BROUGHT NEAR

"But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ"(Ephesians 2:13)

These words are a continuation of the statement which begins at verse 11. The apostle Paul wants us to realize that our salvation is so great, nothing less than the power of God himself could have accomplished it. The power that makes us Christians is the same power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule, power and dominion (Eph.1:19-21). Paul wants us to know “The exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe” (Eph.1:19), so he prays that the eyes of our understanding would be enlightened. There are two things that are essential if we are to understand the greatness of our salvation:
1. The realization of our condition apart from it.
2. The realization of our condition as the result of it.

Man’s condition apart from salvation— “Without Christ, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in this world” (Eph.2:12). What’s amazing is not that there are so many who are not Christians, the amazing thing is that anybody is a Christian! Here are the two extremes that everyone who is a Christian has found themselves: First— outside of Christ and second— in Christ. In verse 13 Paul first gives the negative and then he shows the positive. He did the same thing in the first 10 verses of Ephesians chapter 2. We were dead in transgressions and sins, by nature objects of wrath and then made alive in Christ, raised up in Christ and seated in heavenly places. When I find people who are unhappy with their salvation, who have no assurance and no joy in their Christian life it’s due to one of two things or both together.
1. People are in this condition because they have never been convicted of sin, they have never seen their hopeless condition and are still outside of Christ.
2. The 2nd possibility is that they are really in Christ but have never been taught or understood their true position in Christ, or seen all that Christ has accomplished for them.

Paul always starts with a negative. In Acts 20:17-35 Paul had called the elders of the Ephesian church together and told them that he had kept nothing back from them but had taught both Jesus and Greeks alike “Repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (20:21). Paul never told people to come to Christ first and then repent. He always preached repentance first. This is what you were, this is what you are. Only when you understand the negative does the positive make sense. Ask yourself a simple question: “Do you realize the greatness of your salvation?”, “Are you rejoicing in your salvation?”, “Are you boasting in the fact that at this moment you are a Christian above anything else in your life?”. This is what Paul was saying in Galatians 6:14, “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ”. If you really see this you know nothing compares to it. Here is the Gospel in a sentence— “But now in Christ Jesus you who were once far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ”. There are three things we will look at in this verse:
1. The contrast between what we were and what we are.
2. What we are now as Christians.
3. How we have become what we are.