Ephesians 2

“His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace” (15). God’s plan of salvation is more than an escape from punishment; He is creating a new people of God. In Jesus, there are no longer outsiders, strangers or “foreigners of the promise” (12), but instead by Jesus’ blood all people can be “fellow citizens” and “household members” (19).

Only Jesus can destroy “the dividing wall of hostility” (14). The cross reconciles us to God and to one another, so that people of different ethnicities, cultures, and statuses can become a worthy temple “being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit” (22).