Ephesians 2:13

Ephesians 2:13. But now. This too is what they should remember, but the Apostle continues the contrast in an independent sentence.

In Christ Jesus, in fellowship with Him, contrasted with ‘apart from Christ.' ‘Jesus' is added, because the personal Messiah, who had come, is referred to. The phrase explains ‘now,' and qualifies the verb which follows.

Once were far off; so the Jews would speak of Gentiles.

Have been brought nigh; lit., ‘became nigh.' The literal form cannot be joined with ‘now' in English, but the single effect of a past act is expressed by the original. What that event was, is at once indicated by the words, in the blood of Christ. This is more than ‘through,' or ‘by,' although it includes this sense, already expressed in chap. Ephesians 1:7. It indicates the blood of Christ as ‘the symbol of a fact in which the seal of a covenant in which your nearness to God consists' (Alford). This is the permanent ground of the becoming nigh.