After the Apostle made his petition for enlightenment respecting the glory purposed from eternity and already beginning, and God calling out of this purpose His Church to Christ, the Body of which He is the Head, in such a manner as presented in the conclusion of the first chapter (1:23), he again turns to his readers to notice the mighty working of the Father in bringing those who make up the Body of Christ, through death and resurrection, into membership of the Body, His Church. First of all he is moved by a glance at the similar condition of death in the case of the Gentiles and of the Jews, and then by the thought of God, who out of mercy has quickened and blessed the wretched—the transgressor, with and through Christ. This chapter is put in between the two great purposes and the two great prayers which indicate that the believers, the members of the Body of Christ, are really the object of the purposes and prayers.

1. FROM DEATH TO LIFE, 2:1-6

In the first chapter we have been looking at the purpose that God has in Himself concerning Christ personal. We were shown clearly what God did to establish a Head and what He did that we might have our standing in this Head and dwell with Him in the Heavenlies. In these verses our attention is called to the mighty working of God through Christ in believing men. The chapter begins with men in sin and under the dominion of the ruler who destroys. The chapter closes with a complete change, and those who were on the road to destruction and death have become regenerated, secured a position in the Head, Christ, and have become material in the building that God has for His own habitation.

Ver. 1. And you did he make alive, when ye were dead through your trespasses and sins.

In the former paragraph (1:20) we learned that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead by the power of God, so by the power of God we are instructed here, that the believer is raised from the death of sin and becomes the adopted son of God. The believer will realize a great help in knowing his true position in Christ when he begins to appreciate just how he was quickened and how he was raised. The Christian is in the world because of the miraculous power of God. The same powerful hand that was laid upon the body of the dead Christ and raised Him from Joseph's tomb to the highest seat in Heaven, was laid upon your soul when you were in sin and death; you have been quickened and raised and already enjoy a foretaste of what it is to dwell with Christ in the Heavenlies.

All those making up the Body of Christ were, at one time, under the dominion of sin and death. God found these under the power and dominion of Satan and quickened (regenerated) them. The next two verses describe what is meant by sin and death.

Ver. 2. Wherein aforetime ye walked according to the course of this world (age), according to the prince of the power (ruler of authority) of the air, of the spirit that now worketh in the sons (children) of disobedience.

Jesus Christ came into a world under the dominion of sin and death. He was the one man alive in body, soul, and spirit, alive to God in this world and not according to the course of this age, according to the principles of the present period of existence in which fallen man is living, or according to the prince of the power of the air. Satan is the evil spirit and the evil person who now prevails. He is the head of wicked man and holds dominion over him. He is the ruler of evil spirits whose empire is in the air, ruling in the hearts of men who dwell upon the earth, and his spiritual forces are described in the closing chapter of this book (6:12). These evil spirits were cast down from Heaven and have not yet been consigned to the lower regions. They have their empire in this lower air. These same spirits are still at work in the children of disobedience.

All the regenerate who are made so secure and dwelling in the Heavenlies, as described in the former chapter, at one time walked as those now walk who are under the wrath of God. ”˜This age”�—this present sinful order of things as characterized by discord with the will of God. Think of the many walking dead ones, standing in the relation of slaves in Satan's Kingdom, who remain in the depth of misery and death as long as they are without help from above. They have in Satan a prince who works and rules in opposition to Christ, the Head of the Church. There is a strong prejudice in our time against the recognition of Satan's personality. To the Lord and to the Early Church he was surely no mere personification of evil, but an evil personality.

Ver. 3. Among whom we also all once lived in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

Paul includes himself among his fellow believers who were at one time dead in trespasses and sin. They were known at one time as children of disobedience, whether Jew or Gentile, until the day in which they were adopted into the family of God. They fulfilled at one time the desires of the flesh, and of the mind. The impulses and wishes of the unregenerate mind have the nature of sin as much as those of the flesh, however much they differ in respect to refinement. Pride and malice belong to the unregenerate state of death as much as sensual indulgences.

