Eph 2:1-3 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
Paul “had told his readers that his prayer for them was that they might know the surpassing greatness of God’s power toward them as believers. Now he plays his own part in helping them to gain such knowledge by reminding them how God’s power has affected their lives and what an immense change it has wrought” (Andrew Lincoln ). [And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,] “‘Dead’ is a strong word… The Holy Spirit taught Paul to write it down about the Ephesians, ‘And He has made you alive, who were once dead in trespasses and sins.’ The Lord Jesus Christ made use of it in the parable of the prodigal son, ‘This my son was dead and is alive again.’ (Luke 15:24, 32.) You will read it also in the first Epistle to Timothy, ‘She that lives in pleasure is dead while she lives.’ (1 Tim. 5:6.) .. Many a one will allow us to say, that naturally most people ‘are not quite what they ought to be—they are thoughtless—they are unsteady—they are mirthful—they are wild—they are not serious enough.’ But dead? Oh, no! We must not mention it. ” (J. C. Ryle)
[in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, “Paul portrays human beings in their natural state as being deeply affected by evil from at least three sources: the environment, a supernaturally powerful opponent, and an inherent inclination toward evil…. The FIRST Paul describes as walking ‘according to the way of this world’ (vs 2). Walking is an important word throughout the Bible. ‘Our walk,’ F. B. Meyer points out, ‘is a synonym for our life. Life is a walk from the cradle to the grave’ (Meyer)… A constant part of our environment, it lures us to adapt to the ways of the surrounding culture rather than to those of God, thus becoming secular, materialistic, immoral, unjust, and so on. For many it is the temptation to live the kind of life portrayed on the TV screen which daily saturates the bulk of modern humanity. The fallen world around us seeks to mold us in its image… The SECOND influence working to drag people down is ‘the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the sons of disobedience’”—the devil.(George R Knight) The THIRD influence that holds people in bondage to sin and death is ‘the passions of our flesh’ (Eph 2:3).” (George R Knight)[among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. ] We have an inner, natural impulse to do evil. It is “set in contrast to the new impulse to live with moral integrity provided by God’s gift of the Holy Spirit (see Gal. 5: 19-23).” (Arnold, Powers).
Eph 2:4-7 BUT GOD, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
“So, if you embrace the truth that all men and women apart from Jesus Christ are dead in trespasses and sins, deserve to be condemned for those sins, are walking according to the course of this world (not walking in the way of righteousness, not walking in the path of peace, not walking with God, but walking in conformity with this world), are indulging the flesh and the desires of the mind, are setting their affections on the wrong things, are by nature children of wrath...where does the hope come from? Where is a message of hope for people in that kind of predicament? And the Apostle Paul begins to tell you where that hope comes from with two little words: But God.” (Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III)
“BUT GOD… A fundamental aspect of the mystery of the gospel is that the Lord rescues sinners in spite of themselves. The ‘BUT GOD’ stands at the very foundation of the good news or gospel. God didn’t stand idly aside as sinners walked (2: 2) the path to eternal destruction (Rom. 6: 23). No! He stepped in and did for them what they could not do for themselves. Instead of giving them what they deserved, He offered what they did not deserve. He provides them with grace rather than wrath. And Paul introduces that gift with the attention catching phrase ‘BUT GOD.’” (George R. Knight)
John R. W. Stott explains: “God has already accomplished three things for His people. He has: ‘made us alive together with Christ’ (verse 5), ‘raised us with Him’ (verse 6), and ‘seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus’ (verse 6)….[ Paul] is affirming not that God quickened, raised and seated Christ, but that he quickened, raised and seated us with Christ. Fundamental to New Testament Christianity is this concept of the union of God’s people with Christ… In short, a part of Paul’s Gospel is that we as Christians already belong to God’s universal church in the heavenly places. That is a spiritual reality in spite of the fact that we as church members still exist on planet Earth for a time.”
