Ephesians 2:12, commentary and pictures

At that time the Gentiles were without Christ, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. The dividing wall that shut them out from the promises and privileges of the gospel was broken down by Christ's death, so that those who were far off are made nigh by His blood and reconciled to God in one body. Through faith in His atoning sacrifice they share equally with Israel in the covenant of grace, becoming fellow citizens with the saints and members of God's household. The verse also shows the natural state of every unconverted soul, spiritually dead in trespasses and sins and enslaved to Satan, which is both the former state of the redeemed and the present state of sinners still to be saved. Those once without hope are saved by grace through faith as God's gift, and remembering that wretchedness calls for gratitude and tireless labor to seek the perishing where they are and lift them into God's kingdom.

Gentiles Once Excluded Far

At that time the Gentiles stood without Christ, as aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. That far-off separation is set against being brought near through Christ's blood, and Christ's transforming grace changed their darkness into nearness. Through the apostles' ministry they learned that faith in His atoning sacrifice made them fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household.

The verse speaks of those who were Gentiles in the flesh, called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands. That far-off, divided, hopeless state without God is set against being made nigh by the blood of Christ, giving an instructive lesson for those not working in harmony. It also describes the heathen near and afar off today, the outcasts, publicans and harlots sunk in the lowest depths of spiritual wickedness, who must be sought right where they are and through kindness and long-suffering be compelled to come in from the highways and hedges to fill the Master's table and be lifted and elevated.

The Gentiles were shut out from the promises of God and the privileges of the gospel, looked upon by the Jews as an unclean race. Their former spiritual misery, blindness, wretchedness and darkness before Christ came to their aid is to be remembered, calling for gratitude shown in tangible good, especially in caring for the young and helpless and using every privilege and opportunity of doing good. Letting those seasons pass invites still greater darkness and misery, for now is sowing time and each will reap what is sown, and idle hands will reap a small harvest.

The middle wall of partition that shut them out and divided them was broken down by the death of Christ. In Him Christ is peace, makes both one, and reconciles both unto God in one body. Through Him heathen nations are made partakers of the blessings and privileges of the Jews equally with them, made fellow-heirs with the Israel of God.

The vision of the sheet let down from heaven with all manner of beasts, with the command to kill and eat and the assurance that what God has cleansed must not be called common, was not about food but illustrates that the gospel was to go to the Gentiles. It gave both reproof and instruction to divest Peter of prejudice against the Gentiles and of settled prejudice that confined his labors to the Jews. It led him to comprehend the world-wide extent of God's plan, first shown of importance in the conversion of Cornelius, and illustrated the Gentiles' new standing as fellow heirs.

The larger passage of Ephesians 2:4-22 is full of instruction and comfort for the depressed and is to be read carefully as never read before. It shows the reversal of being without Christ, alienated from Israel and the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. Those once without hope are saved by grace through faith as the gift of God, with Christ dwelling in hearts by faith as best and honored Friend to be contemplated, beheld and cherished so as not to grieve Him, ennobling the whole nature, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Jesus Christ as Chief Cornerstone into a cleansed, sanctified temple and habitation of God through the Spirit.

Brought Near By Christ

Those who were once far off are now brought near through the blood of Christ, for the former state of being without Christ, outside the community of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world, is reversed in the next verse by that nearness, and transforming grace changed that darkness and far-away condition.

Through faith in the atoning sacrifice and death of Christ, Gentiles who were once far off share equally with Israel in the blessings and privileges of the covenant of grace given to Abraham, made fellow-heirs with the Israel of God, fellow citizens with the saints and members of God's household.
The middle wall of partition that shut them out was broken down by His death, and the vision of the sheet let down from heaven with all manner of beasts, with the command to kill and eat and the assurance that what God has cleansed must not be called common, was not about food but illustrated their new standing, to divest Peter of settled prejudice against the Gentiles as an unclean race and to lead him to comprehend the world-wide extent of God's plan.

