One New Man

Since his Death and Resurrection, Jesus has been forming one new covenant community - One New Man - based on faith in him – Ephesians 2:11-22.

Paul is clear and uncompromising. Considering what Jesus accomplished on the Cross, no longer can there be divisions between Jews and Gentiles, “for you all are one in Christ Jesus.” Through his sacrificial death, he “dismantled the middle wall of separation” that divided Jews from Gentiles so “he might reconcile them both in one body for God through the Cross.”

God is building Jewish and Gentile followers of Jesus into one habitation of God “in the Spirit,” having voided the “law of the commands in ordinances” that previously kept them apart. He is “creating in himself One New Man” – (Ephesians 2:11-22).

[Church Argentina - Photo by Dámaris Azócar on Unsplash]

Formerly, Gentiles were alienated from the citizenship of Israel, “strangers from the covenants of promise,” and without hope in the world. Nevertheless, those once “afar off” are being “brought near <…> by the blood of the Messiah” and made members of God’s One Covenant Community.

Jewish and Gentile believers access the same God and Father through the “one Spirit” they all receive. They have been “sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise” and thus made full members of the Assembly of God:

• “In whom also we were made a heritage, having been foreknown according to the purpose of him who works all things after the counsel of his will; to the end, that we should be for the praise of his glory, we who had before hoped in Christ: in whom you also, having heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom, having also believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is an earnest of our inheritance, for the redemption of God's own possession, for the praise of his glory” – (Ephesians 1:11-14).

• “For through him, we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. So then, you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God, being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone; in whom each several building, fitly framed together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are being built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit” - (Ephesians 2:18-22).

The implications of Paul’s proposition are profound, demonstrating that Christ’s Gentile followers participate fully in the Abrahamic Covenant. Circumcised or not, they are heirs to the same promises regardless of their place of origin. Similarly, to the congregations in Galatia, Paul wrote:

• “But now that the faith has come, we are no longer under a custodian, for you are all sons of God, through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ did put on Christ. There can be neither Jew nor Greek. There can be neither slave nor free. There can be no male and female; for all are one in Christ Jesus. And if you are of Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, heirs according to promise” - (Galatians 3:25-29).

No longer are we under the custodianship of the Mosaic Legislation, including its ordinances of circumcision, dietary regulations, and holy days. Whether Jew or Gentile, male or female, together, we constitute the One Covenant Community through one baptism and the “faith of Christ Jesus.”

• “We, being Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, yet knowing that a man is not justified from the works of the law but through the faith of Jesus Christ, even we believed on Christ Jesus, that we might be justified from the faith of Christ, and not from the works of the law because no flesh will be justified from the works of the law” – (Galatians 2:15-16).

Acquittal and right standing before God and membership in His Covenant Community are not dependent on gender, nationality, circumcision, or biological descent. Repentance, faith, baptism, and the Gift of the Spirit determine membership and identify us as heirs of Abraham.

THE SEED OF ABRAHAM

Gentile believers are “grafted into the root,” and that “root” is Abraham. The “wild branches” are grafted in by God’s Spirit and faith, not the deeds and rites required by the Law of Moses. However, unbelieving Jews, though they are the “natural branches,” descendants of Abraham, and possess the Torah are cut off from the Covenant if they continue in “unbelief” and reject God’s Messiah - (Romans 11:11-24).

When God confirmed His Covenant with Abraham, He promised to make him the “father of a multitude of nations.” The “nations” or Gentiles were always included in the promises. Yahweh promised to “establish my covenant between me and you, and your seed after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant.” This raises the question - Who is the Seed of Abraham?

Paul provides the answer. The “Seed of Abraham” is Jesus, therefore, the group known as the “children of Abraham” includes all men and women who have exercised faith in him regardless of their nationality:

• “Know therefore that those who are of faith, the same are children of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles from faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, In you will all the nations be blessed. So then, those who are from faith are blessed with faithful Abraham” - (Galatians 3:7-9).

• “Now to Abraham were the promises spoken, and to his seed. He says not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to your seed, who is Christ” – (Galatians 3:16).

The Abrahamic Covenant always envisaged the inclusion of the Gentiles, and the formation of Israel from the loins of Abraham was an initial stage in God’s plan to redeem humanity, which is now being completed in and by Jesus Christ, the “seed of Abraham.”

From Mount Sinai, God summoned Israel to become his singular possession, a priestly kingdom tasked with mediating His light to the nations. “All the earth” was His, not just the nation of Israel or the tiny territory of Canaan. Israel was called to bring the “nations” to God, not alienate them from Him:

• “Now therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then you will be my own possession from among all peoples, for all the earth is mine, and you will be a kingdom of priests for me, and a holy nation” – (Exodus 19:5-6).

In his first epistle, the Apostle Peter applies this passage from Exodus to the congregations of “Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,” which included many Gentiles:

• “But you yourselves are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that you may show forth the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light; who were not a people, but now are the people of God; who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy” – (1 Peter 2:5-10).

The calling given to Israel now belongs to the “Body of Christ” composed of men and women, Jews and Gentiles who have been “sealed by the Holy Spirit.” Membership in this community is based on the “faith of Jesus,” his faithfulness demonstrated in his obedience unto death, and our repentance and faith in response to what God has done through His Son. In contrast, those individuals who choose not to believe are excluded from God’s One Covenant Community, His “One New Man,” whether Jewish or Gentile, male or female.

God did not abandon His covenant promises to Abraham. He is fulfilling them in His Son and through His Spirit. He is making salvation available to every man and woman for the asking, and on the same basis for one and all, the “faith of Jesus Christ.” Therefore, in Christ Jesus, there can be only one People of God.

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SEE ALSO:

• New Covenant in the Spirit - (The Gift of the Spirit is essential to the New Covenant promised by God in the Hebrew Bible for His people)

• One Message for all Men - (Jesus calls us to proclaim the Good News of his Kingdom to every nation and inhabited part of the Earth)

• Salvation for the Nations - (The Good News announced by Jesus of Nazareth offers salvation and true life to men and women of every nation and nationality)

• Un Homme Nouveau - (Par sa Mort et sa Résurrection, Jésus a formé une nouvelle communauté d'alliance - Un Nouvel Homme - basée sur la foi en lui - Éphésiens 2: 11-22)