R.C. Sproul

There is no justification to continue any enmity between Jew and Gentile once Christ has abolished that enmity.

And how did he do it?

He did it in his flesh.

That is, he did it on the cross.

He did it by suffering both for the sins of the Jewish elect as well as the sins of the Gentile elect.

And so in the sacrifice of his physical death, he set aside not only the enmity between God and us, but also the enmity between Jew and Gentile.

He abolished in his flesh the enmity that is the law of commandments contained in ordinances.

Again, the big stumbling block between the Jews and the Gentiles were those particularly ceremonial laws that dealt with the liturgical cultic life of Israel that distinguished them from all the nations of the world.

And so one of the things that the Gentiles hated about the Jews were all these Jewish rituals and rites and ceremonies and regulations that they did not participate in.

So as to, that is for the purpose here, to create in himself, again, you see that this is an act of creation by Christ,

that is an act of creation that is not only by Christ, but it is in Christ.

And you might say it is for Christ, just as the world itself was created by Christ, for Christ, and he is the one who holds all things together.

So now he's creating in himself one new man.

Now that singular use of man there may mislead us for a moment and we may miss the point.

But what Paul is speaking about here is that Christ has introduced a new humanity.

A new humanity that abolishes this wall of separation between Jew and Gentile so that now in him,

There is no Jew nor Greek, only one common humanity.

So, in himself he created one new man from the two, thus making peace.

and that he might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, therefore putting to death the enmity.

These images are simply repeating by way of emphasis what he's already said here.