The passage
      v11-12. Paul asks his Gentile readers to remember that they were once the "uncircumcised", that they were once a people outside God's family and thus apart from his blessings. Paul calls on his readers to recall five disadvantages from their pre-Christian days.
      v13. Yet, now the Gentiles have a place in God's family, but this is not by incorporation into the nation of Israel by means of obedience to the Mosaic covenant. Membership in God's eternal family is now a matter of grace through faith in Christ. In particular, Paul identifies the means of reconciliation and access into the presence of God, as "through the blood of Christ." The means is by Christ's sacrificial death for the redemption of mankind. Of course, this means of access for the Gentiles is now the same as for the Jew's.
      v14 -15a. Christ has accessed the Gentiles, along with the Jews, into the family of God, and this apart from the regulations of the law. He has done this through his sacrificial death. In so doing, Christ has broken down the barrier of the Mosaic law that once existed between Jew and Gentile. Therefore, he has created "one new man", a new people of God.
      v15b-16. The purpose of Christ's work on the cross was to reconcile a family of believers with the living God. Christ's death on the cross serves to reconcile us with God and with each other, particularly, Jewish believers with Gentile believers.
      v17. In the proclamation of the gospel, peace with God is proclaimed and all humanity has the opportunity of access into the presence of God. In this verse Paul borrows from Isaiah 57:19. The Lord God proclaims his message of peace through his prophets. This message is to those "far away" (the lost, the Israelites of the dispersion), but also to those who are near. The day of salvation, the day of the coming kingdom and of the peace of God, was eagerly awaited by the true Israelites. This day has now arrived and Paul rightly sees it as a day which includes the Gentiles; a day promised long ago to Abraham.
      v18. In Christ all humanity can access the living God. This is made possible through the presence of the Spirit of Christ who indwells all believers - both Jew and Gentile. "Christ in us" gives us access to the throne of the living God.

All one in Christ
      The principle of a common equal access and standing before the throne of God, through faith in Christ, is a mighty ones indeed. It is a principle that affects the way we function as a fellowship. There are two particular applications:

1. "His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two", v15.
      The first application has to do with the integral unity of the fellowship of believers. Out of diversity and division, God's ultimate intention is to gather to himself a community of friends - "one new man".
      There are many factors which divide a church and so work against the "one in Christ" principle. Today we have to live with the inheritance of schism, reform movements, national churches and the like. Denominationalism certainly does not reflect the image of "one new man". Yet, little can be done to overturn such ingrained products of history. We are bound to live with denominationalism and the ever-emerging new "community churches", "revival centers" and the like.
      Yet, within our own Christian fellowship we are free to develop the "one new man" principle. We commonly call this "body life". Body life develops when we prayerfully encourage the expectation of oneness. Realistic expectations (in this case according to the will of God) produce the right results.

2. "In this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross", v16.
      The second application has to do with the common right of access of all believers into the presence of the living God. Believers stand equally before God the Father on the basis of Christ's sacrifice. There is no privileged class.
      The idea of a privileged class of believers is with us today as much as it was with Paul in his day. There is the clergy class, Wardens, Parish councilors, Bible study leaders etc. Sometimes those who simply attend the Sunday services feel as if they are second-class citizens.
      We need to affirm the truth that all believers possess equal standing before God, all are equal members of the "one body", and this because of a personal reliance on Jesus Christ. In Jesus there are no second-grade believers.

v11
      dio "therefore" - On the basis of the blessing of salvation given to the Gentiles, they should "remember".
      mnhmoneuete (mnhmoneuw) imp. "remember" - They (the Gentiles) should "reflect" on the privilege of salvation given to them.
      eqnh (oV) en sarki "Gentiles by birth" - Gentiles in the flesh. Physically Gentiles in the sense of uncircumcised. Note that "Gentile" is a Jewish designation for a non Jew.
      akrobustia (a) "uncircumcised" - possessing a foreskin. The term "uncircumcised" was used by the Jews in a derogatory way. In fact, they daily thanked God that they were not born a Gentile. Circumcision was the sign of membership in God's special family (Israel, the covenant community). Circumcision, along with submission to the law of Moses, entitled membership of the family. Of course, the gospel overturned this thinking and so left circumcision the business of a circumcised (cleansed?) heart, Deut.10:16, 30:6, Jer.4:4, and this through faith in Christ to both Jew and Gentile, Col.2:11.

v12
      cwriV (iV ewV) "separate" - without, apart from, separate from [Christ]. Paul describes the state of the Gentiles as one of loss. They were not members of God's family and therefore could not share in God's promised blessings nor enter into a relationship with him. The covenant promise to Abraham extended ultimately to the Gentiles, but up till the coming of Christ, this necessitated a Gentile becoming a Jew. In this verse Paul lists five disadvantages experienced by the Gentiles. The first is "separate from Christ." "You did not know about Christ", CEV.
      aphllotriwmenoi (apallotriow) perf. part. "excluded from" - estranged, alienated, separated from [the commonwealth of Israel]. When was Israel separated from the Gentiles and who did the parting? Paul simply states the fact, with the implication that the Gentiles are therefore alienated from the covenant promises possessed by Israel.
      thV politeiaV (a) gen. "citizenship" - the state, citizenship. Excluded from citizenship. Here, the genitive case serves to complete the meaning of the verb "excluded from"; "aliens to the commonwealth of Israel", Moffatt.
      elpida mh econteV (ecw) "without hope" - not having hope. In the sense of eternal hope.
      aqeoi (oV) "without God" - godless, atheist. The Gentiles had no relationship with God.