He speaks of those who were by nature the children of wrath. This is the direct statement of the doctrine of original sin. Men are sinful and therefore are under the wrath of God (Rom. 1:18). Every man is either under the righteousness of God or under the wrath of God. What is the Divine wrath? Not arbitrary or intemperate passion in the Eternal, but the antagonism of the Eternal holiness to sin. “The forgetfulness of the present age of the doctrine of the wrath of God has exercised a baneful influence on the various relations in which man holds the place of God, and especially on the government of the family and of the state/' We have either the nature of Christ or the nature of Satan. That which provokes the wrath of God is not only in the individual but in the race and in the nature. A greater mystery we cannot state, but neither could we name a surer fact. The very nature of man is faulty and corrupt since the fall of man.

Ver. 4. But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith He loved us.

These words refer back to 2:1 and that verse is connected with 1:20. God is rich in mercy. This is the ultimate motive of the work of regeneration. It is simply the Divine mercy. No claim or obligation is in the question, nor right inherent in the alienated race, nor fitness of things in the abstract; only the uncalled and supremely free choice of the God of mercy.

We have a number of illustrations in the Bible concerning the miraculous power of God. We read about the resurrection of Jarius' daughter coming from death unto life and able to look upon the face of her deliverer. Lazarus who was dead four days comes forth out of his tomb. It is more miraculous to read and know about the Prince of Life, the Christ, coming from Joseph's grave, going forth into new risen glory. These have been refreshed from slumber; however, there are things no less Divine which take place upon this earth day by day. Human souls are awakened from trespasses and sins when the love of God is poured into the heart that was cold and empty. The Spirit of God breathes life into a spirit lying powerless and buried in the flesh. Through the power of God this is as true a rising from the dead as when Jesus, our Lord, came from his sepulcher. We are delivered. God and the soul have met in Christ and are reconciled. The examples given to us in the Word of God of all who were miraculously healed, raised from death unto life, brought out of sin and trespasses into the glorious presence of God, compel us to cry out, “God is love and rich in mercy.”�

Ver. 5. Even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace have ye been saved).

The Apostle said in the first verse, “You hath He quickened,”� and in this verse says, “Even when we were dead in sins.”� He means to say, “you”� and “we”� and if he refers to different nations, then he emphasizes the same truth he had taught in the Book of Romans, that all have sinned, Jews and Gentiles, and come short of the glory of God.

The Apostle teaches us that all are included in God's love and God's riches. The individual Jew and the individual Gentile are quickened together, made One new Man in Christ. They come into fellowship with the Risen One. The spiritual life in this world is imparted to us because we are sealed Christians by the power of God. The Holy Spirit will not allow us to get away from the fact that we are saved by grace. Nothing that we can do within ourselves makes us worthy of salvation. We are not allowed to base our salvation on anything we can do. The Holy Spirit is positive and definite concerning the method of salvation and so has presented it in the Book of Romans. It is through God's love and God's riches that we are sealed and our hope is confirmed by the infallible Word of Truth. This dismisses all thought of claim and merit on the part of man. We are saved through faith in Christ and that faith is a gift of God.

Ver. 6. And raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus.

The Apostle tells us in the sixth chapter of Romans that we are planted together, and if we are planted together with Christ, then we are raised up together, and if we are now planted together and raised together, then we are instructed by the Holy Spirit that nothing can separate us. We must then be with Christ wherever He is, and since we are instructed here that He is in the Heavenlies, we must be seated with Him in the Heavenlies. Our union is with Christ in His celestial life and our union with each other in Christ as members of His Body makes us sharers in common of that life. Christ, therefore, reconciles us in one Body unto God. Then we do not sit alone, but we sit together in Heavenly places. Here we have the expression of fulness of life, completeness of salvation, and hope of glorification.

QUESTIONS

• Why say, “and you did he quicken”�?

• What was the condition of all Christians at one time?

• Who is the Prince of the power of the air?

• What shows God's great love?

• How are we saved?

• What is the Christian's great privilege as a member of the body of Christ? (Ver. 6.)

2. WE ARE SAVED FOR A PURPOSE, 2:7-10

God's purposes and Paul's prayers are specific and definite. They help us to understand God's side of salvation and the attainment man may reach through answered prayer. We learned in the last paragraph that Jew and Gentile, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, can sit together in Heavenly places. Only Christians can reach this exalted relationship, secured in this age and perpetuated in the age to come. This is all brought about through the surpassing riches of His grace. God's mercy and the riches of His grace make it possible for unregenerate Jew and Gentile to be transformed and regenerated, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, obtaining a righteousness unknown to all who live the unregenerated life.

