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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