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that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.(A) For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God;(B) it is not from works, so no one may boast.(C) 10 For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God has prepared in advance, that we should live in them.(D)

One in Christ.[a] 11 Therefore, remember that at one time you, Gentiles in the flesh, called the uncircumcision by those called the circumcision, which is done in the flesh by human hands, 12 were at that time without Christ, alienated from the community of Israel[b] and strangers to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world.(E) 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have become near by the blood of Christ.(F)

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Footnotes

  1. 2:11–22 The Gentiles lacked Israel’s messianic expectation, lacked the various covenants God made with Israel, lacked hope of salvation and knowledge of the true God (Eph 2:11–12); but through Christ all these religious barriers between Jew and Gentile have been transcended (Eph 2:13–14) by the abolition of the Mosaic covenant-law (Eph 2:15) for the sake of uniting Jew and Gentile into a single religious community (Eph 2:15–16), imbued with the same holy Spirit and worshiping the same Father (Eph 2:18). The Gentiles are now included in God’s household (Eph 2:19) as it arises upon the foundation of apostles assisted by those endowed with the prophetic gift (Eph 3:5), the preachers of Christ (Eph 2:20; cf. 1 Cor 12:28). With Christ as the capstone (Eph 2:20; cf. Is 28:16; Mt 21:42), they are being built into the holy temple of God’s people where the divine presence dwells (Eph 2:21–22).
  2. 2:12 The community of Israel: or “commonwealth”; cf. Eph 4:18. The covenants: cf. Rom 9:4: with Abraham, with Moses, with David.

24 They are justified freely by his grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus,(A)

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14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.(A)

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20 and through him to reconcile all things for him,
    making peace by the blood of his cross[a]
    [through him], whether those on earth or those in heaven.(A)

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Footnotes

  1. 1:20 The blood of his cross: the most specific reference in the hymn to redemption through Christ’s death, a central theme in Paul; cf. Col 2:14–15; 1 Cor 1:17, 18, 23. [Through him]: the phrase, lacking in some manuscripts, seems superfluous but parallels the reference to reconciliation through Christ earlier in the verse.