18
Jew And Gentile United Into One Building
Ephesians 2:19‑22
Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
We have explored many things in verses 11‑18. We have studied the historical division between Jews and Gentiles, how these distinctions were abolished by the blood of Christ, how both Jew and Gentile (as well as all mankind) have been brought into one Body, and several other principles. Now that we know the first result of unity (united into one Body), we are ready to study the second—united into one Building. There are actually three pictures presented in verses 19‑22. However, the first two (v. 19) really serve only to introduce the picture of the Church as a Building in verses 20‑22. Let us look at each picture.
I. One Citizenship (v.
19a)
Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints,
As we’ve seen, the nations were divided, and still are, because of their wrong relationship and response to God. Paul mentions this again by using two terms, strangers and foreigners, and there is a true gem of truth in understanding them. While the words are synonymous, there is subtle distinction between them.[1] The word strangers translates the Greek xenos, which in Classical Greek referred to a foreigner who did not belong to the community and was in direct contrast to politēs (a “citizen” of the country), epichōrios (an “inhabitant” of the land), and endēmos (a “native” of the country). It could even refer to a wanderer or a refugee. To the Greeks, a zenos was the same thing as a barbarian. This is, of course, where we get out English word “xenophobia”—a fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners or of anything that is strange or foreign.
Foreigners then is the Greek paroikos, a compound word made up of para (by or along side) and oikos (house), so therefore, “by the house,” “next to the house,” or “one who has a house along side others.” The idea conveyed by this term was a foreigner who lived beside the people of a country, that is, one who was a neighbor that enjoyed the protection of the community (the natives) but one who had no citizen rights because his citizenship was elsewhere. He was a “resident alien,” a licensed sojourner, one who paid an “alien tax” to live in the area without being naturalized.
Being a Roman citizen and one who had traveled over much of the ancient world, Paul would certainly have understood this subtlety. He was therefore telling the Ephesians that they were no longer either zenos or paroikos, neither passing strangers nor licensed immigrants. Rather he calls them fellowcitizens. The Greek here is sumpolitēs. The root politēs referred to a citizen, an inhabitant of a city, a freeman who had the rights of a citizen. Adding the prefix sum (“together with”) yields the idea of a citizenship with others.
As mentioned in our study of 2:12, Roman citizenship (Latin civitas) was a much-coveted thing, much like American citizenship is coveted today. It gave rights and privileges that were unobtainable in any other way. A Roman citizen, for example, could own land, could vote, had the right to enter a legal contract, had the right of military service, and was eligible to hold public office (although some of these rights were restricted by property qualifications). Also, a Roman citizen could never be scourged, much less crucified, unless he committed treason.
Putting all this together, Paul tells the Ephesians that they all have a common citizenship in Christ. This would have made a deep impression in their minds. Their thoughts might well have gone something like this, “If a Roman citizen has great privileges, what greater ones we must have in Christ! Indeed, we are citizens of a far greater country than Rome.” May this make a deep impression on us as well.
To go a step further, Paul elsewhere uses these same terms to picture that the Christian is still a “stranger” and “foreigner” but this time in regard to the world because our true citizenship is now in Heaven. Referring to the Jews in Egypt but extending that to the Christian, he preached to those in Antioch that the people were “strangers [paroikia] in the land of Egypt” (Acts 13:17). To the Hebrews he wrote that like the patriarchs, they were “were strangers [zenos] and pilgrims on the earth” (Heb. 11:13). “Pilgrims” here is the Greek is parepidemos, which is similar to paroikos, referring more or less to a temporary resident without the license.
Peter likewise used the term in his first Epistle as he wrote “to the strangers [parepidemos] scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia” (I Pet. 1:1). In 2:11 he encourages them “as strangers [paroikos] and pilgrims [parepidemos]” to abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.”
What a challenge and encouragement this is to the Christian! As wonderful as life is, as blessed as American citizenship is, it all pales to insignificance in light of the fact that we are only temporary residents of this earth. We’re just passing through. Our citizenship is in the Heavenly City. Many preachers today don’t emphasize this truth enough, preferring to put their emphasis on political reform and social change, but thank God for those like seventeenth-century English Churchman Jeremy Taylor, who put it so well: “Faith is the Christian’s foundation, hope is his anchor, death is his harbor, Christ is his pilot, and heaven is his country.”[2] I’ve mentioned it in this study already, but Vance Havener’s words bear repeating: “We are not citizens of this world trying to get to heaven; rather we are citizens of heaven just trying to get through this world.”
