Ephesians 2:15

Abolished. Gr. katargeo, “to cancel,” “to make null and void.” The verb is used of the unfruitful fig tree that “cumbered” (katargeo) the ground (Luke 13:7), and also of the unbelief that “makes” the faith of God “without effect” (see on Rom. 3:3).

In his flesh. That is, in the sacrifice of His body on the cross.

The enmity. This word may be considered as being in apposition either to “middle wall” or to “law of commandments.” The Greek seems to favor the former connection, although the latter is not impossible, and may be favored by the context. The two ideas are not unrelated. Christ did away with the enmity by the act of abolishing the “law of commandments contained in ordinances.”

Law of commandments. This is generally thought of as referring to the ceremonial law. It is true that the ceremonial law came to an end at the cross, but it should be remembered that the ceremonial system as God gave it did not create the enmity Paul here describes. It was the interpretation the Jews placed upon it, the additions they made to it, and the exclusive and hostile attitudes they adopted as a result, that were the basis of the hostility. The added regulations, together with the involved interpretations, served either to modify the force and function of the original commands or else greatly to nullify them. Any Gentile who wished to join the “commonwealth of Israel” (v. 12) was confronted with an involved system of legal requirements. It is easy to see how the system would hold little attraction for him, or how the God who, he believed, was the author of the system would not appeal to him. The Jewish system thus stood as an insurmountable barrier, a partition wall, preventing the Gentiles from accepting the worship of the true God. The Jews loathed and detested their Gentile neighbors, and the Gentiles, in turn, hated and despised their Jewish neighbors.

God had entrusted the Jews with the divine “oracles” (Rom. 3:2). They stood in the world as the official representatives of the true religion. Until the founding of the Christian church there was no other people to whom God could direct the seekers for salvation. Referring to the scribes and the Pharisees who “sit in Moses’ seat,” Jesus Himself counseled the people, “All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do” (Matt. 23:3). When the Jews rejected Christ, their status as the official representatives of the true religion was taken away from them and given to the Christian church (see on Matt. 21:43). After the crucifixion it was no longer necessary for the child of God to engage in the ritual of Judaism (see on Gal. 2:16). At first the distinction between Christianity and Judaism was not too clearly understood. Many Jewish converts believed that Christianity was simply Judaism to which had been added belief in Jesus as the Messiah. They maintained that the Gentiles should be circumcised and conform to the Jewish legal system in addition to their acceptance of Jesus Christ. The Jerusalem Council convened to settle the question (Acts 15). The council ailed against the claims of these men. However, not all seemed willing to accept the decisions of the council. A strong party developed, which continued to insist that Gentiles should accept Judaism along with Christianity. A group of zealots from this party upset the churches in Galatia, a situation that gave rise to the Epistle of Paul to the Galatians, in which he clearly set forth that the system of Judaism was now obsolete.

This same transition from Judaism to Christianity is Paul’s theme in this present verse. Judaism, with its involved system of commands and decrees, was abolished. With their acceptance of Christ and the removal of this barrier, Gentiles who were “far off” were “made nigh.”

But the coming to an end of Judaism did not mean the abrogation of all the laws that God had given to the Jews. The ceremonial law which pointed to Christ naturally came to an end when Christ fulfilled its types. Jewish civil law had already largely passed away with the passing of the nation’s sovereignty. But the moral precepts, which are a transcript of the character of God, are as eternal as God Himself and can never be abrogated. In all his teaching concerning the end of the Jewish legal system, Paul made emphatically clear that the moral law was not abrogated (see on Rom. 3:31). When speaking of the end of circumcision Paul was careful to add, “but the keeping of the commandments of God [is everything]” (see on 1 Cor. 7:19). See further on Gal. 2:16.

Contained. This word is supplied. The clause may be translated, “law of commandments consisting of decrees [or, “expressed in decrees”].”

Ordinances. Gr. dogmata, “decrees,” “commands,” “enactments.” In Luke 2:1 the word is used of the decree from Caesar Augustus, “that all the world should be taxed,” and in Acts 17:7, of the decrees of Caesar in general. In the present verse dogmata describes the decrees of Jewish law.

To make. Gr. ktizo, “to create,” as the word is translated in v. 10.

Of twain. Literally, “of the two,” that is, Jew and Gentile.

One new man. This means more than harmony established between them. The Greek word for “new” means new in quality rather than in time. Here is a new person, of different quality from either of the two elements composing it (cf. on ch. 4:24).

Making peace. These words explain the phrase, “he is our peace,” of v. 14.