Ephesians 2:14-15
Being brought near by the blood of Christ (Eph 2:13b), Gentiles now stand with Jews on a brand-new, equal footing. This ground is brand-new because it is not a continuation of God’s previous dealings with the nation of Israel. This also means that Jews cannot stay in their Judaism, but having believed on their Messiah, are now placed within this new entity alongside the believing Gentile. This is equal footing. Previous identities are cast away with both believing parties gaining a new identity in Christ Jesus. The Spirit of God now indwells, Christ’s payment is applied, and life eternal is now the possession of the Christian with life abundant waiting perfectly in the wings. The stratosphere of blessings in Christ continues to unfold in Ephesians, showing the unique nature of the Church in this present dispensation. Darby writes, “So we see that the portion and position of the church are heavenly. It is inasmuch as dead and risen with Christ from the dead, that she enjoys all His privileges. It is there above that she enjoys them. She is heavenly by the very fact of her existence.” Jews do not become Gentiles, nor do Gentiles become Jews, just as the nations do not become Israel and Israel is certainly separate from the nations (Deut 7:6; 14:2). The blood of the Lord Jesus unites those who were previously asunder, and He does so with newness of life, placing them in a newness of location (“in Christ”- Eph 1:3, 7, 13), and a newness of Being (Christ’s Body- Eph 4:4a; Col 1:18).
In 2:14 we see that this verse begins with the conjunction “for” (gar), which expounds upon a general subject that has been previously stated. Paul must unpack the effectual nature of Jesus Christ and His blood. This warrants some initial observations. First, we see that Jesus Himself is our peace. Paul uses the personal inclusive pronoun (PIP) again, signifying the unifying nature and equal application. We must try and capture exactly what Paul is saying. Jesus IS our peace, which means that “peace” is a person. This is how Paul thought about the Savior. Lenski writes:
The predicate is ordinarily without the article, but when it has the article, the predicate is identical and interchangeable with the subject. It is so here. To name Christ with reference to his blood is to name the peace that is ours; to name this peace is to name him. He is the personification or rather the embodiment of our peace. His identification is the strongest way of saying that he wrought out our peace, and that we have this peace by spiritual connection with him.
We are well conditioned in this present world system to understand peace as being needed between two countries, or a family dispute, and this is usually formalized in a treaty, or at least a conversation, in order to bring both parties to terms that cause the conflict to cease. We see peaces as tranquility that fills the void. For the believer in Christ, the hostility ceased at the cross. Stanford understands this as “Peace Personified,” of which he has written in his Position Papers:
The Lord of glory has finished the work given Him to do, and the Father has raised Him from the dead, and seated Him at His own right hand. Was it not “for us”? Do you think He has peace with His Father? Look not at yourselves, but at Him. There is One seated in the unclouded presence of the Father, where a cloud or shadow can never come; that One, the Beginning and Head of a new creation, crowned once, with thorns, now with glory. Can sin and death have anymore to say to Him? Do not you think He has peace? Assuredly, and “He is our peace.” And if He is our peace, the peace that He has in the presence of the Father is ours, not as a thing apart from Himself, but His very Person in glory is the believer’s peace. The very One who is our peace is our life, and we are hid with Him in the Father. Heavenly peace for the earthly path.
The very need for peace leads to the conclusion that there must be a hostility that needs to be addressed. But this quarrel was never between the Father and the Son, but between the Father and our sin. Our Creator loves us, but He certainly hates our sin (Neh 13:26; Rev 1:5). Sin is what separates us from Him, thus it is nothing short of vile and detestable in the sight of the Lord. However, this has not caused the Lord to uphold righteousness and justice only, but He has provided relief for our sins in grace by the giving of His Son. Thus, Jesus is the Peace Personified Who sufficiently addresses our sin issue while setting us free from our slavery to it. The wrath of God is satisfied (meaning that it satisfies His perfect criteria for righteousness and justice) because of the blood of the Son (Heb 9:22). Being undeserved in any way, it is wholly of grace from the Father to us so that peace will once again reign.
Second, the apostle also uses “our” (PIP) to mean both Jews and Gentiles, Paul included. When we speak of inequality, we often speak in categories that usually speak to one’s social standing, economic status, race, gender, educational achievements, or the lack of any number of these. We classify individuals and groups of people to our liking. We have a bias, and we are comfortable using it. We also have an obsession with compartmentalizing and categorizing everything to our liking. But we must ask ourselves, “Are these categories are biblical?” If we are looking for the biblical understanding of all people and the true nature of equality, we can be certain of this:
-All are sinners who are deserving of wrath who are in need of a Savior (Rom 3:23)
-All who believe in Jesus Christ are justified (Rom 3:22-24)
-While some are more mature than others in the Body of Christ,
All are declared righteous because All believers are in Christ (2 Cor 5:21).
There is a temptation among Bible students to use the present passage for addressing the issue of racial inequality, which can find application in principle, as long as the solution of the Lord Jesus is not pushed to the wayside in favor of programs and “continued conversation.” Such solutions find their roots in human efforts and achievement. Social programs may garner a large donation or even a front page editorial, but they cannot guarantee a permanent solution. God’s answer to the divisions between people is not found in social action, but in the Person of Jesus Christ standing as the means of one having peace with God, and therefore peace with one another. The answer is supernatural, not carnal. It is of the Spirit, not the flesh.
While many have tried to accomplish peace, legislate peace, bring about peace, point toward peace, live in peace, die in peace, sign off on peace, and “visualize world peace,” the simple fact of the matter is that there is only one true and trustworthy Object that supplies peace because He alone IS peace personified, and that is Jesus of Nazareth, the Savior of the world, YHWH’s promised Messiah.
The final observation is that unity has been accomplished because Jesus has broken down the dividing wall “in His flesh” (Eph 2:14c-15a). While the extended revelation to the Jews in 2:12 demonstrated an obvious advantage in knowing YHWH, it also served to severe the Jewish people from the Gentiles. The Jews were called to holiness (Exod 19:6; 22:31; Lev 11:44, 45; 19:2; 20:7) to be a people that are distinguished and separate from the nations (Deut 7:1-8). In using the language of “breaking down the dividing wall of hostility” (ESV), one may immediately think of the divisions of the court yards surrounding the Temple as Baugh does when he writes,
A famous wall inscription that faced the outer courtyard of the Jerusalem temple is extant; it warned Gentiles that they would have only themselves to blame for their death if they passed into the inner courts. Hence, it was a “dividing wall” or “a wall that separates.” Paul may or may not be alluding to this wall in v. 14, but it well illustrates Jesus Christ’s reconciliation of all peoples by tearing down this wall and building up both Jews and Gentiles into a new humanity (v. 15).
This explanation cannot be ruled out entirely, but it seems unwarranted due to the lack of any reference to the Temple (until 2:21) or Jerusalem in the text. One may also consider the unfamiliarity of the Ephesian believers (or any of the predominantly Gentile congregations in the sequence of the cyclical letter) with the details of the Temple and its layout. Bruce has concluded that this is a “psychological” barrier, with the Jews flaunting a sense of superiority over the nations. But it is plain from the context that Paul identifies the source of the “dividing wall” as the “Law of commandments contained in ordinances” which is readily understood as the Mosiac Law.
The repeated emphasis on the peace that is Jesus and the peace that Jesus established, and preaches, to both Jews and Gentiles due to the giving of Himself on the cross, runs against “the Law of commandments” as the solution to the enmity. The problem is the Law in regard to the two unregenerate parties. The solution is the Savior who dies perfectly for each party’s sins and unites them both into a brand-new entity. Christ, being the payment for sin, not only removes the boundary, but in turn unifies both sides into “one new man” (Eph 2:15c) being founded in Christ. This new identity “in Christ” allows for each party to shed their previous ethnic trappings. In other words, the Law prevented the unification of Jew and Gentile due to sin.