And what has brought about this unity, this “fellow citizenship?” We see again that it is “the blood of Christ;” only in Him is there peace.
There is a dramatic illustration of the nations being united in Christ in Acts 8‑10. We know, of course, that all civilization today has descended from Noah’s three sons: Ham, Shem, and Japheth. Well, the three conversions recorded in Acts 8‑10 are representative of Ham, Shem, and Japheth:
· Ham – His descendants are the African nations and his representative was the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8).
· Shem – His descendants are the Semitic nations (Eastern civilizations) and his representative was Saul of Tarsus, a Jew (Acts 9).
· Japheth – His descendants are the European nations (Western civilizations) and his representative was Cornelius, a Roman (Acts 10).
Therefore, the Gospel has touched every major civilization. This doesn’t mean that all people of the world have heard the Gospel, but rather it means that the Gospel has been opened to all men; it is to be preached universally (Acts 1:8). This dramatically shows the unifying of all nations into one. Just as America was never meant to be a “multicultural” nation, rather a “melting pot,” where it didn’t matter where you came from because you were now an American, so it is with the Christian; it doesn’t matter if a man is African, English, German, Irish, Russian, Chinese, Tunisian, or anything else; we have all been made ONE in Christ.
We should also make it clear here that we are not saying that this is the “universal fatherhood of God and brotherhood of man.” No, that apostasy attempts to unify God and man based on the premise “God is love;” it gives o credence to the blood of Christ and, in fact, rejects this truth by calling it “a bloody, slaughter‑house religion.” But rather we are speaking of the unity that has been gained only by the sacrifice of Christ. So, no believer is a “stranger” or “foreigner,” rather all those who are IN CHRIST are fellowcitizens and saints (as in 1:1).
II. One Household (v.
19b)
and of the household of God;
In his wonderful way, Paul changes his metaphor, and this one is even more significant. Why? Because this picture is more personal. There is a much greater intimacy in speaking of membership in a family than in citizenship in a nation. This in no way discounts our heavenly citizenship (Phil. 3:20), but even deeper and more personal is the fact that we are now in God’s family.
The depth of this is seen in the Greek for household, oikeios, which means “belonging to the house, member of the household.” The word from which it is derived, oikos (house, dwelling place), is truly ancient. It’s found as early as the Mycenaean period of Greek history (1600-1200 BC). It was also used in the metaphorical sense to denote “the family, the property, and other similar concepts connected with the house itself.”[3]
This word is used exactly the same way in the New Testament. In the literal sense, we find it, for example, in Matthew 2:11, “And when [the wise men] were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him.” We also find it several times in the metaphorical sense, as when Jesus said, “A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house” (Matt. 13:57) and when Paul wrote that he had “baptized also the household of Stephanas” (I Cor. 1:16).
This etymology makes Paul’s point in our text marvelously clear—the Christian is a member of the household of God, His family, and enjoys the full fellowship of His house. As we saw in 2:6, we are already “[sitting] together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” This is why our Lord said to His disciples, “I go to prepare a place for you;” our place is already made and spiritually we are already there.
The story is told of a long-ago kingdom. Seated on his throne one day was the King. Before him were his advisors, nobleman, and high-ranking ministers of state. Suddenly there was a bang and clatter outside the throne room door. All eyes turned to see the door burst open and a little boy run into the room. Immediately one of the royal guards tried to stop the boy, shouting, “Hold there, lad! Don’t you know you’re disturbing the council of the King?” The boy laughed and answered, “He’s your King, but he’s my Daddy.” He then jumped into the open arms of his father.[4]
While that is certainly a precious story, there is also another side to it. We are, indeed, God’s children. As Paul told the Galatian believers, “Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father” (Gal. 4:6). But may we submit, there is something to be careful of here. As most Christians have heard at one time or another, “Abba” is the Aramaic word for “father,” or as commonly viewed as “Papa” or “Daddy.” There has, therefore, been the tendency to regard this word too flippantly, the result being an over familiarity with God where He in essence answers to us.
