"Wherefore remember, that ye being in times past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision, by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hand; That at that time, ye were without Messiah, beings aliens from the commonwealth of Yisrael, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without YHVH in the world . . ."
Ephesians 2 has a basic premise: hey, you believers were once called Gentiles, as in the past tense, but now, you are right there along with Israel; you were once estranged from the covenant (the jots and tittles of Torah along with Israel's YHVH), but . . .
"But now in YahShua ha Mashiach ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Messiah."
In other words, THE ESTRANGEMENT FROM THE TORAH, FROM YISRAEL, FROM ALL THOSE JOTS AND TITTLES HAS BEEN ABOLISHED THROUGH THE BLOOD OF MESSIAH! We can now keep the whole Torah, just as the rest of the believing Jews, for the Blood of Messiah paves our way to do so!!! HallaluYAH!
Incidentally, THIS WAS THE SAME RULE IN THE MOSAIC COVENANT. Egyptians, Rahab the harlot, Ruth the Moabite and many other pagan Gentiles, due to their faith in the coming Messiah and His not-yet-shed-blood, were grafted into Yisrael and were NO LONGER considered Gentiles, but now considered one with Yisrael and were expected and required to keep every last jot and tittle of Torah.
Ephesians 2 shows us that this provision in Torah NEVER PASSED AWAY. YHVH is the same yesterday, today and forever.
"For He is our peace, who hath made us both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us."
In other words, through Messiah, we ARE ALL considered Yisraelites now, and thus we are ALL required to obey the Torah given to Yisrael. There is no class warfare, no exclusivity that the wicked Pharisaical Jews tried to establish -- but rather the WRITTEN TORAH IS CLEAR THAT A GENTILE MAY BE GRAFTED INTO YISRAEL! The partition was destroyed by Torah, and now that the Torah has been sprinkled in YahShua's blood -- we are reminded that this partition is STILL DESTROYED!
"Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even (against) the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make Himself of twain, one new man, so making peace."
Now, do you think you can murder or commit adultery under the New Covenant? Of course not. Well, those are ordinances, laws written in the Torah, Can we now rape? No. Yet this is an ordinance in the Torah. So does the above verse really say that Messiah abolished or did away with the Written Torah? No, of course not! That makes no logical sense.
What the above verse IS saying, which harmonizes with what we just read, is this: hey, these ordinances and laws of the Torah brought condemnation upon us for we did not obey them, but now that we are redeemed by YahShua's blood, those ordinances and laws NO LONGER CONDEMN US, because THROUGH THE BLOOD OF MESSIAH AND HIS REDEMPTIVE WORK, WE HAVE THE POWER TO OBEY EVERYTHING IN TORAH! We get this power from our precious Messiah and the indwelling of His Ruach ha Kadosh.
Again, it was THE SAME WAY IN MOSAIC TIMES, as Moshe constantly preached about the need to CLEAVE UNTO YHVH, to place absolute trust in Him in order to keep every jot and tittle of the Torah. YHVH never changes, and His requirements for salvation NEVER CHANGE!
Verses 16 and 17 magnify YahShua's crucifixion to the tree in light of the above, and proves that He has abolished the enmity we once had toward the Torah and the enmity the Torah had toward us (insofar that it condemned us), making peace not only between Jew and Gentile, but also making peace between sinners and the Torah they had once refused to obey.
Verses 18-22 then shows how we are grafted in among the believing Jews who keep Torah, founded upon the Master Torah Keeper Himself, YahShua ha Mashiach, and now we do have access to YHVH's Throne, for we keep His commandments, every last jot and tittle, through His Precious Blood and indwelling Ruach ha Kadosh.
Thus Ephesians 2 clearly shows us our obligation to keep Torah.
