Category Archives: Ephesians

Frederic, me, and our surprising connection

Ephesians, Ephesians 2, Genocide, Rwanda, Tribal violence, Violence, violence and Christianity, WW2 Germany

It was the afternoon of Good Friday, April 15, 2022. Frederic and I were seated in a small home in Reconciliation Village, Nyamata, Rwanda. It was storytelling time. We gathered closely around a small coffee table—with four other villagers, Lillian from Africa New Life, and my colleague Kristin. 

We had just listened to three stories. Two stories were from Hutu men who were part of the 1994 Genocide as perpetrators. One story was from Jacqueline. She was 17 years old when the Genocide occurred. 

Jacqueline had been out in the field tending the family cows. When she returned to her house in Nyamata, she found the Hutu mob had killed her entire Tutsi family of eleven. 

More than 10,000 other Tutsi had fled to the local church property in Nyamata for shelter and safety. They also were brutally murdered—with guns, machetes, clubs, grenades. (We visited this Nyamata Church Genocide Memorial on that Friday morning. Horrifying.)

Jacqueline fled into the forest and survived. 

Frederic’s story

Also sharing their story was Frederic, a Hutu. “I was one of the perpetrators,” he said to us plainly. Frederic was arrested by the new government and imprisoned like thousands of other young Hutu men after the Genocide. (Frederick did not go into any detail about the crimes or atrocities he may have committed.)

While in prison, Frederic heard the preaching of many pastors. “Confess your crimes, and seek forgiveness. God will forgive all your sins.” Many prisoners could not believe it. They were afraid that Tutsi would kill them in revenge—at first while in prison and later upon being released.

Frederic became honest about his crimes of violence. His honesty and humility had been a step toward freedom. Rwanda’s new government had created a policy to reward honest confession; as a result, many were allowed to return to their Rwandan homelands. Frederic went back to his home area.

I asked, “You who were the perpetrators, do you ever look back and think of yourselves as victims?” They said, “Yes, in part, we are also victims. It is because we had bad leadership. Every day, we were told lies about the Tutsi that they were cockroaches, not real humans, that they should die.”  

I wondered aloud, “If I had been in your community with all the propaganda every day about the so-called enemies in your land to attack them and kill them, would I have done differently or done the same as you?” 

After the Genocide, the new Rwandan government welcomed back tens of thousands of Rwandans living in other nations. Thousands came back from Uganda, Congo, and Tanzania—ready to help rebuild their country, Rwanda. But this created a big problem. A massive number of displaced peoples had nowhere to live. 

An idea is born: Village of Reconciliation

The US-based ministry Prison Fellowship, which had an office in Rwanda, funded the development of a “village of reconciliation.” The idea was to bring together both victims and perpetrators in a real-life, living-together kind of reconciliation in the same community. It was an experiment in restorative justice. The experiment has proven successful.

Frederic told us, “Because I had been honest about being a perpetrator, the officials asked me to be one of the village leaders. So I agreed. We constructed the first homes in the village in 2004. Other men and I helped to make the bricks. We worked together building the homes. Here we are 18 years later. Today, we work together in our gardens to provide food for the community. Our children are living and playing together in peace.” 

After the villagers finished their stories, they concluded: “Two things we want you to remember: First, the Genocide in Rwanda happened, even though some say it did not. And second, true reconciliation is possible; we are proof of that.”

Sharing a bit of my story

Sitting right next to Frederic, I thought it would be good for me to tell a bit of my story. I did not want Frederic to believe I was so different from him. 

I said, “My parents were from Germany. The German government drafted my father into Hitler’s army. Near the end of the war, the Allied Forces captured my father, and he became a prisoner of war for four years in Poland. After he was released, my grandfather took his family with three sons, and they all came to America. My grandfather wanted to go far away from the Russians. My German father and mother married in America, so I was born there.”

My colleague Kristin then asked, “Werner, we see here the openness and honesty of this community; is this openness possibly different from how you grew up? Is their honesty touching you in a way that you did not expect?”

Suddenly, a new topic was on the table in front of us. Open, authentic talking about painful, even shameful things—what does this mean for us?

“Wow. Good question, Kristin,” I replied. As I was growing up, I learned about the Holocaust in Germany in World War 2. I asked my parents about it. They did not want to discuss it. They did not want to talk about the horrors of German people being part of the program to kill 6 million innocent Jews.

I asked the group: “You know there have been genocides in other lands, right?” They nodded, yes.

I spoke about the concentration camp Auschwitz. At Auschwitz, the Germans killed 20,000 people a day through gas chambers and burning. Indeed, Rwanda is not the only land with genocide in its history.

I told our little group that I still had questions about my grandfather’s role in Germany’s brutalities in WW2. He was a businessman who sold fuel. He was trying to survive and feed his family. But what if my grandfather sold gasoline to the German army, which helped them do evil? Was my grandfather complicit?