But “Abba” more precisely means, “My father,”[5] “Father, my Father”[6] or, “Dear Father.”[7] The ancient Syriac Version of the New Testament (early second century) translates this term, “By which we call the Father our Father”[8] One writer well sums up:
At one time it was thought that since children used this term to address their fathers, the nearest equivalent would be the English term “Daddy.” More recently, however, it has been pointed out that Abba was a term not only that small children used to address their fathers; it was also a term that older children and adults used. As a result it is best to understand Abba as the equivalent of “Father” rather than “Daddy.” [9]
The point then is that intimacy is clearly there, but so is respect for Who the Father is. This was, of course, the expression the Lord Jesus used as He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:36), so both intimacy and respect are present. Yes, our Lord had an intimate relationship with the Father and made request of Him, but there was still respect and reverence as He came into submission to the Father’s will. This challenges us to be very careful not to barge into God’s presence demanding our desires. Some disagree with this principle and quickly quote Hebrews 4:16 (“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need”), but “boldly” does not mean “presumptuously.” The literal idea of the Greek for “come boldly” (meta parrēsias) is “draw near with confidence [or] freedom of speech.”[10] What does it mean to come boldly? It means to draw near with the confidence that God will listen, to come to Him and speak freely of our needs and desires, but it never means presumption or demand.
As we meditated on 1:16-17, one principle of prayer Paul
emphasized often is that prayer involves praise and thanksgiving.
Significantly, he uses the term “the Father of Glory.” The Greek here is pater,
the usual word for father, which of course pictures respect as well as
intimacy. We also recall that
Paul said “to the praise of His glory” three times in his “song of praise”
(1:4-14). All that God does manifests His glory. Paul then ends the description
of our salvation with those wonderful words “to the praise of His glory” (v.
14). And why did God save us? What is His ultimate purpose? TO RESTORE THE
UNITY BETWEEN GOD AND MAN SO THAT MAN CAN GLORIFY HIM.
So how
should we come before this God of glory? As we considered back in 1:16-17, we
are to come before Him consciously, reverently, and meditatively, without
presumptuousness, demanding nothing, and without empty eloquence. We are to
come humbly before Him, praise Him, thank Him, and place our burdens before Him
to do as He wills.
This leads to Paul’s third picture.
III. One Building (vs.
20‑22)
And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
Here is a truly amazing analogy. We clearly see three very foundational concepts.
The Structure Of The Building (v. 20)
And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
What an exciting verse of Scripture this is! Paul utters a wealth of truth in these thirteen words (in the Greek). Here is how you build a structure; you must first build the foundation. We see three parts to this structure.
First, Christ is the corner stone, a term rooted in ancient architecture. Oddly, there has been debate over exactly what is meant by this term. One view is that it refers to “the keystone of an arch,” which is set at the highest position of the arch and supports the other others stone. This, therefore, pictures Christ as the preeminent one in the Church.
Another explanation is the stone that connects two walls together at a corner and holds them together. In this picture, Christ connects and holds Jew and Gentile together.
Still another view expands upon that idea by saying the corner stone supports the whole building, even though no stone could realistically do that.
While all these ideas have the commendable motive of illustrating what Christ accomplished, none of them are precise and, therefore, the blessing that the real significance is.
The Greek here, akrogoniaios, is a compound word made up of akron (“top” or “tip”) and gōnia (“an angle or corner”). The literal idea of this word then is, as one commentator puts it, “At the tip of the angle” and refers to “the stone set at the corner of a wall so that its outer angle becomes important.”[11] It was this stone, then, that became the basis for every measurement in the building. It governed every line and angle. It provided no more support to the structure than any other stone; rather its entire value lay in its outer angle.
This truth is actually rooted in Old Testament imagery. The term corner stone had for centuries been a prophetic metaphor for the coming Messiah. Isaiah, for example, declared, “Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste” (Is. 28:16).
Perhaps even more significant is Psalm 118:22: “The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.” This entire Psalm, in fact, is totally Messianic and is actually the most quoted Psalm in the New Testament.[12] While its authorship has been hotly debated, it really matters not. The point of verse 22 remains the same—the stone that the Jews would reject would be the very stone that God would use to build all His work.
This is the picture Paul is giving of Christ. In all respects He was the perfect corner stone, strong, perfect in character, and exact in measurement. We, therefore, are to conform to Him in every detail, for as we’ll see later, we too are part of the building. What if we do not conform to the corner stone? What if we are not measured according to that standard? What if our placement is not according to that absolute? In answer to that, just think of how noticeable peeling paint is on a house or how an improperly laid brick or stone sticks out. Any such flaw either weakens, or at the very least, disfigures the building. Likewise, we are to conform to Christ lest we weaken or disfigure the building. We’ll come back to this in a moment.
Second, the apostles and prophets are part of the foundation.
