Chapter 2
V1-2 Verse 1 is a continuation of Ch1 v23. Hath he quickened is in italics in the KJV signifying that these words were added and are not in the original manuscripts. Hence the verses 1:23 and 2:1 together should read ‘which is the body, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all and you who were dead in trespasses and sins.’ KJV writers tried to make sense of verse 1 by adding hath he quickened, but had they borne in mind that this is a continuous letter, which as the rest of the Bible was split into chapters and verses by Archbishop Stephen Langton in the 13th century AD, there would have been no need for this addition, as the continuous flow of the epistle is better understood when not interfered with.
Hence, Paul is effectively saying and you believing Gentiles too who once were reprobates, have been filled all in all in the body of Messiah which is the ecclesia. We Gentiles once walked according to Satan’s ways who is the prince of the power of the air, the ruler of this world, and responsible for all iniquity cf Jn 12:31; 1 Jn 5:18-19; 2 Cor 4:4.
V3 The devil and his cohorts can only operate through our tainted Adamic flesh which is at enmity with the spiritual and hence cannot observe Torah. Hence the need for us to have been filled all in all by the Holy Spirit of Yehovah Elohim, once justified through faith, in order to destroy the desires of the flesh through ejecting the demonic forces operating thereupon cf Rom 7:18,22-23; 8:2-3,7-8
V4-6 There is much confusion on the definition of grace. Bearing in mind that Paul only had the Tanakh/OT at his disposal the only definition he would have used, would have been that of the scriptures in his hand. grace/charis cf Jn 1;17 and Ps25:10; 57:3,10;89:14. Grace translated as chesed in the Hebrew and charis or eleos in the Greek, has the connotation of pity, compassion and mercy that Elohim has for us. This grace is afforded to those who have a heart willing to follow Torah as Ps 25:10 stipulates.
Unfortunately, most born-again Christians/believers are like the seed that fell by the wayside cf Matt13:4,19, whereby Torah written in the heart of the new believer(born-again) cf Jer 31:33 have the truth of Torah snatched away by the fowls of the air/wicked ones i.e. spiritual deception of demonic invisible powers, through false doctrine perpetuated by equally deceived ‘theologians’. This has been occurring since Yeshua’s ascension and is nothing new.
V4 hence the word eleos/mercy in this verse is interchangeable with charis/grace as in the Hebrew both eleos and charis were translated as chesed. V5 uses grace in the same sense as mercy in v4 anyway. The ‘we’ and ‘us’ in these verses and following now refers to both Jew and Gentile members of the ecclesia. The word sozo/saved in verse 5 is better translated delivered, as the word saved gives the connotation of salvation being guaranteed at the beginning of one’s race, yet we know from 1 Pet 1:5,9 that salvation is handed out to the saints who persevere to the end of the race of life. A classic example of how this word deliverance in the Hebrew has been translated to ‘saved’ in the Greek is found in Paul’s quote of Joel 2:32 in Rom 10:13. Even the Septuagint in Joel 2:32 uses the Greek word sothesetai which derives from sozo.
Hence in the New Testament we need to be careful in identifying when the word sozo refers to deliverance as opposed to salvation, hugely depending upon the context of the text. Ultimately mercy/grace of Yehovah leads to deliverance to those who believe upon His Son Yeshua of Nazareth. This faith leads to obedience of Torah in Spirit and in truth, which through perseverance gives hope unto salvation at the end of the race. Deliverance and Salvation are greatly misconstrued in the churches of today and have led to great deception and false doctrines leading to the once saved always saved heresy which has lulled many into a false sense of security. Note ‘dead in sins’ of v5 is due to us having once lived a Torah-breaking life, which is the definition of sin cf 1 Jn 3:4; Rom 3:20. We are given spiritual newness of life through belief in Messiah cf Rom 4:17;6:4
V6 refers to a spiritual resurrection, not the physical which shall occur at Yeshua’s second advent cf Col 3:1-2
V7 The first century believers in Messiah were to be an example for future generations, including us, of the ineffable love that Yehovah has for us in the work which He wrought through His Son Yeshua cf Jn 3:16-17.
