From “Outsider” to “Heir”

Another “before” and “after” picture.

We (Gentiles) go from “Outsider” to “Heir” and receive all of the benefits that belong to heirs of God.

Christians are the temple of the Holy Spirit, individually and corporately.

Ephesians 2:11-22 NLT
Oneness and Peace in Christ
¹¹ Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. ¹² In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. ¹³ But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.
¹⁴ For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. ¹⁵ He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. ¹⁶ Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.
¹⁷ He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. ¹⁸ Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.
A Temple for the Lord
¹⁹ So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. ²⁰ Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. ²¹ We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. ²² Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.

Examine the scriptures:
Ephesians 2:11-22 NLT
Oneness and Peace in Christ

¹¹ Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders.

• Gentiles (us) used to be “outsiders”.

You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. 

Socially:

Gentiles were considered outsiders. 

Genesis 17:9-14 NLT
The Mark of the Covenant
⁹ Then God said to Abraham, “Your responsibility is to obey the terms of the covenant. You and all your descendants have this continual responsibility. ¹⁰ This is the covenant that you and your descendants must keep: Each male among you must be circumcised. ¹¹ You must cut off the flesh of your foreskin as a sign of the covenant between me and you. ¹² From generation to generation, every male child must be circumcised on the eighth day after his birth. This applies not only to members of your family but also to the servants born in your household and the foreign-born servants whom you have purchased. ¹³ All must be circumcised. Your bodies will bear the mark of my everlasting covenant. ¹⁴ Any male who fails to be circumcised will be cut off from the covenant family for breaking the covenant.” 

Gentiles were cut off from the covenant family. 

• Gentiles were “excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel” (Ephesians 2:12). 

¹² In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. 

• Gentiles:

Were living apart from Christ.

Did not know God’s covenant promises.

Lived in this world without God.

Lived without hope.

Colossians 1:21 NLT
²¹ This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions.

***This is also a description of all unbelievers.

Romans 3:23
²³ For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.

We really were outsiders, lost and without hope, heading straight to hell. 

¹³ But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.

We have been brought near to God.

Jesus restored a broken relationship. 

• Gentiles were brought near to God through the blood of Christ.

The Old Testament discusses this in Isaiah 56. 

Isaiah 56:8 NLT
⁸ For the Sovereign Lord,
who brings back the outcasts of Israel, says:
I will bring others, too,
besides my people Israel.” 

What happened at Easter? 

¹⁴ For Christ himself has brought peace to us.

• We can have peace with God because of what Jesus has done for us.

Romans 5:1 NLT
^5:1 Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 

He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us.  

• Christ made peace between Jews and Gentiles possible.

Galatians 3:26-28 NLT
²⁶ For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. ²⁷ And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. ²⁸ There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. 

¹⁵ He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. 

• The Mosaic Law included many commandments that served to separate Israel (the Jews) from the other nations (Gentiles).

Deuteronomy 20:16-18 NLT
¹⁶ In those towns that the Lord your God is giving you as a special possession, destroy every living thing. ¹⁷ You must completely destroy the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, just as the Lord your God has commanded you. ¹⁸ This will prevent the people of the land from teaching you to imitate their detestable customs in the worship of their gods, which would cause you to sin deeply against the Lord your God.

Jesus changed all of that.

Romans 10:4 NLT
⁴ For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given.   As a result, all who believe in him are made right with God.

Romans 6:14 NLT
¹⁴ Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.

Romans 7:6 NLT
⁶ But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit.

• We have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power.

He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. 

2 Corinthians 5:17-18 NLT
¹⁷ This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
¹⁸ And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. 

1 Corinthians 12:12-13 NLT
¹² The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. ¹³ Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.

¹⁶ Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death. 

• Christ’s death on the cross reconciled humans to God, and also Jews and Gentiles to each other. 

¹⁷ He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. 

John 14:27 NLT
²⁷ “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid. 

¹⁸ Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.

The gift of the Holy Spirit.

We have access to God through the Holy Spirit.

Acts 10:44-45 NLT
The Gentiles Receive the Holy Spirit
⁴⁴ Even as Peter was saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who were listening to the message. ⁴⁵ The Jewish believers who came with Peter were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles, too. 

Galatians 4:6-7 NLT
⁶ And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” ⁷ Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir. 

