Ephesians 2:15Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

O how great is His love for mankind! What does "abolished in ordinances" mean? The Apostle makes a great distinction between commandment, entole, and ordinances, dogmata. By ordinances he here means either faith, because we are saved only by faith, or divine decrees, like those Christ uttered: "For truly I say to you": do not be angry at all (Mt 5:12).

This means: if you believe that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. And again: "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (Rom 10:8). "Do not say in your heart: Who will ascend into heaven? Or who will descend into the abyss?" that is, to bring Christ up from the dead (Rom 10:6-7).

In place of life He introduced faith, so that the work of salvation should not be in vain. He Himself accepted the punishment, and from them He requires faith in the dogmas.

"That He might create in Himself one new man from the two" (v. 15). Do you see? The Gentile did not become a Jew. Rather, both came into a new state. He did not abolish the law in order to transform one into the other, but in order to recreate both.

The Apostle uses the word create well. He did not say change, in order to show the special power of this action. He also wished to show that, although this creation took place visibly, it was no less than the first creation. Finally, he shows that we must not turn away from natural realities.

"That from the two," he says, "He might create in Himself," that is, through Himself. He did not entrust it to someone else. By Himself, as though first melting both the Greek and the Jew, He created one wondrous man, the Christian. He Himself became the first creation of this kind, which is far higher than the former creation.

"In Himself" may also mean that He first presented to us the model and example of the new creature. Occupying the middle Himself, He draws the Jew with one hand and the Greek with the other. Having mingled them and destroyed everything that alienated them from one another, He transformed them from above by fire and water, not by water and earth, but by water and fire.

He transformed both the Jew, who was circumcised and under the curse, and the Greek, who was outside the law, into "one new man" higher than both Jew and Greek.

"Making peace" means peace both with God and with one another. If the Jews had remained Jews and the Greeks Greeks, they would never have united with one another. Without leaving his own position, how could each of them come into a better state?

The Jew draws near to the Greek only when he becomes a believer. It is as if two people occupy two separate dwellings below, but above have one common, beautiful, and spacious dwelling. They cannot see one another until they go up above.

"Making peace" means chiefly with God, as is clear from what follows.

"And the law of commandments in teaching." Lest someone say, "What then? Having been freed from the former transgression of the law, are we again forced to keep it?" he says that He abolished it too.

He had given us the law to establish us. Yet instead of punishing us when we did not keep it, He entirely abolished the law. It is like someone who entrusts a child to a tutor, but when the child disobeys, takes him away from the tutor.

He calls it the law of commandments because it ordered the manner of life. He calls faith "teaching" because it is established through teaching, or dogmas. Thus the Apostle says, as it were: instead of life, He introduced faith.

For we received justification not as a result of commandments determining that we do this or that, but because "if you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth, you will be saved" (cf. Rom 10:9).

Or else he calls the Lord's prohibitive commandments "teaching," namely, "But I say to you, do not swear at all" (Mt 5:34), or not to be angry, and the like.

"That He might create in Himself one new man from the two." He did not make the Greek a Jew, but raised both to a better condition. He did not say "change," but "create," in order to express his thought more forcefully.

He also shows thereby that we must not depart from natural works. "In Himself" (έν έαυτω) is said either instead of "through Himself" (δι έαυτου), because no one else did this, but He Himself.

As though melting the Jew and the Gentile together, He created one new and wondrous man. Or it means that He Himself first presented the pattern and example.

He Himself appeared beforehand as that which He made those others, the Greeks and Jews, to be. He stood in the midst between both, holding the Greek on one side and the Jew on the other.

He mixed them, removed everything hostile, and supernaturally re-created them through fire and water.

Therefore, in the human nature which He assumed, the nature common to both Gentile and Jew and assumed for the sake of both, He created the two into one new man. This nature was freed from all corruption and oldness.

He created a new man free from the decay of sin and from unrighteousness. Neither one nor the other is now characterized by his own qualities. Both are characterized by the property of the one man created according to the image of Christ.

You will understand these words still better if you mentally picture the Lord as the cornerstone, and these two as walls built upon Him.

"Making peace." This means peace in relation to one another, for the Jew draws near to the Gentile when he becomes a believer. But it especially means peace with God, which is more important, as he shows below.

After long preparation, He offered His death as an equal recompense for our offense. By that death, through which He died on the Cross for the glory of the Father, He more than repaid the honor before which we stood guilty by our sins.