V8-9 The grace of Elohim is a gift to all mankind. It is a gift given as an invitation/calling to all mankind. Simple acceptance and belief of Yeshua as our Saviour and Messiah leads to justification through faith. It is freely given and not of our own doing nor our carnal works. Again ‘saved’ should be better translated as ‘delivered’. Cf Rom 3:20-28.
V10 This is a beautiful verse which counters the false doctrine of Torah detractors who claim Yeshua’s death and resurrection did away with the law. Rather the ecclesia which is the body of Messiah and hence must live as Messiah Yeshua did and does., He gave Torah at Mt Sinai, lived and fulfilled Torah at His first advent and shall judge us by Torah, hence it would be foolish for us to think that we are exempt from Torah, yet simultaneously believe that we are the workmanship of Yeshua who personifies Torah itself! Cf Matt 5:16-19.
Furthermore, this verse states that Yehovah the Father ordained in times past before we were even invited to partake in His grace, that we should walk in His Torah in Messiah. It is clear as day and incontestable. We are indeed justified by faith and not of our futile carnal works. However once justified by/through faith in Yeshua haMashiach, we are justified unto good works i.e. Torah which Elohim expects us to walk in by Holy Spirit power, not by fleshly means.
V11-12 Paul throughout his epistles identifies Gentiles as the uncircumcised, a term he clearly states was created by the Jews who call themselves the circumcised, albeit in the flesh. In v12 he is reminding us that before we were justified as Gentiles through faith In Yeshua haMashiach, we were not a part of the politeia/commonwealth/citizenship of Israel, and hence were estranged from Israel’s covenants of promise, and hence destined for damnation. Who or what constitutes the commonwealth/congregation of Israel? Let’s examine Gal 3:26-29.
There is no partiality in those who believe in Yeshua, as you become part of His body, the body being Israel, the seed of Abraham!! Cf Isa 41:8. Those who preach that the Gentile church has replaced Israel are terribly deluded because Yeshua is categorically the whole body of Israel, into which the Gentile stranger is grafted into, having been bought with a price. cf 1 Cor 12:12-13; Col 3:9-11.
V13-‘ye who were afar off’ refers to the once hopeless Gentiles alien from Israel, before their acceptance into the congregation of Israel, brought nigh by the Passover blood of Messiah. The best way to understand this is by closely studying Ex 12:38-50. The exodus included a mixed multitude of non-Israeli nationals who had heeded the commandment to place the blood of the lamb on their doorposts, a picture of Yeshua’s blood for protection from eternal spiritual death. V43 Hebrew for stranger is nekar meaning a foreigner who is heathen. V44 servant in Hebrew is ebed better translated slave.
Only slaves bought with a price and additionally circumcised as a sign of acceptance of the Abrahamic covenant of the promise to come explained in Galatians chapter 3 (please refer to this teaching on my channel), were allowed to partake of the Passover.v45 foreigner is Hebrew towshab meaning stranger. Hired servant is Hebrew sakiyr i.e. a servant who works for wages in contrast to ebed who is a slave with no rights. V48 stranger is Hebrew ger meaning a sojourner or temporary inhabitant, in our modern parlance being a resident alien i.e. one with rights of the land not through inheritance though, but through paperwork with rules attached e.g. a temporary or permanent resident visa.
Note verse 49 stipulates that the same ger are liable to adherence to Torah as they are part of the congregation of Israel and are thus citizens. Their males may partake of the Passover only if circumcised. It is of paramount importance to realize at a very early stage that there is no separate law for non-Hebrew citizens of the congregation of Israel. They are one body and hence worship one Elohim, and observe His one Torah. Returning to Eph 2:13 ye who sometimes were afar off refers to nekar of exodus 12:43 who in the mixed multitude refuse to follow Torah. Those made nigh by the blood of Messiah are the ger of Ex 12:48-49 who are chosen from this mixed multitude of foreign nationals to be part of the citizenship of Israel, by their acceptance through faith of the invitation to follow Torah in Spirit and in truth of Yeshua the Lawgiver.