Romans 8:15-17 NLT
¹⁵ So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” ¹⁶ For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. ¹⁷ And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. 

Hebrews 4:14-16 NLT
¹⁴ So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. ¹⁵ This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. ¹⁶ So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. 

Ephesians 3:12 NLT
¹² Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence. 

• Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence.

A Temple for the Lord

¹⁹ So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners.

Strangers and foreigners had no rights or privileges, or limited rights and privileges.

• There are no strangers, foreigners, or second-class citizens in God’s family.

You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people.

Note:  As citizens …

1 Peter 1:3-4 NLT
³ All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, ⁴ and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. 

You are members of God’s family. 

Romans 8:15-17 NLT
¹⁵ So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.”  ¹⁶ For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. ¹⁷ And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory.

• Believing Gentiles are members of God’s family and are heirs of God’s glory.  

²⁰ Together, 

Jew and Gentile believers. 

we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets.

Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets teaching, not the apostles and prophets personally.

1 Corinthians 3:10-11 NLT
¹⁰ Because of God’s grace to me, I (Paul) have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful. ¹¹ For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ.

At this point in time the New Testament had not yet been completed.

Today we could say, built on the foundation of the scriptures (God’s Word). 

And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself.   

The cornerstone is the most important stone in a building’s foundation.

This stone set the foundation and squared the building.

The building is aligned with Christ.  Everything points back to the cornerstone.

• Jesus is the cornerstone of his holy temple. 

²¹ We are carefully joined together in him,

• Every believer is a stone in Christ’s temple, the church, Christ’s body of believers.

1 Peter 2:5 NLT
⁵ And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple.

Scripture is all about community.

1 Corinthians 12:27 NLT
²⁷ All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.

Believers Form a community.

Acts 2:42 NLT
⁴² All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.

Galatians 6:2 NLT
² Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.

Romans 12:5
⁵ so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.

Romans 12:10 NLT
¹⁰ Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.

Hebrews 10:25 NLT
²⁵ And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

Proverbs 27:17 NLT
¹⁷ As iron sharpens iron,
so a friend sharpens a friend.

• As believers, we are carefully joined together in Christ. 

becoming a holy temple for the Lord.  

“Becoming”

• The church is a living and growing organism.

1 Peter 2:4-5 NLT
⁴ You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honor.
⁵ And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God.

Matthew 18:20 NLT
²⁰ For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.”

Matthew 28:20 NLT
²⁰ Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

1 Corinthians 3:16 NLT
¹⁶ Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in (or among) you?

• The church is meant to be a community of people in whom the Holy Spirit dwells.

Belonging to the visible church is not optional for followers of Christ.

• Living in isolation, separated from believers, is not an option for followers of Christ. 

²² Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.

• The Holy Spirit takes up permanent residence in the vast spiritual body of all of the redeemed. 

Individually

1 Corinthians 6:19 NLT
¹⁹ Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, ²⁰ for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.

Corporately

2 Corinthians 6:16 NLT
^16 … For we are the temple of the living God. As God said:
“I will live in them
and walk among them.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people. 

From “Outsider” to “Heir” and the Benefits That Go With It.

• Gentiles used to be “outsiders”.
• Gentiles were “excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel” (verse 12).
• Gentiles: Were living apart from Christ. Did not know God’s covenant promises. Lived in this world without God. Lived without hope.
• Gentiles were brought near to God through the blood of Christ.
• We can have peace with God because of what Jesus has done for us.
• Christ made peace between Jews and Gentiles possible.
• The Mosaic Law included many commandments that served to separate Israel (the Jews) from the other nations (Gentiles).
• We have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power.
• Christ’s death on the cross reconciled humans to God, and also Jews and Gentiles to each other.
• Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence.
• There are no strangers, foreigners, or second class citizens in God’s family.
• Believing Gentiles are members of God’s family and are heirs of God’s glory.
• Every believer is a stone in Christ’s temple, the church, Christ’s body of believers.
• Jesus is the cornerstone of his holy temple.
• As believers, we are carefully joined together in Christ.
• The church is a living and growing organism.
• The church is meant to be a community of people in whom the Holy Spirit dwells.
• Living in isolation, separated from believers, is not an option for followers of Christ.
• The Holy Spirit takes up permanent residence in the vast spiritual body of all of the redeemed.