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It is striking how much Old Testament language is used in the New Testament – underlining the fact that the best preparation for understanding the NT is a good grasp of the OT.  This is true of the biblical doctrine of the church, where the basic principles are set out in the OT.  The people of God are, for example, frequently described in the language of the temple.  Consider Ephesians 2:19-22 God’s holy temple.

1. A secure position

Concentrating on the change that has taken place in Gentile believers, Paul recalls their former misery (v19), outside the sphere of blessing and fellowship with God.  They have been transformed by Christ to whom they are united by faith.  They have been brought into a secure place of blessing:

            (i).  Fellow-citizens with God’s people.  They have been liberated from their alien status – the King has granted them citizenship and they have the same standing as every believer, Jew or Gentile.  By the new birth we enter the kingdom of God (John 3:3; Colossians 1:13), a present possession which we will enjoy to the fullest extent after the return of Christ.  Being a citizen carries with it the obligation to obey God’s royal law.

            (ii).  Members of the household of God.  The family imagery carries the suggestion of intimacy, a warm relationship.  Above all this means that God is our Father and he has given us his Holy Spirit to mark us as his children (Romans 8:15).  We now enjoy all the spiritual privileges of God’s children, the fruit of God’s grace.

2. A sure foundation

The Christian has (or should have) a deep sense of security, which the unsaved lack.  This is not because we trust in ourselves, but because of our sure spiritual foundation that supports our whole life.  Note v20 ‘built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets’ – best understood as their faithful teaching of the truth of God.  Through the Word of God we are brought to Christ (2 Timothy 3:15) and are nourished and grow (1 Peter 2:2).  We have a secure foundation by which we can test all we hear and read.  It is the Lord who gives shape to the building: ‘with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.  He is its main support (Isaiah 28:16).  The church depends on Christ for everything, and we can be sure that he will never fail us in any time of need.  We can rest in him and find peace.

3. A steady growth

The church is described as a building, but it is not static, it is a growing building: it is ‘growing into a holy temple in the Lord.  This is organic language.  The church is united to Christ: ‘in him the whole building is joined together’ (v21).  There is a permanent spiritual unity despite outward divisions.  God’s purpose is that his church will grow ‘into a holy temple in the Lord’.  This takes place as each member develops and matures.  We are ‘living stones’ (1 Peter 2:5).  Gradually God shapes each of us to fill a unique position.  He is building ‘a holy temple’ reflecting his holiness.  It is a glorious privilege to be ‘a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit’(v23) and a summons to holiness (1 Corinthians 3:16).

Rev Vincent McDonnell

Mr Robert Drennan

The Bible uses various terms to describe what Christ has achieved by his life, death and resurrection.  That work is so rich that no one term is sufficient to cover everything he has done for us.  One aspect of Christ’s work is reconciliation – between God and sinners and then between forgiven sinners.  Consider Ephesians 2:11-18 Christ the Peacemaker.

1. Jew and Gentile divided

One of the deepest divisions know to history has been that between Jews and Gentiles.  The two have often regarded each other with suspicion.  The Jews did not fit into an immoral and polytheistic Gentile world.  The Jews’ position as God’s chosen people too often was twisted into a source of pride (see v11).  The two were also separated by the ceremonial system set down in the Mosaic Law – ‘the law with its commandments and regulations’ (v15).  This provided ‘the dividing wall of hostility’ (v14 ESV).  The Jews were undoubtedly a privileged people (Romans 9:4) – in sharp contrast to the Gentiles who were ‘excluded…foreigners…without hope and without God’ (v12).  Nevertheless, both are lost spiritually.  Many Jews rejected their Messiah and failed to use the clearer light the Lord had given them.  At root the Jew-Gentile division is caused by alienation from God.  That is first of all the ‘hostility’ of v16.  People are alienated from God and so from one another.

