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,
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;
- BSB 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
- 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 2:14wiping out the handwriting in ordinances which was against us; and he has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross;
- Gal 3:10For as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse. For it is written, “Cursed is everyone who doesn’t continue in all things that are written in the book of the law, to do them.”
- Col 1:21–22You, being in past times alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil deeds,
- Col 2:20If you died with Christ from the elements of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to ordinances,
- Gal 3:28There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
- Gal 6:15For in Christ Jesus neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.
- Col 3:10and have put on the new man, who is being renewed in knowledge after the image of his Creator,
- Heb 8:13In that he says, “A new covenant”, he has made the first old. But that which is becoming old and grows aged is near to vanishing away.
- Eph 4:16from whom all the body, being fitted and knit together through that which every joint supplies, according to the working in measure of each individual part, makes the body increase to the building up of itself in love.
- 2 Cor 5:17Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new.
- Heb 10:1–10For the law, having a shadow of the good to come, not the very image of the things, can never with the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make perfect those who draw near.
- Heb 7:16who has been made, not after the law of a fleshly commandment, but after the power of an endless life:
- Heb 9:9–10which is a symbol of the present age, where gifts and sacrifices are offered that are incapable, concerning the conscience, of making the worshiper perfect;
- Heb 10:19–22Having therefore, brothers, boldness to enter into the holy place by the blood of Jesus,
- Heb 9:23It was necessary therefore that the copies of the things in the heavens should be cleansed with these; 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.