For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. (Eph 2:14–18)
For we are, in the mystery of having been reconciled to God, now no longer repugnant or opposed to Him. We worshiped and served their idols, and with that, He crucified, as it were, the enmity we had this day with our Father, that is, with God. Christ, in mystery, at the center of His passion reconciled us to Himself. Christ, he says, “is our peace.” Elsewhere Paul calls Him mediator. He interposed Himself of His own accord between divided realms. Souls born of God's fountain of goodness were being detained in the world. There was a wall in their midst, a sort of fence, a partition made by the deceits of the flesh and worldly lusts. Christ by His own mystery, His cross, His passion, and His way of life destroyed this wall. He overcame sin and taught that it could be overcome. He destroyed the lusts of the world and taught that they ought to be destroyed. He took away the wall in the midst. It was in His own flesh that He overcame the enmity. The work is not ours. We are not called to set ourselves free. Faith in Christ is our only salvation. . . .
Their souls have thus been reconciled to the eternal and the spiritual, to all things above. The Savior, through the Spirit, indeed the Holy Spirit, descended into souls. He thereby joined what had been separated, spiritual things and souls, so as to make the souls themselves spiritual. He has established them in Himself, as he says, “in a new person.” What is this new person? The spiritual person, as distinguished from the old person, who was soul struggling against flesh. . . .
He distinguishes “those who are far off” from “those who are near.” This refers to the Gentiles and Jews. For the Jews are obviously close and the Gentiles far off. Yet the Savior Himself has brought the gospel to the Gentiles. Paul here mentions first that Christ by his advent has truly preached peace also to those who are far off, that is, the Gentiles, as is shown by many evidences, for those who come to belief from Gentile backgrounds ironically have a greater claim to be called sons than those from Jewish backgrounds. And yet, so that it may not be denied to the latter, he adds “and those who are near.” Both Jews and Gentiles “have access to the Father” through Christ Himself. But how? “In one Spirit.” For the Spirit, who is one with Christ, enters into us when we believe in Christ. We then feel God's presence, know God, and worship God. Thus we come to the Father in that same Spirit through Christ. No one, whether Jew or Gentile, comes to the Father except through Christ.
Marius Victorinus, Epistle to the Ephesians 2.14–15, 17–18
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