That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. Ephesians 2:12
Two boys decided to explore a sulphur pit that existed in the hilly region not far from their homes. They had been warned to stay away from the dangerous pit, but they were curious and approached the smelly place one Saturday. Fed by a sulphur spring, the pit was a pond that was surrounded by steep rocks. Climbing down to the pond level, the boys explored the pond’s shoreline. Suddenly the rock on which they stood collapsed into the pool, and they went with it. They found themselves unable to climb out of the pool, and had to hang onto the rocky edge, almost overcome by the horrible smell of the water, hoping for help to come. After several hours, rescuers did come, and the boys were lifted to safety. As they reached the top of the cliff and looked back at the vile pit, one of the boys declared, ‘I’m never going back there again!’ As Christians, that should be our attitude when we consider what God has saved us from.
In our text, Paul is reminding his Gentile readers of their spiritually pathetic condition before they heard and responded to the Gospel. Like those people in Ephesus, you and I are Gentiles. We were much further removed from God than were the Jews, who had great advantages over us, although most of the Jews squandered those advantages. For example, the Jews lived (and still live) in the perpetual hope of the arrival of the Messiah. But they rejected Him when He came. Paul’s use of the term ‘without Christ’ refers to the Gentiles being without the hope of the Messiah. Thank God that we have now received that hope.
As aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, we fall outside of all the blessings that God had for His earthly people. In Romans 3:2, Paul answers the question about what advantage the Jew had over the Gentile: ‘Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God’. The Jews had the Scriptures; the Gentiles did not. Thank God that we have now received the Word of God.
God’s great promises in the Old Testament were for the Israelites, with little emphasis on any promises that affected the Gentiles. We now appreciate that when God made promises to Abraham and to his seed, we have been brought into the realm of Abraham’s spiritual seed. No longer strangers to the covenant of promise, ‘Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises’ (2 Peter 1:4).
Our text speaks in the past tense, telling us what we once were. Not any more! -Jim MacIntosh