Reading Ephesians 2:11-22, NIV
Map: uncircumcised-separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise…in Christ Jesus…once were far away…brought near through the blood of Christ; one new man out of the two…making peace…reconcile both of them to God..to put death their hostility…for through him, we both access to the Father by one Spirit..fellow-citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household..foundation…apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus..chief cornerstone…holy temple…dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
Ephesians 2:11-17,19-22, NIV
[11]You Gentiles by birth — called “the uncircumcised” by the Jews, who call themselves “the circumcised” (which refers to what men do to their bodies) — remember what you were in the past.
[12]At that time you were apart from Christ. You were foreigners and did not belong to God’s chosen people. You had no part in the covenants, which were based on God’s promises to his people, and you lived in this world without hope and without God.
[13]But now, in union with Christ Jesus, you who used to be far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
[14]For Christ himself has brought us peace by making Jews and Gentiles one people. With his own body he broke down the wall that separated them and kept them enemies.
[15]He abolished the Jewish Law with its commandments and rules, in order to create out of the two races one new people in union with himself, in this way making peace.
[16]By his death on the cross Christ destroyed their enmity; by means of the cross he united both races into one body and brought them back to God.
[17]So Christ came and preached the Good News of peace to all — to you Gentiles, who were far away from God, and to the Jews, who were near to him.
[19]So then, you Gentiles are not foreigners or strangers any longer; you are now fellow-citizens with God’s people and members of the family of God.
[20]You, too, are built upon the foundation laid by the apostles and prophets, the cornerstone being Christ Jesus himself.
[21]He is the one who holds the whole building together and makes it grow into a sacred temple dedicated to the Lord.
[22]In union with him you too are being built together with all the others into a place where God lives through his Spirit.