The Church is One Body, Part 1 (Ephesians 2:11–22)

Focus Keywords: Christian unity, Jew and Gentile reconciliation, Ephesians 2, God’s dwelling, Christ’s peace, overcoming religious hostility, John MacArthur

This rewrite summarizes the core themes of John MacArthur’s message, “The Church is One Body, Part 1 (Ephesians 2:11–22),” which addresses the profound religious hostility that existed between Jews and Gentiles and emphasizes that Christ’s sacrifice fundamentally broke this barrier, establishing the church as one unified body and the dwelling place of God.

The message anchors this required unity in Christ’s final prayers for His disciples, where He petitioned the Father that they “may be one, just as he and the father are one”. The survival of the church depends on this unity, pursued through truth, Christ-likeness, and faithfulness to Scripture.

The Historical Animosity: The Failure of Israel’s Mission

The sermon begins by exposing the “deep-seated hatred” between Jews and Gentiles that had existed for “centuries and millennia” and threatened to fracture the early New Testament church.

• Religious, Not Ethnic, Hatred: This animosity was primarily religious hostility, not ethnic or racial discrimination. The Jews hated “all non-Jews” because they viewed them as blaspheming enemies of God who practiced false religion. The Jews cultivated this hate generationally, believing it was noble to be zealous for God’s protection by hating blasphemers.
• The Epithet: This hostility manifested in the pejorative term “uncircumcision,” which the Jews used to label the Gentiles.
• Israel’s Failure: Israel was chosen by God as a means to an end—to be a “witness nation” to the rest of the world, receiving divine revelation, the law, the priesthood, and the prophets for world evangelization. However, the nation totally failed this mission responsibility.
• The Jonah Illustration: The story of the prophet Jonah serves as the “very worst example of a missionary” and illustrates Israel’s failure. Jonah, who hated the pagan Gentiles like his nation did, was angry, disgusted, and depressed when the entire city of Nineveh repented after his preaching. He didn’t want Gentiles to receive God’s mercy, reflecting the belief that the Jews “deserved salvation”.

The Gentiles’ Former State: Alienation and Hopelessness

Paul commanded the Gentile believers to “remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh,” were in a state of severe spiritual alienation before Christ.

• Separate and Excluded: Gentiles were “separate from Christ” (having no Savior or Messiah) and “excluded from the commonwealth of Israel” (being stateless).
• Without Hope and God: They were “strangers to the covenants of promise” and thus had “no hope”. They were “without God in the world,” despite having many false gods.

Christ’s Accomplishment: The Abolition of Enmity

The shift from alienation to unity is described by the divine conjunction “But now in Christ Jesus”. This transformation was secured by the sacrifice of Christ, who “himself is our peace”.

• Brought Near by Blood: Gentiles, who were “far off”, have been “brought near by the blood of Christ”.
• Breaking the Barrier: Christ “made both groups into one, and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall”.
• Abolishing the Law: He achieved this by “abolishing in his flesh the enmity or the hatred,” which was the “law of commandments contained in ordinances”. This refers to the external rules and restrictions designed to keep Israel separate from pagans.
• Creating One New Man: Christ’s purpose was that in Himself, He “might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace”. He reconciled them both in “one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity”.