CHAPTER 2
LECTURE 6
Accordingly you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. You are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, the keystone being he Messiah Jesus himself. The whole construction, fitted together in him, grows in the Lord into a holy temple. In him you, too, are being built together so as to be a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
[Read Marcus Barth, “keystone” (p. 317, #2).]
19 Now therefore you are no more strangers and foreigners; but you are fellow citizens with the saints and the domestics of God,
20 Built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone,
21 In whom all the building, being framed together, groweth up into an holy temple in the Lord.
22 In which you also are built together into an habitation of God in the Spirit.
Once he has made it clear that the Gentiles have been admitted to spiritual blessings together with the Jews (2:13), he goes on to teach that in these blessings the Gentiles are not of less eminence than the Jews themselves; they enjoy a completely equal access to Christ’s blessings. In reference to this be does two things:
First, he presents what he has in mind.
Secondly, he clarifies this presentation by an example (2:20).
Regarding the first he makes two points:
First, he excludes what was [true of] their past state from their present state.
Secondly, he concludes to what is fitting for their present state (2:19b).
In drawing a conclusion, the Apostle says Now therefore you are no more strangers and foreigners, and it should be recognized that a similar conclusion follows from the premises. First, indeed, from this, that both [Jews and Gentiles] are united and are reconciled to God. In the second place, they both have access in one Spirit to the Father. Together they are conformed to the whole Trinity; to the Father whom they approach, to the Son through whom, and to the Holy Spirit in whom they have access in unity. Hence, they in no way lack a share in spiritual goods.
To understand the text it must be realized that the community of the faithful are sometimes referred to as a house in the Scriptures: “that you may know how to behave thyself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God” (1 Tim. 3:15). At other times it is called a city: “Jerusalem, which is built as a city” (Ps 121:3). A city possesses a political community whereas a household has a domestic one, * these differ in two respects. For those who belong to the domestic community share with one another private activities; but those belonging to the civil community have in common with one another public activities. Secondly, the head of the family governs the domestic community; while those in the civil community are ruled by a king. Hence [the analogy]: what the king is in the realm, this the father is in the home.
The community of the faithful contains within it something of the city and something of the home. If the ruler of the community is thought of, he is a father: “Our Father, who art in heaven” (Mt 6:9); “I though you would me Father and would not turn from following me” (Jer 3:19). In this perspective, the community is a home. But if you consider the subjects themselves, it is a city since they have in common with one another the particular acts of faith, hope and charity. In this way, if the faithful are considered in themselves, the community is a civil one; if, however, the ruler is thought of, it is a domestic community.
This is why the Apostle writes the two words here: strangers and foreigners . For what the stranger is to the home, that the foreigner is to the city. A stranger is an outsider, as it were, of a family: “It is a miserable life to go from house to house, and where you are a guest you may not open your mouth” (Sir 29:24). A foreigner is as an alien to the city into which he comes. As though the Apostle said: Formerly you were estranged from the community of believers, as strangers to a home and foreigners to a state—and as the proselytes were to the Old Law—but this is true no longer, for you are no more strangers and foreigners. [Is 54:15 Vulgate misses the point.]
Next (v, 19b), he draws the conclusion of what their present state is, stating but you are fellow citizens with the saints and the domestics of God. As if he had said: Since the community of the faithful is termed a city in relation to its subjects, and a home relative to its ruler, the assembly to which you are called is the city of the saints and the house of God. “He who made perfect the glorious dwellings of Jacob speaks in you, city of God:” (Ps 87:3). Hence Augustine remarks: “Two loves have formed two cities. For the love of God, even to the “contempt of self,” namely, of the man loving, “builds the heavenly city of Jerusalem. But the love of self, even to the contempt of God, builds the city of Babylon. * Everyone, then, either is a citizen with the saints if he loves God to the contempt of self; * or, if he loves himself even to the contempt of God, he is a citizen of Babylon.
Consequently, when he says built upon the foundation of the Apostles, he clarifies what has been said. It is customary in the Scriptures that the figure, called metonymy, is used where the container is substituted for what it contains, as a house sometimes refers to those who are in the house. The Apostle employs this figure of speech concerning those who are in the house of God, the faithful; as though they were one house, he compares them to a building. Regarding this he does two things:
First, he sets down what he intended.
Secondly, he shows that the Ephesians themselves have become parts of this building (2:22).
Concerning the first he does two things:
First, he describes the foundation of this building.
Secondly, its construction or completeness (2:21).
He writes of two foundations: one is primary and another secondary. * The Apostles and Prophets are the secondary foundation. In this regard he states that they [the Ephesians] are not strangers but fellow citizens who belong already to the spiritual edifice which is built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, that is, upon the teaching of the Apostles and Prophets. Or, upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets means upon Christ who is the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets. As though he said: You are built upon the same foundation on which the Apostles and Prophets, who were Jewish, were built.
These two interpretations only differ in words. Yet the first is more suited [to the context]; if the second was the better one there would be no point in adding Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone since he would be the principal foundation. Hence this is more in harmony with the first; although Christ would be both the chief stone and the principal foundation. In meaning, however, they are in no way different since it is the same to say that Christ is the foundation, and the teaching of the Apostles and Prophets is; after all, they proclaimed Christ alone, and not themselves. To accept their doctrine is to accept Christ crucified: “We preach Christ crucified” (1 Cor 1:23); and “We have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor 2:16). 1 Peter 1 (12) affirms [of the Prophets]: “It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, in the things which are have been announced to you by those who preached the good news to you.”