I also said that my father and one uncle suffered from mental illnesses. Was it because they could not talk honestly or openly about the painful, shameful things they suffered?

Any questions for us?

I said to our little group, “We have asked you questions. Do you have any questions for us?”

Frederic said, “I have a question. You shared about your family and grandfather. Do you still have some pains in your heart about what your grandfather may have done? If so, has this time with us been helpful to you?”

Frederic’s question surprised me. I thanked him for his concern about the possible pains in my heart. “Yes, I have been helped. Your honesty and openness are different from how I grew up with family secrets. You are willing to talk about very painful things in a spirit of forgiveness.”

“For many years, I had like a shadow of shame over the questions about my German family and my father’s mental illness. But in recent years, I have been learning that Jesus does not just forgive our guilt. He also covers our shame.” 

Frederic thanked us. He said I was just the second visitor to their village in 18 years who, after hearing the stories of the victims and perpetrators, also openly shared from his heart.

I felt a strange closeness to Frederic. There was comfort in being together with these men and women in the Village of Reconciliation, Nyamata, Rwanda. I think it was how Frederic and others in the room had been so honest. It was an unusual vulnerability. It felt healthy, like fresh air. If reconciliation is possible here, it is possible anywhere.

I waved my hand across the table in front of us. “We are together sharing in our humanity. We all have struggles. We all need the love of God,” I said.  

The Rwandan woman in whose tiny home we had gathered (she has the green sweater in the photo below) gave a closing prayer. She thanked the Lord for our fellowship. She prayed for us and blessed us in the name of Jesus.

Inside a home in the Village of Reconciliation in Nyamata, with victims and perpetrators of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. Jacqueline, mentioned above as a victim who lost eleven family members, is third from right.
Get an overview of the project here. Support the project here.

Why were we in Rwanda?

We are in Africa on behalf of Mission ONE to conduct research for the Ephesians 2 Gospel Project. Our experiences in Rwanda have been instructive and inspiring.

The Ephesians 2 Gospel Project is about horizontal reconciliation through the cross of Christ. There is a social, horizontal dimension to the gospel of Christ because there is a social, horizontal dimension to the atonement of Christ. The gospel of peace offers reconciliation to groups in conflict (Eph. 2:13–17). 

Rwanda is an important place to learn for the Ephesians 2 Gospel Project for two reasons: 

  1. The 1994 Rwandan genocide by the Hutu against the Tutsi people resulted in 1 million people brutally murdered in 100 days; the church was significantly complicit.
  2. Since 1994, Rwanda has experienced a nationwide movement of reconciliation despite enormous struggles and ongoing trauma. There has been much positive development that would have been impossible without the profound involvement of the church and the reconciling gospel of Jesus Christ.

Final thoughts 

  • On Tuesday, we visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial. It is the final resting place for more than 250,000 victims of the Genocide against the Tutsi. Incredible. Check out the website.
  • Want to support the Ephesians 2 Gospel Project? Donate here.

Ephesians 2 Gospel Project—it’s partially rooted in Germany

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At the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp on August 6, 2015, I took this picture of myself in front of an aerial photo of the center. I did this to acknowledge the shame of human beings (me being of the same species) who committed the atrocities there.

First, some background material:

But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached [the gospel of] peace to you were far off and peace to those who were near.

Ephesians 2:13–17 (ESV)

We launched the Ephesians 2 Gospel Project (E2GP) through my work with Mission ONE in January 2021. The key idea of the Ephesians 2 Gospel Project is this: There is a social and horizontal dimension to the gospel of Christ because there is a social and horizontal dimension to the atonement of Christ (Eph 2:13–17). Our short-term goal is a book. Our desired long-term impact is God’s people drawn into and embodying Christ’s peacemaking work through the gospel.

E2GP is a two-year research project which includes:

  • listening to and learning from the Global Church, including Mission ONE ministry partners,
  • grappling with relevant questions about the gospel, the atonement of Christ, the global mission of the church, and why the church has sometimes been complicit with conflict and violence,
  • reading relevant literature (books and articles) on history, theology, missiology, the social sciences,
  • writing a book (to be co-authored with Kristin Caynor), which is the catalyst for developing other resources for learning and practice,
  • facilitating a fellowship of Christian scholars and practitioners around the world to study and embody the gospel of peace as a solution to collective-identity conflict in the church in their own nations and contexts.

Since last January, Kristin Caynor has been contributing as a research assistant to the Ephesians 2 Gospel Project. Kristin grew up on the mission field; she and her parents serve with a mission organization similar to Mission ONE. Kristin is a qualified researcher. She has a lot of cross-cultural ministry experience, has a passion for helping marginalized peoples in the global church, and is a Ph.D. candidate at Trinity College Bristol/University of Aberdeen. (Check it out: Kristin’s recent lecture on the Ephesians 2 Gospel Project is for the Centre for the Study of Bible and Violence; it is outstanding. You can view the video here.)