By His life He rendered every honor, both that with which He Himself ought to have been honored and that with which the Father ought to have been honored.

The Lord of the Sabbath removed the observance of the bodily Sabbath, as though taking away the middle wall of the law. Because of the weight of its ordinances, it had become an obstacle for us on the path to piety according to God.

141. Who are these two, if not the outer and inner man? Compare 2 Cor 4:16. One expression refers to the power of the soul, the other to the bodily senses.

They agree with each other in one striving when the flesh, submitting to what is better, obeys the saving commands. This does not mean that the flesh becomes like the nature of the soul by receiving its subtle constitution into itself.

Rather, being delivered from pleasures and the filth of vices, the flesh enters the path of spiritual transformation with a sense of obedience. It no longer resists, as before, the law of the Spirit.

Freed by the law of the Spirit and the Spirit of life from the law of sin (cf. Rom 7:23; Rom 8:2), the flesh becomes part of the soul, a fellow-striver and servant of virtue, and not a harbor of vices.

This is not legislation, but a work of voluntary choice. He legislates what He inscribed in our nature at the very beginning, when He created it.

"That He might create both in Himself into one new man, making peace; and might reconcile both to God in one body through the Cross, killing the enmity on it." He killed the enmity on the Cross by offering the undefiled sacrifice.

He reconciled both, that is, those who believed from among the Gentiles and from among the Jews, in the one body offered for all, so that they might form one body.

The Apostle called all believers one man because all have one Head, the Master Christ, while those counted worthy of salvation form the body.

"Having abolished the law of commandments in teaching." The law of the commandment is "You shall not kill" (Ex 20:15), and so forth. Whoever has naturally hastened toward the practice of the commandment and understands its meaning knows what is fitting.

One must refrain not only from bodily murder, but from every passion that harms human nature. Envy, slander, and in general all passions are destructive for our nature.

When the Lord appeared, He abolished, that is, put an end to, the law by teaching. He said: "It was said to those of old, 'You shall not kill.' But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without cause shall be liable to judgment" (Mt 5:21-22).

The Lord not only taught this, but also manifested it in deed (cf. Mt 5:19). He also abolished the sacrifices prescribed by the Law, teaching us to perceive them spiritually.

More precisely, He put an end to many of them, showing that they are images of His mystery.

By commanding these, the Law of Moses became hard to bear, as the blessed Peter testifies. Christ abolished what caused enmity between Jews and Gentiles, not the commandments of God, which are eternal.

He abolished these things by teachings, that is, by Gospel teachings. He replaced bodily circumcision with divine Baptism, animal sacrifice with the bloodless sacred rite, the typological priesthood with priestly authority in grace, and the prefigurative rites with true worship in the Spirit.

Hear also for what purpose the God-man was pleased to destroy this enmity and unite two separated races into one race.

Verses 15-16: "That He might create both in Himself into one new man, making peace. And that He might reconcile both to God in one body through the Cross, killing the enmity on it."

Who is this new man? It is the human nature of Jesus Christ, formed from the most pure blood of the Ever-Virgin Mary, just as Adam's nature came from the pure dust of the earth.

"The first man was of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven" (1 Cor 15:47). As in the first man, Adam, the whole human race was contemplated bodily, so in the new Adam, Jesus Christ, all men are contemplated spiritually.

The first is called old because he was created at the beginning of the world. He is corruptible because he was corrupted by sin, and he corrupts those who live according to his image.

The second is called new because He was born "when the fullness of time had come" (Gal 4:4). He is created according to God because He is wholly divine and heavenly, and He makes those who live according to His image such as He is.

Christ spiritually united the "two" in His own human nature, that is, the Jewish and Gentile peoples, making one body, the Church. Therefore the divinely speaking Paul said: "There is neither Jew nor Greek; there is neither slave nor free; there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Gal 3:28).

"You are the body of Christ, and members individually" (1 Cor 12:27). Christ, he says, destroyed the enmity between these two opposing peoples and reconciled them, "that He might create both in Himself."

That is, by His assumed flesh He re-created these two peoples and made them one new man, wholly divine and heavenly. "And in one body through the Cross" means that by His one body, hung upon the Cross, He reconciled and joined them in friendship with God.

"Killing the enmity on it" means that by the sacrifice on the Cross of His most pure Body, He destroyed that enmity between God and men which had arisen from sin.