“Paul wanted them to know how great the power of God is towards us who believe.... God wants resurrection life to be real in the life of the believer. ‘The very same power which raised Christ is waiting to raise the drunkard from his drunkenness, to raise the thief from his dishonesty, to raise the Pharisee from his self-righteousness, to raise the Sadducee from his unbelief.’ (C. H. Spurgeon)” (David Guzik)
Saved By Grace Through the Teachings of the Christian Faith
I was raised in the Episcopal Church and married into the Methodist Church. I was saved through Apostolic Pentecostal Holiness preaching…. And I have learned much from the Seventh Day Adventist. But I have remained a member of the Methodist Church for 25 years. However, it was not until my relatively new pastor, Mike Smith, came to TRUMC and began to contend for the faith once believed by the church fathers that I truly embraced old Methodism as my own. Come and hear him exhort for the faith... or visit our website. http://www.trenholmroad.org/ A major tenant of my faith is discussed in this post. I am not presenting the Methodist view because I am not qualified to do so. My method of studying is to keep reading on the matters until I find an explanation that I understand… and believe to be true. I am not being carried about by every wind of doctrine, but I am rather testing things against what I have already learned. My faith is my own—and not another’s, though I have learned from many. It is the result of one Jacob wrestling with God, and hopefully in the end prevailing, and being renamed Israel.
I begin with a statement of contrast between two major views. I stand with my church. “The Calvinistic creed makes the salvation or non-salvation of every soul to depend on the unchangeable decree of God... The Methodist creed makes the salvation or non-salvation of every soul depend on his willingness to receive and appropriate the free grace of the Gospel offered to all men... It preaches a free and full salvation, justification by faith alone, carefulness to maintain good works, the witness of the Spirit to the believer's present acceptance, holiness of life, a burning love for the salvation of souls, an entire reliance upon the Holy Spirit as the source of spiritual power. It has an open communion table, contends for a pure and spiritual worship, a deep and heartfelt experience of vital religion, encourages and promotes revivals as vital to the health and growth of a church.” (The Shield of the Young Methodist, page 80)
Eph 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
“Here is the basis for the watchword of Reformation theology: solo gratia, sola fide, soli Deo Gloria. (`by grace alone, through faith alone, to God alone be glory')."( F F Bruce) YET James 2:24 states “we are not justified by faith alone.” According to the great reformer, Martin Luther, these two text did not jive. As a result, he called the Epistle of James an “Epistle of Straw.” This was an early statement of Luther and a very precarious one. It leaves room for one crowd to write off Pauline doctrine, or another’s, as too harsh. Let us agree that what is bound on earth—Canonized Scriptures- is bound in heaven!
[For by grace you have been saved] “The connotations of this word [‘grace’] as used in the New Testament include the principles: (1) of human beings (all of them) being unworthy of the salvation God provides; (2) of the impossibility of any man's meriting or earning salvation, even if he had a million lives to live; and (3) that salvation bestowed upon people originated in the heart of God and that it flows out from God to people, being from God and of God alone. It is clear then that God's grace is to all people, for all people alike, and that it is available for every person who was ever born on earth (Titus 2:11).” (Coffman Commentary) [through faith, that not of yourselves,] “The most likely meaning of this phrase, as attested by the Emphatic Diaglott rendition of it, is ‘through the faith,’ that is, ‘through the Christian faith,’ or the Christian religion. One thing is absolutely certain: this cannot mean the subjective trust/faith of sinners. Three reasons deny such an interpretation: (1) the Diaglott rendition is supported by the Vatican manuscript which has the article (the); and furthermore the inclusion of it is often understood anyway so that the absence of the article in some manuscripts does not deny it; and, in all probability, the translators would have supplied it (as permitted) if they had properly understood the meaning of it. (2) The qualifying clause next given, ‘and that not of yourselves,’ absolutely denies that the faith of sinners is in view here... (3) Recent extensive studies by George Howard of the University of Georgia disclose that the usual meaning of ‘faith’ in the New Testament is not sinner's trust/faith at all, but fidelity…. ‘Faith’ as used in the vocabulary of current theological jargon to mean sinner's trust/faith experienced inwardly and subjectively is not a New Testament concept at all. Also, it is impossible to reconcile such a perverted understanding of the word ‘faith’ in this clause, because of the qualifier thundered in the next clause...’and that not of yourselves’” (Coffman Commentary)