About Germany and the Ephesians 2 Gospel Project

I am the son of German immigrant parents. My father was a soldier in Hitler’s army; he was a prisoner of war in Poland for four years. He became mentally ill in my teenage years. I took on a shadow of shame from my father and family.

Concerning WW2 Germany, the juxtaposition of two truths (below) should cause us to shudder.

  1. WW2 Germany and Europe was the location of a massive violence and bloodshed. A central part of this conflict was the Holocaust (or Shoah). It was a deliberate, sustained, unspeakable evil. It was murder on the largest scale committed against the Jews on behalf of the supposed superiority of the German (Aryan) race.
  2. At the time of Hitler’s rule, Germany’s people identified as 97% Christian.

Here’s how Holocaust scholar Robert Ericksen describes this statistic of Germany’s people identifying as 97% Christian.

“When Adolf Hitler came to power, 97 percent of the German population considered itself Christian, with about two-thirds being Protestant and one-third Catholic. Less than 1 percent of Germans were Jewish in 1933, and only a slightly larger percentage registered as pagans or nonbelievers. It is true that the entire 97 percent registered as Christian did not attend church regularly or maintain a vibrant Christian identity. However, all of them agreed to pay the church tax, money they could have saved by the simple act of leaving their church. Furthermore, they received religious education in all German schools, and, of course, many of these 97 percent of the population were fervent Christians active in their faith. Germany in the 1930s almost certainly represented church attendance and a sense of Christian commitment and identity similar to that in America today, for example.”

Robert P. Ericksen, Complicity in the Holocaust: Churches and Universities in Nazi Germany (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012), 9.

In Germany: Centuries of accrued Christian influence from the church, a population that identifies as 97% Christian … and yet, the Holocaust. How does this add up? How can this be?

Missionaries and missions scholars sometimes speak of the “redemptive lift” that comes to a community when the gospel of Jesus is embraced. I believe this.

But what happened in WW2 Germany? Widespread systemic evil and violence occurred in the society, despite the broad sustained influence of Christianity. Could it be that in the rise of Hitler’s Germany, somehow Christianity was complicit with a redemptive fall?

  • Was there a dimension of the gospel de-emphasized, tragically ignored?
  • Was there a cosmic, systemic dimension of sin ignored?
  • Were there forces—social, systemic, cosmic—against which the German peoples’ Christian faith had little or no defense?
  • Did the church in Germany ignore, abuse, or conceal the gospel text of Ephesiasn 2?
  • Is the gospel of peace (Eph 2:13–17; 6:15) about individual, vertical, personal peace-with-God—or something more social, horizontal, and corporate?

We hope to address these questions, among many others, in the Ephesians 2 Gospel Project through a journey together in the Global Church.

What can we learn from the tragic failure of the church in WW2 Germany? How might these lessons apply to nations today that are dealing with collective identity conflict or tribal conflict? What lessons can we learn about the kind of gospel we are preaching and living?

More on the Ephesians 2 Gospel Project will appear here in forthcoming posts from our ongoing research. Subscribe and stay tuned.

Learn more about the Ephesians 2 Gospel Project at Mission ONE’s website / ephesians2.org.

Free webinar this Friday, October 8—“Ephesians 2 Gospel Project—Does the Atonement Speak to Collective Identity Conflict?”

atonement, collective identity, Contextualization, Ephesians, Ephesians, Ephesians 2, Global Christian mission, Gospel of Jesus, sin, theology of sin, , ,

In my ministry with Mission ONE, I am working on a multi-year project called the Ephesians 2 Gospel Project.

Here’s the big idea: There is a social, horizontal dimension to the gospel of Christ because there is a social, horizontal dimension to the atonement of Christ (Eph 2:13–17).

Hindustan Bible Institute & College (HBI) has invited me and researcher Kristin Caynor to introduce the Ephesians 2 Gospel Project through HBI’s monthly webinar series. You are invited to join us! 

  • Date: Friday, October 8, 2021
  • Time: 8:30 a.m. USA Eastern Time / 6:00 p.m. Indian Standard Time (Time Zone Converter)
  • Platform: Zoom video conference
  • Title: “Ephesians 2 Gospel Project: Does the Atonement Speak to Collective Identity Conflict?”
  • Format: a) 20-minute presentation by Werner Mischke, b) 20-minute presentation by researcher Kristin Caynor, c) 10-minute response by HBI scholar, d) Questions and discussion 
  • Registration: CLICK HERE

My presentation will introduce the project. I’ll discuss the social/horizontal aspect of the reconciling work of the cross in Eph. 2:11–22. Kristin Caynor’s presentation focuses on how Early Church fathers interpreted Eph. 2:11–22.