Through the gospel they receive faith and are no longer strangers and foreigners, having access to the Father through Christ by one Spirit.
They are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Jesus Christ Himself as Chief Cornerstone and joined together into a cleansed, sanctified holy temple and habitation of God through the Spirit.

Christ reconnects earth with heaven and brings people back to God, having come to seek and save the lost by taking human weakness and enduring suffering and humiliation and death on the cross.
He redeems humanity by obeying the law and bearing the penalty of disobedience in His death, so deliverance comes not by abolishing the law but through obedience made possible by His merits.

Those once without hope are saved by grace through faith as the gift of God, with Christ dwelling in hearts by faith as the best and honored Friend to be contemplated, beheld and cherished so as not to grieve Him, ennobling the whole nature.
The larger passage of Ephesians 2:4-22 is full of instruction and comfort for the depressed and is to be read carefully as never read before.

Believers themselves are the temple of the living God, so even the most splendid temple amounts to nothing if hearts are not right.
The greatest anxiety must be over spiritual condition, and children must be taught that God meets with His people and directed to keep their thoughts heavenward.

Preaching Christ brought those in deep spiritual darkness the light of eternal life and peace, delivering them from a bondage more terrible than physical chains.
Christ as the resurrection and the life restores those dead in trespasses and sins today, re-creating them, taking control of the mind and forgiving the repentant discouraged soul, causing the dead to hear the voice of the Son of God and live.
This is proved by the redemption of Bunyan from profanity and reveling and Newton from slave-dealing to proclaim the uplifted Saviour, and just as wonderful miracles will still be wrought upon human minds, alongside the future literal resurrection when all in the graves hear His voice and come forth.

Sin left humanity lost, enslaved to Satan and toward ruin, helpless, hopeless, bound in sin and corruption without a Saviour and unable to lift itself out, fallen and degraded as Adam and Eve were after transgression.
God provided recovery by sending Christ, who left the kingdom of glory for a world marked by sin, took human weakness, endured suffering and humiliation without transgressing the law, broke Satan's chains through conflict with him, and brought humanity into favor with God.
Through His merits and blood people can be washed, sanctified, serve God, be restored to forfeited life and glory, and come to the Father's throne if willing to be drawn and to come to Him.
Had He not come they would have been left to perish.

Every Sinner Without Hope

The verse lays bare the condition of every soul that by sin has lost the image of God, which is the natural state of every unconverted person as spiritually dead. It is both the former state of those now redeemed from a life of sin and the present state of sinners still to be saved. Those lifted out of that state have received power from Jesus Christ that elevates and ennobles them, makes them like Christ and in harmony with Him, and enables them to know how to reach others who remain as they once were. Christ as the resurrection and the life still restores those dead in sin today, re-creating them, taking control of the mind, forgiving the repentant discouraged soul, and causing the dead to hear the voice of the Son of God and live. The redemption of Bunyan from profanity and reveling and of Newton from slave-dealing to proclaim the uplifted Saviour proves this power, and just as wonderful miracles will still be wrought upon human minds, alongside the future literal resurrection when all in the graves hear His voice and come forth.

To be without God and without hope is to be dead in trespasses and sins, strayed from God as strangers and enemies to Him. Before the truth is heard people are spiritually dead, unaware of sin and without conviction because they do not know that sin is the transgression of God's law, until the Word awakens the conscience to call to repentance and acceptance of salvation in God's appointed way. Thousands who do not know the truth are outside the fold in the dark places of the earth where the light of truth has never shone, unwarned and unconverted and passing into the grave without Christ. Jesus came to save the lost, to ransom them and take them home to His heart of infinite love, and He requires every member of the church to work together with Him in bringing them back, not to neglect or despise them or push them onto Satan's battlefield. Those who fail to warn and labor for them will have to render an account for the many left uncared for.

