Fellow Citizens With the Saints; the Temple of God (Ephesians 2:17–22)

“And might reconcile both in one body to God through the cross, having slain the enmity thereby.” “He slew the enmity on the cross, offering an unblemished sacrifice. He reconciled both—that is, those who believed from among the Gentiles and from among the Jews—in the one body offered for all, that they might form one body. The Apostle called all believers ‘one man,’ because all have one Head—the Lord Christ—and the body is constituted by those counted worthy of salvation” (Theodoret). “By slaying the enmity through His death, Christ first reconciled the peoples with one another, and then made them at peace with God the Father as well, so that men who are of one nature, having been divided on account of sin and error, might become members of one new body, whose Head is Christ” (Ambrosiaster). “He did not say: ‘reconcile’ (καταλλαξη), but ‘might reconcile’ (that is, fully reconcile — αποκαταλλαξη), showing thereby that even before this, human nature was capable of reconciliation with God, as for example in the saints who lived before the Law. ‘In one body,’ he says, ‘his own, to God.’ How did He accomplish this? — By bearing on the cross the punishment that was owed. ‘Having slain the enmity thereby.’ There can be no more vivid and precise expressions than these. His death, as the Apostle is saying, slew, pierced through, and destroyed the enmity; He did not entrust this work to another, but carried it out Himself, and to this end He not only acted but also suffered. He did not say: ‘having dissolved’—nor did He say: ‘having removed’—but ‘having slain’—the strongest word of all, so that the enmity may never rise again. And how could it rise again? Only through our own malice? But as long as we remain in the body of Christ, as long as we abide in union with Him, it will not rise again but will lie dead. Strictly speaking, it will never rise again, and we can only produce another enmity—but certainly not the former one, which is slain and put to death forever. And this—whether to be or not to be in enmity with God—depends on you. ‘The carnal mind,’ it is said, ‘is enmity against God.’ If we do not think carnally, then this new enmity will never be born, and there will always be peace. But consider how terrible it would be for us to come again willingly into enmity with God after He has done so much for our reconciliation and has truly reconciled us! This new enmity awaits not the baptismal font but Gehenna, not forgiveness but punishment” (St. Chrysostom).

Eph. 2:17. And coming, He proclaimed peace to you who were far off and to those who were near.

In explaining how the Ephesians were brought near, the Apostle first spoke in general terms of how the Jews and Gentiles, who had previously been at variance, were brought close to one another, and how both were drawn near to God (vv. 14–16); now he speaks of how this blessing touched the Ephesians themselves, though here too one may understand him to be speaking of the Gentiles in general.

“And coming, He proclaimed.” First the Lord laid the firm foundations of peace in His own person through the death of the cross: He abolished the Law and thereby demolished the middle wall of partition between the Gentiles and the Jews, and by that same cross reconciled both with God. Then, after the resurrection, the ascension into heaven, and the descent of the Holy Spirit, He sent the holy Apostles to carry throughout the whole world the good news of this peace and to establish peace itself. The Apostles carried the proclamation of peace, but through them the Lord Himself was at work, as He had promised: “lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20). And again: “I have other sheep which are not of this fold: them also I must bring” (Jn. 10:16). The Lord Himself walked in the person of the Apostles, turning individuals, villages, cities, and entire nations. He Himself, in the person of St. Paul, came to the Ephesians and converted them, bringing them the proclamation of peace and establishing it among them.

“He proclaimed peace.” The subject of the proclamation was that the Son of God became incarnate and, having suffered on the cross, reconciled us with God. Forsake everything and cleave to Him alone. Those who received this proclamation with faith received in holy baptism the grace of the Holy Spirit, which established peace in their hearts by calming the conscience and giving assurance of God’s goodwill—and through this it united all believers and bound them into a strong unity through oneness of spiritual disposition. The proclamation of the Gospel was the proclamation of all-embracing peace and its confirmation.

