For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.

(We’ll include verse 15 and 16 in this post.) Jesus Christ is our peace. He is the one who is bringing Jews and Gentiles together to make one new man. Jesus has broken down the wall that separated the two.

Verse 15 says that the wall is the enmity. The wall is the thing that makes Jews and Gentiles natural enemies of one another. What is that wall? It is the law of commandments contained in ordinances. What Christ has done is to release all of us from the law so that whether Jew or Gentile, we are saved by faith in Christ the Messiah. He is creating one new man. Don’t minimize the importance of this. The one new man is the body of Christ. Each individual member, whether Jew or Gentile is baptized into that body and given gifts to function within the body of Christ and thus blessing the world and bringing glory to God.

Our passage tells us that in breaking down this barrier, Jesus is making peace.

Verse 16 goes on with this theme. By abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, he created peace, but also reconciled both to God. Both of whom? Both Jew and Gentile. God has killed the hostility by bringing both Jew and Gentile together with one access to God, the access that comes from faith. The requirements of the law have been satisfied in Christ and therefore each one of us can come to God by faith in Him.

Exported from Logos Bible Software, 9:38 PM November 10, 2020.