The Law is identified by the apostle in three different ways, all stressing the same issue. First he speaks of the Law as a “barrier” that Christ has broken down. “Barrier” means “dividing wall,” while Paul’s use of “dividing wall” means “a structure for enclosing an area, fence, hedge,” or “a wall that separates, partition.” The final word, which occurs again in v. 16c, is “enmity” (Eph 2:15a) meaning “being an enemy of.” These three designations are not just similar, but are unified in what they are conveying. Wuest explains, “The words ‘the enmity’ follow the words ‘middle wall of partition,’ (‘barrier of the dividing wall’- NASB) only the participle separating them, and should be construed as defining them, namely, ‘the middle wall which was the enmity.’”
There has been great debate about the role of the Law in the life of the Church. This is a vast area of many arguments, but rather than address each one ad nauseum it would be more beneficial to simply look to the New Testament Scriptures for a clear understanding of this issue. First, we see that the Law is the identifier of sin and holds the whole world accountable to it because all have sinned (Rom 3:19). Second, the Law is good only if one uses it lawfully (1 Tim 1:8). Paul then explains to Timothy how to use the Law lawfully. He writes,
…that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted (1 Tim 1:9b-11).
The Law is not applicable to a “righteous person.” This can either be explained as those who are in Christ (being justified by God- Rom 3:24) as opposed to those who are unregenerate (lost), or it could be understood as pertaining to identifying the sins of those who are in Christ but who are living in a rebellious manner in their daily walk. Contextually, Paul is speaking about the “goal” of their instruction being that of love with a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith (1 Tim 1:5). Paul never notes that his instruction, nor that of Timothy’s instruction, should be that of the Law. Paul is clear that the Law has no bearing whatsoever on the one who is “in Christ” (Rom 10:4; Gal 2:16; 3:25). So we should not assume this here. This does not promote an attitude of lawless living among Christians, as some would accuse when utilizing the word “antinomianism” (anti- “against,” nomos- “law”), but simply to state that the Law’s place is found only in singling out sin, regardless if they are a believer or an unbeliever.
Third, we see that it is an impossibility for one to be justified by keeping the works of the Law (Rom 3:20; Gal 3:21) This is the very reason that we need Christ! Apart from Him, justification before a holy God is impossible. One is not saved, nor does one grow in law-keeping (Rom 3:21-24; Gal 3:1-3). Such behaviors as listed above have the righteous Law of God as the proper means which identifies their heinous nature without excuse or apology. The Law cannot redeem in any way, yet its job in condemning the sinner is done in perfection.
Fourth, we see that the Law was added because of transgressions (Gal 3:19). The Law served as a “guardian” (the Greek word speaks of pedagogy, being understood as a guide, teacher, or leader) until Christ came. Now that Christ has come, all are sons of God through faith (Gal 3:24-26). Even still, the idea that the Law as necessary for the Christian falls away when Paul states, “the Law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise. For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise” (Gal 3:17-18). Abraham knew nothing of the Law, yet he was “reckoned” righteous by God when he believed the promise of God to him regarding his offspring (Gen 15:4-6). When a sinner believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, whom God has put forth as a propitiation for our sins, we are also “reckoned righteous” by Him (Rom 3:21-28). However, this does not bring the one who believes into the nation of Israel. The promise in the covenant to Abram that applies to the Church Dispensation Christian is that of the nations being blessed through Abram (Gen 12:2c).
Lastly, we see that if one “is led by the Spirit,” he or she is not under the Law (Gal 5:18). This truth would fall into line if those spoken of in 1 Timothy 1:9-12 are considered wayward believers who are living a life of rebellion, being carnal Christians, acting as “mere men” (1 Cor 3:1-4). It is clear from Galatians 5 that godly living is a fruit of the Spirit and are exempt from having a law placed upon them (5:22-23). When contrasted with the preceding list of those actions and attitudes that are considered “deeds in the flesh” (Gal 5:19-21), a greater case is made for the Law’s use in singling out sin according to the righteous standards of YHWH as contained in the Law, yet without a mandate to keep the Law in response. Since the Law cannot save, it is opting for the “law of liberty” (Jas 1:25; 2:12), which is the “implanted Word” (Jas 1:21), being by grace in Christ living His life through the believer, that produces the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23).