Ver. 7. That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of His grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.

All the races of mankind in all future ages are embraced in the redeeming purpose and are invited to share in its boundless wealth. The highway of this new life has been in building since time began. This redeeming purpose to bring about this boundless wealth was thought out before the beginning of time, as we learned (from 1:4). We see how boundless and how limitless is the range of purpose and grace given us in Christ Jesus before time began. These exceeding riches of His grace accomplish such wonderful results, as pictured here in this chapter. This is set over against the wrath of God and the power of Satan. We are assured of the triumphant, superior power.

Twice the Apostle has exclaimed, “By grace ye are saved.”� In the first verse of this chapter the Apostle speaks of the condition of his readers while in their unregenerated state and cries out (Ver. 5), “By grace ye were saved.”� He repeats this in the same language, after calling his reader's attention to the fact that they were not saved by works and therefore they had no reason for boasting, but it is by grace, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, that they were brought into favor with God (Ver. 8).

We are here on very familiar ground after having studied Paul's emphasis on faith in the Book of Romans, and now the Apostle emphasizes the riches of God's grace to these Ephesian brethren. It is “His”� grace and “His”� kindness towards us through Jesus Christ. These exceeding riches of His grace are shown to us in the gifts of God. The character of God is presented in the Gospel under the most delightful aspect. It is God's mercy or kindness which is expressed in His Divine pitifulness towards feeble, suffering men. The God of all the earth, who hates sin and transgression, is gentler than the softest hearted mother, rich in mercy as He is grand and terrible unto wrath. Grace and kindness are love's executive. Christ is the embodiment of grace and the cross its supreme expression, the Gospel its message to mankind and Paul himself its trophy and witness. The Apostle sees future ages gazing with wonder at its beneficence to himself and his fellow believers. God's kindness is in the touch of His hand, the aspect of His voice, the cherished breath of His Spirit. It is the gift of Christ, the gift of righteousness (Rom. 5:15-18). In this age of grace God is preparing, through Christ as the Head over all things and the mystical Body, the Church, that which is His possession, and wealth, and building, by which He may show the occasion of this grace in all future ages.

Ver. 8. For by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.

The teaching of this great evangelical epistle is condensed in the brief verses of 8 and 9. The reason is here shown for God's dealing to man by the way of gifts and making him the absolute debtor; “lest any man should boast.”� This teaching is forced upon the Apostle's mind by the stubborn principles of legalism. It is stated in terms of identity with those of his letter to the Romans. Men will glory in their virtues before God. They hold up the rags of their own righteousness, if any such they possess, even the slightest remnant of them. The sinners are a proud race and our pride is frequently the worst of our sins. He makes to us a free gift of His righteousness and excludes each contribution for our store of merit, for if we could supply anything, we would inevitably boast as though all were our own.

“By grace are ye saved.”� Not, “ye will be saved,”� or “ye are in the course of salvation,”� but Paul says, “By grace ye are saved.”� We have redemption in His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses. This is the Christian's assurance. Christ Himself said, “He that believeth on the Son of God hath eternal life.”� We know that we are in Him. We know that we have passed out of death into life. “This is the victory that over- cometh the world, even our faith”� (1 John 5:4).

The organizers and leaders in the early Church believed that they were in possession of a present salvation and this gave them conviction which made it possible for them to override all evil and add constantly to their number and make the Christian foundation sure. Anyone with faith hesitant, distracted, contaminated with doubt, cannot plant a firm foot anywhere. Nothing can prosper in such a soul or in the organization to which he belongs. Oh, that we might come in possession of that clear accent, the ringing joyful note of Apostolic assurance ! We need a faith not born of sentiment, or human sympathy, but that which comes from the voice of the living God, a faith whose rock and cornerstone is not the Church, but the Christ, founded upon God's own authority and in harmony with the inspired Word.

Ver. 9. Not of works, that no man should glory.

If man being guilty and being unable to win a pardon, simply receives it; if being dead he gains life only as a Divine endowment; if favor and nothing but favor has originated his safety, the only possible act on his part being that of reception; if all this be true then surely there can be nothing farther from him than boasting, for He will glorify God for all things.

When a man is helpless and undone, with neither means nor strength to change his condition, then if his condition be changed, it must come from that of another and it is entirely through favor so there is no occasion to boast.

