Ephesians 2:19-22

¹⁹ Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, ²⁰ having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, ²¹ in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, ²² in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Commentary

Vs. 19 "Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,"

If any believing Gentile as any doubts about their equal and full status with every and all believing Jews, the Apostle Paul now lays that to rest. Saying of us all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ that we are all, "fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God." The work then of Christ on the cross is so complete and finial and compelling in the eyes of God that even the very worst of sinners (or the worst enemies of God) can now have full and equal citizenship with all of the saints of God by repentance towards God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ's Person. Now this title, "the saints" basically means, "the holy ones," that is everyone whom God Himself has sanctified by Himself for Himself through His Son the Lord Jesus Christ (see 1 Cor 1:2). Every believer then regardless of culture or background is a fellow citizen with all the saints, who down through the ages have put their trust in God. No one then who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ is a strangers or foreigner to God (a stigma often attached to Gentiles under the Old Covenant), but are now fully known too and by God, and thus we are all "fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God." There is then no hierarchy of believers in the eyes of God, with Jews first, Gentiles second, and varying degrees of sinners next (see Luke 15:11-32 to understand). For In Christ all are made into a new creation (2 Cor 5:17), and thus all are fully and equally apart of the household of God, and thus all fully and equally share in all of it's privileges and responsibilities. 

Vs. 20 "having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,"

And so this household of God, as the Apostle Paul describes us all, has a foundation, just like every house or building has a foundation. Now our foundation is not Moses and the Law, (as was the case with the nation of Israel), rather it is the apostles and prophets with Jesus Christ Himself being the Chief Cornerstone (1 Cor 3:11). For it is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself whose Person and Work which was foretold in the Old Testament Scriptures, and has been brought to fruition and life and manifested and declared to us all in the New, who is the Chief Cornerstone upon which every piece in God's building is now being built upon (see Isaiah 28:16; Rom. 9:33; 1 Peter 2:4-10, vs. 7-8, also see Psalm 118:22; Matthew 21:33-46, vs. 42-44). And so Christ came first to establish the building, (the household of God, the church, through the Gospel), then came His Apostles and prophets equipped by His Spirit to minister His Word to us His saints (this begins in the Book of Acts). And so as each and every believing individual enters into God's household or church through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ's Person they become a pivotal member or part in all that God is building for all eternity. 

Vs. 21 "in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,"

With the foundation laid, God our Father, the Master Craftsman just as any builder does first selects and then places each one of us in His building, just as He pleases. And so the whole building being fitted together by the skillful hands of God grows into a holy temple in the Lord. Thus this building of which we who believe in Christ are all an intrical and necessary part of (see 1 Cor 12:12-31, vs. 18-26), is first and foremost a holy temple in the Lord (see 1 Cor 3:16-17). Thus we as individual believers or a collectively body of believers we must always be, pursue, and stand for those morals and values that Word of God says are holy, and make for holiness. For the Lord is holy, so then must His people be. Therefore our first and only loyalty rests not with the societies and cultures values that we dwell in, rather with Jesus Christ the Lord and His will clearly revealed for us all through His Word (see 1 Cor 6:14-7:1). For societies and cultures and their morals and values are never rooted in God and His Will, but rather are only rooted in what pleases themselves, and thus they always change (and not necessarily for the better), but the Word of the Lord endures forever.
Second this building which God Himself is building is not a static structure, rather it is growing, growing because God Himself is always adding new people who believe In the Lord Jesus Christ to it; that is God by His Holy Spirit baptizes each and every believer into Christ making them apart of His Body of believers, and thus apart of His building, which again He is building. As well it is growing because the believers within it are themselves growing more and more into Christ likeness as the Word of God sanctifies us (as we follow it) and the Spirit of God transforms us (as we are led by Him). And so again this building that God is building (like our own faith and lives) is not a static structure that reaches completion or "perfection" in this age or life (see Phil 3:12-16), but we are all growing by the grace and Will of God, for the glory of God into one building, and we will all continue to grow until God finishes the work, when Christ returns for us all.

Vs. 22 "in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit."

And so we who believe are all being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. For God does not dwell in temples and churches and such made by human hands (Acts 7:48-50), but He does dwell in His redeemed people whom He is building together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. And so the emphasis here is on our being built together as One redeemed people In Christ for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. Now you can experience the life of Christ and the outworking of the Spirit of God as an individual believer and follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. For God's Spirit indwells you the moment you believe in Christ (Eph. 1:13-14), and He doesn't stop indwelling you when your not in fellowship with other brethren (2 Cor 1:21-22). However where brethren are divided there is not the same effective power and outworking and perceivable Presence of God's Holy Spirit as there is when we are united and working together as One (consider Eph 4:30-31). For In Christ we are all being built up and together as a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:5). And that is something that you simply cannot fully do or experience apart from having regular and ongoing fellowship with your brethren. Therefore as much as depends upon you seek and worship and serve God in healthy Christian fellowship, so that you may experience the fullness of life and riches of Christ and His ministry by His Spirit too and through His redeemed people the church, of which every believing Jew and Gentiles fully belongs.

Scripture Quotation 
The New King James Version. (1982). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.