Those without God are guilty, corrupted and degraded by sin, enslaved by Satan, suffering unfulfilled desires, disordered passions and guilty consciences, and having no prospect of life to come. Their condition stands in contrast to the peace and rest found by receiving Christ. They remain persons Christ came from heaven to redeem, so they are to receive tender pity, sympathy and tireless, persistent effort. Apart from Christ people are helpless, without hope and without God, but union with Christ changes this by making believers a power for good as they receive His grace and share it with others.

People who profess godliness and claim sanctification or holiness can still be strangers to the covenant of promise when self-righteous and corrupt in heart and life. High profession, influence, brilliance, knowledge of God, claims of holiness, and names registered upon the church books do not place such persons in the covenant or join them to Christ when they are full of self-love, controlled by the spirit of the world, self-sufficient and self-righteous, making their own standard of righteousness and failing to meet the Bible standard. A church member who professes to serve God but lives selfishly and serves Mammon may remain in spirit like a sinner without God and hope, with only nominal faith, dwarfed religious life, and example and influence that lead away from God and heaven, bring discredit, and rear barriers that turn souls away from salvation. Through such the greatest sins are brought in to allure and deceive and ruin souls, and unless there is transformation of character into living embodiments of the grace of Jesus Christ, those in it are not prepared to close their earthly history and will never see the kingdom of God. The disloyal stand under Satan's banner, yet it is great mercy that God bears with their perversity and does not cut them down as cumberers of the ground, but in patience preserves life and leaves them still within the possibility of forgiveness and acceptance if they repent, though that mercy is continually abused and His forbearance presumed upon.

Children in disregard for sacred things amid worldly priorities are without God and without hope in the world and in spiritual peril, though they may connect with God by yielding their hearts to Him. When parents reject light and admonition from heaven and teach rebellion by example, the children become hardened, unreachable, and caring nothing for God or truth, godless and hopeless in the world, even when the parents are connected with God's cause yet careless and unconcerned. Their condition is presented as reason for parents to humble themselves before God. Children in this condition can be added to the church when parents faithfully guide and train them in the way of the Lord. Parents who bring their children into hardness must render a strict account to God for children committed to their trust, and in the time of trouble they will see those children withering beneath God's plagues poured out unmixed with mercy.

Paths That Lead There

People come to have no hope and be without God by letting Satan control the will and forgetting the Creator through yielding to temptation. Dwelling on personal degradation and helplessness and clinging to indulgences such as tobacco and alcoholic drinks enslaves the will to a course God's word does not justify, enfeebles reason, and destroys power to distinguish right from wrong. Knowing truth without practicing it leaves one unconverted and unsanctified, and clinging to a cherished idol such as tobacco keeps the soul in slavery to hurtful habit and aloof from Christ. Sacred and eternal realities come to be valued less than gold, silver, houses, lands, and bank stock because Christ is not beheld as the Lamb of God. If the idol is held until the case of every soul is decided, one is left shipwrecked, as it were, without God and without hope.

Marriage and other close ties and forbidden unions with unbelievers who cannot elevate or ennoble can deaden noble aims and aspirations. Such worldly associations and unhappy business or marriage unions bind one in circumstances that draw away from faith and leave one caught in Satan's net. To be lost in this way is to be separated from God without hope in the world, which is a terrible thing that may end in loss of the soul. Salvation of the soul is more precious than any other earthly consideration, so every step must be guarded lest alliance with worldly elements places one and loved ones where it is difficult to follow the Saviour.

The godless, hopeless state comes from accepting the tempter's supposition that Christ has removed His seat of honor and power into some unknown region so men need no longer exalt His character and obey His law but can be a law unto themselves. This sophistry exalts self and makes nothing of God, destroys restraint and moral control in the human family, and weakens restraint upon vice. Those who reject God's authority in this way do not love or fear God and soon lose all sense of obligation to one another, being without God and without hope in the world.