Ver. 10. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God afore prepared that we should walk in them.

The former verses expressed the Christian's assurance and now we have presented to us a part of the practical life of the person saved by the gift of grace. It is very comforting to live in this assurance, with the hideous evil of the world oppressing us and the air laden with the contagion of sin, where the faith of the professing Christian wears a cast of doubt, where death we know is confronting us, where the Anti-Christ is more fully presenting himself, and where we can hear hundreds of voices saying in mockery and grief, “Where is now thy God?”� This is a day for Christians to recover again their radiant strength and have their assurance reaffirmed by the living Word of this Epistle.

We are the property of another. We are His workmanship. Salvation, therefore, is not of works, for those who are saved are saved by the workmanship of another. We are the product of an artist, the chair of the carpenter, the jar of the potter. Man is but a mere creature of God, while it follows that any good thing that emanates from man really rises from God as the author. This is rather the re-creation than the original creation that is now used as a ground of argument. It is the new life to which the Christians are born and are sealed with the Holy Spirit, and are created unto good works. Paul is the last man in the world to undervalue, human effort or disparage human work of any member, only we must let this end be suited to God. Ours and other men's doings must be the fruit and not the root of salvation. The Church had and must have an end in view that reaches beyond itself and is worthy of the founder, worthy of the magnitude of His plans and measureless love. God has thus prepared good works and with the design that we should walk in them as prepared before by God. These good works, although they do not secure salvation, are by God's eternal purpose essentially conditional with it and must be done in harmony with His direction.

QUESTIONS

• What age is referred to in Ver. 7?

• Tell us about the exceeding riches of His grace.

• What means are presented for salvation?

• What is the gift of God?

• What causes men to boast?

• How are we God's workmanship?

• What is the purpose of service?

3. THE GENTILES IN POSSESSION OF NEW NATURE THROUGH THE BLOOD OF CHRIST, 2:11-13

In these verses we have the summary of what the Apostle presented in the former paragraph. We are reminded here of the privileges to which the Gentiles had attained by the adoption in Christ.

Ver. 11. Wherefore remember, that aforetime ye, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called Circumcision, in the flesh, made by hands.

Who belongs to this new creation? Gentiles who have been saved through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle calls the Gentiles' attention to their condition before they were called into fellowship with Christ. “You Gentiles who were dead in your unregenerate life. You were sunken in corruption, living in opposition to God and held under the power of the wicked one, the Devil.”� All of us, no matter what race we belong to, who have experienced what it is to enjoy the Spiritual life, remember how we were held under sin and death. We are conscious of the wonderful possibilities that are yet ahead of us in the ages to come. The grace that has done so much for us already is unlimited in power as to securing that which the Word of
God holds out in promise. It makes little difference what influence may be brought against us, we must hold firmly to Christ Jesus in the face of all opposition and we are sure of victory all along the way.

Ver. 12. That ye were at that time separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

The Apostle is enumerating the losses of the Gentiles compared with those of the Jews. The Gentiles were without the expectation of the Messiah. They were not included in the covenants of God. They did not have any hope of a life to come, and they did not have the help and security which was claimed by the Jews.

“Covenants of promise.”� These are the various covenants of God with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. All of these covenants God had made with the Jewish nation in which were the promises of the Messiah and of His inheritance.

“Having no hope.”� The hope of Israel, which Paul preached to the Gentiles, was a hope for the world and nations as well as for the individual. They had no hope as expressed here in this verse. They were without God in the world. The heathen are represented as living in the wicked and weary world, and having no full assurance of God's providence.

The description given here of the condition of the Gentile world is very similar to that given in the first chapter of the book of Romans. They did not live up, even to the privileges that they had of knowing God, and so the Gentiles, steeped in sin and transgressions, were helpless. Their condition became more serious and their guilt was constantly increasing.

Ver. 13. But now in Christ Jesus ye that once were far off are made nigh in the blood of Christ.

It is through faith in Jesus Christ that this nation had hope. The Apostle shows the contrast in individual heathen between their state of sin and transgression and their union with Christ. The Gentiles realized more fully the security and help received from the Messiah and that they belonged to Him, and so it seemed easier for the Gentiles to get into fuller possession of the blessings of God than the Jews, who were trusting in the law and therefore in a state of blindness as to Christian possibilities.