“‘To you who were far off and to those who were near…’ By ‘the far off’ he means the Gentiles, and by ‘the near’ the Jews” (Theodoret). Since the preceding discourse was entirely about the far and the near, these expressions were self-explanatory. It must have been of great comfort and edification to the Ephesians to know that the Lord Himself had come to them, even though they had heard the proclamation from the lips of the Apostle. It is consoling to be assured of this for every people and for every person who turns from negligence and sinfulness to a zeal for working out their salvation in the Lord.

Ambrosiaster writes: “The Lord Jesus Christ slew the enmity when He died for all—both Jews and Gentiles. The death of the Saviour was salvific for all. Rising from the dead, He showed what hopes those who believe in Him may cherish. And then He arranged the proclamation of the Gospel to call all to God the Father in one Spirit, cutting off division, so that—whether Jew or Gentile—all would receive faith in Christ and through it become one.”

St. Chrysostom, and after him Oecumenius and Theophylact, do not distinguish the Lord’s personal proclamation from His proclamation through the Apostles, and by the words “coming, He proclaimed” they understand the whole economy of salvation in the person of the Lord, who through the incarnation came to earth. St. Chrysostom says: “God did not send another to announce this to us, but announced it Himself. He chose neither Angel nor Archangel for this, because only He Himself, appearing on earth, could set right so great an evil and announce what had been accomplished—no one else could. The Lord took upon Himself the office of a servant and almost of a slave, came and proclaimed, says the Apostle, peace to you who are far off and to those who are near—that is, to the Jews, who compared with us were nearer (to God), and to the Gentiles, whom, as strangers to the covenants of promise, he calls ‘the far off.’ By ‘peace’ the Apostle means peace with God, for Jesus Christ reconciled us with God. He Himself taught this when He said: ‘Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you’ (Jn. 14:27). And in another place: ‘if you ask anything in My name, I will do it’ (Jn. 14:14). And again: ‘the Father Himself loves you’ (Jn. 16:27). All of this is a token of peace—both for us and for them.”

And is not such an understanding the closer to the matter? In that case the words “coming, He proclaimed” will connect with what precedes in this way: it was precisely for this that He came—to proclaim this all-embracing peace.

Eph. 2:18. For through Him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.

If the Lord had not come in the flesh, and if, having come, He had not arranged the proclamation of the Gospel, we would have no access to the Father. He is the only door, and only the one who enters through Him is saved. This is why He says: “no one comes to the Father except through Me” (Jn. 14:6). What is understood here is not only that, by generally reconciling us with God through the death of the cross and by granting the Spirit of grace, He placed us in a relationship of sonship toward God—on account of which we can cry out: “Abba, Father” (Rom. 8:15; Jn. 4:23), and pray: “Our Father, who are in heaven” (Matt. 6:9)—but also and especially this: that He takes each soul, as one person takes another by the hand, and leads it to the Father. This is why He said that it was fitting for Him to bring also those other sheep that were not of the fold of Israel. Every soul He brings—by ordering its first conversion, by helping it in every way in its struggle with sin, and by raising it to the highest degrees of perfection, until He has brought it to where He Himself is—seated at the right hand of God.

“In one Spirit.” — How is this to be understood: in the one spirit of faith and love, or by the power of the grace of the Holy Spirit that is the same for both? — One need not distinguish between the two: for both faith is from God, and love is poured into hearts by the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit, overshadowing the soul, does not reconstruct and transport it mechanically from one state to another, but stirs up the moral powers, which, in the kingdom of grace, are concentrated in faith and love. “Both in one Spirit.” Formerly the Jews had access to God, but it was external, and God revealed Himself to them outwardly as well—by God’s dispensation, as a foreshadowing of what was to come. The Gentiles had none of this. Now that is abolished, and in its place a new and living way to God is opened to all. The Lord comes and, taking the soul by the right hand of the Spirit’s grace (through regeneration), leads it to the Father (by effort and virtuous living).

