No more guests

Something new began with Paul. He revealed secrets that no one had spoken of before. For the first time, non-Jews were addressed directly with the good news, which Paul repeatedly called “my gospel” (Rom 16:25-27). This development was great, but the beginning did not correspond to the situation we know today. No switch was flipped. Rather, it was a process. The believers from the nations were initially only guests in this situation. They were part of it, but not yet fully. However, it is only in Ephesians that the previous differences between believers from the Jews and believers from the Gentiles are abolished. Let’s take another brief look at this.

In the last section of Ephesians (Eph 2:13-18), Paul explains that those in the church who were once far away have become loved ones through the blood of Christ. Following this passage, he writes:

“So then you are no longer sojourners and sojourners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the family of God.”
Eph 2:19

He writes this to a group in the congregation. He is not talking about “unbelievers”, but is explicitly addressing believers in the church. Who was a guest? Paul is talking about the Gentile believers, as we have seen in previous articles on the letter to the Ephesians.

Previously, he addressed the non-Jewish believers, who were given a new status. He confirms this here. The believers from the nations are no longer guests, no longer temporary members to be tolerated. Something special happened, because they were accepted as full members of the church. They became “fellow citizens with the saints and members of the family of God”. This was extraordinary news at the time.

The family of God

It is noticeable that Paul does not speak here in general terms of a “church” or “congregation”. He uses a broader term when he speaks of the family of God.

“So you are no longer guests and sojourners, but you are:

• • Fellow citizens of the saints and
  • Members of the family of God.”

“Fellow citizen” (Greek συμπολίτης, sumpolites) asks directly “with whom” this is meant. From the previous descriptions, this is now easy to recognize. The believers from the nations are citizens “together with the believers from Israel”. This dissolves the differences within the church.

Likewise, these non-Jewish believers are now “members of the family of God”. The extended term seems appropriate here, because in the course of history there are not only believers from Israel, but also others, such as Abram (later: Abraham), who lived long before Israel and still trusted God. This was counted to him as righteousness (Gen 15:6). So Abram is one of them.

An expression such as “family of God” is not limited to a sub-group of people, but to all who believe. This family of God now also includes believers from the nations. They are not part of Israel, but are now of equal value in the church. They belong to it. What for? To this family of God, which includes all believers. This is not about special vocations, but about belonging. That is why this expression can be used to summarize all types of believers.

The word for “family” in Greek is οἰκεῖος (oikeios), which can also be translated as household members. This is quite significant because it is not about a human lineage, as if it were a bloodline, but it is about those who belong to the “house”. Think of other people of the household who are not of the same bloodline. This is the situation for the believers from the nations. They did not belong to Israel, but are now part of it anyway.

The common basis

Paul continues and writes:

“… Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, whose keystone is the cornerstone of Christ Jesus, in whom the whole building, joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.”
Eph 2:20-21

The context outlines this as a strong foundation. The believers in the nations are now part of the family of God and are built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, the cornerstone of which is Christ Jesus. They now stand on the same foundation that applies to Jewish believers.

This foundation of apostles and prophets, whose keystone is Christ Jesus, is not only a distant foundation, but it is the basis for the building of the community, which, however, continues to be erected. Non-Jewish believers are fully integrated into it. This building, in which everyone has their place, “grows into a holy temple in the Lord”.

Where exactly is this temple? It grows “in the Lord”. It is a spiritual building. Thus Paul writes:

“In Him you will also be built up together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”
Eph 2:22

If Paul first speaks of a “holy temple in the Lord”, he then immediately explains it as “a dwelling place of God in the Spirit”. This explains that this holy temple is not about a masterpiece of architecture, but about the congregation of Jewish and non-Jewish believers becoming a dwelling place of God. That is the goal, that God can “dwell” in this community. I cannot imagine this physically. Paul then also says that this is “in the Spirit”. Because we cannot see it, we have to imagine it. Because this dwelling place is in the spirit, the community is also spiritual.

Imagine the church as a place where people come together because of their faith. Perhaps this community is good for you, but that is not what it is built for. As a church you form, in a spiritual sense, a dwelling place of God. You can only hope that it is not just a place to stay for the weekend. The community offers, so to speak, an opportunity for God to be present there. If the believers form a dwelling place of God in the spirit, then God can, metaphorically speaking, be present in the midst of the congregation.

What Paul is getting at is this: He includes all believers in this passage. Both the believers from Israel and the believers from the nations (who until then had been guests and sojourners) together form a single building. They share the same foundation, have Christ Jesus as their cornerstone and thus together become a holy temple in the Spirit. As a temple, it is a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Temple

Imagine the messianic expectation waiting for a temple in Jerusalem. Not so with this temple. This holy temple is not a building made of stone, but a dwelling place of God in the spirit. The two things are different.

Questions

• Describe the development outlined here for the believers from the nations
• How did this change the community of that time?
• Why did the other apostles never speak of this?
• Since when do believers from all nations belong equally to the church, to the body of Christ, of which only Paul spoke?
• The picture for this article is from the Kidron Valley with a view of the “Golden Gate”. The Messiah is supposed to enter Jerusalem there one day. How important are such ideas for understanding the church today?
• What do you see as the core of today’s church? (And does that have anything to do with this article?)