If we were to get down to brass tacks, when one believes in Jesus Christ, they immediately receive a “new life” apart from the Law (2 Cor 5:17). This life is only found in Jesus Christ because it is His very life, who is God’s righteousness as revealed “apart from the Law” (Rom 3:21). Paul also states that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes (Rom 10:4), meaning those who are “in Christ.” Clearly, Christ has fulfilled the Law in His earthly life and destroyed the Law in His flesh on the cross. Hawley writes that, “The Bible could not be clearer that the Christian is not under law, and that the law was indeed abolished through the crucifixion of Christ.” This “abolishing” of the “Law of commandments contained in ordinances” is understood as “to make null and void.” Beal and Radmacher write, “Although the Law is still in existence and has a purpose, for the Christian it is neither a means to salvation nor is any part of it a rule by which to live.” The Christian is truly free because he or she has been permanently transported into a new location by the blood of Jesus.
It should also be noted that this “abolishing in His flesh” is the definitive marker for the 69th week of Daniel in Daniel 9:24-27. Note the passage and the portion emphasized.
Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place. So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined. And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.”
This prophecy sets the definitive time markers for understanding God’s plan for the ages with the crucifixion of Christ being a pivotal event in how one reads and understands its fulfillment. Tanner remarks:
This “cutting off” of Messiah suggests a violent death. The fulfillment of this “cutting off,” then, is the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus on Nisan 14, ad 33, thereby fulfilling the prophecy of Isa 52:13–53:12. As a result, he is said to “have nothing.” The text is not clear to what this refers (commentators have made numerous suggestions), but the most logical explanation has to do with what was promised the “Son of Man” in Dan 7:13–14, namely his everlasting dominion and a kingdom that would not be destroyed
Jesus’ death completes the 69th “week,” stopping the prophetic clock and leaving the remaining 7 years unfulfilled (Dan 9:24a). In addressing the events of Daniel 9:27 and the remaining seven “weeks,” we read”
The final seven-year period, or the seventieth week, will begin when he (the coming prince) will make a firm covenant of peace with many in the leadership of Israel. Although some consider the prince to be Messiah, he is more accurately identified as the antichrist, who will desecrate the future temple and put a stop to worship there. This covenant is yet future and will mark the beginning of a time of oppression of the Jewish people called “a time of trouble for Jacob” (Jr 30:7) or the tribulation period (Mt 24:29; Mk 13:24).
This explanation provides understanding that God is in control of the events of history. He carefully oversees their unfolding and He can accomplish His gracious will even through the greatest of tragedies.
So, having abolished the Law, Jesus IS our peace. He is Peace personified.
The now-void nature of the Law results in the possibility of complete unification and peace between the Jew and the Gentile in Christ. Foulkes explains:
In Christ there is a new humanity; and it is a single entity. God now deals with Jews and Gentiles as such a single entity. Furthermore, Gentiles do not simply rise to the status of Jews, but both become something new and greater; and it is significant that the word for new here (kainos) means not simply new in point of time, but as Barclay puts it ‘new in the sense that it brings into the world a new kind of thing, a new quality of thing, which did not exist before’ (see also on 4:23–24).
Again, this is profound reality is only found in Christ. The unity that occurs can be seen as mentioned in the epistle to the Colossians. Note the following:
For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven (Col 1:19-20).
