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NASB | Ephesians 2:12 remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Ephesians 2:12 remember that at that time you were separated from Christ [excluded from any relationship with Him], alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise [with no share in the sacred Messianic promise and without knowledge of God's agreements], having no hope [in His promise] and [living] in the world without God. |
Bible Question:
What is the purpose of using exclusion from "the commonwealth of Israel" as a way to show the gentiles how good it is to now be included? Why should a non-Jew, even a Christian, think that being a Jew is a good thing? So far I have found this short quote of Barn's helpful. Would anyone have any more to add? Eph 2:12 This is the second characteristic of their state before their conversion to Christianity. This means more than that they were not Jews. It means that they were strangers to that "polity"-politeia (NT:4174)-or arrangement by which the worship of the true God had been kept up in the world, and of course were strangers to the true religion The arrangements for the public worship of Yahweh were made among the Jews (from Barnes' Notes, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1997 by Biblesoft) |
Bible Answer: Dan58 How ya doin Paul is talking to gentiles (those who do not believe in Jehovah) in this verse. Of course since he is writing them they now believe in Jehovah but they didn't before they met Paul. Confused? Let me put it this way. God sent His Son to redeem (pay the price) for the world. To the Jew first then to the non Jew (this you know). Paul is talking to non Jews who have embraced Jesus, the Messiah, and Jehovah, His Father. Barnes makes this clear in the begining of his commentary on Eph. 2:12. Title: Barnes’ Notes on the New Testament Author: Barnes, Albert "Ye were without Christ—You were without the knowledge of the Messiah. You had not heard of him; of course you had not embraced him. You were living without any of the hopes and consolations which you now have, from having embraced him. The object of the apostle is to remind them of the deplorable condition in which they were by nature; and nothing would better express it than to say they were “without Christ,” or that they had no knowledge of a Saviour. They knew of no atonement for sin. They had no assurance of pardon. They had no well-founded hope of eternal life. They were in a state of darkness and condemnation, from which nothing but a knowledge of Christ could deliver them." Remember "Christ" is Greek for the Hebrew "Messiah". Jesus was born a Jew. I count it of great worth (things look a bit different to me than they do to you) to be a member of those whose lineage Jesus came from, a direct decendent of Abraham. Is there something special about being a Jew? Not in the eyes of God. There is neither Jew nor gentile . . .Holy Bible, New Living Translation Gal. 3:28 (NLT) 28There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female. For you are all Christians—you are one in Christ Jesus. Yet it through the Jew that the scriptures were given to us. Holy Bible, New Living Translation Rom. 3:1 through Rom. 3:2 (NLT) 1Then what’s the advantage of being a Jew? Is there any value in the Jewish ceremony of circumcision? 2Yes, being a Jew has many advantages. First of all, the Jews were entrusted with the whole revelation of God. The Jew who is one inwardly is one who believes in the Messiah. Because He believes God. Holy Bible, New Living Translation Rom. 2:28 through Rom. 2:29 (NLT) 28For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the Jewish ceremony of circumcision. 29No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not a cutting of the body but a change of heart produced by God’s Spirit. Whoever has that kind of change seeks praise from God, not from people. In the days if the first church all the believers in the Way were Jewish. God is bringing His people, all the people, back to Him through His Son, Jesus. That is what is really important. We are all the same Jew, non-Jew, Greek, Barbarian, male, female, slave, free everybody the same to God. We should look at each other the same way God looks at us. The same. His sons and daughters all of us. |
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Dan58 | ||
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Asis | ||
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Dan58 | ||
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