Giving up to intemperance and greed degrades and belittles, bringing disease, dishonesty, and ruined health and character. Even youth in the midst of churches, religious institutions, and professedly Christian homes choose this path to destruction through intemperate habits and greed to obtain money for sinful indulgences, becoming outcasts from society who feel they have no hope either for this life or for the life to come, with broken-hearted parents and with men calling them hopeless. That hopeless state is the result of their own course, what they have sown. Yet God looks upon them with pitying tenderness, understands all the circumstances that led them to fall under temptation, does not will their loss but has made every provision in giving His Son to save them from misery, and they are a class that demands labor to be sought and saved.

Being without God and without hope means being worldly, with weak moral sensibilities and unable to be aroused to realize one's true spiritual condition. Minds become infatuated by ever-varying styles of dress through Satan's wonderfully successful work, and women absorbed in fashion become worldly minded and neglect prayer and Scripture. Misused and misdirected passions and affections and lavishing affection on earthly treasures instead of heavenly riches bring misery and ruin. By following unconverted, unconsecrated desires and selling the soul to Satan to obtain those treasures, one loses what was pursued, robs oneself of an eternity of bliss, and unites with him who plays the game of life for souls.

It is a fearful deception and great peril little realized to be without instruction, with the heart not right with God, not born again, and without reformation at the heart out of which are the issues of life. This is building on sliding sand with no genuine preparation to enter the gates of the celestial city and the mansions Christ has gone to prepare for those who love His appearing, so that when the storm beats upon the house it is swept away and the soul bought with Christ's life-blood is eternally lost. Becoming strangers to the covenant of promise by being caused to err with falsehoods and deceptive fables, with false science and false tests, and by departing from God's law is choosing the way of death. Such ways become slippery ways in darkness that bring truth into disrepute and contempt and weary God with perversity, and will be visited with punishment by the rod when every case is before Him, though God constrains Himself and forbears for a time to cut down and disown the transgressors.

The critical, dangerous point is reached when one under conviction by God's Spirit labors to throw it off and succeeds too well, grieving the Spirit and holy angels. At that point a decision must soon be made, while Satan makes special efforts to win the choice for the pleasures of the world by representing religious ways as difficult and worldly pleasures as strewn with flowers in false and flattering colors. Refusing to become a Christian and a soldier of Jesus Christ makes one a rebel against God's government in an unsafe and dangerous position without God and without hope in the world. Such a life is spent chasing phantoms and sowing to the flesh, gaining at most earthly honors, fame, and wealth, but if sickness comes and reason is clouded and one goes down into the grave without hope it has been an entire mistake, ending in corruption and loss of eternal life.

Loving sin rather than obedience and refusing Christ's gift and rejecting God's offers of mercy brings the condition of being without God and without hope. Those controlled by Satan as blinded captives to do his will do not know their destruction is near while violence and corruption fill up the cup of iniquity. Before Christ's second coming the great multitude will be in this state, just as in the days of Noah the overwhelming majority was opposed to the truth and enamored with falsehood while the land was filled with violence, war, crime, and murder. Those who persist in rebellion and disregard mercy learn too late what they have lost when God's judgments fall and probation ends and mercy is no longer available, with fierce anguish in the day of destruction when deception is removed and false security taken away and they must remain filthy forever.

End Without God

To be without God and without hope is to be lost in a wretched state, with sins too great to be forgiven, doomed to suffer a living death through all eternity in an eternally burning hell. Thinking on that condition brings great mental anguish and deep despair, and by contrast makes Christian hope deeply precious. Those without hope in Christ are in an insecure position and face terror at the judgment day, while Christian hope gives confidence amid that fear. Without God there is no hope, for hope rests on trusting Him and seeking His counsel as guide.