[it is the gift of God, not of works,] “Not of works… refers to works of the Law of Moses, to nothing else; and the expression itself had become a kind of proverb in Paul's writings during those long years of his struggles against Judaizing teachers. It is simply outrageous that a scholar will ignore this and apply this verse… to mean that ‘God rejects every work of man.’ (William Hendriksen)
Concerning works of righteousness not playing a part in the salvation of a soul: “Paul never taught anything like that. He said ‘work out your own salvation’ (Philippians 2:12), and he also praised the Thessalonians for their ‘work of faith’ (1 Thes 1:3). If God rejects ‘every work of man,’ Paul never heard of it!... There is nothing in any of the steps of primary obedience which by even the wildest stretch of human imagination can be construed as ‘glorying,’ or providing any basis for human glorying… 1) Faith ...not in one's self, but in the crucified Savior - any ground of glorying here? 2) Repentance ... entails godly sorrow for sins committed, issuing in a reversal of the human will - any ground of glorying? 3) Confession ... is not a confession of how saved one is, or what wonders the Lord has done for one, but of … confession of Jesus Christ as the Son of God - any ground of glorying here? 4) Baptism- In this act, which is the sinner's only in the sense that he is commanded to ‘have himself baptized,’ he is passive, silent, meek, helpless; with hands folded over a penitent heart, he permits his entire person to be buried in baptism, this action showing that he does not trust himself for salvation any more than he would trust a dead body, fit only to be buried. Any ground of glorying?... No” (Coffman Commentary) It is all grace freely offered to all mankind.
Eph 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Good Works. Our good works are not our old works, but His Works through us.“For this purpose (among others which this epistle mentions) God fashioned us as his new creation ‘in Christ Jesus.’ We are his ‘workmanship’…, his work of art, his masterpiece. And we shall show that we are his workmanship by the works which we perform. Those who continue to ‘walk’ in the trespasses and sins which characterize the unregenerate state show that they are not God’s workmanship, whatever professions they may make. But those who ‘walk’ in those good works which God has preordained for his people give ample evidence of the power of a new life which operates within them. No one more wholeheartedly than Paul repudiated good works as a ground of salvation; no one more wholeheartedly insisted on good works as the fruit of salvation…” (F. F. Bruce)“
"But what does it say? "The word [rhema] is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word [rhema] of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:8-10)
“Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh-- who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands-- that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.” (Eph 2:11-12)
[The Uncircumcision.] “This is a term of disdain and reproach. cf. 1 Sam. 17:26; Acts 7:51. [LIKEWISE:] The Apostle is careful to qualify the Jews as ‘the circumcision in the flesh made by hands,’ because he elsewhere took pains to point out that this didn't automatically make someone a true Jew. cf. Rom. 2:28-29; Gal. 5:6; 6:15; Phil. 3:3; Col. 2:11; 3:11.” http://www.grace4u.org/newtest/ephesians/eph2_11-12.htm And unseen to the human eye was the universal church of that day whose hearts had been circumcised by the Word of God, according to the old saying "circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer. For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe.” (Deut 10:15-17) They were carrying their Bibles. The exhortation was to read it and believe it as the very Word of God, “Rest not in your bodily circumcision, but seriously set upon that substantial work which is signified thereby: cleanse your hearts from all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, fitly compared to the foreskin, which if not cut off, made persons profane, unclean and odious in the sight of God.” (John Wesley)
The Uncircumcised in heart were: [without Christ]… “Not only were not Christians, but had no knowledge of the Christ or Messiah, and no title to the blessings which were to proceed from him.” (Adam Clarke) [aliens from the commonwealth of Israel] “Ye were by your birth… alienated from the commonwealth of Israel-- from the civil and religious privileges of the Jewish people.” (Adam Clarke) [strangers from the covenants of promise] “Having no part in the promise of the covenant made with Abraham, whether considered as relating to his natural or spiritual seed; and no part in that of the covenant made at Horeb with the Israelites, when a holy law was given them, and God condescended to dwell among them, and to lead them to the Promised Land.” (Adam Clarke) “The plural [of covenants] implies the several renewals of the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and with the whole people at Sinai [ALFORD]. ‘The promise’ is singular, to signify that the covenant, in reality, and substantially, is one and the same at all times…” (Coffman) [having no hope] “Either of the pardon of sin or of the resurrection of the body, nor indeed of the immortality of the soul. Of all these things the Gentile had no rational or well-grounded hope… [without God in the world] ] He who has neither God nor Christ is in a most deplorable state; he has neither a God to worship, nor a Christ to justify him. And this is the state of every man who is living without the grace and Spirit of Christ.” (Adam Clarke)