These Gentiles were once far off, aliens and strangers to this great privilege, but now their relation is changed. They are brought into communion and fellowship with God through the blood of His Son. “What is it that has brought this difference that has transported you from the wilderness of Hell to the midst of the city of God? It is the blood of Christ. It is the sacrificial death that brought thee from far off into the midst of God's favor.”� It was in Christ Jesus that God reconciled, not a nation, but a world to himself.

The Greeks, during Christ's last week on earth, desired to see Him. He exclaimed (John 12:32), “If I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men unto me.”� The cross of Christ is to draw humanity around it by its infinite love and sorrow, by the perfect apprehension there is in it of the world's gift and need, and the perfect submission of God's law to the cross that man might be made free from sin.

The Jews, who had seemed nigh unto God, the chosen people, the people who enjoyed the greatest privileges of any nation, which was so miraculously saved from Egyptian bondage, supplied for years with Heaven's manna, has now lost its nearness through disobedience, and a new people, a new creation, is given the nearer place in God. This means that any individual, Jew or Gentile, may have an opportunity to become a member of this new people that is nearest to God through the Cross of Jesus Christ.

QUESTIONS

• What were the Gentiles to remember?

• Name the Gentiles' condition presented here?

• Why say they were far off?

• What has changed that relation?

4. JEW AND GENTILE BECOME ONE BODY IN CHRIST, 2: 14-18

In these verses we have the blessed work of Christ in making peace between Jew and Gentile and between man and God. The hostility of Jew and Gentile was removed through Christ's death and resurrection. The occasion of quarrel between Israel and the world was destroyed, the barrier dispersed that had for so long fenced off the privileged ground of the sons of Abraham. The Apostle is a student of prophecy. The Old Testament holds the record of prophetic utterances that are fulfilled in the different dispensations, and the man who is acquainted with the inspired Word of God, can in a measure at least understand the conditions necessary to the fulfilment of the things prophesied. God's promise to His scattered people, Israel, in the time of the exile (Is. 57: 19) was peace. Peace to those who were far off and those who were near.

Ver. 14. For he is our peace, who made both one, and brake down the middle wall of partition.

The Apostle goes beyond what the prophet says about the far off and the near, into a larger and more distant field than that foreseen by the prophets. Christ is our peace, not for the divided members of Israel alone, but for all the tribes of men. He brings about a universal peace.

There is a wide difference between the two great peoples, the Jews and the Gentiles. Only by the power of God could these two be made one. In this he broke down the partition wall or fence which was set up between the two. The Gentiles were without the promise and covenants of God while the Jews were the people of promise, which contains in itself the notion of separation. The Jews were insignificant and had scarcely counted among the great powers of the world. Their religion alone gave them influence and importance. Their enmity existed as a wall between these two peoples and is still there. It is only through Him who died to make it possible that all people by accepting Him may get rid of that which causes this division. It is only through God's power that this enmity can be overcome and peace can be made. This is really the end of Christ's mission. It is the victory of the cross over strife that brings about this peace.

Ver. 15. Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; that he might create in himself of the twain one new man, so making peace.

Christ took down the wall of hatred existing between the two peoples by coming into the world, and taking upon Himself flesh and blood. In this way we are told this enmity was overcome, by His coming in the flesh and dying on the cross.

“Even the law of commandments.”� This law owes its origin to God alone, who purposed by it, when He gave it from Sinai, the complete separation to Himself of His chosen people from all the rest of the world. Israel never fully submitted to this law of separation from the surrounding nations, but constantly disregarded it and broke through. They did not want to be a peculiar people and for this reason God punished them again and again. For a faithful Israelite to associate with the Gentile was sin. This is what “enmity”� means: a holy difference between God's chosen people and the world about. It developed into race antipathy or hatred, religious fanaticism or bigotry. God who raised this wall of separation, now removes it, that He may bring together Jew and Gentile and create in Himself of the two, “one new Man.”�

Ver. 16. And might reconcile them both into one body unto God through the cross, having slain the enmity thereby.

