Ephesians 2:11-13

¹¹ Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands—¹² that at that time you 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. ¹³ But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

Preamble

Having addressed how we, both believing Jews and Gentiles, have come into salvation, as well as for what purpose God has saved us, and brought us into a living relationship with Himself (vs. 1-10). The Apostle Paul now turns his focus to every believing Gentile, reminding us that it is only through Christ that we have now become equal participants of God's New Covenant and promises and thus full citizens in God's holy nation. Now Paul's doing so is to remind every believing Gentile that our salvation has a long history behind it, and a lot of that history stems out of God's dealings with Israel under the Old Covenant, which has now found it's fulfillment In Christ who has now opened the door of salvation to us all who believe in Him through the Gospel. And so Jews should not think that Gentiles need to live as Jews, nor should Gentiles think that God has cast off His covenant people for their current unbelief in this era that is Scripturally referred to as the times of the Gentiles (see Rom 11). And so in Christ all attitudes of "superiority" or "inferiority" by both believing Jews and Gentiles are to be put away (consider Gal. 3:26-29), for God has made us all one new people and nation In Christ, not returned us to Moses and the Law (2 Peter 2:4-10, vs. 9-10). 

Commentary

Vs. 11-12 ¹¹ Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands—¹² that at that time you 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. 

The Apostle Paul in referring to us Gentiles here as "Gentiles in the flesh", is not only making a distinction of what we once were before we were born again by the Holy Spirit, but in using these types of Jewish connotations is reminding us that before we came to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ we were once simply thought of by the Jews as "the Uncircumcision". That is because of the Uncircumcision of our flesh we were just considered by them an alienated people from God, who in their eyes had basically no interest in us. Now as the Gospel proves and the Scriptures clearly foretold they were wrong, something the early church came to understand as they preached the Gospel and it was God Himself who opened the door of salvation to all repentant and believing Gentiles (see Acts 10-11:18). And so the Apostle Paul use of these terms here is not a "deprecation" of our persons because we were once "Gentiles in the flesh". Indeed the Apostle Paul was called by God to be an Apostle to the Gentiles (Rom 11:13; Acts 9:15; 22:17-21; Gal 1:13-24; Eph. 3:8), for with Israel's largely rejecting the Word of life spoken to them, it was to the Gentiles that God commanded His salvation go out to the ends of the earth (Acts 13:44-48). And so we know that the Apostle Paul's love, life, passion and ministry was bound up in ministering the Gospel to the Gentiles (2 Cor 12:15). 

Now as we also know the Apostle Paul did not count circumcision as anything, since being In Christ means we who believe (whether Jew or Gentile) have a Circumcision which is to be completely distinguished from the "Circumcision of flesh", and that is the Circumcision of ones heart that God Himself performs by His Spirit within us when we repent and believe in His Son the Lord Jesus Christ through the Gospel (Rom 2:28-29). Therefore the Apostle Paul's use of this expression "the Uncircumcision" is his using a term that he clearly neither likes, nor endorses, (see Titus 1:10-11), but is only one that the Jews generally used as an indictment of all Gentiles, because of the Uncircumcision of our flesh. For Jews basically saw people in two classes, those Circumcised, and those Uncircumcised. Therefore these words being capitalized in the NKJ exemplifies the strong emphasis that Jews placed (and still place) on the Circumcision of the flesh made by human hands. Again to be distinguished from what God does to every believers heart, (see Deut 30:6 where God promises to circumcise the Jews hearts is given), because for them this is the defining act of whether or not one is in a covenant relationship with God. And so Paul is reminding us believing Gentiles by way of mentioning these things, circumcision made by hands, alienation from the common wealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of the promise etc. (vs. 12), that before we came to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ we were completely estranged from God, from His covenants of promise, and from His nation. Now in stating these things about us Gentiles, it's not that the Jews are any less in need of salvation from God through Christ. It's just that we believing Gentiles did not have any promises of redemption spoken to us outside of those promises spoken by God through His prophets to the nation of Israel. And so we should not now think that God's salvation through Christ begins or ends with us. And so by mentioning these things in this way, the Apostle Paul does not want us Gentile believers to think too much of ourselves, since the Israelites through whom God's covenants and promises and salvation first came to us, largely go not reconciled to God because of their own unbelief. For though we are now redeemed by Christ's blood, sealed and sanctified by God's Spirit, and thus we are now not only fully reconciled to God, but we are now also full partakers of all of God's promises and covenant, for we are now counted by God Himself because our faith in His Son as His own redeemed covenant people (1 Peter 2:9-10); which again is not based on the circumcision of one's flesh, but only on ones faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (see Rom 4:9-12; Gal 3:5-9). And so it is when we were without Christ, we were "...aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and we were strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world." We were then at that time completely separated from God, and all that God had done and promised down through History through His chosen people. And so before we came to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ we had no hope. 

Vs. 13 "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ" 

Therefore we who were once far off from God, have now been brought near to Him by the blood of Christ. (And not by circumcision of the flesh made by human hands). For it is the Lord Jesus Christ's Crucifixion death and His atoning blood for all our sins and transgressions which makes us all, both Jews and Gentiles, acceptable and redeemable to God. And so it is we who were once not a people, (coming from incredibly diverse and differing backgrounds and ethnicities), yet now are the people of God (1 Peter 2:9-10). A people which consists of all believing Jews and Gentiles, and thus a people who are united by One, are baptized into One, and under One, and that One is Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior.

Now if you have not yet received the Lord Jesus Christ for yourself, by all means do so now, all which happens the moment you repent and believe in the Gospel. Now to repent means to have a change of mind about yourself, your sins, and quite possibility even God Himself. It is then to see yourself in the light of God's love and mercies for you (John 3:16), that God Himself through the Life, Death, Resurrection from the dead, and Ascension back to heaven of His Son Jesus has done for you what you could never do for yourself, so that if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead you shall be saved, "for whoever calls upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved" (Rom. 10:9-10, 13). And so now is the time for your redemption from sin and death and eternal salvation the moment you believe and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Therefore if you believe, please receive the Lord Jesus Christ into your own heart and life by inviting Him in (Rev 3:20) and confessing to God that He is Lord, and then follow Him as your Lord and Savior. For apart from Him no finds life, or redemption, or satisfaction for themselves, but in Him all have new and abundant and everlasting life with and through Christ, therefore receive the Lord Jesus Christ today (John 1:12). 

Scripture Quotations

The New King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982.