“St. Chrysostom says: “We are not saved any less and they are not saved any more; both we and they are counted worthy of the same grace: for He destroyed the enmity through His death, and made us beloved to the Father through the Spirit. Through Himself and through the Spirit He brought us to God.” The blessed Theodoret writes the same: ‘Through Him we have access.’ This is like what the Lord said: ‘no one comes to the Father except through Me’ (Jn. 14:6). He brought us to the Father, the Apostle says—and He brought us by counting us worthy of grace.”

C) How near have they become? vv. 19–22

They have become fellow citizens of the saints, members of God’s household—and more than this—they have become the very dwelling of God. What greater or more intimate nearness could one desire or expect?

Eph. 2:19. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.

Having begun to urge the Ephesians to remember the greatness of God’s benefaction toward them, the holy Apostle spoke in general terms: you were far off, and now you have been brought near (vv. 11–13); then, having explained how they were brought near (vv. 14–18), he now draws the conclusion: see how near you have become! He leaves it to the Ephesians themselves to make the application: how, then, can one fail to remember such a great benefaction? Ambrosiaster writes: “He urges them to remember God’s benefactions—that when they were so far from the knowledge and fear of God, they have now by His mercy been brought near, to be partakers of those who were close to God, having been made fellow citizens of the sons of God.”

The Apostle uses three comparisons to explain how near they have been brought: they have been brought near as fellow citizens are near to one another and to their prince; as members of one household are near to one another and to its head; and as the parts of a building are near to one another and to the one who dwells in it. These comparisons correspond to the earlier-stated grounds for separation from God and His people (Eph. 2:12). “There he says: ‘strangers from the covenants of promise’ and ‘alienated’ ‘from’ ‘the commonwealth of Israel.’ Here against the first he says: ‘you are no longer strangers and aliens,’ and against the second: ‘but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God’ (blessed Jerome).”

You were like foreigners living far off in other lands, or like those who, though dwelling in the same place, did not possess the rights of citizenship — παροικοι — temporary and casual sojourners; but now you have become fellow citizens — συμπολιται. “Now you share the same city as the saints—the heavenly Jerusalem” (Oecumenius). “You are enrolled in the same city, the one that is in heaven and remains forever, which they too yearned for with ardent longing” (Theophylact). “Do you see? We are enrolled, made fellow citizens not merely of Jews, but of men great in holiness—such as Abraham, Moses, and Elijah. This is the city in which we are enrolled; this is where we shall one day appear!” (St. Chrysostom).

The gracious Kingdom of Christ was depicted under the image of “a city whose builder and maker” is “God” (Heb. 11:10). The Old Testament saints knew that they were foreordained citizens of this city, but they did not see the city itself; yearning ardently to see it, they greeted it from afar. In this respect they too were strangers and pilgrims, as those who seek their own city and fatherland—which is precisely what they confessed themselves to be (Heb. 11:13). From this St. Chrysostom draws the following inference: “those who say such things” (that is, those who called themselves strangers and pilgrims), it is said, “show that they are seeking a fatherland” (Heb. 11:14); “but you are already fellow citizens of the saints, and no longer strangers and pilgrims.” “You have been counted worthy of very great honor in that you have been made fellow citizens of the saints” (Theodoret).

Fellow citizens of the saints—members of one kingdom of grace, all of whom are holy, and are members precisely because they are holy. This includes not only those who came after Christ, but also those who came before Christ: for both the one and the other are in Christ. The Kingdom of God is the Kingdom of all ages. Just as the former saints were holy through faith in Christ who was to come, so the new saints are holy through the same faith in Christ who has come. This faith united them both with Christ and with one another. Believers have one Lord, and wherever they live they are all fellow citizens. Those who wished to acquire Roman citizenship paid a fee and purchased it. In the gracious Kingdom of Christ they bring faith in the Lord—and are numbered among its citizens (Ambrosiaster).

