Friday, March 9, 2012

Ephesians 2:11


Copyright Ó 2012 J. Neely
Ephesians 2:11

11 Wherefore [dio] remember, [mnemoneuo] that [hoti] ye [humeis] being in time past [pote] Gentiles [ethnos] in [en] the flesh, [sarx] who [ho] are called [lego] Uncircumcision [akrobustia] by [hupo] that which [ho] is called [lego] the Circumcision [peritome] in [en] the flesh [sarx] made by hands; [cheiropoietos] KJV-Interlinear

11 Therefore remember, that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called "Uncircumcision" by the so-called "Circumcision," which is performed in the flesh by human hands  NASB

Remember, means just that.  Often times it is easy to forget, whether intentionally or by accident, but to forget ones past means that at one time you did not have the privileges of the present.  Therefore you cannot boast to unbelievers, about things that you yourself did not have at some prior time in your life.

Therefore, remember that you were once an unbeliever.  And what does that mean?  You did not have a relationship with God, you were not destined to go to heaven, you were not entitled to any eternal life or inheritance or anything eternal except all things horrible and worse, in the Lake of Fire.  As an unbeliever, you had no truth in you.

So, do not forget that prior to your being saved, you were not saved. Prior to your being saved, you were nothing and you had nothing.

In times past, is a reference to a time that is prior to some event or some point in time.  And the prior time is the time prior to when you were saved.  So it means when you were an unbeliever, since salvation is the event that separates your pre-salvation and post-salvation era of life.

And what were you called or classified as when you were an unbeliever?  You were called the uncircumcised.

Today we use the terms unbeliever as opposed to believer, or the unbaptized as opposed to the baptized, or lost as opposed to found.  In the Old Testament, beginning with Abraham, circumcision was a surgical procedure that separated the people of God, believers, from those who were not of God, unbelievers.

However, circumcision was used on the male child only, and not the female child, so the act of circumcision was not the actual act of salvation, but merely illustrated in a very private and personal way, the difference between the unsaved and the saved.

Physical circumcision was symbolic of the spiritual circumcision.  It represented the dramatic change in ones status.  A physical act or action is easy to see and understand, while the spiritual act or action is impossible to see and for many, difficult to understand sometimes.

By that which is called circumcision, means that only the saved can correctly identify the status of life.  Only the spiritual side of life can identify truth. 

The unsaved, do not believe in salvation, and therefore would never categorize themselves as being unsaved. That belief of being unsaved would imply that they would need to do something to change their unsaved status, and unbelievers generally do not believe that they need to do anything, because they do not believe that they need anything done, to or for themselves.

Thankfully, however, many unbelievers see their need through the gospel, and thus believe in Christ and become saved.  But no unbeliever can see their need apart from the gospel.

The point here is that the unbelieving state sees no need for improvement, because is sees no deficiency that it on its own, cannot take care of.  Thus unbelievers invent religion and philosophy, and beliefs that are convenient and comfortable for their needs as they see them.  And these are all false and inaccurate views.

In the flesh by hands, is a reference to the physical act of circumcision, drawing attention to the circumcision of the soul, which is not by human hands, but is spiritual.

Salvation is Gods plan.  Salvation is Gods work.  And nothing that man can do, is salvation.  Only God can accomplish salvation and the distinction between who is and who is not saved.  No work of man, no physical act of man, not even surgery can accomplish that which God has decreed.

Salvation is spiritual not physical.

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