Those who draw away from God and die as they have lived — without repentance, without hope, without God — have a dark future without one ray of light. Even if they prosper in the world and secure riches beyond what the heart can wish, that prosperity does not avert retributive justice, for bound by pride and stumbling in unbelief they perish while wrath is kindled against them, brought into desolation in a moment to remain filthy forever. A life lived without God ends in a hopeless death, as with a man who consumed his property in gambling and died without God, leaving his wife with six children in sorrow, privation and destitution. Those left behind weary, heavy-laden, sorrowing and bowed down are loved by Jesus with compassion and tender pitying love, and He invites them to come to Him for rest, peace, consolation and salvation. Such a sad lost end leaves associates accountable for the saving influence they might have exerted and did not, an accountability to be unfolded at the judgment when every man's work will stand for just what it is.

Those who break covenant with God will be without God and without hope in the coming time of trouble. Being without Christ and without power from on high at the last great day is to be bewailed now by being reconciled to God, seeking the Lord with the whole heart to find Him, receiving His grace and sweetness into the heart, getting out of the rut, and walking and talking with God. In this way His power is revealed before the synagogue of Satan, before the heavenly universe, and before the world, so men and angels know Christ has not died in vain, reflecting the light and joy of heaven so that God rejoices with singing. The useless member dependent on the minister with no personal experience must not remain in that godless, hopeless condition but put on the whole armor of Christ's righteousness and begin to work, even in a little thing, and will find God as helper at the right hand. Such are to tell God all trials and perplexities, stop dwelling on self, and think of Jesus in His holy place surrounded by ten thousand times ten thousand heavenly beings waiting to do His bidding, whom He sends to work for the weakest saint who trusts in God, with the same help provided for high and low, rich and poor.

At Christ's coming to judge the world for its iniquity, when the earth discloses its blood and no longer covers its slain, the great multitude will be without God and without hope in the world. They are in this condition because they opposed truth, righteousness and observance of the law of God and gave themselves to intense worldliness. The open sinner apart from God in the world with no hope has through lack of communion with God no nearer claim to eternal life. Vain, unbalanced women who have no depth of religious experience are in exactly the same godless and hopeless state as the open sinner. The men and women of the world who are without God and without hope need to become hungry for what will give them hope about the future life. That hope is found in Jesus as Saviour and calls for gratitude, looking to Him instead of self, and practicing His virtues day by day.

Urgency To Rescue Others

Those described as Gentiles in the flesh, called Uncircumcision, are heathen near and afar off today, publicans and harlots sunk in the lowest depths of spiritual wickedness, without Christ, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. They must be sought right where they are and through kindness and long-suffering be compelled to come in from the highways and hedges to fill the Master's table. The Saviour's invitation is a compelling message to be presented to them so they may be lifted and elevated into God's kingdom.

Those perishing in corruption and sin, lacking both physical and spiritual food, are to be lovingly fed and clothed and pointed to the Lamb of God who takes away sin. They call for tender pity, sympathy and tireless, persistent effort because Christ came from heaven to redeem them even while guilty, corrupted and degraded by sin, enslaved by Satan and with no prospect of life to come. Those rescued from that condition will thank those who showed them love and pity.

A crucified and risen Saviour is to be uplifted and proclaimed before those without Christ, hope and God. Pardon through Christ is to be carried to every nation, kindred, tongue and people, from door to door, in clear, decided, stirring utterance that shows the power of Christianity, so those hungering for truth hear the gospel with power from on high and respond. Teaching them and caring for them directs them to the Saviour and awakens faith in God's promises, and Christ's converts follow Jesus' pattern and show saving grace in their lives to help others reach a higher life. Through this work those who were heathen may turn from idols to worship God, believe in Christ, repent and be saved.