Some mistakenly think that prophets refers to Old Testament prophets. But if this were true, “prophet” would appear first in the word order. Besides, Old Testament prophets had nothing to do with the New Testament Church. As we will see in 3:5, the Church was a “mystery” that was hidden from all men until this age.
So, what is in view here are the apostles and New Testament prophets.[13] We’ll examine this in more detail in 4:11, but we briefly point out that these were the foundational offices of the early Church. An “Apostle” was one who was personally commissioned by the Lord Jesus and saw Him in His resurrection body. There are some who maintain that there is not only this limited meaning of Apostle, but there is also a general sense in which any preacher who goes to an unevangelized area is also an apostle. But this has no Biblical support and is contrived because today’s counterpart to the “apostle” is the “evangelist” (4:11).
A “Prophet” (as the Greek prophētēs clearly indicates) is one who speaks immediately of the Holy Spirit.[14] Again, there are those who teach that a prophet in the limited sense is one who “foretold” the future, and a prophet in the general sense is one who “forthtells” God’s Word. In other words, those who preach today are considered prophets in the general sense. But this too has no Biblical support and is contrived because the Prophet is past and has been replaced by the “pastor‑teacher” (4:11). While there are some who claim to do so, no one speaks immediately of the Holy Spirit today; that is, no one is receiving new revelation from God. Rather, preachers today study and then preach what they have learned by the Holy Spirit’s “illumination.”
So then, what is Paul’s point? His point is that the apostles and prophets laid the foundation of the Church. A building is only as good as its foundation. It must be horizontally level, vertically plumb, and made of the best materials. This foundation is absolutely essential. A builder can erect the most beautiful edifice in the world, but if it is not a good foundation, it will eventually crumble. That is why God used the apostles and prophets; they were the only adequate foundation.
Does this verse contradict I Corinthians 3:11, “For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ?” Some have difficulty in harmonizing these two verses, but there is no problem whatsoever. Christ is THE foundation and the corner stone, but the Apostles and Prophets are stones that make up the foundation; that is, they are part of Christ. Of course, without Him they would have been useless stones, but He took them and used them to build His Church.
This brings us to a crucial question. Now that we know who laid the foundation, we must now ask, what exactly was that foundation? The answer is most important in light of our day. One expositor rightly answers this question by writing:
Since both the apostles and prophets had a teaching role, the foundation is teaching. Thus the foundation of the new temple is God’s Word, especially the New Testament Scriptures. The Church stands or falls in its regard for the New Testament Scriptures. If we tamper with the foundation, the temple will crumble. That is why Paul ordered Timothy to “preach the Word” (2 Timothy 4:2).[15]
How imperative it is that we understand that Truth! God used these men to build a foundation based on doctrine. If we alter that foundation, if we tamper with it, we will destroy the structure. Notice the quotation again; commanded Timothy to preach the Word. Was Timothy an Apostle or a Prophet? No, but Paul told him to continue to do what he had been doing for some thirty years. He passed on to him the necessity of preaching the Word and then told him to pass it on to others so that could pass it on to still more teachers (II Tim. 2:2). This necessity must be passed on to each successive generation of preachers.
Among other verses, Acts 2:41 bears this out: “And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.” A common theme of our day is, “Doctrine divides and teaching is boring.” The masses want and many preachers provide entertainment and sentimental sermonnetes. But may we ask, since the Church was built upon doctrine and teaching and since that practice has been passed down through the ages, why would we for a single moment think that anything should be different today? How much arrogance is required to make us think that we need something different, something “more relevant,” something more exciting?
The answer is found in the very next verses of II Timothy 4: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (vs. 3-4). Paul foretells of the day when people will no longer put up with doctrine but will flock to listen to someone who will tickle them behind the ear. And I am more than convinced that that day has arrived. But Paul tells Timothy, “Just keep hammering away, Timothy. Preach the Word. Preach the Word. Preach the Word. It doesn’t matter if anyone listens or not. Just keep preaching.” The attitude today is that such an approach is not successful; it doesn’t “get results.” But this attitude is not supported by a single verse of Scripture. Did Paul “get results?” No, they stoned him and according to history ultimately beheaded him? Did our Lord “get results?” No, they crucified Him. Did John Huss “get results?” No, they burned him. Through the ages the truly faithful servants of God have simply preached the Truth without compromise or complicity with fleshly methods.