The Christian church of today is composed of nekar/outright lawless heathens partaking in pagan Christianity; sakiyr/hired servants who profit from Christendom through prosperity gospels for instance and do not follow Torah either; and lastly the ger/slaves of Messiah bought with a price (Yeshua’s blood) and observant of His Torah. Let’s read Isa 56:3-6 which beautifully expresses hope for the nekar/stranger, who by wilful acceptance of observance of Torah may become a slave/ebed of Yehovah, of which Paul persistently referred to himself as.
V14 By Yeshua’s blood drawing us previous foreigners/nekar to a state of ger/resident aliens, we are grafted into the congregation of Torah-abiding Israel, and that wall of disobedience to Torah that separated us from this congregation, and hence kept us in a state of alienation from Elohim, is broken down and consequently allows the peace of Yeshua to flow through us.
V15 Having established the need for the ger/Gentile faithful to follow Torah, in the last 2 verses, v15 seems to contradict Paul’s teaching. However, the Greek contextual meaning is lost when translated into English. The important word to note here is that translated ordinances. The Greek word is dogma which means rules, doctrines and decrees of men. In the Septuagint LXX it is only ever found in the book of Daniel in 2:13; 3:10,12,29; 4:6; 6:8-10,12-13,15,26. In the NT it is found in Lk 2:1; Acts 16:4; 17:7; Eph 2:15; Col 2:14. It is never used in reference to Torah law but rather to decrees of man.
In this verse then we are told that Yeshua abolished in his flesh at calvary, the laws in decrees of men/traditions of men/pharisaic Judaism doctrines of men that were strangulating the Torah. Colossians 2:14 equally misinterpreted as abolishing Torah actually refers to the handwritten traditions of men contrary to us (referring to Jews) as being nailed to the cross. How could a Torah observing Jew such as Paul, have the audacity to claim Torah was contrary to him and his kinsmen. That would be a treasonous statement and contrary to his claim of Acts 25:8. Yeshua spent a great part of His ministry denouncing the traditions of men which were suffocating the liberating truth that lies in Torah cf Mk 7:1-13.
V16 Both Jew and Gentile believers in Yeshua were made one in His body by slaying the lies of traditions of men/pharisaic Judaism doctrines at the cross. These traditions like Talmudism of today have kept those who practise Judaism in perpetual darkness as these traditions/decrees/doctrines are at enmity with Torah truth.
V17-18 v17 cf Isa 57:19. Yeshua preached His gospel truth of peace to both Jew and Gentiles e.g. the Samaritan woman of Jn 4 and the Syrophoenician woman of Matt 15, Roman centurion of Lk 7 and the region of the Gerasenes of Mk 5. There is but one Holy Spirit by whom we have access to Elohim, and hence common sense would mean Torah does not only pertain to genetic Israelites but to the whole body of Yeshua cf Eph 4:4; Rom 12:4-5
V19 we are indeed no longer nekar/heathen foreigners hopelessly alien from Elohim, but ger/resident aliens/sojourners partaking in laws of Elohim, together with the rest of the congregation of Israel hagios/saints/most holy ones, in essence becoming part of the oikeios/household/family of Elohim.
V20 Torah detractors are once again silenced by this verse which more than lucidly states that the household/family of Elohim is built upon the foundations of Torah observing prophets, and Torah observing apostles, the corner stone being Torah observing Yeshua the very lawgiver!
V21 The whole building being the body of Messiah increases/auxano/groweth unto a HOLY temple in Yehovah. How can the body be composed of Torah observing Jews and Torah exempt Gentiles and be regarded holy? It is absurd as holiness can only be determined by Torah and nothing else. Despite this truth the churches of today continue to abhor Torah and subsequently holiness itself.
V22 In whom referring to Yeshua, in whose body we are spiritually framed, which allows the Holy Spirit of Yehovah to operate and dwell in us cf Jn 14:17; Rom 8:9,11; Gal 4:6; 1 Jn 3:24