Short Summaries of

Sermons on Ephesians

by Rev. Ralph Allan Smith

God's Dwelling

(Eph. 2:17-22)

Paul's allusions to the temple system in the previous verses were more general, now he speaks more specifically of the temple system and the symbolism of salvation. Under the Abrahamic form of the old covenant, the Jews were near to God and the Gentiles far from Him. This was a covenantal priestly system not a racial salvation system; the terms near and far, therefore, refer to priestly access. Israel was chosen to mediate salvation and blessing to the Gentiles. By the blood of Christ, however, those who were far away have been brought near (2:13). Both those far away and those near were reconciled to God in one body. This means that access to God is now available to all who believe in Christ -- available fully, not merely in promissory symbolic shadows. Not only access to God, one aspect of the truth of the temple-system symbolism, but even more wonderful we become the dwelling place of God. Each believer is the new Eden!

Fellow Citizens With the Saints

This expression is also part of Paul's use of the temple symbolism to explain salvation. "Saint" means someone with sanctuary access. In the old covenant, Israel was not literally a nation of saints since their access was only partial. But they could be called saints anyway because they were priests and their priesthood contained the promise of future salvation. Gentiles were far away, but in Christ they are no longer strangers and aliens. They are now members of the family of God and citizens of His kingdom.

As saints we have the privilege of coming into the temple. Not just into the outer court, as in the days of the tabernacle, nor just into the holy place like the old covenant priest. All Christians are permitted to go into the most holy place, with none of the restrictions that are imposed upon the old covenant high priest, except the requirement that we come by blood. Gentile believers in Christ may now enter the true holy place in heaven whenever they please, by the blood of Christ which has opened the way up for them.

Access to God by grace is explained in terms of each of the three Persons of the Trinity in verse 18. "Through Him" means that we have access unto the most holy place by means of the blood of Christ. "In one Spirit" or "by one Spirit" refers to the fact that it is by the grace and power of the Holy Spirit that we have our access to God. As the priests of the old covenant were anointed with oil and washed with water, so we are anointed with the Holy Spirit of God so that by His power we may approach the throne of God. Our access is to the Father. We draw near to Him in prayer and worship. Paul gives us here what has become the traditional Christian formula for prayer: we address the Father, in the name of Christ, by the power of the Spirit.

God's Building

Although Paul changes his perspective somewhat, he is continuing to use the temple analogy in verses 20-22. The apostles and prophets are the foundation in the sense that they gave us the word of God. Our Lord is the Chief cornerstone, the most important stone in the building. The cornerstone determines the location, direction and size of a building. Christ determines everything concerning the Church. The apostles and prophets, His representatives, are the authors of Scripture. To say that they are the foundation does not mean that a foundation other than Christ is laid. What Paul refers to here is described also in the book of Revelation 21:14: "And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb."

Christ built His Church on the rock of Peter's confession (Mat. 16:18). But it is Christ Himself who builds the Church and none other. It is Christ alone who is the Foundation of our faith and none other: "For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ" (1Cor. 3:11). The apostles as Christ's official representatives who proclaim His word become the foundation in the secondary sense that their teaching about Christ provides the foundation for the Church.

We are the building; each Christian, that is, is a stone in God's building: "And coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected by men, but choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (1 Pet. 2:4-5). But Paul has something else in mind too. He is primarily concerned with the building as a whole.

The whole building is "growing into a holy temple in the Lord." It is odd, of course, to speak of a temple "growing." But it is also odd to speak as Peter did of "living stones." God is building His temple through the work of the Holy Spirit. While the temple is a building, it is also a living organism that grows over time through the work of God's Spirit. We, like the Gentile Ephesians, are part of that temple. The Holy Spirit is working in us to build us up and through us to spread the kingdom of God.

God's temple is His dwelling place. This points to the symbolism of the Garden of Eden. God created the Garden so that Adam could dwell with the Lord Himself. It was a sanctuary at the center of the world. If Adam had submitted to God, he would have been blessed and enjoyed God's fellowship forever. He would have eventually been glorified. That would have been the same kind of blessing that heaven is for us now: "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them . . . And there shall no longer be any night; and they shall not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God shall illumine them; and they shall reign forever and ever" (Rev. 21:3; 22:5).

Adam's sin meant that blessing could come only through the new Adam who would bear the price of our sins. But Adam's sin did not defeat God's plan to bless man. We shall be -- indeed we have already become! -- the dwelling place of God. This is the pinnacle of salvation and the highest meaning of man's creation. This is true, as Paul teaches for the Church as a whole as it is also true of each individual. As John teaches us: "Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, 'If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.'' But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified" (John 7:37-38).

As the temple of God we are to manifest His glory. This begins with righteousness. The glory of God is broader than righteousness, but it is never without righteousness. For sinful man, ethical conformity to His law is the place to begin to seek His glory. It is not all, however. The history of the Church shows that as Christians grow in numbers and social influence they transform the entire culture, creating a Christian civilization. Barbarian Europeans, after they became Christian -- with all their admitted imperfection, hypocrisy, and other problems -- glorified God's name with art, music, architecture, and law. They built a culture that surpassed anything the world had known before. They did it through the influence of God's Word with a desire to glorify God through their labor.

The Church today is called to the same kind of cultural task as well. But it begins in our personal lives and our homes. If we cannot glorify God at home, we will not build a Christian culture!

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