Ephesians 2:16

Reconcile. Gr. apokatalasso, an intensified form of katalasso (see on Rom. 5:10).

In one body. That is, the “new man” of v. 15 and the “body” of ch. 1:23, both referring to the church, the body of which Christ is the head (ch. 1:22).

By the cross. This is the only time the cross is mentioned in this epistle. It is spoken of as the means of reconciliation and the place where the enmity was destroyed. The cross is the great leveler, the common denominator for all men, because Christ died for all, and there is no other means of salvation.

Slain the enmity. In the sense that Christ’s death brought the hostility to an end (cf. on Col. 1:20). Discord in the family, party strife, national animosity, denominational jealousies, and personal tensions and conflicts — all these are healed when human beings become sons and daughters of God, and thus “one in Christ.”

Thereby. Literally, “in it,” or “in him.”