Want to read what I am presenting? Download my paper here.

We have two goals for the HBI webinar: 1) Describe in brief the research we have done so far in the Ephesians 2 Gospel Project, and 2) invite the HBI scholar community into the learning journey with us. We want the resources that are developed to be by and for the global church.

Questions? Contact me at werner@mission1.org.

Six ways the Bible undermines racism: (#5) God is love

Ephesians, Gospel of Jesus, racism, ,

This is my fifth post in this series. I am addressing how the gospel of Christ offers a cure to the pathologies of racism and tribalism. My first four posts in this series were:

Below are several verses from the New Testament about the love of God. I include verses about the healing compassion of Jesus Christ. These verses do not specifically address racism or tribalism. But these verses in composite remind us that self-sacrificial love is the primary behavior for which followers of Jesus Christ should be known. And this love is profoundly contrary to the sin of racism and its dehumanizing effects.

“Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love” (1 John 4:8).

“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. … We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:18–19).

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Mat 5:9).

“But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. …” (Mat 5:44–45).

“And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.’ And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, ‘I will; be clean.’ And immediately his leprosy was cleansed” (Mat 8:2–3).

“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Mat 9:36).

“When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick” (Mat 14:14).

“Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, ‘I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way’” (Mat 15:32).

“Then he said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ And the man stretched it out, and it was restored healthy like the other” (Mat 12:13).

“and Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly” (Mat 17:18).

“The crowd rebuked [the two blind men], telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, ‘Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!’ And stopping, Jesus called them and said, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ They said to him, ‘Lord, let our eyes be opened.’ And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.” (Mat 20:31–34).

“And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him” (Mat 27:28–31).

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

“So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Cor 13:13).

“For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility” (Eph 2:14–16).

“and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Eph 3:19).

The mere mention of Jesus should undermine racism

For those acquainted with the story of Jesus, the mere mention of the life and love of Christ should challenge racist attitudes and behaviors.

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus seeks to save, cleanse, and set free those who are considered defiled, oppressed outsiders—those who are “other.” We see this in:

  • Jesus healing the leper (Mat 8:1–4)
  • Jesus setting free the demon-possessed man with an unclean spirit (Mark 5:1–20)
  • Jesus cleansing the woman with the blood disease (Luke 8:40–48)
  • Jesus revealing himself to the Samaritan woman (John 4:1–32).

Rather than dehumanizing them or ignoring them, Jesus saves them, cleanses them, restores their dignity, makes them part of his family.

One lesson to consider: From God’s perspective, we are all outsiders due to our sin. We are all “strangers and aliens” to God (Eph 2:12; 19). We all need the cleansing, restorative ministry of Jesus. Therefore, we dare not demean or dehumanize other persons, groups, peoples, races. “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:10–11).

A second lesson: In love, Jesus reaches across social boundaries to know others, to serve, to heal, to set free, to save. This kind of love for others can make us feel awkward. It was risky for Jesus. It can be socially risky for us today. But this is the very boundary-crossing-to-know-others kind of love that should mark the Christian community. Because it is often awkward, courage is required. Will we allow God’s love in us to give rise to that courage?

The life of Jesus—including his death and resurrection—comprises the embodiment of the love of God for all persons and peoples. The New Testament magnifies the egalitarian nature of the all-peoples, all-races, all-nations gospel (e.g., Acts 1:8; Rom 1:5; Gal 3:7–8). Racism is dehumanizing and destructive. But the gospel of the loving Christ is an affirming, honoring, elevating gospel for all peoples.

The embodiment of the love of God in Jesus Christ offers followers of Christ a glorious way of life—“the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge” (Eph 3:19). This is not a personalized, individual experience that Paul is praying for in Ephesians 3. But if it’s not an individual thing, what is it?

Paul is praying for the love of Christ in community, in the church, in human relationships—and yes, across cultures and races (Eph 2:13–16). Observe that Paul prays, “so that Christ may dwell in your hearts [plural] through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints [plural] what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge…” (Eph 3:17–19). Do you see the emphasis on the plural experience, the community comprehending and living this together?

Will we allow the “love of Christ that surpasses knowledge” to be the way of our human relations—as a living witness against racism and tribalism in our divided world?

Six ways the Bible undermines racism: (#2) The atonement kills hostility between peoples

allegiance, atonement, Ephesians, Gospel of Jesus, Gospel of the kingdom, King Jesus, racism, ,

This is my second post in a series on how the gospel of Christ offers a cure to the pathologies of racism and tribalism. My first post in the series, “All Gentiles are born ‘strangers and aliens’”, is here. A small part of this second post is adapted from my forthcoming article in Missio Dei Journal: “An Honor-Bearing Gospel for Shame-Fueled Crises.”