v13
      oiJ pote onteV makran egenhqhte egguV "who once were far away have been brought near" - the ones then being far off became near. Paul describes the Gentiles as "far away". He probably means "far away" from God - without free access into the presence of God. It was common for Jews to see Gentiles in this condition. A Gentile came near to God by becoming a proselyte, but Paul declares that now Gentiles come near to God through the sacrifice of Christ. "But now, through the blood of Christ (the sacrifice of Christ), you who were once outside the pale are with us inside the circle of God's love in Christ Jesus", Phillips.

v14
      h eirhnh (h) "peace" - For he himself, that is Christ, is our peace. Christ achieves reconciliation between rebellious humanity and God through the cross.
      oJ poihsaV ta amfotera eJn "who made the two one" - he who having made both one. The true Israel, the true family of God, the true covenant community, was always a remnant people. In the end, this faithful remnant was Christ himself. He was the true Israel. From the visible people of Israel and from the Gentile world, those who believe in Christ become part of the true Israel and thus, the inheritors of the promised blessings. The church, the "body of Christ", the "new Israel", is not some new organism, but is actually the realization of the promised new covenant community of Israel. "Made both Jew and Gentile into one", Barclay.
      to mesotoicon tou fragmou lusaV "has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall [of hostility]" - the dividing/middle wall, the fence having loosed, broken. The phrase may refer to Christ's breaking down of the barrier between humanity and God, namely sin, or Jew and Gentile, namely the law. Although many commentators find the notion difficult, Paul does define the "wall" in the next phrase as the law. "He has destroyed the fence's dividing wall", Barclay.
      en th/ sarki autou "in his flesh" - in the flesh of him. In Christ's death

v15
      ton nomon twn entolwn en dogmasin "the law with its commandments and regulations" - [nullifying] the law of commandments in (the sphere of its) ordinances. Note the grammar: the preposition "in", untranslated in the NIV, is probably taking a spherical sense. As for the "dividing wall of hostility" which separated the Jews and the Gentiles, this Paul identifies as concerning "the law with its commandments and regulations." This law Christ abolished in his "flesh". The law abolished by Christ is certainly not the revelation of the mind of God - the revelation of righteousness. The moral law always remains a guide to the life of faith and all believers look to the indwelling Spirit of Christ to realize it (always imperfectly due to the sinful flesh) in their lives day by day. The law Paul is speaking of here is the covenantal aspect of the law of Moses which carries with it the curse of death - and still does! The covenantal law links blessing with the maintenance of right-standing (righteousness) before God and the reality is that this cannot be achieved by an effort of the will. The problem faced by Paul was that many Jewish believers ("judaizers", members of "the circumcision party") believed that not only was law-obedience possible and that the sacrificial system could cover their occasional failure, but that it could advance their righteousness (make holy, sanctify). This heresy is known as nomism and was rife in the New Testament church. Yet, the law cannot be obeyed because of human sinfulness, a state we possess until death. Sinfulness will always prompt rebellion and thus invoke the curse of death. The purpose of the covenantal law is to expose sinfulness and thus, the need for a saviour. Christ abolished this law by fulfilling it in his own person. He served as the faithful Israelite, following the way set out for him in complete obedience. Thus, as the righteous Israelite he received the promised blessings of the covenant. Those who associate with Christ ("in Christ"), those who believe in him, eternally share his righteousness and therefore share the reward, namely "peace" with God. This they do apart from the law of Moses. So, the covenantal law, a culturally distinct law that divided Jew from Gentile (eg. food regulations, cultic observance, circumcision, .... as well as the moral law), no longer plays a part in a person's standing before the living God and therefore, no longer promotes a barrier of division between Jew and Gentile. Eternal participation in the family of God, for both Jew (first) and Gentile, is by grace through faith and not by works of the law.
      eJna kainon anqrwpon "one new man" - Paul calls the family of believers "one new man." Christ creates this entity "in himself". Faith in Christ produces identification with Christ and thus in Christ a believer becomes a child of God, a member of the covenant community, a true Israelite, a member of the church and of Christ's body.
      eirhnhn (h) "peace" The theological "peace" which Christ gains, is primarily a peace with God - reconciliation with God through the cross of Christ. Both Jew and Gentile gain peace with God through faith in Christ. Here though the peace is between Jewish belivers and Gentile believers, such that in Christ both find "peace" with each other, for the two are now one in Christ.

v16
      apokatallaxh/ (apokatalassw) aor. subj. "to reconcile" - might turn hostility into friendship. The prefixed preposition serves to intensify the word rather than change its root meaning. Up till this point Paul's focus has been on the enmity between Jew and Gentile believers, caused primarily by the Law of Moses. Now he turns to the theological substance of enmity, namely enmity between God and humanity. Christ reconciles us to God, he turns hostility into friendship, and in so doing, deals with the enmity between Jew and Gentile. "He also made peace between us and God", CEV.
      apokteinaV (apokteinw) "put to death [their hostility]" - finishing off their hostility. "By this act made utterly irrelevant the antagonism between them", Phillips.

v17
      euhggelisato (euhggelizomai) aor. "preached" - relate an important message. Having come, Jesus preached peace to those far off and to those near. The obvious question is when did Jesus do this preaching? Some argue during his ministry, but when did he preach to Gentiles during his ministry? Was it during some post resurrection appearance? There are those who argue that this preaching is still future. Of course, those who are far off, from a Jewish perspective, are the Jews of the dispersion. Yet again, when did Jesus preach to them? It is most likely that the preaching is the Spirit empowered gospel proclaimed by the apostles and all those who follow in their footsteps.