Racial Reconciliation - Ephesians 2:10-11 | Dr. Voddie Baucham

alright Ephesians chapter 2 as I was saying and we're gonna look at that the redheaded stepchild of Ephesians and that's Ephesians chapter 2 verses 11 and following most people if you will we all love Ephesians amen then we all love the features chapter 2 up to verse 10 right you say if he's jumping to everybody we've starts quota view said we just started quoting and just you know just just reciting it from memory we'd be good all the way up to about verse 10 and then people I get there wait there's more and the answer is absolutely there's more in Ephesians chapter 2 it it's all good amen if either step two is just good but I mean in verse 11 it it it just gets gooder and that's not even a word you know and so we are going to look at that part of the past and part of the chapter that but as we do here's what I want us to understand that in the midst of all of this in the midst of these discussions about social justice and race and sex and you know all these other things at the end of the day the question is what does God say about us what does God say about us and is what God says about us sufficient and when we start talking about who we are in Christ when we start talking about our unity in Christ I our Brotherhood and our relationships do we believe that the Bible is sufficient in that regard and one of the scariest things about all of this talk is that we were beginning to see a new hermeneutic development we're now sin is institutional as opposed to being in the heart of man we're we're reading things differently here and not only that but we're starting to develop a new canon to where if you're not seeing things rightly on these issues people are not saying you need to go to this text they're saying you need to read / faith you need to read Tana has to coach you need to read right if you're not getting this then here's a list of books that you need to read in order to then be able to read the scriptures rightly as it relates to our unity with one another in Christ that is a problem because I believe that the Bible is absolutely sufficient not just inerrant but absolutely sufficient for all matters of faith and practice and how we deal with one another across ethnicities is a matter of faith in practice the Bible is sufficient for that again I am NOT arguing that we shouldn't read out of things I've quoted other things over the course of this weekend but the Bible is sufficient let me put an even finer point on it I worry when we begin to hear people say things that was suggest that I've had the Bible all this time and I've had relationships with brethren of different ethnicities all this time but it wasn't until I read this book that I finally understood God's heart on this issue of justice as it relates to race and ethnicity that no no and and it's not even it's when I finally read this book and this book was an exposition of debt no when I read this sociology book and so now we we've got sociology overriding and governing our theology that's not okay that is hugely problematic again I'm not suggesting that we don't read sociology I one of my degrees is in sociology we didn't have anyone to teach our sociology class and for our undergraduates at ACU and you know so for the last couple of years I've been teaching intro to sociology by the way in lovin every minute of it because it is an incredible tool in understanding how worldview is shaped and how worldview has been co-opted because there are a few things that have been more potent in driving our culture in certain directions antithetical to biblical truth than sociology and so it is no coincidence that a lot of the texts that people are now referencing as our new Canon you know one of the one of the one their famous phrases one of the phrases that you'll hear over and over again is if someone is excuse me on the wrong side of this debate on social justice they need to do their homework meaning here's a list of texts most of them sociology text or some history text or whatever they need to do their home they need to release things then they'll understand and when people are preaching something that is considered to be on the right side of this issue they are lauded for having done their homework and for the number of books on the subject that they read before they got up and say ABC or XYZ do you see what's missing there the text the text the text is the Bible sufficient for racial reconciliation and the end that let's think that's the catchphrase racial reconciliation is the Bible Ken can you and I sit down with our Bibles and achieve racial reconciliation or are there other texts and other ideas and other ideologies that have to inform our reading of the text in order for us to achieve justice and righteousness in this particular field that's the question before we get into this let me explain something to you I believe in racial reconciliation I have to because I believe the Bible amen III have to believe that and perhaps you it would help you to know this about me we've been in Zambia for the last three and a half years the last three and a half years we've been in a church where most of the people looked like us now granted we're foreigners right we're outsiders but it's been over two decades since my family has been part of a church where most of the people look like us and that was by design in the early 90s Promise Keepers movement was huge and I was invited to preach at a number of different events and racial reconciliation was just on on everybody's agenda and I mean it was a big movement it was a massive movement and during that time in the early to mid 1990s here I was I had come to faith in the late 1980s in 1987 I was a member of a black fraternity I married a woman who was a graduate of historical black college and university I was the founder of black student fellowship at houston baptist university and we had been a member of and was preaching at a predominantly black church it was just black black black black black that was my world and now all this Promise Keepers stuff is happening and the racial reconciliation conversation is happening and for me it brought me to a crossroads because I'm looking and listening and meaning a lot of my white brethren who were passionate about racial reconciliation and basically asking how do we do this how how do we not have our church continue to look like it looks how do we have our church which is predominantly white in a neighborhood that is not predominantly white begin to reflect the broader community I'm beginning to be invited into places will you come free we want to have this event we want to reach our community we want to reach the different ethnic groups in our community and I and this is this is not an indictment of all black churches this is not an indictment of all this is this is me and my experience I looked in my circle and I realized that I was not hearing that from my side I didn't know black pastors who were staying awake at night because their churches were too black who were on their knees weeping before they went and stood up and preached because most of the faces that they were going to preach to look just like them but this is what I was running into from white pastors again I am NOT saying that it didn't exist I'm saying that in my experience I didn't see it and I was convicted and made a decision