Eph. 2:15. "in order to create in Himself one new man out of the two,"
He did not make the Greek into a Jew, but elevated both to a better state. And he did not say "change," but "create," in order to express his thought more forcefully, and that thereafter we must not depart from natural works. "In Himself" (ἐν ἑαυτῷ) is said either instead of "through Himself" (δι᾽ ἑαυτοῦ), because it was not someone else who did this, but He Himself, as if melting down the Jew and the Gentile, created one new and wondrous man. Or it means that He Himself was the first to present the model and example, He Himself appeared beforehand as that which He made those (Greeks and Jews) into; and that He stood in the middle between both, holding on one side the Greek and on the other the Jew, mixing them together and removing everything hostile, supernaturally recreating them through fire and water. Thus, in the human nature which He assumed—a nature common to both Gentile and Jew, and assumed for the sake of both—in this nature, freed from all corruption and oldness, He created the two into one new man, free from the decrepitude and unrighteousness of sin. Neither the one nor the other is characterized any longer by his own qualities, but both are characterized by the property of the one man created in the image of Christ. But you will understand these words even better if you mentally picture the Lord as the cornerstone, and these two as walls built upon Him;
Eph. 2:15. making peace,
And in relation to one another (for the Jew then draws near to the Gentile when he becomes a believer), but especially to God, which is also more important, as he shows below.
Eph. 2:16. And that He might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross,
He did not say "reconcile" (καταλλάξη), but "fully reconcile" (άποκαταλλάξη), that is, reconcile again, showing that in ancient times too, through the law, human nature was being reconciled with God, but then, since through the transgression of the law the enmity was even more intensified, it again had need of reconciliation with God, which, as final, is rightly called reconciliation (άποκαταλλαγ). "In one body" — that is, in His own. For the punishment due to us He Himself took upon Himself through the cross, which He also said above: "In the flesh." And again, He might create the two in Himself. But according to some, "in one body" means that He reconciled with God both who had become, as it were, one body, of which He is the head.
Eph. 2:16. Having slain the enmity by it.
He did not say "having destroyed," but more strongly — "having killed," so that it would no longer rise up. In what way then does enmity arise again after this? It never rises up, but gives birth to another, because you sin again. "In Himself" — either on the cross, or in His own body. For He killed the enmity both on the cross and in His own body, in which He also took up the cross.
Eph. 2:17. And He came and preached peace to you who were far off and to those who were near,
He did not send another, but came Himself, appearing in the condition of a servant and slave, and "preached peace" — to God, without a doubt: to those "far off" — the Gentiles, and to those "near" — the Jews, since these seemed closer to God. And Christ indeed said: "Peace I leave with you" (John 14:27); be of good courage: "I have overcome the world" (John 16:33), and also: "My Father will love you" (John 14:23), and: "all things that you shall ask shall be given to you" (Mark 11:24). And all these are signs of peace.
Eph. 2:18. For through Him both groups of us have access to the Father in one Spirit.
By His death He destroyed the enmity and then made us beloved to the Father through the Spirit, having graced us with the same grace. For He did not grant them more, as to those who were near, and us less, as to those who were far off; but in one Spirit He granted to both the same grace and thus brought them to the Father. Or "in" is used instead of "through," and then the meaning would be this: through Him and the Spirit we have been brought to the Father.
Eph. 2:19. So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but fellow citizens with the saints,
Since the Son abides forever, those who do not attain the heavenly city are strangers and sojourners. But we are not such now, but rather fellow citizens with the saints; not simply of the Jews, but of their saints — the patriarchs and prophets — and we are enrolled in that very same city, the city that is in heaven, the eternal one, which they too earnestly sought.
Eph. 2:19. and members of the household of God,
What those men barely achieved through great labors, we have received through grace, having become God's own (members of His household). This is the hope of our calling: for it is in that very hope that we are called, so that we might receive this.
Eph. 2:20. having been built on the foundation of the Apostles and prophets,
Wishing to show the close union of the Gentiles with the prophets and apostles, he says: "having been built upon," as if saying: the prophets and apostles serve as the foundation, while you completed the rest of the building, so that all together formed one temple of God. This is what it means to be built upon the patriarchs and prophets, which in another place he calls grafting in (Rom. 11:19). He placed the apostles first, although in time they were the last.
Eph. 2:20. Having Jesus Christ Himself as the cornerstone,
Christ holds all things upon Himself. For the cornerstone supports both the walls and the foundations. And note: sometimes he calls Him the one who holds all things together from above, in which case he names Him the head, and sometimes the one who bears the entire building upon Himself from below, like a cornerstone; and sometimes he also calls Him the foundation itself.
Eph. 2:21. on whom all the building, being fitly framed together, groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord,
On the cornerstone, he says, that is Christ, the entire building — namely all believers, joined organically and inseparably — grows and is filled up, so as to become temples of God. "And I will set My dwelling among you," He says, "and will walk among you" (Lev. 26:11–12). For the Church (ἐκκλησία) in general, that is the assembly of all believers, is a temple of God, and so too is each person individually. "In the Lord" is said instead of — by the grace of the Lord, and not by our labors. And by the word "being fitted together" he shows that we cannot be built into a temple of God in any other way than by leading such a life as corresponds to the cornerstone.
Eph. 2:22. In whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God by the Spirit.
And all believers are built up in Him, and you also, Ephesians, to be a dwelling place of God in the Spirit, that is, through the cooperation of the Spirit. Or else he said "in the Spirit" in contrast to a material building, as if saying: a spiritual dwelling place of God. Such building up is also accomplished until the second coming through believers.