The Apostle employs another comparison to explain the nearness into which the Ephesians (and all the Gentiles) have come by grace: the nearness of members of one household. “Members of God’s household”—God’s own. This is still closer. Fellow citizens share one spirit and one love for their fatherland, but are not children of the same father; within a household, however, all are kinsmen, relatives. So too all believers have one Father—God—“born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God” (1 Pet. 1:23). To whatever tribe one belongs, grace makes all God’s own. Thus through faith in the Lord—by receiving whom, believers receive the right to become children of God—they are not merely counted among the children but truly become children, as those born of God. This is why they are God’s own, and they carry this kinship in the feeling of their heart, as a reflection of all that grace brings about in them. Members of God’s household—what an exalted title! What a comforting and sweet dimension of Christianity! And this is no illusion of self-deception, but is so in very fact.

It should be noted that, though in a comparison one can mentally distinguish fellow citizenship and kinship as degrees of nearness, in the kingdom of grace in actual fact the two converge. Spiritual citizenship comes from unity of spirit, and this unity is produced by the same Spirit through whom all receive the same birth—or are placed in kinship with one another and with God. Citizens of the Kingdom of Christ are all kinsmen as well. This is how they know themselves to be in their hearts and in their mutual relations.

Eph. 2:20. Built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the cornerstone.

The thought of household members—kindred, God’s own—led to the thought of a house as a place of dwelling. The Apostle dwells on this image in order to raise still higher the degree of nearness into which the Gentiles have been brought by faith. Believers are God’s own also because He holds them as His own and they are His; because they stand in such deep communion with God that He dwells in them. Thus they are both members of God’s household and His dwelling. This is even closer still.

The holy Apostle, however, does not fix his attention on how they are still nearer when represented under the image of a house (for that is self-evident), but on how they come to be such a house—for from this a still greater benefaction of God toward them is revealed. They had been cast far off, like stones lying scattered in the distance; but now they have been taken up, dressed, and set into the structure of the house.

The Church of God, both in the Old and in the New Testament, is represented under the image of a building—a house or a temple.

The Church is the temple of faith. The Apostles founded and established faith on earth, leaning on the prophets. The Apostles are closer to us and saw the truth tangibly; the prophets are more distant and saw the truth from afar, in figures that represented the truth well but also veiled it, leaving room for conjecture even for the prophets themselves as to how and when all that was foretold would come to pass. This is why the Apostles are placed first. The Apostles delivered the word in the name of the Lord, but at the same time appealed to the prophetic word as the better-known authority. We now rest our faith on the apostolic word, supported also by the prophets.

“Built upon”—built up, forming the body of the structure. What do masons do? — They take a stone, dress it, and place it in the building, where and as it fits. So the Apostles together with the prophets, with the hand of preaching, take souls and peoples, shape them with the axe of the Spirit’s grace, fitting them to the character of the building and placing them in the building of the Church, joining them to it. — Thus stone by stone is laid, course by course is added, and the building rises. Oecumenius writes: “Wishing to show the holy union of believers with the prophets and Apostles, he says: ‘built upon.’ The Apostles and prophets are laid as the foundation, while you complete the rest of the building. This is what it means to be built up above the Apostles and prophets.”

“Built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets.” “That is, on the Old and New Testament. What the Apostles proclaimed, the prophets foretold would come. In the epistle to the Corinthians he says: ‘God has appointed in the Church first Apostles,’ then ‘prophets’ (1 Cor. 12:28). But there they are different prophets, for in that passage the Apostle is discussing the order of the Church as it stands, whereas here he speaks of the foundation of the Church. The prophets prepared what was needed for the building and laid it out in advance (prefigured the plan), while the Apostles laid the foundation (and raised the building by drawing people to faith). This is why the Lord says to Peter: ‘upon this rock I will build My Church’ (Matt. 16:18), that is, upon this confession of the universal faith I will establish and confirm believers to life. So once David prepared everything for the building of the house of God and designated the place where it was to stand, while Solomon founded and completed it” (Ambrosiaster).

