“But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.”
My Notes
What Does Ephesians 2:13 Mean?
Ephesians 2:13 marks the great reversal for Gentile believers: "But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ."
Paul has just described the Gentiles' former condition (2:11-12): without Christ, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, without God in the world. That's as far off as a person can be — not just geographically but covenantally. No relationship. No claim. No access. Far off.
"But now" — nyni de — the same pivot Paul uses to announce the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:20). It signals that everything before this conjunction has been overturned. The far-off people are now near. The mechanism is specific: "by the blood of Christ" — en tō haimati tou Christou. Not by education, not by effort, not by ethnic conversion. By blood. The distance between Gentiles and God — a distance that no human bridge could span — was closed by a sacrifice. Christ's blood did what circumcision couldn't, what law-keeping couldn't, what being born into the right family couldn't. It brought the farthest people near.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Do you still feel 'far off' from God despite being 'made nigh'? What's the gap between the reality and your experience?
- 2.The blood of Christ — not your effort — closed the distance. How does that change how you approach God when you feel unworthy?
- 3.Paul describes Gentiles as having 'no hope, without God.' Can you remember what it felt like before you knew Him? What changed?
- 4.If you're already near — made nigh, past tense — what's keeping you from living like someone who belongs?
Devotional
You were far off. That's where the story starts for every person who didn't grow up inside the covenant. No claim on God. No access to the promises. No hope. Far off — not close and drifting, but distant by category. You weren't in the neighborhood. You were on another continent.
But now. Those two words carry the weight of the entire gospel for anyone who has ever felt like an outsider to God's story. But now you're near. Not because you earned proximity. Not because you cleaned up enough to deserve access. Because blood was spilled — Christ's blood — and the distance it covered is the distance between you and God.
The blood of Christ is the bridge Paul names. Not your sincerity. Not your spiritual résumé. Not your denominational affiliation. Blood. The most physical, most visceral, most un-abstract thing in the world. God didn't close the distance with a concept. He closed it with a body that bled.
If you still feel far off — if you walk into church and feel like an outsider, if you open the Bible and feel like it's written for someone else, if you pray and feel like you're shouting across a canyon — this verse says the distance is already closed. The blood has already traveled the gap. You're not far off anymore. You might feel far off. But your feelings aren't the measure. The blood is. And the blood says you're near.
"Made nigh" — egenēthēte engys. You've been brought near. Past tense. Completed action. Not approaching. Not almost near. Near. Right now. The outsider is inside. The alien is family. The far-off one is home.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
But now in Christ Jesus,.... Being openly and visibly in Christ, created in him, and become believers in him; as they…
But now, in Christ Jesus - By the coming and atonement of the Lord Jesus, and by the gospel which he preached. Ye who…
Ye who sometimes were far off - To be far off, and to be near, are sayings much in use among the Jews; and among them,…
In these verses the apostle proceeds in his account of the miserable condition of these Ephesians by nature. Wherefore…
but now under the changed conditions of actual and accepted Redemption.
in Christ Jesus In living union with the true…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture