Remember: Who You Are in Christ Pt 2

Several years ago, my husband, family, and friends built a barn as his workshop. We constructed the barn on twenty or so cinder blocks, as putting it on a permanent foundation would have changed the permit. At the time, the cinder blocks were sufficient. Over the years, my husband has acquired more and more tools. The cinder blocks have held up the added weight, but we can tell where some are beginning to settle in the soil. Inside the barn, the space feels like it is shrinking as more tools have been added, so we are in process of figuring out how to expand the barn to have more room as well as put a more solid foundation under it.

Last week, we examined how in Christ, we are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God (vs 19). We considered the rights, privileges, and responsibilities of being adopted into God’s family. These are things we should remember, but we also want to understand the emphasis in household is on house. As Paul continues his thought, he focuses on a building, a special, unique building.

11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.[1]

            Ephesians 2:11-22 (emphasis added)

Household (vs 19) in the Greek is an adjective, but the Greek root of household is house (oikos), a noun. Thus, Paul’s transition to a foundation and the building of a structure is a natural transition.

Members of God’s household are built on the foundation. The Greek word for built (epoikodomeō) is in a tense called the divine passive. In simple terms, this signifies that God is the builder not man. This same tense is used in verse 22 (“are being built together,” synoikodomeō). God doing the work pulls my thinking back to Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (emphasis added). Just as salvation was God’s gracious gift, here too, He is the one graciously building us into something beautiful that brings Him glory.

Members of God’s household are built on the foundation. When I was a child, I learned the song about the wise man and the foolish man building their houses (Matthew 7:24-27). The foolish man built his house on the sand. The rains came down, the winds blew and beat on the house, and it fell. But the wise man built his house on the rock. The rains came down, the winds blew and beat on the house, and the house stood firm. The wise man was the one who heard Jesus’ words and did them.

Likewise, the foundation in our verses today is the Word of God. God’s Word is complete. We do not add to, take away from, or ignore Scripture. It is sufficient. It is all we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). It saves (the Gospel). But what did Paul mean when he wrote: “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets”? Some commentators say that in a sense, the foundation Paul wrote about was the apostles and prophets themselves, but it might be better understood that they were the instruments God used for His Word to go out.

The foundation, then, is the divine revelation which they taught in the days of the early church and that we now have in Scripture. Paul spoke to this in his letter to the Corinthian church: “According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:10-11). And in his letter to the church in Rome: “and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation” (Romans 15:20). In both cases, Paul is talking about a foundation of teaching God’s Word, teaching the Gospel.

But who are the apostles and prophets? The apostles are easier for us to understand – the twelve disciples plus Paul. Prophets follows apostles indicating that these were New Testament prophets who authoritatively taught God’s Word to the early church. Since they are linked to the foundation, they were restricted to the early, formative period of the church.

Paul continues: “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone” (quoted from Isaiah 28:16. See also1 Peter 2:6; Psalm 118:22; Matthew 21:42; Acts 4:11). A cornerstone is the key stone in the foundation for the structure. It supports the weight of the foundation, and the rest of the structure is aligned to it. Paul declares that Jesus is the cornerstone. He supports, orients, and unifies the church. Like the foolish man who built his house on the sand, the church would crumble apart from Jesus, His finished work on the cross, and His continued support, orienting, and unifying work.

We observe this as Paul progresses: “in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord” (vs 21a). “In whom” – in Christ (also in vs 22). The structure is made up of only those who are united to Jesus, the cornerstone.

Those in Christ are being joined together (same language in verse 22, “built together”). Because believers are in union with Christ, we are united to each other. When my husband and I moved into our house, there was a rock fireplace in the living room. My husband didn’t mind it, but to me it was very chaotic – a jumble of big rocks filled in with varying amounts of mortar. We replaced it with rectangular, rock-like material. They went up in uniform, straight lines. They fit together. There was no need for mortal to fill the gaps. We placed the first rectangle. From there, using a level, we oriented the other pieces around that first one. In Christ, believers are being joined together with a perfect fit, nothing is out of place (Ephesians 5:27). United to Christ, we support and sustain one another.

We are growing into a holy temple in the Lord, being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit (vs 21b-22). Our growth is spiritual. We are becoming progressively more holy until we are complete (Philippians 1:6). Our growth is also mathematical as believers, Jews and Gentiles are continually added to the church. We are living stones being built into a spiritual house, a holy temple (1 Peter 2:5).

The church is a holy temple as well as the individuals within the church (2 Corinthians 6:16). This truth dismantled yet again the division between Jew and Gentile. In the context of the church, there was no longer a physical temple that Gentiles were excluded from. The church itself and individual believers are the dwelling place God is building by the Spirit to be His dwelling place.

Ephesus was the home for one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World – the Temple of Artemis or Diana. It loomed large. During one of Paul’s visits to Ephesus, a craftsman started a riot against Paul. The enraged crowd shouted, “Great is Aretmis of the Ephesians” for two hours. This was the culture in which the Ephesian church lived. Can you imagine reading or hearing Paul’s words? Yes, here was this imposing temple to a false goddess, numerous idol worshipers all around, but the true, living, omnipotent, sovereign, creator God chooses to make His dwelling place in the church He is building. Not a particular, local church building, but in all those who are in Christ, joined together. What hope Paul’s words from God must have brought and should still bring to our often fainting hearts.

As we end chapter two, let us remember who we once were, who we were apart from Jesus. Let us remember we were far off, separated from God and alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise. Let us remember God’s saving grace. Remember that God has made us alive. Let us remember that we are created for good works which God has prepared for us. Remember we have been brought near by the blood of Jesus. Let us remember that because of Jesus’ finished work on the cross, we are reconciled to God and to each other.

Reflection

1.    What is your foundation, not just intellectually but functionally day-to-day? Explain.

2.    Is there any part of Scripture you choose to ignore and thus remove Scripture? Is there something you insist on and thus add to Scripture?[2]

3.    As you think of your life as well as your local church body, are you/they being faithful to Scripture? In what ways? Are you/they growing in holiness? Are you/they a foretaste of heaven, loving each other and listening well, and walking in a manner worthy of the calling (Ephesians 4:1-6)?

4.    Paul’s theme in verses 11-22 is being in one Christ. In what ways do your words or actions sow discord and division instead of unity? In what ways are you striving for the unity we are called to which is possible only by Jesus?

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Eph 2:11–22.

[2] Adapted from Coekin, Richard. Ephesians For You. Charlotte, The Good Book Company, 2023.