This is the second part of God's work as a peacemaker. First, he united Jew and Gentile, then He makes them into one body. The one body is formed by the combination of Jew and Gentile. This was all done by the cross. It is the cross which is the instrument by which mankind is reconciled unto God. It must be the cross that reconciles man to man. We cannot have a fatherhood of God until we have the cross to reconcile us to God. We cannot have a brotherhood of man until the cross of Christ makes that brotherhood through the blood unto reconciliation. It is the cross that cleanses. At the cross reconciliation is found. Peace is made between man and God and man and man.

Ver. 17. And He came and preached peace to you that were far off, and peace to them that were nigh.

He that reconciles by the cross, preached good tidings of peace. Christ did not only effect peace but He joined both man and God and in this way He is giving us the good news of peace which He made Himself. This was Christ's mission in His own person and it is this which is to be accomplished by his messengers whom he now commissions. He speaks here to the Jews who were nigh and to the Gentiles who were far off. He speaks to those who are within and without the Church. Christ was preaching the good tidings of peace through the words and lives of His 10,000 messengers. All those who have been reconciled at the Cross of Christ are Epistles read and known of all men.

Ver. 18. For through him we both have our access in one Spirit unto the Father.

This is the gospel of peace, that He has delivered them by the indwelling Spirit and through Him all mankind may be delivered. We are to come in one Spirit to the Father. The reconciled join hands again with each other. You will be able to say to the man who hated you the most, “Beloved, if God now loves us, we ought also to love one another.”� Individually, now, those who are regenerated can say this. The teaching through the prophets makes it clear that nations will have to say it some day, even as regenerated man now says it.

QUESTIONS

• In whom do we find our peace and how?

• How is it possible to make the Jews and Gentiles one?

• What means were used to break down the wall or fence between the Jews and Gentiles?

• What is meant by “the law of commandments”�?

• Who came to preach peace to those who were near and those who were far?

5. GOD'S TEMPLE IN HUMANITY, 2:19-22

We have been reconciled through the cross of Jesus Christ. Peace has been made between us. We are instructed that we have access through one Spirit which shows us God's ways with mankind, and in this way Jews and Gentiles are being brought together into one and compacted into a new humanity. Now this new humanity has a new Head in whom we have protection and confidence. The old humanity is still under the former head, Adam.

Ver. 19. So then ye are no more strangers and sojourners, but ye are fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God.

The church is being built for an occupant. Jesus said to His disciples, “Upon this rock will I build my Church.”� He is the Builder. He inspects all the material that is used in the construction of the Church. It is built to suit Him who is to inhabit it. He says to Himself, “Here will I dwell for I desire it.”�

We have been reconciled. We are under the direction of the new Head, we belong to a new society, we are citizens of another country, we are members of the family of God. Paul says to the Corinthians, “You are God's temple and the Spirit of God dwelleth in you.”� God delivers individually, Jew and Gentile, through faith from sin and death. The principalities and powers and world rulers of darkness are gradually losing their power since Christ, by His .sacrifice, has bruised the head of Satan. The saints are citizens of a higher order because they belong to the Body of Christ, formed by the Word of God, a new humanity in Christ.

Among the saints we are to include only those who have been thus termed from the beginning by the Apostles as Christians. This distinction the Apostle is constantly emphasizing, that it can only be those who have been transformed by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and are constantly under His direction. God has a chosen people, a chosen family, known as the household of God. They are the ones who belong to the house, to the family, whose Head is Christ. They have a relation, a fellowship with the saints, and have become God's habitation.

Ver. 20. Being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone.

This Church shows that it is built upon a strong foundation. These are churches founded in some of the great cities and have, no doubt, some congregational differences with one another. The context would admit only of their preaching of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ himself was the foundation and they therefore would not be permitted to preach anything but Jesus Christ crucified, risen, ascended, and glorified.

The Apostles had a special mission in the Early Church and we can well understand what their duties were in the organizing and carrying forward of the Church in that period. The prophets here referred to were associates with the apostles and are the New Testament prophets. Paul spoke of these in the Book of Romans, so the Apostle speaks here of the founders of the Church being known as preachers and teachers in this age of grace. These were founders under one and the same spirit. They could labor together at a distance and with methods extremely various with confidence in each other and with an assurance of unity in results, which their teaching and administration would exhibit. These different places of worship were directed by the same spirit and formed one body known as the Church of Christ. Where there is the same Spirit and the same Lord, men do not need to be scrupulous about visible conformity. There is but one foundation and that foundation is headed by Jesus Christ, and no matter what other foundation may be laid, all will come to naught but that which God has authorized, and that only will He accept.

