{"id":5058,"date":"2015-08-28T01:00:34","date_gmt":"2015-08-28T08:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ministryofgrace.org\/blog\/?p=5058"},"modified":"2015-08-23T18:44:57","modified_gmt":"2015-08-24T01:44:57","slug":"ephesians-211-spiritual-snobbery-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/ephesians-211-spiritual-snobbery-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Ephesians 2:11 – Spiritual Snobbery"},"content":{"rendered":"

Therefore remember that you, previously Gentiles in the flesh\u2014who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands\u2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

Truth to Learn<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Spiritual snobbery should not exist in the life of any Christian, for we are saved by God\u2019s grace.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Behind the Words<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

The word \u201ctherefore\u201d is translated from dio<\/em>. This is a compound of dia<\/em>, meaning \u201cthrough \u2013 indicating motion or causation\u201d and hos<\/em>, meaning \u201cwhich.\u201d So, it literally means \u201cthrough which,\u201d but is usually translated as \u201ctherefore.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRemember\u201d is from the Greek verb mn\u0113moneu\u014d<\/em>, from which we get our English word mnemonic (a device to help you remember). This particular Greek word means \u201cto recall to one\u2019s mind\u201d or \u201cto remember.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGentiles\u201d is translated from ethnos<\/em>, which simply means \u201ca race\u201d or \u201ca tribe;\u201d specifically, a foreign one. From the Jewish viewpoint, anyone of a foreign race (not a Jew) is a Gentile. In Paul\u2019s writing it sometimes refers to someone who is not a Jew, but usually means someone who is not a believer.<\/p>\n

We looked at the word translated \u201cflesh\u201d back in verse three. It is the word sarx<\/em>, which literally refers to \u201cthe flesh of a living creature.\u201d This word is commonly used to refer to the physical part of our existence as opposed to the spiritual part.<\/p>\n

\u201cUncircumcision\u201d is from akrobustia<\/em>, which is made up of akron<\/em>, meaning \u201cthe tip\u201d and a form of the verb bu\u014d<\/em>, meaning \u201cto cover.\u201d It us a word that refers specifically to the foreskin of a penis. Therefore, this word refers to someone who has not had his foreskin cut off. Since circumcision was the sign of God\u2019s ownership given to Abraham by God, Abraham\u2019s descendants often refer to non-Jews (Gentiles) as uncircumcised.<\/p>\n

The word \u201cCircumcision\u201d is translated from peritom\u0113<\/em>, which is a compound word made up of peri<\/em>, meaning \u201caround\u201d and a form of the verb temn\u014d<\/em>, meaning \u201cto cut off.\u201d Hence, this word refers to a circular cutting off of the foreskin.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Meaning Explained<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

On first glance, one might think that Paul is suddenly changing the subject on this verse. However, a rule of thumb in Bible study is \u201cwhen you see a \u2018therefore\u2019 or a \u2018wherefore,\u2019 you need to see what it is there for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paul has been talking about God\u2019s mercy and how by His grace we have been saved through faith. In the past two verses he specifically pointed out that we are not saved by works, but that good works should be the evidence of our salvation. He now contrasts this faith with the religion of works that the Jews have been steeped in for millennia. The Jewish faith goes all the way back to Abraham, who was saved by faith just as we are. As a result of his faith and God\u2019s covenant with him concerning a coming Messiah, Abraham was commanded to circumcise himself and every male in his household (several hundred at that time).<\/p>\n

Through the years, the Jews have held fast to circumcision as a sign of their religion and their relationship with God. Because it is an indication in the flesh that they are God\u2019s people, the Jews look down on all uncircumcised foreigners and declare the gods of the uncircumcised to be false gods. It is as if they built a wall between themselves and everyone else. But, in the coming verses Paul will tell us that the wall has been broken down.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Application<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Lest we be too hard on the Jews for their spiritual snobbery, we Christians need to make sure that we are not exhibiting the same attitude toward others. We are no better than the unsaved people of the world. Apart from God\u2019s grace, we would be destined for Hell just like they are. Thank you, God, for your grace and for the faith to believe your promises.<\/p>\n

In God’s service, for His glory,<\/strong><\/div>\n
\n
\n

\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

Copyright\u00a0\u00a9\u00a02015 Will Krause. All rights reserved<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Therefore remember that you, previously Gentiles in the flesh\u2014who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands\u2014 Truth to Learn Spiritual snobbery should not exist in the life of any Christian, for we are saved by God\u2019s grace.   Behind the Words The word \u201ctherefore\u201d is translated from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3664],"tags":[2014,543,1746,1705,104,509,2015,2016,2017,801,698,2018],"class_list":["post-5058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ephesians-2-ephesians-ministry-of-grace-translation","tag-akrobustia","tag-circumcision","tag-dio","tag-ethnos","tag-flesh","tag-gentiles","tag-mnemoneuo","tag-peritome","tag-remember","tag-sarx","tag-therefore","tag-uncircumcision"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pd5geA-1jA","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5058"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5058\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5059,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5058\/revisions\/5059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}