“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” (Ephesians 2:13)
The temple was designed by Yahweh to assist the priests in teaching the Way of God. There were different areas for different lessons as you spiritually drew near to the throne of grace. But the religious leaders of the day used the areas as partition to seclude based on social class, racial consideration or supposed religious class. “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off…“ It is clear that “these words are a reference to Gentiles, but the implications and connotations of the expression are far greater than that of a mere term of identification. In the ancient cultures of both the pagans and the Jews, that which was 'far off' was held to be detestable… [have been brought near by the blood of Christ.]… It is the blood of Christ which cleanses from sin, making it possible for the profane to enter the temple of God; it was the ransom paid for the redemption of the souls under bondage to sin; it was the purchase price paid for his church. The blood references in the New Testament are precious... “ (Coffman Commentary)
“Outside the sanctuary were the tens of thousands of Israel, representing the countless thousands to whom Divine fellowship and worship (symbolized by the Tabernacle) has been offered.” (Abercrombie) “ “The Sanctuary was divided into three sections: The Outer Court, the Holy Place, and the Most Holy Place… The three sections of the Tabernacle taught the three stages of God manifestation: Preparation, Application, and Glorification.” (Bruce Abercrombie)
PREPARATION- The Outer Court. Everything in this place is made of bronze representing judgment. People in this area are still under the judgment of God. Perhaps, they believed enough to inquire; they had “prevenient grace.” APPLICATION- The Holy place. Those in this area had been justified freely be the grace that is in Messiah of Israel. They had justifying grace. And they began to apply what they read and were taught by the priests to themselves. GLORIFICATION—The Most Holy Place. The sole furniture in the Most Holy Place was “the Ark of the Covenant” which stood behind the veil as a symbol of the throne of God. The Ark of the Covenant contained three articles (Heb. 9:4): the two Tables of the Testimony (the Ten Commandments); the Golden Pot of Manna (representing God’s provision of spiritual food of God's Word- John 6:58); and Aaron's Rod that budded (representing the requirement for new birth). On top of the chest was a golden cover called “the mercy seat.” The mercy seat was made of beaten gold; Christ-- God's own son-- was beaten with many stripes. And He “humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross." (Phil 2:5 8)
"In the ark were the tablets of the Law which Israel had broken. The broken Law demanded judgment and death for the transgressors. The Law could not save them; it could only condemn them. It could not take away sin; it could only reveal sin. It could not give life to sinner; it could only kill the transgressor." (Abercrombie)
SPIRITUAL OVERVIEW- “Those who will obtain an entrance into the future state of perfection will have done so because they will have progressed acceptably through the stages of personal and spiritual development typified by the Tabernacle, after the following pattern: 1.Attracted by God's righteousness, they separated themselves and approached Him through Christ by baptism; figuratively, they entered the Outer Court; 2. Here they submitted to mental changes in their thinking and attitude concerning the things of Yahweh and His truth, by offering themselves as a sacrifice, and by being cleansed in His Word of Truth. 3. Entering into a condition of dedication, they underwent moral changes in life and character to the degree to which they ate of the true Bread of Life; understood the Word of Light and manifested it; offered up pleasing and acceptable service in the Ecclesia; figuratively they progressed through the Holy Place. The Apostle Paul used this pattern in Romans 5:1-2, where he explains our present progress towards perfection thus: - 1. ‘Justified by faith’—The Outer Court. 2.’Access... into this grace’—Holy Place/Ecclesia (Eph. 1:3; 2:6). 3. ‘In hope of the Glory of God’—Most Holy Place/the Perfect glorious future. See also 2 Pet. 1:4-8; 1 Cor. 15:50-54; 1 John 3:1-3; Rev. 3:12.” (Keith Cook)
Eph 2:14-16 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.
