4. But God’s mercy is great, and he loved us very much.
5. Though we were spiritually dead because of the things we did against God, he gave us new life with Christ. You have been saved by God’s grace.
6. And he raised us up with Christ and gave us a seat with him in the heavens. He did this for those in Christ Jesus
7. so that for all future time he could show the very great riches of his grace by being kind to us in Christ Jesus.
8. I mean that you have been saved by grace through believing. You did not save yourselves; it was a gift from God.
9. It was not the result of your own efforts, so you cannot brag about it.
10. God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us to do good works, which God planned in advance for us to live our lives doing.
11. You were not born Jewish. You are the people the Jews call “uncircumcised.” Those who call you “uncircumcised” call themselves “circumcised.” (Their circumcision is only something they themselves do on their bodies.)
12. Remember that in the past you were without Christ. You were not citizens of Israel, and you had no part in the agreements with the promise that God made to his people. You had no hope, and you did not know God.
13. But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away from God are brought near through the blood of Christ’s death.
14. Christ himself is our peace. He made both Jewish people and those who are not Jews one people. They were separated as if there were a wall between them, but Christ broke down that wall of hate by giving his own body.
15. The Jewish law had many commands and rules, but Christ ended that law. His purpose was to make the two groups of people become one new people in him and in this way make peace.