1You were made alive when you were dead in transgressions and sins, 2in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the children of disobedience. 3We also all once lived among them in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. 4But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us, 5even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus; 8for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9not of works, that no one would boast. 10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.
11Therefore remember that once you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “uncircumcision” by that which is called “circumcision” (in the flesh, made by hands), 12that you were at that time separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off are made near in the blood of Christ. 14For he is our peace, who made both one, and broke down the middle wall of separation, 15having abolished in his flesh the hostility, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man of the two, making peace, 16and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, having killed the hostility through it. 17He came and preached peace to you who were far off and to those who were near. 18For through him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. 19So then you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God, 20being built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone; 21in whom the whole building, fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord; 22in whom you also are built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit.
Grafted Into The Family of God
Gentiles Gathered in the Courtyard
This chapter gives an account of Gentiles being brought into and included in the family of God. The account is fascinating. Cornelius, a centurion of the Roman army, had a vision. In the vision, God acknowledged the righteous acts that characterized Cornelius’ life. God told him to send men to Joppa to find a man named Peter, and to bring him back. Cornelius dispatched a faithful soldier to go find this Peter and bring him back.
Over in Joppa, about this same time, Peter had a vision in which he saw what had been considered to be unclean becoming clean. What had not been kosher was now becoming kosher. God was turning everything that Peter knew about the faith of his fathers upside down. After he had seen the vision three times (v. 10:16), Peter was ordered to go to Caesarea Maritima to the house of a Roman Centurion named Cornelius. It was forbidden for a Jew to enter the house of such a Gentile. The reader should note that God showed this vision to Peter THREE TIMES, echoing the three times that Peter had denied the Lord prior to His crucifixion. Likewise, it was from Joppa that God had sent Jonah to Ninevah to spread his message to a Gentile nation.
When the men arrived to escort Peter, in obedience, he left with them. I am sure that Peter must have been confused by all that was happening, but he chose to be obedient and to go with the entourage that had come to collect him. Upon arrival in Caesarea, he entered the house of Cornelius and he shared the gospel with all whom Cornelius had gathered to hear it. As Peter spoke and the group believed, the Holy Spirit of God fell on them before Peter’s eyes. There Peter was, watching God perform the incredible miracle of grafting believing Gentiles into the family of God. Peter’s vision was now understood. The believers responded with the first act of obedience in submitting to baptism. They had been baptized with the Holy Spirit, and now they each went down into the water of baptism, being raised into newness of life. If you are a Gentile and you are reading this account, you are part of this miracle. “13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off are made near in the blood of Christ.” (Ephesians 2:13 WEB)