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Thoughts of a saint and slave
by Sam Isaacson
In reading Ephesians 2 I came upon a great deal of material that may be very familiar to a lot of us, detailing the gospel and God's saving grace. Although we can never be reminded of the cross too much I would love to look at the last few verses of this chapter, beginning at verse 19. This is the final passage after Paul has detailed how the Gentiles, who used to be 'outsiders' (Ephesians 2:11), were brought into the Kingdom:
'So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.' Ephesians 2:19-22 (NLT)
Paul says a great deal in this passage but we will look at five main things today:
No longer strangers and foreigners (v 19)
The use of the words here for strangers and foreigners (xenos and paroikos) is interesting. The words themselves conjure up the idea of foreign exchange students, or international workers who are in a foreign country for some time; another translation could be 'aliens and sojourners'. This is in reference to the Jewish people, in declaration that the Old Testament 'Israel' is the same people as the New Testament 'Church', and that the Gentiles now no longer need to feel out of place in a church setting; remember that the readers of this letter are members of the church in Ephesus. Although the Jews could have been guilty of making Gentiles feel like they were strangers within the church, Paul here states that this should not be the case! Gentiles are just as much a part of the church as Jews are. The real interest, however, comes when one compares this verse with one like Hebrews 11:13, in which xenos is used to describe the Old Testament men of faith. Our natural conclusion from Hebrews 11 should be that as we receive righteousness by faith we become part of the Kingdom of God, and we are 'strangers and exiles' on this earth. Our world is a temporary place of residence that we are only passing through on our way to eternity. With this come two challenges - the first is that we must be aware that unbelievers will feel like strangers when they come to church; we must make sure that we are welcoming and hospitable to ensure that they experience true Christian love! Secondly we should be those who feel like we are in a foreign land when we are living our daily lives; do we feel like that? If we feel at home in our general lives then alarm bells should start ringing and we should be looking at our lives to makes sure that we are seeing things with God's eyes - these lives should feel uncomfortable, because we've not reached home yet!
Citizens along with all of God's holy people (v19)
The language here puts one in mind of a kingdom, and well it should! The Gentiles are reminded that in becoming Christians they gain citizenship in a new kingdom without borders. With this should come a national identity - as Christians we take on the customs of the nation we identify with - and some form of good patriotism inasmuch as we should have pride to be part of such a holy people. This, of course, should not lead to prejudice against those who are not in the kingdom but instead to a desire that the Kingdom of God will grow, and become evermore dominant in the world!
Members of God's family (v19)
Alongside the picture of a new nation comes the picture of a new family. This is a picture that has been carried throughout the entire Bible in that God has always laid claim over His people as a father lays claim over his children, that we are created in the image and likeness of God, and that when we become Christians we are 'born again' (John 3:3). This picture should challenge us to become tighter as the family of God - when we are in church it is a family reunion! It is a time of celebration, not just because we get to enjoy God's presence and learn from His Word but because we get the joy of sharing our time with our brothers and sisters! There is a natural sense of joy and love that is apparent in every movie family scene - even more of that should be true whenever we, as the family of God, gather together on a Sunday or during the week at a fellowship group. When was the last time I saw someone from church and ran up to give them a big hug because I missed them? The answer is this week, although she was my fiancée - perhaps that ought to be the attitude we have toward our Christian brothers and sisters however.
His house (v20-21)
The third enormous picture of the church, which again is described throughout the entire Bible, is the picture of the church as the temple. The importance of this is astronomical, when one considers that the Old Testament picture of the temple was the place that God dwelt; the Holy Spirit now lives IN US! According to Ephesians 2:20 here we must recognise that the church is built on the foundation of 'the apostles and prophets' (i.e. the Word of God), with Jesus as the cornerstone. We therefore, as members of the church should be those who are regularly getting into the Word of God, and who are trusting Jesus with our lives; He should be the founding cornerstone, around whom we build the rest of our lives.
Being made part of this dwelling (v22)
Paul finishes his passage by describing the way in which the Gentiles must be made part of God's dwelling; he states that it is 'where God lives by His Spirit', and therefore we should be those who are receiving from His Spirit regularly. Have we any right to choose which of God's gifts we will receive? God has blessed us with His Word, His church and His Spirit, and we must be those who recognise our need for all three - without the Word how would we discern good from evil? We need the recorded truth. Without the church how would we have fellowship, worship corporately and receive regular teaching? We need our brothers and sisters around us. Without the Holy Spirit how would we receive God's inspiration, and how would we communicate with Him? Our relationships with God would become stagnant, and many would lose heart.
This article feels like a long one and for that I apologise; if you have reached this far I am very grateful - I really hope you have received half as much from it as I have received in preparing it! God bless you, brother or sister!
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