in the mid-1990s that my family and I would not continue to go to churches where everybody looked like us that if I was serious about racial reconciliation that this is something that we would do it was hard it was hard took a position at a predominately white church and it was it was tough what we faced a lot of things sometimes we faced overt racism rarely more often than that it was just in sensitivities ignorance but it was what we signed up for and it was difficult it was hard for my children because they were too young to really understand what we were doing and why and it was hard to be the only black kids around but if I believed what I believed then what were the options what were the alternatives it was difficult from another perspective as well it was difficult from the perspective of having conversations on more than one occasion where people to my face accused me of selling out now is hey wait a minute wait wait a minute wait wait wait wait because because you go to Promise Keepers rallies in you will do pulpit swaps and you will do all of these sorts of things but but now that I've decided to take this to another level and make a personal commitment with my life and my family's life I'm selling out then what are we really trying to do I was accused and this one was always difficult of robbing the black church of its best and brightest now on the one hand thanks for the compliment but on the other hand what what do I do with that because part of me is going what a horrible way to think about the church you're black therefore you belong to this group and your gifts and graces and talents and abilities belong to this group and it's robbery for you to take them and for you to get bit but on the other hand I distinctly remember when I graduated from southwestern Seminary receiving a questionnaire from a black PhD student I forget what for at school they were a black PhD student who was doing research for their dissertation and wanted me to fill out this questionnaire because less than 15% of all black ministers in this country according to their research has seminary education so this is the research project trying to figure out okay what is it that led you in this direction and what is it that helped you to stay the course and what is it that can you see how it be torn having conversation with my wife and children when certain things would happen constantly having that wrestle and that struggle with is this tokenism or is it real and regardless of what it is is this the commitment or is it not and if I do have a problem with the way people understand me or don't understand me can I simultaneously fault people for not understanding me and then not make myself available so that they can have relationship with me and learn to understand me how dare you white people who don't have relationships with black people not understand us do you see the dilemma and it's a double-edged sword because ironically now that part of my history is often leveraged against me in this entire discussion you don't get a voice in this discussion you don't get a dog in this fight because you abandoned your people just I just want you to sit with that and then I want to answer a lingering question why would you do that and wouldn't you hold on in the middle of that when it's hard the Ephesians chapter 2 and in the time we have left I want us to just walk through this and see the truth from God sufficient word about our unity and reconciliation that exists we don't have to achieve racial reconciliation it exists it has been achieved it is a reality that we must walk in but it's not something that we have to accomplish it's already been accomplished therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh call the uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision which is made in the flesh by hands remember that you were at that time separated from Christ alienated from the Commonwealth of Israel strangers to the covenants of promise having no hope and without God in the world that's bad news there's a parallel here to the first part of the chapter right in in the first part of chapter 2 we start with bad news dead in trespasses and sins Elenin for Emmys just bad news and then we had that but God here we have bad news and then we have but now but before we get to the but now let's let's rest here in this bad news because in order to understand the magnitude of the reconciliation you have to understand the magnitude of the division and look again at it you gen in the flesh call the uncircumcision by what it's called the circumcision I want you to understand that the division that God overcomes here is more significant than anything that we face why because race is arbitrary racial classifications are not real classifications there is but one race there's virtually no genetic difference between us by the way if we were not of the same race we couldn't reproduce with one another there is one race we have the same original parents a man we're are multiple ethnicities but one race and the racial distinctions between us are arbitrary distinctions based on certain features that we have but not based on real differences they are arbitrary and sometimes we see these when the Hutus and the Tutsis experienced genocide in Ronda people look at that and the way we go I don't get that these people look the same to me do you realize that the genetic difference between the Hutus and the Tutsis is small but the genetic difference between white people and black people is almost as small but the difference between Jew and Gentile was established by God himself and was not arbitrary but real do you know what that means if God can reconcile those who have real and God ordained distinctions between them he can certainly reconcile people who have arbitrary and artificial differences and distinctions between them and look at this verse 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ alienated from the Commonwealth of Israel strangers to the covenants of promise having no hope and without God in the world it's not just that the Gentiles were Outsiders related to another ethnic group it's not just that Gentiles were separated from the cultural hegemony if you will it's not just that there were systems that were oppressing them it's not just that they didn't have access to wealth it was you are alienated from God and from Christ this is real this is significant and I this is not to make light of anyone else's experience of alienation or separation but what nothing compares to this having no hope and without God in the world what compares to that sitting in the back of the bus no lynching no being having no hope and without God in the world it's worse than slavery slavery is bad news amen this is this is more significant than that now we can look at verse 13 but now we've Pentecostals we take a praise break right here right but now when news is so bad it doesn't really matter what comes after the but now because it's got to be better than what was before it a met but now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ make no mistake about it this language is clear this is temple language as we go through this it's clear there's a temple language and it's clear that what we're dealing with here is the whole idea of you know here's the Holy of Holies and the Holy of Holies the high priest one day a year just to go into the Holy