For by the deeds of His earthly life He accomplished the redemption of the whole human race, and thereby laid the foundation for universal reconciliation. His body, or humanity, was offered as a sacrifice to God for the sins of the whole world.

This was for the reconciliation of Jews and Gentiles with God. Paul writes: "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have become near by the blood of Christ" (Eph 2:13).

That is, "now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far away have become near by the blood of Christ." Through faith in Christ, by the power of His redeeming blood, the Ephesians became near to God and near to Christians from the Jews.

The law of commandments, or the law of rites, which were a shadow of the good things to come (Heb 10:1), Jesus Christ replaced with His teaching. This means the teaching concerning salvation through faith in Him, the Savior of the world.

In another epistle St. Paul speaks about the ceremonial law thus: "The law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor" (Gal 3:24-25).

"That He might create both in Himself into one new man, making peace." Jesus Christ ended the cause of enmity and replaced the ceremonial law with the Gospel teaching of salvation through faith in Him.

He did this "that in Himself He might create from the two one new man, making peace." Through faith in Jesus Christ, by the power of His redeeming merits, all who believe in Him become as one new man.

He is the Head of the body, the Church (Col 1:18). All who believe in Him are members of one body. "We, being many, are one body; for we all partake of the one bread" (1 Cor 10:17).

As the old man, earthy and of dust, came from the ancient Adam of dust, so from the new Adam, the Lord from heaven, comes the new man, spiritual (1 Cor 15:47).

Putting on the image of the heavenly Man, the Lord Jesus (1 Cor 15:49), all, Jews and Gentiles, become members of one holy family and sons of God.

"For you are all sons of God," writes the Apostle, "through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek; there is neither slave nor free; there is neither male nor female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Gal 3:26-28).

This nearness among believers in Jesus Christ establishes such peace that each one, led by the Spirit of Christ, looks upon his neighbors, whatever their origin, Jew or Gentile, as members of one body with himself.

He loves them, according to the Lord's commandment, as himself.

At the same time, of course, the moral commandments were only changed, elevated, and spiritualized, as the Savior taught, in accordance with the spirit of the New Testament.

"In decrees" (ε̉ν δογμασιν) refers to the Law, meaning in ordinances. It does not indicate the means by which the abolition of the Law was accomplished.

By offering His flesh as a sacrifice, Jesus Christ destroyed the enmity, the national and religious hatred, that divided Jews and Gentiles. He also abolished the Law of commandments set forth in definite ordinances, and united all into one body (Col 2:14).

Some, however, suppose that the word "in teachings" refers to the teachings of the New Testament, by which Jesus Christ replaced the commandments of the Old Testament. This is true only to a certain degree.

For the reconciliation of men with God, and then with one another, was accomplished, as the Apostle says further on, by the death on the Cross of the God-man, and not by His teaching alone.

But after abolishing or destroying one thing, the Lord introduced another in its place. "Having abolished the law of commandments in teachings," He replaced the outward order of pleasing God with one that is noetic and spiritual, carried out in mind and heart. It can be fulfilled, and must be fulfilled, at every time and in every place.

The law of commandments said, "You observe days and seasons and years" (Gal 4:10), or, "Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle" (Col 2:21), and the like. It consisted of the whole collection of prescriptions that defined every entrance and exit in Israel's life, at home, in the temple, and in society. Yet all this was outward. It was fulfilled bodily through material elements.

The Lord abolished this law of commandments "in teachings," en dogmasin. He does not require elemental worship or outward order. He legislated that one present to God, as a sacrifice, a God-pleasing order of inner life, composed of thoughts, feelings, and dispositions. This new law of life in Christ Jesus is wholly contained in one word: only believe, and you will be saved.

It comes with this explanation: let your faith be aided by love (Gal 5:6), by love in which the fulfillment of the Law is found. This is the dogma, the essence of life in Christ Jesus. Faith is a noetic work, and so is love. No outward condition of any kind can shake this spiritual worship. This is worshiping God in spirit and truth.

The Gentiles too had their own outward religious order. They also had to abandon it, and they did abandon it, when they came to the Lord with faith. Thus everything outward was abandoned by both Jews and Gentiles. Then both accepted the same order of inner life.

Within, they were joined by one mind, one feeling, and one moral character. There a firm peace was established between them. In this same reality they both received new foundations of life, having been fused into one. Thus the new spirit of life in Christ Jesus, penetrating both alike, made peace and built both into one new man, or a new humanity, whose founder and head is Christ the Lord.

