Ephesians 2:1-22
1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,
2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,
3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
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.
14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,
15 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,
16 and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.
17 And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near.
18 For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.
19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,
20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,
21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,
22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
The completed work of the cross has preceded us, while its completed purpose reaches far past us into eternity. This work takes what is incapable of fellowship with God in the flesh and totally removes its offending nature, enabling its participation in a building that will forever be the dwelling place of the Most Holy. It is a dramatic triumph of spirit over flesh, where the life that has its unity with Him overwhelms the whims of the life that cannot know Him. It’s in Christ’s death in the flesh that there was the removal of its ability to influence in any way, whether with condemnation or righteousness.
As great as this triumph is, it is yet in need of our joining Him in its effect upon our flesh. To be our part in that building for His presence, there must be a following of Christ by the Spirit along the path that no longer is moved by the whiney demands of the flesh. Equally essential, however, is that there can be no reliance on the flesh as the reason for any step taken in that following. The same grace that removed the power of the flesh to condemn also removed its power to attain. The only victor that can remain standing in a qualified part of His temple is new life in the spirit. The flesh must die altogether, not just in its ability to qualify as some would contend, but also in its ability to affect transgression. His purpose that is unending isn’t just deliverance from the consequences of a fallen nature, but deliverance to a risen one of good works that glorify Him. Unity with Christ and His body comes with total separation from the flesh, and this is an ongoing development as we are continually being filled by the triumphing Spirit. Every embrace of His presence in eternal life is death to a flesh influence in any way. It’s only function now – service.