of Holies and only the high priests kids go in there and then that's the court where the priests do their work and let me the priests get to do their work there and and and and and then there's a like the court of the Jews and and and Jewish men get to go there and they miss the women who would get to go here and then further and further and further back you would have Gentile proselytes who could come but could only get so close but now through the blood of Christ you who were way back there have been brought near you've been reconciled you've been reconciled and how how how how how through through reading the right sociology books how through feelings sorry enough about what your ancestors did to someone else's ancestors how by having enough of your grievances addressed know the blood of Christ Christ died to reconcile us to himself and to one another the blood of Christ the blood of Christ don't you dare and anything to this the blood of Christ is sufficient to reconcile us it's enough it's enough the blood of Christ is enough and it's the only thing that can reconcile us this is why looking for reconciliation through other means is futile it's futile it cannot be achieved not only is it futile it's blasphemous because it becomes the blood of Christ and for himself is our peace who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commands expressed in ordinances that he might create in himself one new man in the place of two so making peace and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross thereby killing hostility there's so much here and time won't permit me to deal with all these things but notice this that four times we see this word peace and Christ is our peace price Christ not only gives us peace and brings us peace he is our peace he not only accomplished our peace he is our peace it is Christ and by the way this peace that Christ brings is not just a peace where two sides decide to put down their arms and no longer fight that that's that's wonderful and and it's wonderful to have that kind of piece last week we were in New Orleans and we took our children to the national World War two museum amazing museum there in New Orleans if you haven't been that's worth the trip and go through this process and you know they've got it designed to where you start from the beginning and from the Nazi buildup and you then have you know Pearl Harbor and you know and now all of a sudden there's the build-up of the American war machine and then there's the road to Tokyo and the road to Berlin and the rota and and and then you go to the the end of the museum and it's like here is the victory that was one here are the peace treaties that was signed and we say Amen hallelujah praise the Lord that arms were put down and peace treaties were signed but that is not the reconciliation that Christ brings himself is our peace who made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law and commandments expressed in ordinances that he might create in himself one new man in place of two so making peace and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross thereby killing the hostility we don't just put down our arms and no longer fight with one another we become one another he makes the two into one that's the reconciliation that we have the reconciliation that makes the two into one the reconciliation that makes us brothers and sisters in Christ the reconciliation that is so real that if you belong to Christ and have you been a Christian for any amount of time you understand this reality there are people in the kingdom of God who are far closer to you then your blood relatives in some cases because blood might be thicker than water but it's not stronger than the cross it is an amazing reality and you can go anywhere in this world and find a church you don't even have to understand the language but in the worship of God and the presence of the saints you are at home you're at home with your brothers and with your sisters and you don't have to read sociology texts in order to achieve that is it important for us to understand each other absolutely it is and a church in Houston and I told you guys you know Houston is the most ethnically diverse city in America and in might have paper towel or something like that that I could but in in our church in Houston the last six months before we ended up going to Zambia there was a growth spurt our church went through a growth spurt and in this growth spurt God sent us people from 11 different nations in a six-month period not whose ancestors were from 11 different nations not people who from 11 different ethnicities in that six-month period thank you thank you very much thank you but people who were born in 11 different nations Russia France Germany China India Argentina I mean this Nigeria in this very brief window and sometimes there were hurdles to overcome with that but guess what the Bible is sufficient I didn't have to go get a sociology textbook on each one of those nations or ethnicities in order to have a brotherly relationship or a pastoral relationship pastoral commitment to those people it was the unity that has been achieved through the blood of Christ and the grace of God and presence and power of His Holy Spirit uniting us in faith and giving us what we needed in order to come to know and understand and appreciate each other it was sufficient it was sufficient now let me hurry to say there were ways that we could grow in our understanding and our unity and those things were great it was great to go over to the home of the Russian family and have a Russian feast and to learn about Russia I mean that was great and absolutely beneficial but not necessary the blood of Christ is the necessary element the rest of it is gravy amen and here's the other side of that and the other problem that I have with that I've talked about stereotypes on a number of occasions but the problem that I have with this and I've dealt with this in apologetics one of the difficulties in the way that we often practice apologetics is we think okay this person is a Muslim this person is a Buddhist this person is with it so what I need to do is I need to go read up and study up on that religion so that I can then come to this person and have a conversation with them about their cousin cuz now I understand them well well no actually you don't because they're a person they're not a collection of facts they're not a stereotype they're a person so don't tell me that you've read books about the black experience and about black people and therefore now you understand me because I'm unique and black people are unique we're not all the same Amen somebody sufficient again let's move verse 18 verse 17 first he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who are near we can't miss this we can't miss this we can't miss this we can't miss this this is incredibly important here's why because the way we think about things often is this we think well there's there's the you know there there's the the Jews and the Jews these privileged people who have you know all of these things they do have the the the covenants and the promises they do have the history they do have all this they do they do have the scriptures they you know so so what we really need to do is Christ needs to come and get those Gentiles up to speed and up to where the Jews are and oftentimes that did what was the