(19-22) A picture of God’s work of reconciliation, both individual and among groups.
Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
a. You are no longer strangers and foreigners: Paul refers to Christians of Gentile background. They should not regard themselves as “second-class citizens” in God’s kingdom in any regard. They are not only full citizens, but also full and equal members of God’s household.
b. Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets: Because we are one body and have the same access to God, it also follows that we are all built upon a common foundation. That foundation is the original apostles and prophets, and their enduring revelation, recorded in the New Testament. May no one ever lay any other foundation.
i. Though Chrysostom, Jerome, Calvin and others saw the prophets mentioned as Old Testament prophets, it is better to see them as New Testament prophets, perhaps New Testament authors who were not strictly members of the core apostolic group.
ii. “Those who ranked next to the Apostles in the government of the church… They were not in every case distinct from the Apostles: the apostleship probably always including the gift of prophecy: so that all the Apostles themselves might likewise have been prophets.” (Alford)
iii. In this sense of laying a foundation of supremely authoritative revelation for all God’s people, there are no more apostles or prophets today. The foundation is already set. In a lesser sense there may be apostles and prophets today, but not in the sense Paul means here.
c. Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone: This corner stone “literally means at the tip of the angle. It refers to the capstone or binding stone that holds the whole structure together… often the royal name was inscribed on it. In the East it was considered to be even more important than the foundation.” (Wood)
i. Salmond on corner stone: “It denotes the stone placed at the extreme corner, so as to bind the other stones in the building together – the most important stone in the structure, the one on which its stability depended.”
ii. “That structure and cohesion may have for its scaffolding the sacred order of the Church in her visible aspect. But the cement is not of these things; it is wholly divine; it is the Spirit, possessing each saint for God, and binding them all together by articulating them all to their Head.” (Moule)
d. In whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord: As we keep to our common foundation, the whole building of God’s people grows together in a beautiful way, as a holy temple where God dwells in beauty and glory.
i. This tells us that the Church is a building, perfectly designed by the Great Architect. It is not a haphazard pile of stones, randomly dumped in a field. God arranges the Church for His own glory and purposes.
ii. This tells us that the Church is a dwelling place, a place where God lives. It is never to be an empty house that is virtually a museum, with no one living inside. The Church is to be both the living place of God and His people.
iii. This tells us that the Church is a temple, holy and set apart to God. We serve there as priests, offering the spiritual sacrifices of our lips and hearts, our praises to God (Hebrews 13:15).
e. You also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit: When Solomon’s temple was built, the stones were prepared at a place far from the temple building site. It was said that you couldn’t hear the sound of a hammer or axe or other iron tools at the site (1 Kings 6:7). In the same way, God prepares us first, and then He fits us into His building.
i. “The Father makes choice of this house, the Son purchaseth it, the Holy Ghost taketh possession of it.” (Trapp)
ii. “And the everlasting FATHER will perfectly reveal Himself, to all the watchers of all the regions of the eternal world, not anyhow but thus – in His glorified Church, in the Race, the Nature, once wrecked and ruined, but rebuilt into this splendour by His grace.” (Moule)
iii. Adam Clarke explained how God’s work in the Church gave glory to the wisdom, power, and love of God. Seeing all this, we should praise God for His glorious Church.
· There is nothing as noble as the Church, seeing that it is the temple of God.
· There is nothing so worthy of reverence, seeing God who dwells in it.
· There is nothing so ancient, since the patriarchs and prophets worked to build it.
· There is nothing so solid, since Jesus Christ is the foundation of it.
· There is nothing so high, since it reaches as high as to the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
· There is nothing so perfect and well proportioned, since the Holy Spirit is the architect.
· There is nothing more beautiful, because it is adorned with building stones of every age, every place, every people; from the highest kings to the lowest peasants; with the most brilliant scientists and the simplest believers.
· There is nothing more spacious, since it is spread over the whole earth, and takes in all who have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
· There is nothing so Divine, since it is a living building, animated and inhabited by the Holy Spirit.