8 I mean that you have been saved by grace because you believe. You did not save yourselves. It was a gift from God.
9 You cannot brag that you are saved by the work you have done.
10 God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us new people so that we would do good works. God had planned in advance those good works for us. He had planned for us to live our lives doing them.
11 You were born non-Jews. 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 Yes, at one time you were far away from God. But now in Christ Jesus you are brought near to God through the blood of Christ’s death.
14 Because of Christ we now have peace. Christ made both Jews and non-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.