Galatians 2:15

Jews and Gentiles are Justified by Faith

2:15 We are Jews by birth ¹  and not Gentile sinners, ² 

Ephesians 2:11

New Life Corporately

2:11 Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh – who are called “uncircumcision” by the so-called “circumcision” that is performed on the body ³  by human hands –

Ephesians 3:5-8

3:5 Now this secret ⁴  was not disclosed to people ⁵  in former ⁶  generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by ⁷  the Spirit, 3:6 namely, that through the gospel ⁸  the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members ⁹  of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus. 3:7 I became a servant of this gospel ¹⁰  according to the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by ¹¹  the exercise of his power. ¹²  3:8 To me – less than the least of all the saints ¹³  – this grace was given, ¹⁴  to proclaim to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ

Colossians 2:13-14

2:13 And even though you were dead in your ¹⁵  transgressions and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he nevertheless ¹⁶  made you alive with him, having forgiven all your transgressions. 2:14 He has destroyed ¹⁷  what was against us, a certificate of indebtedness ¹⁸  expressed in decrees opposed to us. He has taken it away by nailing it to the cross.

¹ tn Grk “by nature.”

² tn Grk “and not sinners from among the Gentiles.”

³ tn Grk “in the flesh.”

⁴ tn Grk “which.” Verse 5 is technically a relative clause, subordinate to the thought of v. 4.

⁵ tn Grk “the sons of men” (a Semitic idiom referring to human beings, hence, “people”).

⁶ tn Grk “other.”

⁷ tn Or “in.”

⁸ sn The phrase through the gospel is placed last in the sentence in Greek for emphasis. It has been moved forward for clarity.

⁹ tn Grk “and fellow members.”

¹⁰ tn Grk “of which I was made a minister,” “of which I became a servant.”

¹¹ tn Grk “according to.”

¹² sn On the exercise of his power see 1:19-20.

¹³ sn In Pauline writings saints means any true believer. Thus for Paul to view himself as less than the least of all the saints is to view himself as the most unworthy object of Christ’s redemption.

¹⁴ sn The parallel phrases to proclaim and to enlighten which follow indicate why God’s grace was manifested to Paul. Grace was not something just to be received, but to be shared with others (cf. Acts 13:47).

¹⁵ tn The article τοῖς (tois) with παραπτώμασιν (paraptwmasin) is functioning as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

¹⁶ tn The word “nevertheless,” though not in the Greek text, was supplied in the translation to bring out the force of the concessive participle ὄντας (ontas).

¹⁷ tn The participle ἐξαλείψας (exaleiyas) is a temporal adverbial participle of contemporaneous time related to the previous verb συνεζωοποίησεν (sunezwopoihsen), but has been translated as a finite verb because of the complexity of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences. For the meaning “destroy” see BDAG 344-45 s.v. ἐξαλείφω 2.

¹⁸ tn On the translation of χειρόγραφον (ceirografon), see BDAG 1083 s.v. which refers to it as “a certificate of indebtedness.”