There are two heads. One is the first Adam, who, because of disobedience, became the head of the unregenerate races, and the second head, the second Adam, Christ, who has become the head of the regenerated, the new humanity, made over through the power of God by the individual having faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. This new creation is now forming and will in time be completed, but no material will the builder allow to go into the structure that has not been regenerated, made new. This is not a work of reformation, but a work of transformation.

The Apostle James gives us the warning in the time when he lived, and the same warning is needed in this age, that we should contend earnestly for the faith once delivered unto the saints, by the apostles and prophets. If we get away from the faith that comes through the direct influence of the study of the Word of God we may be among those who are being deceived and the deceivers of others. Christ is now the foundation and the third person of the Blessed Trinity is gathering material for the building.

Ver. 21. In whom each several building, fitly framed together, groweth into a holy temple in the Lord.

Christ is the person on whom the building rests and by whom it is fitly framed together. It is the building fitly framed together which groweth into the holy temple of the Lord. The individuals who make up this building are growing into each other step by step, and by a natural and vital growth. Because of the invisible commission, they are one in their underlying faith. Here we have every organ of the Body in its own degree becoming perfect and holding its place in keeping with the rest. This includes more than the individual members' perfection. It is the perfection of the members of the Body which is being formed. When the Body of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Church, is a unit, as presented here, there will then no longer be weakness and sins and internal conflict. There will be a going forth of united forces with irresistible energy. The Kingdom of Darkness will be assailed and the world will be brought under the subjection of Christ. Christ prays for this (John 17:17-26). He looked beyond the end of the age. He foresaw the day when the wounds of His Church would be healed, and through the unity and faith of love, his people and all mankind would come to acknowledge Him and the Father.

“Fitly framed together.”� Here we have the description of the ideal church, the actual church. No matter what dissension may be expressed, it will remain Christ's Church as long as it continues to rest upon Christ as its foundation. It has been in building for a number of centuries. Much has been gathered from the world, polished and admitted as material into this new building. This building is becoming greater and more substantial from generation to generation. This body, the Church, becomes the holy temple of the Lord. The Christian himself, as an individual, is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Here the Church, the members of Christ's body, are declared to be the temple of God (1 Cor. 3:16).

Ver. 22. In whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God in the Spirit.

Ye that were especially (2:11) strangers (2:19), and dead in trespasses and sins (2: 1), and now built in as living stones with others for a habitation of God through the Spirit. It is God who through the Spirit dwells in you—in His Church. The Holy Spirit is the Agent in securing and polishing material for the building of His Church. He, the Holy Spirit, is the supreme witness of Jesus Christ.

The tabernacle and temple were the buildings erected for God's dwelling place among His people. He no longer dwells in buildings made of material that perisheth, but through His Son, Jesus Christ, a new house is being fashioned for Himself. Christ is the chief cornerstone upon which this building rests and the Holy Spirit is to inspire and control the material that goes into the building. The foundation was made and the church was builded together for a habitation of God, hence it is important that her ministry should be in the hands of wise and faithful stewards of God in this dispensation of grace. “The stone which the builders rejected is made the head of the corner”� (Ps. 118:22). The work has been tried by fire and by flood. It abides and Christ Himself said that the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it (Matt. 16:18). The Rock of Ages stands unworn by time, and unshaken by the conflict of the ages.

We have been washed, we have been cleansed, we are members of the Church, the family of God, the habitation of God Himself. The only union of man that can abide is the Church of Christ that makes one family and one household. Since the establishment of the Church, God needs no longer any distinction of nations. All have access to God the Father through Christ by one Spirit (Ver. 18).

“Hast thou transformed every chamber and hall, nook and corner, all the heights and depths of this inner man, to Him for a pure Spiritual indwelling? Art thou His temple?”�

QUESTIONS

• Who are the strangers and sojourners?

• Give the meaning of, “Fellow citizens with the Saints.”�

• What is the only foundation the Bible upholds?

• Christ said, “Upon this rock I will build my Church.”�

• Is this the meaning of Ver. 21?

• Why call Christ the chief corner-stone?

• For whose dwelling place is the Church built?

• What is the Holy Spirit's purpose in this age?