Thousands at the very door, both white and black in the Southern field, in Cooranbong and around it as sheep without a shepherd hungering for light, in unwarned American cities, in new territory and dark places where truth never shone, and throughout the world, are dying unwarned, unconverted and uncared for in darkness and error without Christ, outside the community of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise. They are rich fields of toil waiting for the faithful worker and are to be worked with intense earnestness by those who annex new territory for God, impart imparted blessings, let light shine in good works by personal piety and sound principles in business, and so magnify God's law. Christian families must go to communities and foreign fields where people need to know Christ, students must be trained in practical missionary work, smaller sanitariums rather than immense institutions should exert influence for good upon the cities, ministers should carry truth to destitute fields rather than be drawn into institutes, and talents of means and influence must be given instead of standing aloof or discouraging the work.

Saving souls in moral darkness requires united church members converted and imbued with Christ's Spirit, using influence and moral power, denying self and taking the cross. Obstacles of selfishness and inconsistent conduct must be removed, for conduct contradicting professed faith leads others astray, and direct personal labor must educate them to look to Jesus and live until they become workers for others. The work begins in families and reaches beyond in unceasing activity to bestow received grace, warning wanderers in the wilderness of sin and strangers to the covenant to escape and lay hold of gospel hope. This warning and preparation for future life is urgent as the Lord's coming nears and judgments are in the land, with darkness covering the earth and gross darkness the people.

Remembering former wretchedness, blindness, misery and alienation from the commonwealth of Israel before Christ came to aid, and the wonderful compassionate love that reached sinners where they were, calls for gratitude shown in tangible good and use of every privilege and opportunity. Those redeemed have received elevating power that ennobles them, makes them like Christ and in harmony with Him, enables them to know how to reach others as they once were, and makes them through union with Christ a power for good as they receive His grace and share it. This calls especially for caring for the young and helpless, awakening love, mercy and benevolence toward fellow beings, for letting seasons pass invites greater darkness and an idle harvest.

Their condition as souls in spiritual gloom without God and without hope calls forth love for them and concern to draw them from sin. Love among Christ's people is strengthened by Christ's cross, for He suffered and died to save sinners, and those who love Him are to love both such people and those resembling Him. They need the saving help of Christ's followers through godly lives and to hear of the Saviour, for their spiritual destitution is more terrible than physical suffering and they need to be shown Christ as their only hope.

Those once without God learn of Jesus through teachers, believe, repent, turn from idols to worship God, and are saved to sit together in heavenly places in Christ. Even the intemperate, vicious and ignorant, the young dead in sin, and those absorbed in business, gaming, appetite, theater and ballroom who put eternity out of reckoning may be reached, and the sunk in vice and ignorance may become children of the heavenly King because mercy still invites them to pardon, rest and peace. Thousands yearly die without hope of everlasting life because light has not reached them while plagues are in the earth, so those who receive truth must share it and the work of reaching mission fields is urgent.

Because salvation from irretrievable ruin without God and without hope cost God and His only begotten Son a great price, those who know it must not pass by with indifference or keep silent in worldly infatuation but must enlarge efforts to reach and save the perishing. They must labor, deny self, cut off needless spending, superfluous wants and love of money so means can be used in the great work of saving souls. In this they cooperate with the Redeemer who left heaven's courts, laid aside royal robes and crown, clothed divinity with humanity, became poor and acquainted with grief, wounded for transgressions and bruised for iniquities, so that through His poverty and stripes the fallen may be made rich and healed, sharing His self-denial and fellowship of suffering.

Workers must rescue thousands outside the fold in dark places where light never shone, dead in trespasses and sins and passing into the grave unwarned, unconverted and uncared for, and those who fail to warn them will render an account. Associates who withheld saving influence from one dying without repentance are likewise accountable at the judgment when every man's work stands for what it is. Those who receive Christ's righteousness by faith, stand accepted and are led by His Spirit need not fear being left without God but can face the future with assurance and peace as they grow in Christ.

Church members are to work together to reach the separated and hopeless, using influence and power for their salvation moved by the same love that led Christ to leave heaven and touch humanity to draw it to divinity. Those without God and without hope need to be sought out, cared for and labored for.