by abolishing in His flesh the law of commandments and decrees. He did this to create in Himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace
Parallel translations
- WEB having 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;
- KJV Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
- NKJV having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace,
- NASB by abolishing in His flesh the hostility, which is the Law composed of commandments expressed in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two one new person, in this way establishing peace;
- NLT 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.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
By his death Christ abolished the dividing law of commandments, creating one new humanity. It shows how the cross makes Jew and Gentile into one new people.
Overview
Christ 'abolished in his flesh' the law of commandments that separated Jew from Gentile, not by discarding God's moral will but by ending the ceremonial regulations that walled off the nations. His purpose was to 'create in himself one new man of the two, making peace.' This 'one new man' is the church, a fresh humanity reconciled in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Col 2:14having canceled the debt ascribed to us in the decrees that stood against us. He took it away, nailing it to the cross!
- Gal 3:10All who rely on works of the law are under a curse. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”
- Col 1:21–22Once you were alienated from God and were hostile in your minds, engaging in evil deeds.
- Col 2:20If you have died with Christ to the spiritual forces of the world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its regulations:
- Gal 3:28There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
- Gal 6:15For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything. What counts is a new creation.
- Col 3:10and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
- Heb 8:13By speaking of a new covenant, He has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.
- Eph 4:16From Him the whole body, fitted and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love through the work of each individual part.
- 2 Cor 5:17Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!
- Heb 10:1–10For the law is only a shadow of the good things to come, not the realities themselves. It can never, by the same sacrifices offered year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship.
- Heb 7:16one who has become a priest not by a law of succession, but by the power of an indestructible life.
- Heb 9:9–10It is an illustration for the present time, because the gifts and sacrifices being offered were unable to cleanse the conscience of the worshiper.
- Heb 10:19–22Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus,
- Heb 9:23So it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Every spiritual blessing is 'in Christ,' the head over all things for the church, in whom Jew and Gentile are made one new man by his blood.
How Ephesians 2:15 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.