In Ephesians 2:16 we read that the cross is “killing the hostility.” What does this mean?

13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. –Ephesians 2:13–16 ESV

Four verses on what Christ’s atonement accomplishes

In Ephesians 2:13–16 Paul proclaims a stunning truth: The cross kills hostility (Eph 2:16). The default hostility between Jew and Gentile is plain in these verses. Somehow the atonement of Christ makes it possible to resolve this conflict.

Once far off, now brought near

Verse 13. The phrase “But now in Christ Jesus, you who were once far off …” (Eph 2:13) is like saying, You Gentiles were distant from God’s people. You and your people were so very different from my people. This distance between us made us natural enemies. But now, in King Jesus, “you have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (Eph 2:13).

The crucifixion of Jesus did something world-altering in the social realm. Being “in Christ” is not merely an individual, vertical, largely internal and invisible, spiritual reality. Being “in Christ” is also about who we are (plural) right now, right here. It is likewise a spiritual reality that is social, horizontal, external, public, and visible. This happens “by the blood of Christ (Eph 2:13).”

Timothy Tennent writes: “The New Testament celebrates a salvific transformation that has both vertical and horizontal dimensions. Personal salvation in the New Testament is inextricably linked to becoming a part of the new humanity of Ephesians 2:15.”1

The gospel has a social dimension because the atonement has a social dimension.

The gospel truth: The atonement transforms both the individual-vertical and social-horizontal arenas of human life.

The crucified-and-risen Christ is our peace

Verse 14. When Paul writes, “For he himself is our peace,” it is understood that without Christ, conflict prevails. Hostility between peoples is humanity’s default. The phrase “who has made us both one” is not referring to two persons in conflict. It refers to two groups, Jews and Gentiles, in conflict. Paul is saying I belong to the Jews (collectively); and you (collectively) are the Gentiles. (See the post on HonorShame.com, “In Christ as a Communal Ethic,” which offers a fuller explanation.)

This making “us both one” is only possible because Christ has “broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility.” Paul is saying that when Christ’s body was crucified, something was broken “in his flesh.” That something is “the wall of hostility.” Somehow the atonement of Jesus the Christ breaks down walls of conflict between Jew and Gentile peoples “in Christ.”

But God is doing more than offering reconciliation to Jews and Gentiles. God’s purpose is “to unite all things in him” (Eph 1:10), and “to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross” (Col 1:20). Any conflict between peoples, any racial hostility, can be resolved in the Christ who is “our peace”—people together giving their allegiance to King Jesus.

The gospel truth: The atonement breaks down walls of hostility between peoples.

Abolishing values that fuel tribalism and segregation

Verse 15. “by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace” (Eph 2:15). What does this have to do with atonement? We find clarification in Colossians 2:14: “by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.” Christ “abolishing the law of commandments” (Eph 2:15) overlaps with Christ “canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands” by “nailing it to the cross” (Col 2:14).

The law in the Old Testament was not only the moral law of God. The law also consisted of regulations that were more cultural in nature (such as food guidelines), and contributed to the “wall of hostility” between the Jews and the non-Jews (Gentiles). Mark Roberts writes, “The death of Christ has supplanted the law, and therefore all people can belong to God through faith because of his grace in Christ.”2 Cultural differences that are the basis for division, conflict, and hostility are subsumed in the crucifixion and resurrection of the man Jesus the Christ.

The gospel truth: The atonement nails to the cross cultural regulations or values that are the basis for tribal or racial separation.

The “one new man”—who is this?

More on verse 15. “that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace.” Who is this “one new man”? What is this new way of being human?

This is the kingdom-of-God program of identity formation. In Ephesians 2:19, God is democratizing honor for believers—insider status is available to all who give their allegiance to the Christ. This “one new man” (Eph 2:15), this new way of being human, relativizes every other form of social capital. Even racial identity is somehow absorbed into Christ. Roberts writes:

Recall that the recipients of the letter were … Gentiles “by birth” (literally “in flesh,” en sarki). These Gentiles did not become Jewish when they received God’s grace through Christ. Rather, Christ made them into something different from ordinary Gentiles and Jews. The early Christian writing known as the Epistle to Diognetus expresses this same point when it calls Christians a new race, “neither Jewish nor Gentile.”3

The Epistle to Diognetus calls Christians a new race, neither Jewish nor Gentile. This is an arresting thought. It informs how we think about the phrase “one new man” (Eph 2:15), hena kainon anthropon in the Greek. The phrase is also translated “one new humanity” (NIV), and “one new people” (NLT). Believers from Jewish backgrounds as well as Gentile backgrounds, believers from every social class together, gain not merely the ultimate insider status—“members of the household of God” (Eph 2:19); Christ-followers also gain a new core identity.