[...] "The enmity in His flesh." "Before the Incarnation, there was great enmity between circumcision and uncircumcision. But now we have been reconciled, having become one by faith. We are no longer characterized by circumcision and uncircumcision, but we have one distinguishing mark: faith" (Theophylact).

Saint Chrysostom and other Eastern Fathers understand here the enmity toward God which sin raises up. Blessed Photius, in Oecumenius, understands two enmities. One was between Jews and Gentiles, and the other was in both toward God because of sinfulness. "Christ our God destroyed both," he says.

But here it is more direct to understand the first, though the second may also be inferred in this way. The division between Jews and Gentiles was destroyed by the abolition of the Law. The Law was abolished because Christ, by His blood, reconciled us to God.

"Having abolished the law of commandments in teachings." "He replaced the legal prescriptions with dogmas. Circumcision, the Sabbath, Pascha, Pentecost, and the command not to appear before the Lord empty, He taught us to understand more highly than the sound of the words suggests. Departing from the letter that kills, He taught us to follow the Life-giving Spirit" (Blessed Jerome).

"That is, He abolished the Law that had been given to the Jews concerning the keeping of circumcision, new moons, sacrifices, and the Sabbath, because it served only as a burden. By this He introduced peace between Jews and Gentiles. Therefore the Apostle Peter said in Acts, 'Why do you place a yoke on the necks of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?' (Acts 15:10)" (Ambrosiaster).

"O what love for mankind! He gave us the Law so that we might keep it. Then, when we did not keep it and had to be punished for this, He also abolished the Law. This resembles someone who entrusted his child to a tutor, then noticed that the child did not obey the guardian, and released him from the tutor. God showed great love for mankind in this.

"What, then, does 'having abolished in teachings' mean? The Apostle makes a great distinction between commandment, entole, and teaching, dogmata. Here he calls faith a teaching, because we are saved by faith alone. This means that if you believe that Jesus Christ rose from the dead, you will be saved.

"And again: 'The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart.' 'Do not say, Who will ascend into heaven?' or 'Who will descend into the abyss?' or 'Who will bring Christ up from the dead?' (Rom 10:6-8). Instead of works, He introduced faith, so that the work of salvation might not be in vain. He Himself accepted the punishment, and from us He requires faith in the dogmas" (Saint Chrysostom).

"That He might create the two in Himself into one new man, making peace." "Do you see? The Gentile did not become a Jew, but both came into a new condition. He abolished the Law not in order to transform one into the other, but in order to recreate both. The Apostle fittingly uses the word 'create.' He did not say 'change,' so as to show the special power of this action.

"He also shows that although this creation was accomplished invisibly, it is no less than the first creation. He shows as well that, with such manifest proofs, it was no longer possible to remain unbelieving. 'That He might create both,' he says, 'in Himself,' that is, through Himself. He did not send someone else, but did it Himself.

"Having first, as it were, melted down both, that is, the Greek and the Jew, He created one wondrous man, namely, the Christian. He Himself became the first creation of this kind, a creation far higher than the first creation. 'In Himself' may also mean that He first presented to us the image and example of the new creature.

"Taking His place in the middle, He draws the Jew with one hand and the Greek with the other. Having mingled them, and having destroyed everything that alienated them from one another, He transformed them from above. He transformed both the Jew, who was circumcised and under the curse, and the Greek, who was outside the Law, into one new man, higher than both Jew and Greek.

"He made peace both in relation to God and in relation to one another. If Jews remained Jews and Greeks remained Greeks, they would never have been united with one another. Without leaving his own condition, how could each come to a better state? The Jew draws near to the Greek only when he becomes faithful.

"This resembles two men who occupy two separate rooms below, but have above one common, beautiful, and spacious chamber. They cannot see one another until they go up" (Saint Chrysostom).

He calls the new man the one who is renewed every day and is to have his dwelling in the new world, when there will be a new heaven and a new earth (Is 65:17). He is to drink the new cup of Jesus in the kingdom of God (Mk 14:25) and sing a new song (Ps 32:3; Ps 97:1).

The beginning of renewal is laid here. Perfect and complete renewal will follow in the age to come. As here we see in a mirror, in a riddle, but there we shall see face to face (1 Cor 13), so the creation of the new man will appear full and perfect when heaven and earth are joined (Blessed Jerome).