Further, concerning the content of such teaching, pastor and commentator James Boice spoke these challenging words toward the end of the twentieth-century:
The
point is that the basis for the church’s unity—to which each of the three
pictures of the church attest—is truth or sound doctrine. In our day churchmen
are often very concerned about unity, and many have been pouring great energy
into what is called the ecumenical movement, an effort to get the many diverse
branches of the church together . . . No, the only unity that is worth
having—the only true unity—is the unity built on the revealed truth of God
centering in the person and work of Jesus Christ.[16]
Even more pointed are these words preached by Martyn Lloyd-Jones some forty years before:
. . . the foundation, in the last analysis,
is the teaching of the apostles and prophets, their doctrine . . . The idea
that Christianity is so marvelous that you cannot define it, that it is just a
wonderful spirit which cannot be
reduced to propositions, is a denial of the New Testament teaching . . . That
then is the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Not vague talk about
Christianity! Not a wonderful spirit in which we all, loving one another, get
together and are not concerned about definitions! If you want that spurious
kind of unity you can have it, but when “the day” [of the Lord] comes and
judgment arrives, you will find that what the apostles said in writing to the
Corinthians, “Other foundation can no man lay that that is laid” [I Cor. 3:11]
is the only truth. He preached “Jesus Christ and him crucified” to the
exclusion of everything else. He was intolerant. Do not listen to that other
teaching, he says to the Galatians, it is spurious, it is a lie, it is not a
gospel, it is a denial of the Gospel. The foundation of the apostles and
prophets! We either accept their teaching and their message or we do not.[17]
How much truer those words are these many decades later! The Gospel is defined today in whatever terms each person chooses and one definition is as good as the next. But that is not what Paul taught, nor is it what our Lord Himself proclaimed. The True Gospel is very narrow (Matt. 7:13-14). Further, it is, in fact, intolerant of any other belief (Gal. 1:6-9). Anyone who says differently is wrong and is preaching a lie.
To further apply Paul’s analogy, how many of us would on a whim drill holes in the foundation of our home, or knock a large hole in it just so we could have another access into our basement or crawl space? Of course not, but that is exactly what some are doing to the Church; they are knocking holes in the foundation that God laid through the apostles and prophets. And look where it has taken us.
This thought produces another, namely, there is no other foundation than Christ and His apostles and prophets. The brilliant seventeen-century theologian and pastor Francis Turretin turned a phrase when he wrote, “The church is built only upon the foundation of the prophets and apostles (Eph. 2:20), not upon the monuments of the fathers.”[18] He wrote this in the context of the first few centuries of the church when it had drifted away from the apostolic church because of tradition and human reason. And that problem is just as real over 350 years later.
Commentator John Phillips recounts a vivid illustration:
A Mormon once asked me which church I attended. I told
him and he replied, “Does your church have apostles, prophets, evangelists,
pastors, and teachers?”
I answered, “We have evangelists, pastors, and teachers,
but we do not have apostles and prophets.”
“How can your church be the true church,” he said, “if
it does not have all the gifts mentioned in Ephesians 4:11?”
“You are overlooking Ephesians 2:20 and Ephesians 3:5,”
I responded. “These Scriptures are as important as Ephesians 4:11, for they
make it clear that the work of the apostles and prophets was to build the
foundation of the church. When I build a house my first concern is to get a
proper foundation laid, so I call in men who know how to do that. Once the
foundation is in, I don’t need them anymore. Instead I need carpenters,
bricklayers, plumbers, electricians, roofers, and painters. It would be foolish
to keep foundation men on the payroll once their job was done. The apostles and
prophets completed their foundation- building job in the first century when
they wrote the New Testament and then shared it with the world. The church no
longer needs them.”
“What would you say,” he asked, “if I told you that God
has raised up a new prophet for these latter days?”
“I should want to know what he prophesied,” I replied,
“because if it’s in the Bible, I don’t need it, and if it’s not in the Bible, I
don’t want it.”
“I am here,” the man said, “to testify to you, sir, that
God has raised up another prophet. His name is Joseph Smith, and the new
revelation is the Book of Mormon.”
“Well sir,” I could only say, “based on Ephesians 2:20
and 3:5, Joseph Smith is a false prophet and the Book of Mormon is a book of
lies.”
The ultimate touchstone, the true cornerstone, is Christ
Himself. Mormon doctrine concerning Him is from the evil one.