Could it be—the influence of Jesus Christ on who we are is so fundamental, it’s almost like gaining a new racial identity?

McNall captures the essence of this new identity. “This transformation [by the reconciling cross of Christ] is seen … in the tearing down of ethnic and cultural boundaries (‘the dividing wall of hostility’ [2:14]). This demolition results in a new community comprised of a new people who do not look like they belong together. Only Jesus and his spirit can account for this strange lot.”4

The gospel truth: The atonement creates a new way of being human—a new identity in Christ that’s like “a third race.”

That strange phrase—“killing the hostility”

Verse 16. “and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility” (Eph 2:16). Somehow, the brutal violence of the crucifixion of Jesus the Christ kills the hostility between “us both.” Paul is getting personal again when he says “us both” (Eph 2:14, 16). He himself is part of a collective identity (Jewish) needing reconciliation in Christ “to God in one body”—with another collective identity (Gentile).

These two groups are separated and segregated. Although they live in the same city, they are not in the same neighborhood. They generally do not live together, play together, or worship together. They do not intermarry. They have different physical features, There are hundreds of years of hostility between them. Their politics and cultures compete, sometimes violently. They are suspicious of each other.

But Paul says when persons and peoples give allegiance to Jesus the Christ—the One who was brutally crucified, the One who then rose from the dead and was exalted as king of kings—something glorious happens. The atonement of Christ is “killing the hostility.” This verse is in the active, present-tense voice as though the Christ-event, which happened two thousand years ago, is impacting humanity into our present days and forward into the future.

Reconciliation between peoples in conflict is not merely a dream. Reconciliation is embodied in the man Jesus Christ and his body crucified and risen again. Peace is possible. Paul boldly imagines a new humanity, “one new man” (Eph 2:15), a “third race,” embodied in Christ. The core identity of this body is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither red or yellow, black or brown or white. It is not that cultural distinctions are obliterated. It is that Jesus the Christ is so glorious and so magnified in our social relations that the walls of separation and hostility dissolve. Paul envisions this as the new normal.

The gospel truth: The atonement kills hostility between peoples.

Toward a social imagination based on Ephesians 2

What are we being called to believe? That the cross kills all hostility in the here-and-now? No, we are not called to magical thinking. I recommend three “steps of belief.”  

The cross kills hostility—step 1: The social hostility between Jewish and Gentile peoples (although in some cases commanded by the Old Testament) was in some measure conquered by the violence of the cross. Peace is possible—now—through the “new humanity” (Eph 2:15). Traditionally at odds with one another, Jews and Gentiles really can worship in unity through their common faith in Jesus the Christ, despite cultural and racial differences.

The cross kills hostility—step 2: This biblical truth extends to any and all peoples in conflict, since the plan of God “for the fullness of time” is to “unite all things in him” (Eph 1:10), to “reconcile to himself all things . . . making peace by the blood of his cross” (Col 1:20). We see that this applies globally for all families, peoples, and nations. It is a sure hope for the future—an eschatological hope.

The cross kills hostility—step 3: In the third step, we dream. This dream stage is a call for Christians to develop a social imagination that is informed by Ephesians 2. It is a vision that, as Timothy Gombis says, “includes and celebrates racial, ethnic and gender differences . . . [whereby] no singular gender, ethnicity or race is any closer to God than any other. We are all one in Christ and are now free to explore the gifts that each group brings to the kingdom party.”5 This step combines the “now” of step 1 with the “whole-world hope” of step 2. Could it be that the pathologies of racism and tribalism may in some measure be cured by the atonement of Christ “killing the hostility”?

ACTION POINTS

  • Evaluate your view of the atonement. Have you ever considered Ephesians 2:13–16 as part of a comprehensive view of the doctrine of the atonement? Might Ephesians 2:13–16 be just as important as, for example, Romans 3:23–25? Why do you think this Ephesians passage is under-represented in the literature about the atonement? For example, in this best-selling Systematic Theology, an extensive chapter (Ch. 27) is devoted to the doctrine of the atonement. Not one mention is given to Ephesians 2:13–16. In fact, not one time is Eph 2:13–16 cited in the entire volume. This is the case, despite the density of truths concerning “the blood” (Eph 2:13) of Christ, “the cross” of Christ, the emphasis on “his flesh” (Eph 2:14), as well reconciliation and the act of “killing” (Eph 2:16). Is this evidence of a theological blind spot that ignores group identity issues? Does this hint at why the evangelical church struggles with how to address racism and tribalism?
  • Teach and preach the gospel based on the atonement truths in Ephesians 2:13–16. Develop a gospel message that calls people to give their allegiance to Christ based primarily on these verses.
  • Read a book on the theology of a multiethnic church. See David E. Stevens, God’s New Humanity: A Biblical Theology of Multiethnicity for the Church.
  • Discover the theological roots of racism. Begin a journey of discovery about what this means for the global church. See Willie James Jennings, The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race.