Messiah died for all and has become our "peace-offering, shalowm" to reconcile both Jew and Gentile "to God and to each other.” (Adam Clarke) He Himself has made both one. “The greatest triumph of the gospel in the apostolic age was that it overcame this long-standing estrangement and enabled Jew and Gentile to become truly one in Christ.” (F. F. Bruce) AND HE [has broken down the middle wall of separation] “Officially there was no such thing as the ‘Court of the Gentiles’… Instead, what one finds [biblically in the Temple] is an area called the ‘Outer Court’… it was within the Temple grounds, but wasn’t within the Temple area reserved for Jews, which was surrounded by a very low wall/balustrade (sorek) that was only four feet high…, with large openings guarded by Levites… Gentiles could go no farther than this area, while Jews, provided they were ritually pure, could proceed across the balustrade to the next level.” [http://dailyminyan.com/] “Paul himself had narrowly escaped death two or three years earlier when a rumor got about that he had violated the sanctity of the Holy Place by taking a Gentile into one of the inner courts (Acts 21:28).” (F F Bruce)
[abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances] Some believe that this verse refers to the work of Messiah abolishing the requirements to keep the Ten Commandments. However: “Foulkes points out that the moral demands and principles of the Law were not lightened by Jesus, but made fuller and more far-reaching’ (See Matt 5:21-48)’” (George R. Knight) “Paul could not be speaking of a nullification of the moral law ‘when Christ himself in the Sermon on the Mount specifically declared the opposite, that he had not come to abolish’ the law but to ‘ fulfill it.’ AS A RESULT, ‘Paul’s primary reference here…seems to be to the ceremonial law… He did it in his flesh (surely a reference to his physical death) because in the cross he fulfilled all the types and shadows of the Old Testament ceremonial system (Stott).’” (Coffman Commentary)
“Perhaps the best way to get at Paul’s meaning is to examine other New Testament passages that infer that the law acted as a barrier between Jew and Gentile. In Acts 15:1 we read that ‘some men came down from Judea and were teaching’ the Gentiles, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved’… Those missionaries of the law created endless havoc in the churches of Galatia with their emphasis on circumcision (Gal 6:12) and the Jewish ceremonial calendar (4:10). The same problem seems to have arisen in Colossae, where some of the believers were judging others about the observance of those Jewish holy days that were ‘a shadow of that is to come’ (i.e., pointed to the coming of Christ, as the Passover…) [We are not here talking about the requirement to keep the weekly Sabbath, as this is part of the moral code of the Commandments.] Thus it appears that circumcision, the Jewish calendar, and other aspects of the Jewish ceremonial law did indeed isolate Jews from Gentiles. As a result, by ‘nullifying’ those ordinances through His death, Christ did indeed break down ‘the partition of the dividing wall (Eph 2:14-15)” (George R. Knight) [so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace,] .