As I read that incident several times, what stuck out most was the statement, “I should want to know what he prophesied.” That’s the key. We should always want to know what someone is saying. It doesn’t matter who he is, what his credentials are, or how “successful” he appears to be. What does he say? Does his teaching plumb with Scripture? We see today those who would add to the Scripture, subtract from It, reinterpret It, redefine It, and misapply It, and some who do so even call themselves Evangelicals. This challenges us to be ever vigilant in guarding the foundation of the church—the doctrine of the apostles and prophets. We must discern everything (I Thes. 5:21-22).
This leads to one other part of the structure.
Third, individual believers are the remaining parts of the structure. This is a marvelous picture! Verse 19 speaks of individual believers; verse 20 then says that these are built upon the foundation. I Corinthians 12 describes the Church as one Body which is made up of many members. When we consider the individual cells that make up a physical body, we soon realize that there are countless millions of members in the body. So, whether we speak of an arm, a leg, an eye, a finger, “a little toe of the body,” as someone wrote to me once in reference to his position, or just one cell, it matters not because each is equally important, and none is useful by itself.
Likewise, the Church is one Building with countless pieces and parts. Dear Christian, you are useful to the building. Perhaps you are a 4x8 sheet of plywood flooring, a 2x4 stud in a wall, a shingle on the roof, or simply a small finishing nail in a piece baseboard. No matter what piece each of us is, we each have a purpose, a meaning, and a responsibility. The human tendency is to think that a beautiful bay window is more important than a single nail used in the window casing. And we do the same in the church, thinking one member is more important than another. But this is prideful and humanistic. Every part of the building is there for the benefit of the whole. Yes, that bay window is beautiful, but it is there only to compliment the building, and without the window casing and the nails that hold it in, that window would topple out and disfigure the whole structure. Likewise, no Christian is more important than another because each one edifies the whole.
The Result Of The Building (v. 21)
In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
What is the result of the act of building? The result is threefold.
First, it produces unity among the parts. What a beautiful picture we have here! Having worked as a carpenter and electrician in the past, I still enjoy building when time allows. There is something amazing about building something, taking many small parts of totally different shape, size, and material, and then making them fit together step-by-step. When it all finally comes together, you look back and marvel at how it all came together and now fits to make up the structure.
That is precisely why Paul uses the words fitly framed together, which translate an utterly fascinating single Greek word, sunarmologeō, an architectural metaphor that pictures the intricate process in masonry of fitting stones together to form a structure. It is founded only one other place in the New Testament, also in Ephesians (4:16), and is formed from three words. The key word is the noun harmos, which means “a joint.” The prefix sun is a primary preposition that denotes union and means “together” or “together with” (and which we’ll see used several more times in the openverse of Ephesians 3). This prefix intensifies harmos. The point then is that there is not just “a joint” but “a together-joint.” It’s further intensified with the added word logos, which is from the verb logeo (“to speak intelligently”) and therefore means, “Intelligence, word as the expression of that intelligence, discourse, saying.”[19] Our Lord, of course, is called “The Word,” “The Logos” (John 1:1-3), for He is the very intelligence of God come in the flesh to deliver His discourse, His message. At the heart of logos, then, is the idea of choosing exactly the right words and fitting them together to form sentences, paragraphs, and ultimately an entire discourse.
Putting all this together, we have “together-joint-choose.”[20] The picture is vivid. We can see the stone mason diligently choosing a stone, carefully chipping away a corner here, an imperfection there, trying it in the wall for fit, and then repeating the process as many times as need until it fits exactly. In so doing he not only makes a strong wall, but one in which every stone compliments the others and the wall as a whole. Consider also that not one stone is exactly like another—each one is unique.
What a beautiful picture of true unity in the Church! Every believer needs to “fit.” The building of the Church is an ongoing process in which each believer is being properly and uniquely cut and trimmed to be useful to the Building, to compliment the whole. As mentioned earlier, the bay window is no more important to the building than a single nail in the widow casing; both are necessary for the glory of the building and even the designer.
Furthermore, if each of us is not allowing God to work in us (as we studied back in verse 10), then we will weaken or disfigure the building. How tragic it is that the average local church today is not geared toward deep, systematic, expository Bible teaching, which is what God uses to chip away the corners and make us fit. The result of this is that there are many “pieces” that do not fit into the structure that has been designed by the Master Architect and built by the Master Builder.