“Jesus Christ Himself being the cornerstone.” Not one corner only, but all corners—both of the building and of the foundation—is the Lord Christ. He joins the prophets and the Apostles together. The prophetic word is fulfilled in Him; He is likewise the content of the apostolic word. In this unity of the revealed word, from the beginning until the Apostles, lies the strength of the foundation of faith. In Him the walls of the building—that is, all believers—are likewise joined and have their strength; this is why they are called established upon the Apostles and prophets, because they believe in the Lord; and this is why they are brought into the Church and joined to it—because they are joined to the Lord. The direct meaning of the Apostle’s calling the Lord the cornerstone is that in the Church all things are from the Lord, not excluding the Apostles and prophets themselves. So St. Chrysostom: “The Apostle added ‘being the cornerstone…’ to show that Christ holds all things together, for the cornerstone is that which supports both the walls and the foundation, on which the whole building rests. Note that the Apostle sometimes presents the Lord from above—holding and governing the whole body—and sometimes from below—bearing the whole building upon Himself—as the chief foundation. The Apostle said above ‘created into one new man’ to show that all are re-created in Him. ‘Firstborn,’ it is said of Him, ‘of all creation’ (Col. 1:15). Thus He bears all things, holds all things together (and builds all things up).”

But since the believers who made up the walls of the building consisted at that time of Jews and Gentiles, and the Apostle in the epistle explains their mutual drawing together—it is no wonder that in the words “being the cornerstone” the Apostle wished to show how, through the Lord Jesus Christ, the Jews and Gentiles are joined in the building of the Church as two walls. So too St. Chrysostom, among other things; and so all our commentators. Theodoret writes: “Just as the Apostle called the Lord the head of the body, so he calls Him the cornerstone of the building, because He joins the two walls and, like a corner, unites those who believed from among the Jews and the Gentiles.”

The Lord was called the cornerstone already in Old Testament prophecies, which He Himself applied to Himself, foretelling at the same time what would befall those who would not receive Him. Blessed Jerome sets out all of this: “The chief cornerstone, which joins and holds together one people and the other (one may also understand: both the heavenly and the earthly), is Christ our Lord—the stone cut from the mountain without hands—concerning whom the Psalmist also bears witness, saying: ‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes’ (Ps. 117:22, 23)—rejected by the Pharisees, who, counting themselves learned in the Law, thought they could complete the building of the spiritual temple to God with elemental ordinances alone, yet received by God as the head of the corner, to join and bind as two walls the two peoples, He Himself standing in the midst, so that through Him both peoples might have access to God. This same cornerstone is for unbelievers a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense: everyone who falls upon it will be broken, and upon whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder (Lk. 20:18).”

Let us not pass over without attention the remark of St. Damascene, to what further thought the word stone may lead. “By saying ‘stone,’ the Apostle pointed also to its jointing with those who are built upon Him—that is, His consubstantiality with us through the birth in the flesh of the Only-begotten. ‘Since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise partook of the same’ (Heb. 2:14). Without this He could not have been the cornerstone.”

In a building the foundation, the cornerstone, the walls, and everything are joined and form one whole. How aptly, therefore, has the Apostle chosen this comparison with the aim of expressing the drawing together of the Gentiles with the Jews, with God, and with God’s ordinances! — “See,” says St. Chrysostom, “how the Apostle mingles all together: Gentiles, Jews, Apostles, prophets, Christ—and, to show the close bond between them all, presents them all sometimes as a body, sometimes as a building.”

Eph. 2:21. In whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.

“The whole structure”—not creation in general, but a building — οικοδομη. “Being joined together” — συναρμολουμενη — being harmoniously fitted together, being compactly framed. “Grows”—rises ever higher and higher. “Into a temple” — ναον. The Apostle presents the general idea of the Church—which is growing—comparing it to a building. Just as a building, receiving successive courses—layer upon layer—increases continually and moves toward its end and completion according to the plan laid out for it; so the Church of God, receiving persons and peoples into itself and transforming them according to its own norm, moves toward its fullness and perfection, until it is completed and becomes a perfect temple to God, requiring no further addition or building up.