It is an obvious theme in Paul’s theology that the cross of Christ makes peace. This designation of the possibility of a “one new man” is found to be the means by which Christ ESTABLISHES peace (Eph 2:15c). This “one new man” is not an expansion of Israel as the entity to which Christ is unifying the two, nor is it a disregard and “writing-off” of the Jewish people in the plan of God (Rom 11:1). However, it is a “mystery” that was “which for ages has been hidden in God” (Eph 3:9), of which the “the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (Eph 3:6). The Church is something new that God is doing; one that was previously unrevealed in the Old Testament, marking a clear change in the dispensation. While it is obvious from Scripture that the Church began at Jerusalem during the time of Pentecost (Acts 2), it must also be equally obvious that the make-up of the early Church was exclusively Jewish and that Scripture does not give an official “inclusion of the Gentiles” until Peter’s ministry to Cornelius in Caesarea (Acts 10:1-48). We see this identified in Peter’s report to the Jerusalem Church (11:1-16). The conclusion reached by both Peter and the Jerusalem Church is truly glorious:
“Therefore if God gave to them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, “Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life” (Acts 11:17-18).
So we see that in bringing both Jews and Gentiles together into “one new man,” Jesus ESTABLISHES peace, with Himself being the means of accomplishing that peace.
Ephesians 2:16-18
The peace found in 2:16 is that of reconciliation. Reconciliation is the restoration of one back into a right-standing or a right relationship. For the Christian, the idea is found to be that Christ’s blood has brought us back into our intended initial position for which we were created; that of being “in right-relationship with God freely.” The implications of this one word stretch to amazing vistas when understanding it in relation to YHWH and the lengths to which He has undertaken in providing a sufficient Savior. Louw and Nida explain:
Because of the variety and complexity of the components involved in reconciliation, it is often necessary to use an entire phrase in order to communicate satisfactorily the meanings of the terms in this subdomain. In some languages, however, reconciliation is often spoken of in idiomatic terms, for example, ‘to cause to become friends again,’ ‘to cause to snap fingers again’ (a symbol of friendly interpersonal relations in many parts of Africa), ‘to cause to be one again,’ or ‘to take away the separation.’ A particularly crucial element in terms for reconciliation is the assigning of responsibility for original guilt in causing the estrangement. Some terms, for example, imply that the individual who initiates reconciliation is by doing so admitting his guilt in causing the estrangement. This, of course, provides a completely untenable meaning for reconciliation in speaking of God reconciling people to himself through Christ.
How the grace of God shines in this understanding of reconciliation! YHWH is the offended party, not the one who admits guilt by putting forth the means of making reconciliation. God understands that the means for reconciliation could never be supplied by sinful mankind. Our lot is truly helpless, and our attempts and efforts are impoverished at best. Have we ever experienced the offended party reaching out to make permanent and superior amends with the one that offended them so greatly? No, this is only found in the grace of God in the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ.
With “reconciliation,” we have come upon a concept that is rife in Paul’s theology. The following list is for the purpose of being encouraged and for understanding that Christ’s sacrifice is perfect in accomplishing this otherwise impossible feat.
For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation (Rom 5:6-11, emphasis added).
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation (2 Cor 5:17-19, emphasis added).
Both Jew and Gentile are reconciled to YHWH Elohim, through faith in Jesus Christ who made this reconciliation possible by His death on the cross which involved the shedding of His blood for the sins of the world. This was not done by the repeated sacrifice of animals (Heb 10:3-4), but in Christ’s body, nailed to a cross for sin (Heb 10:8-10). However, the “one body” in v. 16 does not speak of Christ’s physical body, but of the new entity that is the Church (the Body of Christ). The atonement of His blood in His death kills the “enmity.” This “enmity” is explained by Hoehner when he writes:
The hostility is not the same as that which is mentioned in verse 14. There it speaks of the hostility between Jews and Gentiles, but here it speaks of hostility between God and human beings. The reason for the change is due to the change of contexts. In verses 14-15 Paul deals with the union of believing Jews and Gentiles into one new humanity, but here in verse 16 he discusses the reconciliation of this body of Jews and Gentiles to God.
What is beautiful about this unity that has been made possible in Christ is that this peace was preached by Christ Himself! We see this proclamation throughout the Gospels without reservation upon the one that responds. Note the following:
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matt 11:28-30).
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst” (John 6:35).
“For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:40).
Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life (John 6:47).
Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water’” (John 7:37-38).