NOTES

  1. Timothy C. Tennent, Invitation to World Missions: A Trinitarian Missiology for the Twenty-first Century (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel), 62. 
  2. Mark D. Roberts, The Story of God Bible Commentary: Ephesians (Grand Rapids: Zondervan), 81.
  3. Ibid., 77.
  4. Joshua M. McNall, The Mosaic of Atonement: An Integrated Approach to Christ’s Work. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2019), 243–244.
  5. Timothy Gombis, The Drama of Ephesians: Participating in the Triumph of God (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2010), 103.

The gospel of grace as the crux of honor-status reversal, part 1

Bible commentary, Ephesians, Honor and shame, The Global Gospel

In my forthcoming book, THE GLOBAL GOSPEL: Achieving Missional Impact in Our Multicultural World, I devote quite a few pages to  the idea that honor-status reversal is a motif of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation.

I have written in previous posts about honor-status reversal as a motif of the Bible. In this post, I want to include an excerpt from my book which explores this motif in Ephesians chapter 2. That excerpt is below, with some modifications to fit a blog format.

A closer look at honor-status reversal in Ephesians 2

Ephesians 2:1–7 gives us a dramatic picture of honor-status reversal from being “dead in trespasses and sins” to having been “raised…up with him and seated…with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” From death—to seated with Christ in exalted honor. Astounding!

Let’s take a closer look below at the profound dynamics of honor-status reversal in Ephesians 2. We will first of all look at honor-status reversal of persons in relation to God (Ephesians 2:1–7).

These first 7 verses relate to our status reversal from our original shameful position in relation to God. Verses 1–3 refer to our alienation from God:
  • Spiritually dead: “dead in…trespasses and sins” (2:1)
  • Unwittingly following the world’s spirit and devil: “following the course of this world” / “following the prince of the power of the air” (2:2)
  • Victimized by evil spirit: “the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience” (2:2)
  • Spiritual DNA of an evil, shameful father: “sons of disobedience” (2:2)
  • Enslaved to self: “lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind” (2:3)
  • Destined for God’s eternal punishment: “children of wrath” (2:3)
  • Unexceptional: “like the rest of mankind” (2:3)
Verses 4–7 refer to the reversal of our honor-status in relation to God:
  • Loving intervention, undeserved, from the powerful, divine Benefactor directed toward us: “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us” (2:4)
  • Gave us new life us by enjoining us to the Messiah-King: “made us alive together with Christ” (2:5)
  • Permanently raised our honor status in Christ’s resurrection: “and raised us up with him” (2:6)
  • Providing us rest and authority in relational co-regency with Christ the King: “seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (2:6)
  • All to display God’s riches to magnify his honor for all eternity: “so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” (2:6)

Ephesians 2:8–9 as the crux of honor-status reversalAt the crux of two dimensions of honor-status reversal—there it is— 
“Salvation by grace through faith”

What is located between these two dramatic expressions of honor-status reversal—between verses 1–7 and 11–22? The often-quoted verses about salvation by grace through faith:

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast (Eph 2:8–9).

This “salvation verse” sits at the intersection of vertical and horizontal dimensions of honor-status reversal. The vertical dimension refers to a person’s relationship with God. The horizontal dimension refers to the Gentiles’ relationship with God’s people. The  drama inherent in these dimensions of honor-status reversal—along with the liberation that this brought spiritually, emotionally and socially —is the context for “salvation by grace through faith.”

Timothy Tennent writes: “The New Testament celebrates a salvific transformation that has both vertical and horizontal dimensions. Personal salvation in the New Testament is inextricably linked to becoming a part of the new humanity of Ephesians 2:15.”1 As salvation is vertical because sin is personal, so also is salvation horizontal because sin is corporate. According to Hiebert: “There is both personal and corporate sin and personal and corporate dimensions to God’s redemption.”2

We’ll look at Ephesians 2:11–22 in our next post. Whereas verses 1–7 reveal the vertical, personal honor-status reversal of believers, verses 11–22 reveal the horizontal, social honor-status reversal of believers.

1. Timothy C. Tennent: Invitation to World Missions: A Trinitarian Missiology for the Twenty-first Century (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel, 2010), 62.

2. Paul Hiebert, “The Gospel in Human Contexts: Changing Perceptions of Contextualization” in Ed Stetzer & David Hesselgrave, Eds., MissionShift: Global Mission Issues in the Third Millennium (B&H Publishing, 2010. Kindle Edition),  99.

Resolving the tension between grace and truth—through ‘missional grace’

Bible commentary, Ephesians, Global Christian mission,

When Christian leaders disagree on the relative emphasis on grace versus truth, I imagine it being resolved through missional grace. Here’s what I mean.

