Commentary by John Stott.

Ephesians 2:16. The reconciliation of Jew and Gentile to God.

After the abolition of the divisive law and the creation of the undivided humanity came the reconciliation of both parts of the old humanity to God, *thereby bringing the hostility to an end*. Here the ‘hostility’ is clearly between God and men, just as in verse 14 it was chiefly between Jew and Gentile. And just as there the ‘hostility’ was mutual, I think we need to see a certain mutuality also in the hostility between men and God. It is not just that our attitude to him has been one of rebellion; it is also that his ‘wrath’ has been upon us for our sin (verse 3). And only *through the cross* have both ‘hostilities’ been brought to an end, for when Christ bore our sin and judgment on the cross God turned away his own wrath, and we, seeing his great love, turned away ours also. Thus Christ (literally) ‘killed’ or ‘slew’ the hostility. ‘Christ in his death was slain’, comments Armitage Robinson, ‘but the slain was a slayer too’. And the hostility in both directions having been decisively dealt with, the result is reconciliation.
This, then, was the achievement of Christ’s cross. First, he abolished the law (its ceremonial regulations and moral condemnation) as a divisive instrument separating men from God and Jews from Gentiles. Secondly he created a single new humanity out of its two former deep divisions, making peace between them. Thirdly, he reconciled this new united humanity to God, having killed through the cross all the hostility between us. Christ crucified has thus brought into being nothing less than a new, united human race, united in itself and united to its creator.
This does not mean that the whole human race is now united and reconciled. We know from observation and experience that it is not. But then Paul does not claim this either. There is a further stage in the work of Christ which he goes on to mention. It is that Christ *came and preached peace* ( verse 17). Already we have been told that *he is our peace* (verse 14) and that he created a new humanity, so *making peace* (verse 15). But now he *preached peace*, publishing abroad the good news of the peace he had made through the cross (cf. Is.52:7). First he achieved it; then he announced it. And since the achievement was at the cross, and logically the announcement must follow the achievement, this preaching cannot refer to his public ministry. It must refer rather to his post-resurrection appearances, in which the very first word he spoke to the apostles was ‘Peace be with you’ (Jn.20:19-21), and to his proclamation of the gospel of peace to the world through the apostles and through subsequent generations of Christians (cf. Acts 10:36; Eph.6:15). Jesus Christ is still preaching peace in the world today, through the lips of his followers. For it is truly a wonderful fact that whenever we proclaim peace, it is Christ who proclaims it through us.
Moreover this good news was addressed from the start to the ‘far’ and ‘near’, that is, to Gentiles and Jews equality: *peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near*. And many of each community embraced it, and thereby found themselves united to God and to each other. For *through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father* (verse 18). Although ‘reconciliation’ is an event; ‘access’ is the continuing relationship to which it leads. ‘Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have obtained access…’ (Rom.5:1-2). *Prosagoge* (access) conjures up the scene of an oriental court, when subjects are granted an audience with the king or emperor, and are presented to him. The flavour of the word remains, but the emphasis changes because our access is not to a king but to a Father, before whom we have ‘boldness and confidence of access’ (3:12). And in enjoyment of this ready access to God, we find we have no practical difficulty with the mystery of the eternal Trinity. For our access is *to the Father through him* (the Son who made peace and preached it), and *in* or by *one Spirit*, the Spirit who regenerates, seals and indwells his people, who witnesses with our spirits that we are God’s children who helps us in our weaknesses and teaches us to pray, and who unites us as we pray. For it is *we both*, Jews and Gentiles, who as members of God’s new society now approach our Father together. Thus the highest and fullest achievement of the peacemaking Christ is this trinitarian access of the people of God, as through him and by one Spirit we come boldly to our Father.
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 “The fear of the Lord tends to take away all other fears.”

“It is that indefinable mixture of reverence and pleasure, joy and awe which fills our hearts when we realize who God is and what He has done for us. It is a love for God which is so great that we would be ashamed to do anything which would displease or grieve Him, and makes us happiest when we are doing what pleases Him.” – Sinclair Ferguson

“The fear of God in which godliness consists is the fear which constrains adoration and love. It is the fear which consists in awe, reverence, honour, and worship, and all of these on the highest level of exercise. It is the reflex in our consciousness of the transcendent majesty and holiness of God.”  –John Murray

“To fear God means to acknowledge His superiority over man, to recognize His deity and thus respond in awe, humility, worship, love, trust, and obedience.”  –R.N. Whybray

  Praise the LORD!
 I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart,
  in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
 Great are the works of the LORD,
  studied by all who delight in them.
 Full of splendor and majesty is his work,
  and his righteousness endures forever.
 He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered;
  the LORD is gracious and merciful.
 He provides food for those who fear him;
  he remembers his covenant forever.
 He has shown his people the power of his works,
  in giving them the inheritance of the nations.
 The works of his hands are faithful and just;
  all his precepts are trustworthy;
 they are established forever and ever,
  to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.
 He sent redemption to his people;
  he has commanded his covenant forever.
  Holy and awesome is his name!
 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;
  all those who practice it have a good understanding.
  His praise endures forever!
(Psalm 111 ESV)

Heavenly Father,

If I should suffer need, and go unclothed, and be in poverty,
make my heart prize your love,
know it, be constrained by it,
though I be denied all blessings.
It is your mercy to afflict and try me with wants,
for by these trials I see my sins,
and desire to be rid of them.
Please help me willingly accept misery, sorrows, temptations,
if those things will help me feel sin as the greatest evil,
and be delivered from it with gratitude to you,
acknowledging this as the highest testimony of your love.
When your son, Jesus, came into my soul
he became more dear to me
than sin used to be;
his kindly rule replaced sin’s tyranny.
Teach me to believe that if I ever want to conquer any sin
I must not only labor to overcome it,
but must invite Christ to take its place,
and he must become more valued to me
than the vile lust had been;
that his sweetness, power, life may be there.
So I need to seek a grace from God that will oppose sin,
but I should not seek it as a thing on it’s own, apart from himself.
When I am afraid of evils to come,
please comfort me by showing me
that in myself I am a dying, condemned wretch,
but in Christ I am reconciled and live;
that in myself I find insufficiency and restlessness,
but in Christ there is satisfaction and peace;
that in myself I am feeble and unable to do good,
but in Christ I can do all things.
Though now I have his graces in part,
I shall shortly have them perfectly
in that state where you will show yourself fully reconciled,
and alone sufficient, efficient,
loving me completely,
with sin abolished.
O Lord, may that day come quickly!

–from The Valley of Vision