Second, this structure is growing. Talk about mixing your metaphors! But what a marvelous mix it is! We usually think of a building as a static thing; once done, it’s done. But not so this building. The word groweth is the Greek is auxano, which means “to grow or increase, of the growth of that which lives, naturally or spiritually.”[21] It’s used some 22 times in the New Testament, such as in Jesus’ words, “Why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin” (Matt. 6:28) and Peter’s admonition, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby” (I Pet. 2:1).
But the key to understanding this word is that growth comes from a power outside the object. Greek scholar Spiros Zodhiates writes this excellent explanation:
For someone or something to grow (auxano),
it must be acted upon by an outside power or have the element of life within
him or it. This is seen clearly in the use of the verb auxano. For
instance, the lilies grow (Matt. 6:28; Luke 12:27); the seed is grown (Matt.
13:32); the fruit comes from the seeds (Mark 4:8); the mustard seed grew to a
tree. In all these instances, it was something living that could grow because
of the element of life within it. This growth, however, was not because of any
special ability of the seeds, but because of the quality of life so implanted
by God Himself.[22]
Applying this to Paul’s image, God’s building is a living entity that is ever growing. But it grows not because of its own special abilities, and certainly not because of the talents of any of the stones in it, but only because of God’s power.
This is a significant truth in our success-oriented day. Church ministry in the large percentage of the Church is built on human philosophy, business technique, and worldly methods. It is no longer doctrine that is important, rather entertainment. It is no longer Christ Who is building His Church (Matt. 16:18), rather the so-called “Christian leader” who has the latest pragmatic, people-pleasing approach. To be brutally frank, this has truly prostituted the Church; much of the Church has become a spirit harlot that has sold herself for the sake of gain.
So then, how does this building grow? It does so in two ways. It grows first by each living stone fulfilling its function and using its gifts to the glory of the Building. Harry Ironside writes:
When
you think of being a living stone in that glorious building, does it not bring
to your sold a sense of the importance of holy living, of devoutness to Christ,
of so behaving yourself that He will delight in dwelling in you?[23]
Secondly, the building grows by adding new stones to the structure. As the living stones are witnesses and testimonies of the Corner Stone (Acts 1:8), He in turn will add new stones to His Building (Matt. 16:18). James Boice captures this picture:
. . . God is working. In the days of the
Apostles God was adding Gentiles to a temple composed at that time largely of
Jewish believers. He was adding Luke, Lydia, Phoebe, Philemon, Onesimus—and the
believers at Ephesus, and other Greek and Roman cities. Later he added those we
call the early church father, then the later church fathers and those to whom
they ministered. At the time of the Reformation he added Luther and Calvin and
Zwingli and Knox and Cranmer and many others. He is still adding to his temple
today.[24]
This thought leads us right into a third principle.
Third, this ongoing construction is producing a “spiritual house,” that is, a holy temple. The Greek here is not the general word for the Temple area as a whole (hieros), rather it is the word naos. Like the Greek behind “household” in verse 19, naos dates back to the Mycenaean period of Greek history (1600-1200 BC). In ancient Greek, it was used of the innermost sanctuary or cell of the pagan temple where the image of gold was placed. Likewise, it refers here to the “inner sanctuary,” the Holy of Holies. This is the word used in Matthew 27:51, for example— “Behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent”—to show that Christ’s death had now given man access to the Holy of Holies.
What then does this construction produce? It produces a holy assembly, a group of believers, living stones, whose hearts and minds are set on spiritual things and spiritual growth. Did you get it? Oh, would that all our local assemblies today were set upon that!
The Purpose Of The Building (v. 22)
In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
Yes, the structure has been built, and it is ever growing, but what is the ultimate purpose, the final goal of the process?
The words “holy temple” in verse 21 set the stage for verse 22. The Greek verb behind builded together (sunoikodomeō) means “to build in company with someone,” and the Greek for habitation (katoikētērion) pictures a dwelling place. Simply stated, the purpose of this joint building project is to form a dwelling place for God’s presence through the Spirit. What a thought!
To understand this fully, we must carefully explain it in light of what Paul wrote to the Corinthian believers. Of all the churches to which Paul wrote, the church at Corinth had messed up the Church more than any other. Everything they touched, they perverted or misapplied. They are a classic example of what Paul is dealing with here in Ephesians, that the Church, the Body of Christ, is to be a [dwelling place] of God through the Spirit.
In one place, Paul shows the Corinthians that every individual Christian is indwelt by the Holy Spirit: “What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” (I Cor. 6:19). In another, he then shows that what is true of Christians individually is also true of them collectively; that is, the Holy Spirit dwells not only in each Christian, but He dwells in the entire assembly, the Church as a whole: “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are” (I Cor. 3:16‑17).