Judea is in controversy about the Judiasm controversy was in many ways this it was a it was a kind of ethnic Gnosticism yeah you see see we we have the stuff you got to get to where we are in order to then yet to God you got to become a Jew before you become a Christian because there is something very significant about being a Jew look at this first again he came and preached peace to you were far off in peace to you who were near the Gentiles needed the cross of Christ and the blood of Christ in order to be reconciled to God and so did the Jews because God is no respecter of persons it's interesting you know so many times in missions you know there's all this we the the oppressed and the poor and the downtrodden and the you know and and so we feel like if you really love God and you really are gonna obey the Scriptures you're going to find those areas in those neighborhoods were poor and oppressed people are and you're gonna do ministry there and you're gonna establish churches there can I ask you a question do we believe that rich people automatically know God that they don't need churches planted among them do we really believe that do we really believe that we need to go to the inner city because inner city families have difficulties and and inner city families face hardships and inner city families face obstacles but we don't need to go knocking on the door of the wealthy family because obviously they don't need our pastoral care No they mean Christ they need the gospel all people need the gospel all of them verse 18 for through him and what's this amazing reversal that comes we both have access in one spirit to the Father you were separated from Christ amen but now through the Spirit we have access to the Father you see the you see the Trinity they're right you see the father and the son of the Spirit and up in verse 12 you your problem was you were separated from Christ in verse 18 through him we both have access in one spirit to the Father Jew and Gentile verse 18 so then you are no longer strangers in aliens in verse 12 you were alienated from the Commonwealth of Israel in verse 19 you're no you person I think so then you are no longer strangers and aliens up in verse 12 you were I'm sorry strangers to the covenants and promises and now you're no longer strangers and aliens in verse 12 you were alienated from the Commonwealth in Israel and now in verse 19 but you are fellow citizens with the Saints and members of the household of God this is better this is better what you have now is better than what you didn't have did because you could be part of the Commonwealth of Israel and lost you could have the covenants and promises and they do nothing but condemn you but now you have access in one spirit to the Father now you are no longer strangers in aliens and now you are federal citizens with the Saints and members of the household of God not only did he fix what was broken he just come to your dilapidated house and repair it you got a new house amen and I want you to notice something he starts off talking about what the Gentiles didn't have and we end up talking about what Jews and Gentiles now have because of the growth this is sufficient as who we are and any finishes built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone in whom the whole structure being joined together grows into a holy temple in the Lord in him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the spirit that's racial reconciliation and it's not something you and I have to achieve it's something you and I have to believe because Christ has already achieved it it is done it is real we are one in Christ and the rest of it is just walking in that reality it's kind of like a married couple of a married couple has difficulty if a married couple becomes alienated and estranged from one another they don't need to get married they're still married all the married folks should have said Amen right there and then let me try that again if a married couple becomes estranged or alienated or has difficulties they don't need to get married they're already married maybe okay thank you thank you you didn't stop being married you didn't stop being in a one flesh Union just because things got hard Amen you you need to be reminded of your union you need to strengthen your Union but you don't need to need another you know same thing with racial reconciliation we are reconciled in Christ we don't need to achieve racial reconciliation we just need to walk in the racial reconciliation that Christ achieved at the cross it's ours it's real and I don't mean sociology books in order to walk in this reconciliation I need God's book in order to walk in this reconciliation again that's not to say that it may not be helpful or informative just like when there's an issue between me and my wife helpful and informative for me to hear from her what her grievances are what her heart aches are what her really that that can be that is helpful amen but that happens in the context of relationship here's what I don't do my wife and I are at odds with one another my wife and I are having these problems and these grievances we'll know so I'm going to read books about her [Laughter] No well and this is why sometimes it can seem like splitting hairs in this current debate because nobody's going to argue that it's a bad thing to learn about each other amen nobody's gonna argue that nobody's gonna argue that it's a bad thing to understand our history nobody's gonna make that argument but the problem comes when we say if you're relying on the scriptures and you are not being informed by these particular sources and or perspectives then you cannot achieve reconciliation in this area because you haven't done your homework you haven't done your homework you me the Bible not enough you get a sociology history and again I teach sociology and so I'm not going to argue that somehow it's just not can't be a relevant thing or can't be that Destin that's not my point that is not my argument I'm simply saying the Bible is sufficient and we use the Bible to critique all other books and not other books to critique the Bible and it worries me greatly when in the midst of this movement if you will I'm hearing at the forefront of it this new canon this ever-growing very specific list of books that we need to read in order to properly understand and execute racial reconciliation and the implication of course is because the Bible's not sufficient where else would we do that and it's interesting it's not just on this issue now we're beginning to hear this on the gay Christian issue here's a list of books that you need to read in order to understand these issues of sexual orientation or is it Matthew vines book you know got in the gate Christian they here's these six passages of scripture that have been misunderstood because they haven't been read in light of these other realities that have to be brought to bear a new hermeneutic and a new canon so that you can then properly understand and apply the Bible and I'm saying the Bible is sufficient not as a ignorant fundamentalist Biblica did you know the Bible is sufficient that's pretty God we thank you for your goodness and mercy and kindness toward us in Christ we rejoice in his finished work and we rejoice and what he has accomplished through the cross may we ever embrace it and grow in it and rejoice in it in Christ's name you