“All of the enmity and hatred of previous class distinctions are dissolved and disappear through the creation of a new man... who is then no longer a Jew, nor a Gentile, but a participant of the newness of life in Christ Jesus.” (Coffman Commentary) [and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body] “This is equivalent to the church, the commonwealth of the new Israel, the spiritual body of Christ, the community of new creatures forming God's creation through Christ upon the earth.” [through the cross,] He accomplished this great feat through the cross. "In Christ's humiliation stands our exaltation; in His weakness stands our strength; in His ignominy our glory; in His death our life." (Cudworth 1613) "The eye of faith regards Christ sitting on the summit of the cross as in a triumphal chariot; the devil bound to the lowest part of the same cross, and trodden under the feet of Christ." (Davenant 1627)
"And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father." (Ephesians 2:17-18 )
“This verse echoes … Isaiah 57:19 (‘Peace, peace to him that is far off and to him that is near’). Cf. verse 13 and Acts 2:39. Clearly it is the Gentiles who were ‘far off’ and the Jews who were ‘nigh’; to both alike Christ’s own peace has been proclaimed in the gospel.” (F. F. Bruce)
“Only the choice of men separates the `peace, peace' of Isa. 57:19 from the `no peace' of Isa 57:21.” (New Bible Commentary) “Peter on the Day of Pentecost applied the expression, ‘to him that is far off,’ to the call of the Gentiles into the ranks of the Church (Acts 2:39). The literal words in the Greek here are ‘far from the temple,’ thus applying to all persons, even to those who were not Jews. Note also God's promise of healing, which is here a promise of pardon and forgiveness of sins.” (Coffman Commentary) “This peace does not merely remove hostility; it positively brings Jewish and Gentile believers on one common footing into the presence of God the Father. Under the law the Jew had access to God, but his access was hedged about by strict limitations… But now through Christ both have free and unrestricted access to God ‘in one Spirit’ – the Spirit by whom the ‘one body’ of Ephesians 4:4 is indwelt and empowered.” (F. F. Bruce)
"Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone, in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit." (Ephesians 2:19-22)
The Gentiles were no longer “… ‘foreigners’ and ‘strangers within the gates’,… whose residence among the people of Israel was based on sufferance and not on right.” (F. F. Bruce) [but fellow citizens with the saints] “Paul was a Roman citizen and had received signal blessings from such a relationship. Thus it was natural that he should have compared the privileges of being in Christ to citizenship in a kingdom much higher and holier than any other ever known on earth. It was one of Paul's favorite metaphors.... [and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,] …It does not mean that the apostles and the prophets were the foundation of the church. Christ is the foundation (1 Cor 3:11). But they laid the foundation in what they taught about the Person and work of the Lord Jesus.” (Coffman Commentary)
[Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone,] “The cornerstone is cut out beforehand, and not only bonds the structure together when at last it is dropped into place, but serves as a ‘stone of testing’ to show whether the building has been carried out to the architect’s specifications.” (F. F. Bruce) “We generally think of the cornerstone as the one that lies at the lower front corner of a building. Since the rest of the structure seems to be supported by it, it has come to signify something of fundamental importance…. Also since it joins two walls together, there may be suggestion of the union of believing Jews and Gentile in the church through Him...., See also Isaiah 8:13-16; Isaiah 28:16; 1 Peter 2:6-8; and Psalm 118:20-25....[in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.] ...Compare this with the position of the Gentiles in the OT. At that time they could not get near God’s dwelling. Now they themselves form a part of it… And so the chapter that began with a description of Gentiles who were dead, depraved, diabolical, and disobedient closes with those same Gentiles cleansed from all guilt and defilement an, and forming ‘a dwelling place of God in the Spirit!’” (Believer’s Bible Commentary)
“The thought is very similar to that in 1 Peter 2:4 f., where believers, by coming to Christ, the living cornerstone, and taking their proper places in relation to him, ‘are built up a spiritual house.’… It is not in any tangible structure, but in the midst of his people, that God makes his dwelling-place on earth; it is there that he records his name and promises his blessing (cf. Exodus 20:24). And in the words ‘ye also’ Paul repeats his insistence that Gentile believers have a full share in this high privilege.” (F. F. Bruce)