people answered together, and said, all that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD.” (KJV 1900) This covenant was bilateral. It was established between God and the people of Israel. Both sides had terms to uphold. God was required to bless them if they kept their part, and the Israelites were required to obey everything in the Law. James makes this clear in James 2:10 saying, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” (KJV 1900)

The new covenant is established on a completely different promise. Here is the record from Hebrews 6:17–18 “Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us.” (KJV 1900) God swore by Himself. The covenant was made between God the Father and God the Son. We have no part in keeping the terms of this covenant.

This is the reason we find in Hebrews 7:18–22 that “there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before [the old covenant] for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof. For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God. And inasmuch as not without an oath he was made priest: (For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec:) By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.” (KJV 1900)

Don’t be persuaded by anyone who says that you must keep any part of the Law of Moses. As we saw earlier, we are created for good works, and we are designed in such a way (as the righteous and blameless Spirit-born children of God) that godly works should be characteristic of our lives. I am most emphatically not saying we can sin more so that grace will increase. But I am just as emphatically saying that blessing and acceptance by God are not conditioned on our obedience of 613 ordinances from a covenant we were never a party to.