Remember Back
Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (that done in the body by the hands of men) — 12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. Ephesians 2:11,12 (NIV)
The last section described human salvation in terms of giving new life to individual men and women who were previously dead in sin. But the purpose of Christ’s work is not limited to only this. The present section shows that it involves the bringing of those individuals, whatever their race or background, into unity in the people of God.
Paul begins by showing what was the Gentiles’ condition in the past. Just as the Greeks despised those who lived outside their cities, calling them ‘pagans,’ so the Jews in their superficial and unspiritual way of thinking, spoke disparagingly of other nations as ‘Gentiles,’ brushing aside God’s call to Israel to share her knowledge of God with them (Genesis 12:3; Isaiah 42:1,6; 49:6). They called them ‘the uncircumcised’, those who didn’t carry the mark of God’s covenant with His people. This was the proud judgement of those who called themselves ‘the circumcision,’ though from the standpoint of one in Christ, this mark was only ‘that done in the body by the hands of men.’ Paul did not disparage circumcision. It was to him the God-given sign of the covenant; but if the outward sign was not matched by an inward faith and an obedience to the covenant, it was worthless and just a work of the flesh (1 Corinthians 7:19; Galatians 5:6; 6:15). The circumcision that mattered was spiritual circumcision, a putting off of sin and an obedience to Christ (Romans 2:25-29; Philippians 3:2,3; Colossians 2:11).
The fundamental change for the Gentiles though was not simply in how the Jews saw them, but in their actual condition. ‘At that time’ before they came to experience the grace of God, they were ‘separate from Christ’ (2:12). The rest of this whole section draws out the contrast between what the Gentiles were without the hope of the Messiah and what they came to be ‘in Christ Jesus’ (2:13).
They were ‘excluded from citizenship in Israel’ (2:12). They did not belong to, and found themselves cut off from, the fellowship and the privileges of those who called themselves the people of God (Romans 3:1,2; 9:4,5). The word ‘excluded’ is used in 4:18 and Colossians 1:21 for humanity’s separation from God by sin. The Jews did admit Gentiles as proselytes but the way of entry was difficult and even then the sense of feeling excluded was not fully removed. By birth the Gentiles were ‘foreigners to the covenants of the promise’ (2:12). The promise to the Jews, the promise of the Messiah, was involved in the covenants with Abraham and the patriarchs (Genesis 17:1-14; 26:24; 28:13-15) and with the nation under Moses (Exodus 24:1-11). The covenants brought Israel into a special relationship of grace with God, and so to the hope of a deliverance and future glory that would be theirs. But the Gentiles had not been included in any of these covenants, so they stood as a people ‘without hope’ (2:12).
Finally Paul says they were ‘without God’ (2:12). This doesn’t mean they refused to believe in God, or that they were forsaken by God or godless in their conduct but that they had no real knowledge of God. In most cases they had many objects of worship – many ‘gods’ and many ‘lords’ but they were ‘gods’ in name only (1 Corinthians 8:4,5; Galatians 4:8). They lived ‘in the world’ lives limited by the things of the world and had to face the trials and perplexities of the world without the knowledge of God to interpret the whole.
This was the terrible position of the Gentile world before Christ. They were cut off from the Messiah, cut off from God’s people, excluded from the covenant invitation to know God, had no hope and were godless. In Paul’s single phrase they were ‘far away’ (2:13), alienated both from God and His people.
In our pre-Christian days, this is exactly how we were. We too were alienated from God and from His people. We rebelled against God’s authority and knew very little if anything of real community. Divisiveness is a constant characteristic of every community without Christ.
Paul began both 2:11 and 12 with a call to ‘remember.’ There are some things the Bible tells us to forget but we are here commanded to remember something quite specific – what we were before God’s love reached down and found us. Remembering our former isolation and alienation from God magnifies our appreciation for His gracious intervention in our lives.
So don’t forget how far you’ve come. You were not born as Jews and were uncircumcised (circumcision itself is just a work of man’s hands); you had none of the Jewish covenants and laws; you were foreigners to Israel’s incredible heritage; you were without the covenant and prophetic promise of the Messiah, the promised hope, and without God. Yet look at you now! Everything is new! You are found complete in the faith of Jesus the Messiah, all because of this glorious grace! Ephesians 2:11,12 (The Passion Translation)