Remember: Who You Are in Christ Pt 1

A friend is visiting Japan for part of her upcoming honeymoon. She asked me several questions about international travel and what did I recommend seeing in Japan. There are highlights I do remember and could tell her like hiking part of Mt. Fuji or walking through the memorial in Hiroshima, but there were many details I couldn’t remember. I didn’t remember all the cities my husband and I went to or the sites we took in. I had to flip through our Japan photo album to remember it all.

We forget spiritual truths too. We need to actively remember. In the second half of Chapter 2, Paul has charged the Ephesian church to remember three things. We have examined the first two: who we were apart from Christ and what God has done. Today, we begin looking at the third truth we are to remember: who we are in Christ.

11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.[1]

                                             Ephesians 2:11-22 (emphasis added)                 

In my Bible, I have a highlighted, outlined box around the words “So then.” These are transition words. As they point forward to Paul’s next words, they also point back to the preceding verses (vs 13-18). His next words are the logical outcome of those verses. Who we are in Christ is a result of the reconciliation Jesus’ atonement achieved for us. Paul uses political, familial and religious metaphors to describe who we are in Christ in verse 19.

“No longer” connects with “But now” (vs 13). These phrases indicate something has changed. We are no longer what we once were. In his letter to the Corinthian church, Paul wrote: “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11, emphasis added). Paul paints a picture of who we once were (vs 9-10), and who we now are in Christ (vs 11).

He does the same in Ephesians. In my posts “Before & After” and “Far to Near”, I asked you to fill out comparison charts reflecting what was true of you before Christ and what is true of you in Christ. Seeing the comparisons side-by-side helps us remember more clearly the “But nows” and the “So thens”. When we remember both who we once were and who we are now, it encourages us not to get stuck in the past or take for granted who we are now in Christ.

We are no longer strangers. Strangers described someone from another country, a foreigner. In verse 12, Paul stated that Gentiles were strangers to the covenants of promise, but now we are also no longer strangers to God.

We are no longer aliens, people without the rights of citizenship. Again, going back to verse 12, Paul described Gentiles as being alienated from the commonwealth of Israel. We had no divine benefactor. We were not a blessed community. We did not have God’s special blessing or protection.

But now, we are fellow citizens with the saints. Our citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20). We belong. One commentator pictured our citizenship as having our passports stamped with Jesus’ atoning blood. In our travels, my husband and I have had our passports stamped by many countries, but there is always a limit. That stamp said we could visit for a certain period of time, but it did not make us citizens or allow us to stay indefinitely. It was temporary. Jesus’ atoning blood was permanent. For those in Christ, our citizenship can never be revoked. We don’t have a time limit, and we have all the rights and privileges of being a citizen of heaven.

In Acts 22:22-29, we read the account of the Roman tribune ready to flog Paul in order to get the truth out of him about the riot. Paul asked the nearby centurion if it was right to flog a Roman citizen and uncondemned. The tribune didn’t think much of Paul’s citizenship as he states that he was able to buy his citizenship (which wasn’t really legal but still done). Paul responds that he is a citizen by birth. A Roman citizen by birth had full rights and privileges. The tribune who bought his citizenship was a second-class citizen. He did not have the same rights and privileges as Paul. There are no second-class citizens in heaven. We are all on equal standing at the foot of the cross. We are all sinners who fall short, but are seen by God as clothed in the righteousness of Jesus.

Note that Paul says we are fellow citizens. He emphasizes our unity in Christ.

But now, we are members of God’s household. We are adopted into God’s family. As children of God, we possess all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities, and receive the discipline that comes with being God’s children (vs 1:5; 2:18). Our heavenly Father views and treats us the exact same way He does Jesus. Our heavenly Father protects us. He provides for us. He is always working His best for us.

As members of God’s household, we have a church family. This whole section (vs 11-22) is about being one in Christ, being united to God and other believers. We are to love one another – we care for and serve one another (1 Peter 4:10; 1 Thessalonians 5:15), speak truth in love to one another, we are to be compassionate, kind, humble, meek, patient, bear with one another, forgive, and love one another (Colossians 3:12-14). We are to be of the same mind, having the same love, and in humility count others more significant than ourselves (Philippians 2:2-3). We are to show hospitality (1 Peter 4:9). Encourage, build up, and exhort one another (1 Thessalonians 5:11). Be gracious to one another. These are a handful of ways we love others in God’s family.[2]

We are not the same as we once were, so we should not live the way we once lived especially in the way we treat those who are also fellow citizens of heaven, members of God’s family.

Reflection

1.    Do you see yourself or others as second class citizens? Why? How do today’s verses transform your thinking?

2.    What aspect of being part of God’s household are you most grateful for? Take time to thank God.

3.    This side of eternity, those in God’s household here on earth still struggle with sin. We are like our earthly families in that our church family is not perfect either. In what ways have you seen, God’s family loving each other well? In what areas do you need to grow as a family member in God’s household?

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Eph 2:11–22.

[2] There is a distinction between our local church family and the covenant we make with them versus God’s household comprised of all believers worldwide.