I imagine that on one side, there are the grace champions, and on the other side, the truth champions.

Grace champions are passionate about the fact that GRACE is the answer to living in a fallen world; they believe that Jesus Christ—especially in his transforming love—is the answer to our brokenness as individuals, families, communities. In my thinking, if I’m a grace champion, I believe people must repent and experience healing from their brokenness. We are all in pain, and for most of us, life is a struggle in one degree or another. We are all sinners. Praise God, His grace helps us overcome. We all need Jesus! 

Truth champions are passionate about the fact that TRUTH is the answer to living in a fallen world; they believe that Jesus Christ—especially in His transforming Word—is the answer to all our deceptions. In my thinking, if I’m a truth champion, I believe people must repent of their sin, their belief in false truths, their worship of false gods. We all need the truth principles in God’s Word to overcome our own sin and sinful deceptions. We need the truth of God to stand against our sinful culture. We are all sinners. Praise God, truth sets us free! We all need Jesus!

Sometimes truth champions oppose grace champions. Truth champions are concerned that, if one is too grace-oriented, too forgiving, too accepting—the objective truth of God’s Word will be marginalized—with the result that the church will lose its significance in a secular, relativistic culture. They fear that, instead of standing against the evils of the culture, the church will succumb to and decline with the culture; the church will have lost its mission, its identity.

Sometimes grace champions oppose truth champions. They are concerned that, by being too truth-oriented, the love and grace of Christ will be marginalized—with the result that the church will alienate struggling believers and be unattractive to a lost world. They fear that the church, instead of being a place that welcomes the hurting, ends up as more of a social club for the successful; the church will have lost its mission, its identity.

==============

Into this divide between grace champions and truth champions, God’s Word speaks of Jesus Christ:  

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,
and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father,
full of grace and truth.” –John 1:14 ESV

In Jesus Christ, there is no division, there is no conflict between grace and truth. Simply, Jesus Christ is full of grace and full of truth in perfect integrity. This Word—this Son—is glorious! … as glorious, honorable and worthy of praise as the Father who sent him.

Yes, Christ was sent. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us …” God the Father sent God the Son to this world, and he “became flesh.”

If I am to be a faithful follower of Jesus Christ, then I’ll be engaged in a glory-filled, life-long missional journey, endeavoring to live out my life as a harmony of grace and truth.

Do you want a fuller understanding of grace? Are you involved in a conflict between grace and truth? Some insights from the book of Ephesians:

Examine the word grace in Ephesians 1: 6–7, along with its context (verses 3–14). Because of grace, what does the believer receive in these verses? Because of grace we are in Chirst, in the Beloved One; therefore we have received … redemption, forgiveness, adoption into God‘s family, knowledge of the mystery of his will, an inheritance … indeed, all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Chirst. The treasures and blessings are infinite in scope.

Examine the three times the word grace is used in Ephesians 2:5–9. Because of grace, what does the believer receive in these verses? The believer is “made alive together with Christ;” the believer receives the elevated position of being seated with Christ “in the heavenly places,” all by virtue of God’s effort, not our own. This is “not of works, so that no one may boast.” It is the gift of grace. And to think this all happended “while we were dead in our trespasses.” Amazing what the believer receives by grace!

But now consider Ephesians 3:1–13. Here we see another dimension to the grace God. Here, grace is not only about what the Apostle Paul receives, it’s also about what he is divinely commissioned by God to give. Paul is given the enormous responsibility (you’ll see he considers this a gift of grace in verse 2, 7 and 8!) …

“… assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you,” (Ephesians 3:2 ESV)

“Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of his power. (Ephesians 3:7 ESV)

“To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,” (Ephesians 3:8 ESV)

Do you see it? Paul viewed grace not only as the means of his forgiveness, but also as the means for his calling and mission. Shouldn’t it be the same for all believers in the church today? Of course, Paul was specifically called to be an apostle to the Gentiles in the early church, and so his unique calling does not apply to you and me. But here is the principle that does apply:

As grace saves us, so also, grace sends us to those who are yet to receive the blessing of the gospel of Christ.

So how might an expanded, truth-filled, missional understanding of grace resolve the so-called conflict between grace and truth? By enabling us to see that grace is not just for saving the lost, and compensating for weakness or sin and failure.

True biblical grace transforms the believer into someone who goes, who is sent. Grace-saturated followers of Christ (like Apostle Paul) are honorable servants and ambassadors whose passion is to bless those neighbors and peoples and nations (those we might even call our enemies!) who have not yet received the transforming gospel of Christ.

If grace does not include mission, it is small, truncated, and self-centered. We are not just saved by grace. We are sent by grace. This is missional grace.

In the glory of Christ and his mission to bless all peoples and nations, there is no divide between grace and truth.