A common mistake is that these two references speak of the same thing—the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the believer—but that is not the case. It is extremely important that we understand that the Holy Spirit not only makes His earthly sanctuary in the Christian, but that He also makes His earthly sanctuary in the Church, that is, the Universal Church, the Body of Christ.
As I mediated on this principle, a question arose in my mind: Does this principle have any practical application to the Local Church? Some teachers answer quickly with a resounding “NO.” Many of these maintain, “The large room in which we meet in our church buildings is not a ‘sanctuary’ because the Spirit indwells the believer who is the real ‘sanctuary;’ rather, we all meet in the ‘auditorium,’ or what we just dubbed our new building, our ‘multipurpose facility.’ Calling it the ‘sanctuary’ is too narrow, too rigid, and too formal.”
But, may we submit, that it is this very attitude that has helped destroy the spirit of reverence and true worship in many evangelical and fundamental churches. The Local Church was designed by God to be a reflection of the Universal Church. Why? Because God wanted to use a physical entity to minister to a physical world. (We might add here the fact that this is why to New Testament could not be clearer in declaring that all ministry should be channeled through local churches and not “parachurch organizations,” that is, Christian organizations separate from local church control[25]).
So, as the Universal Church is the dwelling place of God’s presence, the same is true of the Local Church, which should, therefore, manifest reverence and worship in the assembly. Yes, we most certainly can go too far by revering our stained glassed windows, genuflecting before the altar, and speaking in hushed, pious whispers. But many have gone too far the other way, having no reverence whatsoever when they meet for worship. I doubt that I will ever forget a Sunday morning in one church I was visiting a few years ago when more than once I heard the distinctive sound of a pop can being opened in the middle of the worship service. I was appalled that there could be so little reverence in the place of worship.
I have also observed in the last several years a direct correlation between reverence and entertainment in that the less reverence there is for the place of worship, the more entertainment oriented a church is. A. W. Tozer was conscious of where the church was headed decades ago. He wrote much about the decline of worship and reverence and the increase of entertainment. Here is just one comment, in which we see that he, too, preferred the term “sanctuary:”
Fiction,
films, fun, frolic, religious entertainment, Hollywood ideals, big business
techniques, and cheap, worldly philosophies now overrun the sanctuary. The
grieved Holy Spirit broods over the chaos but no light breaks forth. “Revivals”
come without rousing the hostility of organized sin and pass without raising
the moral level of the community or purifying the lives of professing
Christians. Why?
Could
it be that too many of God’s true children, and especially the preachers, are
sinning against God by guilty silence? When those whose eyes are opened by the
touch of Christ become vocal and active God may begin to fight again on the
side of truth. I for one am waiting to hear the loud voices of the prophets and
reformers sounding once more over a sluggish and drowsy church.
They’ll
pay a price for their boldness, but the results will be worth it.[26]
Tozer wrote that over 40 years ago, but look where we are today. Where are the preachers who are standing up and thundering, “No, that kind of ministry is wrong, worldly, and wretched?” Instead, many have joined the ranks of Pragmatism and Relativism, and would rather please men instead of please God.
I merely submit this: we should treat the place of public worship as more than just an auditorium, for an auditorium can be anything from a lecture hall to a movie theatre. We should treat the place of public worship as what it is—an habitation of God through the Spirit. May I say again, and I do not want to come off as overcritical or close minded, but the day I heard pop cans going off, I had a hard time thinking that that place was an habitation of God through the Spirit. It grieves my heart when I don’t see reverence among God’s people, when it is more important to us that we are comfortable, entertained, and are having “our needs met” than it is that we have come to prostrate ourselves humbly and reverently before a Holy God. Think of this: Yes, the Holy Spirit does, indeed, dwell in us, but His being in us also means that He is with us in our public worship. If this thought does not promoted reverence and worship, we are in a sad spiritual condition.
These thoughts close Ephesians 2. What a joy is has been! To see where it begins and then where it ends is astounding. In those opening verses we are a wretched, dead corpse. In the middle, we were transformed by God’s unfathomable grace and brought into a unity that is beyond imagination or comprehension. And now in the end, in this last phrase, we see that the whole purpose has been to create an habitation of God through the Spirit. What a blessing it is to understand what we were outside of Christ so that we can then fully appreciate what we are in Christ.