Question 1

In vv.13–18, what changes from “once” to “now,” and what means does the passage name for that change?

Accepted Answer

The passage moves from distance to nearness: people who “once were far off” are “made near” (v.13). The text explicitly names the means as “in the blood of Christ,” pointing to Christ’s death as the decisive turning point. The rest of the unit keeps explaining what that nearness includes: Christ becomes “our peace,” the separation between “both” groups is removed, hostility is ended through the cross, and both share access to the Father in one Spirit (vv.14–18). So the “now” is not just a new feeling of belonging; it is a changed relationship to God and to the other group.

Question 2

What does the passage say Christ does to “both” groups, and how does it describe the outcome?

Accepted Answer

The repeated “both” language emphasizes two previously separated groups. Christ “made both one” (v.14), “create[s]…one new man of the two” (v.15), and “reconcile[s] them both…to God in one body” (v.16). The outcome is described with unity and peace vocabulary: the dividing barrier is broken down, hostility is killed, peace is made, and both share the same access to the Father (vv.14–18). The text’s own storyline is that unity is created through Christ’s death and results in a single shared community before God.

Question 3

How are “peace” and “hostility” related in this passage, and what ends the hostility?

Accepted Answer

“Peace” is not only an idea here; it is tied to concrete conflict. Christ is called “our peace” (v.14), and the opposite is “hostility” that exists between the two groups (vv.14–16). The passage says hostility is ended by Christ’s death: it is “abolished in the flesh” (v.15) and “killed” through the cross (v.16). Peace then appears as the result: Christ “making peace” by creating one new shared humanity and reconciling both to God. The text frames peace as something achieved, not assumed.

Question 4

What does v.15 claim is abolished, and what purpose does the passage give for that abolition?

Accepted Answer

Verse 15 connects the dividing conflict to “the law of commandments contained in ordinances” and says Christ abolished it “in the flesh,” alongside abolishing “the hostility.” Whatever the exact scope of that phrase, the verse supplies a purpose clause: “that he might create in himself one new man of the two, making peace.” So the stated aim is creation of a unified new reality out of two groups. The following verse continues the purpose: reconciliation of both to God “in one body” through the cross (v.16).

Question 5

How does v.16 connect reconciliation between groups with reconciliation to God?

Accepted Answer

Verse 16 does not treat these as separate projects. It says Christ’s goal is to “reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross.” The reconciliation is simultaneously (1) “them both” (two groups brought together) and (2) “to God” (restored relationship with God). The phrase “in one body” shows the reconciliation happens in a shared, unified corporate reality rather than in parallel tracks. The verse ends by saying hostility is killed “thereby,” tying the end of inter-group hostility to the same cross that reconciles them to God.

Question 6

What does v.18 say about access to God, and how is that access structured in the verse?

Accepted Answer

Verse 18 states that “through him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.” The claim is shared access: “we both” approach God on the same basis, not by separate routes. The structure is also layered: access is “through” Christ, “in” one Spirit, “to” the Father. That makes Christ the mediator, the Spirit the shared sphere or enabling reality, and the Father the destination of access. In the flow of vv.13–18, this shared access is presented as a result of the peace and reconciliation Christ accomplished.

Question 7

In vv.17–18, what is the relationship between Christ’s “preaching peace” and the shared access “through him”?

Accepted Answer

The passage says Christ “came and preached peace” to those “far off” and those “near” (v.17), stressing equal address to both groups. Then v.18 summarizes the result: “through him we both have our access.” The relationship is that the peace announced in v.17 corresponds to the peace accomplished in vv.14–16 and is expressed practically as shared access to the Father (v.18). Whether “came and preached” is understood as Jesus’ earthly ministry or as his message carried out after his death and resurrection, the text uses it to underline that both groups receive the same peace and the same access.

Ephesians 2:13-18

Scripture