Notice that the Apostles are designated as foundations: “O city founded by him on the holy mountains” (Ps 87:1). I will lay your foundations with sapphires” (Is 54:11), that is, with saintly men. In the Apocalypse 21 (14) they are expressly called foundations: “And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” They are referred to as foundations to the degree that their doctrine proclaims Christ. “Upon this rock I will build my Church” (Mt 16:18). *
Both Apostles and Prophets are alluded to so that he might indicate that the doctrine of both is necessary for salvation. “Therefore, every scribe instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings forth out of his treasure new things and old” (Mt 13:52). Also, that he might show the harmony between the two, of the one with the other, since there is an identical foundation to both. What the Prophets foretold was to come, the Apostles proclaimed as accomplished. “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he had promised before by his prophets in the holy scriptures, concerning his Son” (Rom 1: 1-3).
Christ Jesus alone is the principal foundation, in reference to this he says himself being the chief cornerstone. Here he states three things about him; he is a stone, is placed at the corner, and is the chief one.
He is a stone on account of the strength of the foundation. Whence Matthew 7 (25) speaks of the house founded on a rock and built solidly; neither rains, nor floods, nor winds could destroy it. Such was not the case with the house built on sand. “You saw a stone cut out of the mountain without a hand being put to it” (Dan. 2:45). He is called a comer-stone on account of the convergence of both [Jews and Gentiles]. As two walls are joined at the comer, so in Christ the Jewish and Pagan peoples are united. “The stone which the builders rejected became the cornerstone” (Ps 118:22): “This is the stone rejected by you, the builders, which became the cornerstone. And there salvation in no one else” (Acts 4:11-12). And Christ applies this text to himself in Matthew 21 (42): “Have you never read in the Scriptures: The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone?” He is referred to as the chief one by reason of his heavenly dignity: “See, I am laying a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a cornerstone, a precious stone, a foundation stone” (Is 28:16).
The foundation of a spiritual edifice contrasts with that of a material building. For a material building rests on a foundation in the earth, the more important the foundation is, the deeper must it be. A spiritual structure, on the other hand, has its foundation in heaven; as a result, the more principal the foundation, the higher it necessarily Is Thus we could imagine a city, as it were, coming down from heaven with its foundation in heaven and the building itself appearing to come downward towards us below, according to that passage of the Apocalypse 21 (2): 1 John, saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.”
Next (v. 21), he treats of the building’s construction. In erecting any building four stages are requisite. First is the foundation of the edifice, second is the construction, third its increase, and fourth is the completion. * He briefly touches on these.
In saying in whom he designates the foundation which principally is Christ and secondarily the doctrine of the Apostles and Prophets: “For other foundation no man can lay, but that which is laid; which is Christ Jesus” (1 Cor 3:11). He discusses the second briefly in all the building being framed together. Understood allegorically, this signifies the Church herself which is built up when men are converted to the faith. Taken morally * it signifies a sanctified soul, and then this building is erected when good works are built upon Christ. “Lady wisdom builds her house” (Prov. 14: 1); ‘Let each man take care how he builds on it” (1 Cor 3:10). With Christ as foundation, every spiritual edifice—whether of the Jews or of the Gentiles—is constructed by God’s power. “If Yahweh does not build the palace, in vain do its builders work on it.” (Ps 127:1). “Every house is built by someone; but the builder of all things is God” (Heb. 3:4). Yet the building is constructed instrumentally either by the man who builds up himself, or by prelates. *
He touches on the third when he states grows up into an holy temple ; this happens when the number of those saved increases. “The word of the Lord continued to spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem” (Acts 6:7). It also grows when a man makes progress in good works, and he grows in grace to the degree that he becomes a holy temple. A temple is the dwelling plate of God and must be holy: “The Most High sanctifies his dwelling.” (Ps 46:5). Since we should be inhabited by God, that he might live in us, we ought to prepare ourselves in order to be holy. “Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Cor 3:16). “See God’s dwelling is with men, and he will dwell with them” (Rev 21:3).
But are we not temples of God from the instant we possess charity? I reply that it is so. And the more we progress, so much the more will God dwell within us. Hence, the fourth requisite to this building is its perfection and completion, which he states to be in the Lord.
Finally (v. 22), he indicates how the Gentiles have become participants of the building. In which * building not only are the Jews incorporated, but also you Ephesians are built together, that is, you are incorporated like the others. “Come to him, the living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen and honored by God. Be yourselves like living stones built into a spiritual house” (1 Pet 2:4-5). Therefore he adds into an habitation of God that God may dwell in you through faith. “That Christ may dwell by faith in your hearts” (Eph 3:17). Yet this cannot happen without charity since “he who remains in love remains in God and God in him” (1 Jn 4:16). And charity is bestowed on us through the Holy Spirit: “The love of God is poured forth in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who is given to us” (Rom 5:5). Thus he adds in the Spirit .