Channel: Founders Ministries

Views: 618,499

Rating: 4.9036045 out of 5

Keywords: reformed, woke church, socialjustice, biblicaljustice, Voddie baucham, Voddie Baucham ministries, founders ministries, reformedchurch, baptist, culturalmarxism, racial reconciliation, christ, sufficiency, gospel, statement on social justice, Ephesians, peace, racism, unity

Id: FoJGYCc7EUg

Length: 54min 4sec (3244 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 27 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/L-Win-Ransom]

I really like this video and I think that Voddie is a good nut inside of Founders Ministries (which I think is unhelpfully polemical most of the time)

But I would also note: I heard somewhere that several pastors had received this video in particular from congregants in an attitude that was very “ha, take that you crypto-SJW-wolf-in-sheep’s clothing”.

So yeah, don’t do that. This video serves as a great starting point in saying that we can’t go outside scripture to define sin. But we also must go to the Bible for how to disagree with our brothers well.

(Side note: Voddie is experiencing some major sudden health problems right now - like he dropped everything and flew into the USA to go to the Mayo Clinic - so please join me in prayer for him, his doctors, and his family)

[u/Game_Cross]

Excellent sermon from Voddie.

[u/Christlovingperson]

Yup, I watched this last year during the blm crisis, and it changed my mind! Voddie also has some stuff on social marxism which is also really helpful!

[u/heymike3]

3 minutes in... chawaka!!

Edit: Finished it. That got real. Highly recommended!

[u/careerthrowaway10]

His GoFundMe has now raised almost $1.4M!

[u/Ex_M]

I'll have to watch it, he's one of my favorites.

[u/lord_behemoth]

People really need to pay close attention to what hes saying. Ive gotten the impression over time that the black community doesnt care about what Voddie preaches. Its as though he is verifying this himself.

[u/Representative_Coat]

Great insight from the Word. Thanks for posting.

[u/MilSF1]

Sola scriptura. Absolutely. Just don’t be hasty to throw away potentially helpful, though thoroughly secular tools, that can be used to achieve the goals of community laid out in the Word.