Ephesians 2:15 Meaning and Explanation
“Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;”
King James Version (KJV)
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Read Full Chapter →How does a division that ran for centuries actually come to an end? Ephesians 2:15 gives Paul's answer, and it is startling in its location: in his flesh. The verse also states a purpose. Peace here is the making of something new rather than the arranging of a truce, and the new thing is a single humanity formed in Christ himself.
Christ's own flesh is where the hostility was ended, along with the regulations that marked Israel off from the nations. His aim was creative: to form the two into one new humanity in himself, and so to make peace.
The Context of Ephesians 2:15
Verse 15 sits inside a single long sentence running from verse 14 through verse 16. Paul had told his Gentile readers to remember their former standing in verses 11 and 12, then announced their nearness in verse 13. Verse 14 declares that Christ himself is our peace, that he has made both one, and that he has broken down the middle wall of partition. Verse 15 explains the manner, verse 16 adds a further purpose, and verse 17 pictures him arriving with a message of peace. Readers often connect the partition with a barrier in the temple courts, though Paul leaves the image unexplained.
What Does Ephesians 2:15 Mean?
The participle 'having abolished' governs the first half, and 'in his flesh' locates the act in the body of Jesus, the same body that was crucified. What is abolished is named as 'the enmity,' and Paul then defines it further with 'even the law of commandments contained in ordinances,' the specific regulations that marked Israel off as a distinct people. The purpose clause turns everything positive: 'for to make in himself of twain one new man.' 'Twain' means the two, Jew and Gentile. 'One new man' describes a fresh corporate humanity, and 'in himself' says where that humanity holds together. The closing phrase, 'so making peace,' reports the result.
The law came from God and was given as a gift to Israel, guarding a people and shaping their worship until the promised seed arrived. Paul writes elsewhere that the law is holy, and the commandment holy, just, and good. What ends at the cross is the dividing function of those regulations, along with the enmity that had grown up around them, since the barrier they maintained has done its work now that Christ has come. Ephesians keeps the emphasis on construction: the chapter moves from a wall broken down to a temple rising in verses 21 and 22. God's purpose was one people, and the ordinances served that purpose until the flesh of Christ fulfilled them.
'One new man' is a creation phrase, and Ephesians uses creation language deliberately. Verse 10 has already called believers his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, and chapter 4 will speak of putting on the new man created in righteousness and true holiness. Behind both stands Genesis, where humanity is made in God's image. Christ takes two estranged groups and forms them into one humanity in himself, which is why Paul can call the church a body with one head. Peace of this kind cost a death, and it produces a shared table, a shared worship, and a shared inheritance for people whose histories once kept them apart.
Ephesians 2:15 in the Original Language
katargeo (καταργέω), 'abolished' -- to put out of operation, to bring a thing's working to an end. The verb speaks of something whose term of service has run its course, so the dividing effect of those regulations is what ceases to operate in the flesh of Christ.
Bible Verses Related to Ephesians 2:15
“For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;”
- Ephesians 2:14
“Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;”
- Colossians 2:14
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”
- Galatians 3:28
“Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.”
- Romans 7:12
Where Ephesians 2:15 Echoes in Scripture
Colossians 2:14 stands very close to this verse, describing the handwriting of ordinances that stood against us and speaking of it as taken out of the way and nailed to the cross. Both letters place the decisive action at the cross, and both use the vocabulary of ordinances. Read together, they say that whatever stood between people and God, and between one people and another, met its end in the crucified body of Jesus, and that a new arrangement of nearness follows.
How to Apply Ephesians 2:15 Today
Congregations still divide along lines of language, income, politics, and family history. Verse 15 gives us a standard higher than tolerance: one new humanity formed in Christ. That standard shows up in small decisions, such as who gets invited to lunch, whose music shapes the service, whose grief the church learns to notice. When a difference feels unbridgeable, we can remember that the deepest division in the ancient world was ended in a body on a cross. Praying for someone we find hard to sit beside is a practical way to let that peace do its work in us.
Reflection & Prayer
Whose exclusion have we come to accept as normal, and what would change if we saw that person as part of the one new man? A prayer: Lord Jesus, our peace, you paid in your own flesh for the unity we take lightly. Show me the walls I help keep standing. Give me the humility to take a first step toward someone I have kept at arm's length. Amen.