The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost (Rev 22:17).
Whether one is “far off” (Gentile) or “near” (Jew), this peace is available to all who believe, and those who believe are placed into the “one new man” which is the Church. This points us to the responsibility of the Church in this present dispensation, as we serve as an extension of the message of peace that has been secured by Christ Jesus our Lord. The Church as a whole has the responsibility of preaching and teaching all who will hear regarding the message of reconciliation in Christ Jesus alone (Matt 28:18-20; John 13:16-20; Acts 9:15-16; 2 Cor 5:17-21).
This quotation of Isaiah 57:19 should not be understood as the apostle providing an interpretation in Ephesians 2:17, but rather applying it to his present point. Both Gentile and Jew can now receive the peace that only Jesus provides. “And peace it is indeed, for it means nothing less than our entrance, hand in hand, into the inmost presence of a welcoming, loving, rejoicing God.”
So we see that Jesus is the One who PREACHES (euangelizō) peace to Jew and Gentile alike through the Church, so that they all may believe and be placed into the Body of Christ.
It is through Christ, as seen in Ephesians 2:18, and through Christ alone that Jew and Gentile have access to the Father (John 14:6). This is a present tense reality. However, there is a qualifier that establishes this access as being in “one Spirit.” The exclusivity of Christ in salvation should not be surprising considering the reply of Peter in stating that, “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). So, what is meant by Paul in stating that this access is in “one Spirit?”
In Scripture we find that the Holy Spirit serving in many different capacities. He is perfectly, and equally part of the Trinity, just as are the Father and the Son. This idea of a singular Spirit is most plainly seen in Ephesians 4:4 when Paul states that “There is one body and one Spirit;” having already clarified in our present passage that this Body is the “one new man” consisting of believing Jews and Gentiles (Eph 2:15). We have already seen that the Spirit seals the believer (1:13), and we will see that the Spirit is presently building believers into dwelling place for God (Eph 2:22), and is the Revealer of Truth (Eph 3:5), which concerns the understanding of the mystery of the Church. While Lenski holds that this should be understood as Jew and Gentile now coming in “one spirit” meaning “as one unit,” I believe that Paul is acknowledging the role of the Holy Spirit in bringing about this unity. Chafer expounds upon the role of the Holy Spirit in this marvelous reality for the believer in Christ:
All three Persons of the Godhead appear in this brief text. It declares that both Jew and Gentile, being saved, have access through Christ and by the Spirit unto the Father. The essential part which Christ has accomplished has been considered at length, but there is also a part which the Holy Spirit undertakes. The Christian’s apprehension (1 Cor 2:10), communion (2 Cor 13:14), and much of his qualification for the divine presence (1 Cor 12:13), are directly the work of the Holy Spirit. The all-important truth—marvelous beyond comprehension—is that each believer has perfect and immutable access unto the Father.
Chafer’s insights are indispensable. It is through the Spirit that God chooses to reveal His great wisdom to believers, and that He does freely (1 Cor 2:6-12)! It is in the Spirit that fellowship is shared by the Body of Christ (2 Cor 13:14). Finally, it is in the Spirit that all believers are baptized (immersed) at the moment of faith, thus unifying us in Christ Jesus (1 Cor 12:13). Paul notes that the Spirit is essential in our “access” to the Father (Eph 2:18b). “The word access includes the ideas of bringing and introducing. Not only has heaven’s door been opened, but believers have been properly introduced to the Father. The Holy Spirit takes both groups (as individuals, of course) and implants regenerated life, so that they are now members of the same family—the family of God.”
Paul educates us in that there are two peoples (Jew and Gentile), with unity only possible by Christ’s blood (2:13), placing them into Christ’s body (2:16) which is a brand-new entity, with both now having equal access to the Father in one Holy Spirit (2:18). How Great is the grace of God in making such unattainable things a reality for the sin-stricken person! In a world that is riddled with confusion and malice, exploitation and haughtiness, we find that peace is in the most obvious, yet least sought-out place: in Christ.