“In whom”—in the cornerstone, who is Jesus Christ, for in the Church all things are from Him, according to His plan, by His power and activity. “The whole structure”—more precisely, the whole building as a single whole, for the Apostle is speaking of one building, not of many constructions. “Being joined together”—being harmoniously fitted together. The materials that arrive are not thrown in haphazardly, but are arranged according to one plan, so that the building turns out well ordered, with every part in its proper place. “This points to the care (attention and fidelity to plan) of the construction” (Oecumenius). It also points to the different parts of the building, which are all joined together into one in that same cornerstone Jesus Christ. “Whatever you point to—the roof, the walls, or anything else—He holds all things, bears all things upon Himself” (St. Chrysostom). This is the same as what he says below without metaphor: “And He Himself gave some to be Apostles, some prophets… some pastors and teachers… for the perfecting of the saints… for the building up of the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:11). In another place the Apostle also distributes the saints—that is, the believers who make up the body of the building—as the various organs of the body are distributed, where every member has its own significance and its own function. In the Church of God all is harmonized, yet it is diverse in its parts, and one cannot say that in it all are as one and each is as all. Where all are identical and equal, what harmony can there be? Only on the condition that the members of the Church are varied and are brought into harmony does it “grow”—it grows by being compactly framed together.

What arrives first is raw material, which in its natural state is unsuitable for a building. Therefore it is first reworked and fitted to the character of the building, and then placed into the building itself. Through these successive additions the building grows. Individual persons and entire peoples, called by the preaching, are transformed by the grace of the Holy Spirit and in this way are fused with the whole—the Church.

“Grows.” Even in the time of the Apostles it was said to be growing; and to this day one can say nothing other than that it grows. Until the end of the age it will continue to grow. The building is not yet finished; it will be finished at the end of the ages. Both those who have departed to the other life are in the Church, and those who are alive are in the Church. The Apostle draws no distinction between them. The Church is one. One may only imagine that the earthly Church prepares the material, while the building itself, in its finishing, is being constructed in heaven. Hermas in a vision saw the construction of a temple. Some were bringing material; others were building. The builders, receiving what was brought, examined whether it was suitable and for what it was suited. If it was suitable, they placed it in the proper position; if not, they cast it aside; and though it lay right there, it was not placed in the building. This is an exact image of what happens to those who depart from here. When the building is completed, all these stones lying scattered around will be removed to another place; but until then they still remain nearby. Their fate is not yet decided.

“Grows into a holy temple”—a holy sanctuary. Everything is moving toward the end when God will be all in all. But until then, is the Church not a whole building, though lacking a roof, windows, and doors? How can one dwell in such a building? Yet God dwells in the Church, as He promised: “I will dwell in them and walk among them” (2 Cor. 6:16). This is why the Apostle used the word grows, presenting the Church as a living building that already possesses everything necessary for its existence and life. Just as a tree, however small, already has everything needed for life, but then grows—not acquiring new parts, but expanding and enlarging in each of its already existing parts—so also the Church is now a complete building, inhabited, yet it increases until it attains the measure of the temple as God has conceived it.

The Church is a temple “holy,” because all its members are holy—sanctified by the Holy Spirit and zealous to be holy—and because the holy God dwells in it. “In the Lord”: the temple is holy in the Lord, and it grows in the Lord, and it is compactly joined in the Lord. In the Church all things are in the Lord, whatever you take up, as St. Chrysostom said. St. Paul both at the beginning said “in whom,” meaning the Lord, and at the end added “in the Lord,” to keep our attention fixed on Him alone. However beautiful the building of the temple may be, do not forget the temple’s builder while gazing at it. This is why he does not expand here on the details of the temple’s construction. His aim is to impress upon the Ephesians that they too are included in the common building—but for no other reason than faith in the Lord and faithfulness to Him. They too have been brought near to all—but in the Lord.