2. Christ’s sacrifice offered

To achieve human reconciliation the root problem has to be dealt with – the enmity between God and sinners.  That has been accomplished by the work of Christ – ‘we are brought near through the blood of Christ’ (v13) and ‘he himself is our peace’ (v14).  The goal of Christ’s work was ‘to reconcile both of them to God through the cross’ (v16).  The death of Christ first brings about reconciliation with God, because he has ‘put to death the hostility’ (v16) between God and his redeemed people (2 Corinthians 5:18).  The ceremonies of the law pointed forward to Christ and he has fulfilled them.  He reconciles Jew and Gentile ‘by abolishing in his flesh the law’ (v15).  The experience of this reconciliation is not to be thought of apart from the response of faith (God’s gift, v8).  As a result of the work of Christ sinners ‘have been brought near’ (v13).  This is the foundation for human reconciliation.

3. Jew and Gentile united

True unity between Jew and Gentile is possible only in Christ, based on his work of making peace between God and sinners.  Christ ‘preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near’ (v17).  By faith in Christ Jews and Gentiles receive the same salvation.  This results in a unity that transcends earthly differences.  ‘His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace’ (15).  Saved by grace they are united to Christ and so to one another.  The place of unity is the church, the body he fills perfectly (1:23).  The history of the early church shows that there can still be problems and tensions, but the basis for unity is in place.  The Holy Spirit is the bond of unity – ‘we both have access to the Father by one Spirit’ (v18).  As we come closer to God, we come closer to one another.  That is the unity in Christ that will last eternally.

All of the Bible is ‘God-breathed’ Scripture and so is profitable for God’s people.  There are, however, certain passages that sum up in a few verses some of the great truths of the faith and which every Christian ought to know well.  One of these passages, dealing with the very heart of salvation, is before us today.  Consider Ephesians 2:1-10 From death to life.

1. Dead in sins

In v1 we are bluntly confronted with a truth about ourselves: ‘you were dead in your transgressions and sins’.  That is the devastating spiritual impact of sin.  Our human nature is corrupted at the root.  We are born with an innate depravity (Psalm 51:5).  We inherit fallen human nature from Adam and ‘in Adam all die’ (1 Corinthians 15:22).  This results in the actual sins we commit.  They are ‘transgressions’ – deviating from the right path of God’s law.  They are ‘sins’ – falling short of the divine standard.  Sin brings spiritual bondage to ‘the ruler of the kingdom of the air’ (v2).  He exercises a pervasive influence and is ‘the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient’.  By nature we are under Satan’s dominion – ‘Among them we too all formerly lived’ (v3 NASB).  The final description is most terrible – ‘we were by nature objects children of wrath’.  We stand condemned before a holy God.

2. Loved by God

That is not all that is to be said about God, however.  For the Christian there is cause too for praise on account of ‘his great love with which he loved us’ (v4).  This is even more overwhelming because of its objects, because we were loved ‘even when we were dead in transgressions’ (v5).  God loved us when we were sinful and repulsive.  His infinite love led to action, flowing from ‘mercy’ (v4) and ‘grace’ (v5).  He showed mercy to the totally undeserving, who in fact deserved judgment.  Salvation is founded on the love of God (John 3:16) shown to us in Christ (1 John 3:16).  No deeper explanation is possible.  Paul is full of wonder as he contemplates these truths: ‘rich in mercy…great love’ (v4), ‘the incomparable riches of his grace’ (v7).  This is a fit subject for continual meditation that should fill us with awe and a desire to worship.  Note the goal that is in view: Christians will be living testimonies to God’s love throughout eternity (v7), a glorious privilege.

3. Alive in Christ

The grace of God works a total transformation in the standing and the life of a sinner.  God ‘made us alive with Christ’ (v5) – we are united spiritually with Christ in his death and resurrection – ‘God raised us up with Christ’ (v6).   Our sins are forgiven, we have spiritual life in place of death, the power of Satan is broken.  This is a complete reversal of our position by nature – we are ‘a new creation’ (2 Corinthians 5:17).  We have an amazing statement in v6 ‘seated us with [Christ] in the heavenly realms’ – a present reality in a spiritual sense (see also Colossians 3:3).  At the resurrection it will also be true physically.  Our link with Christ depends on God’s grace and power – v8 (lit.) ‘you are [in a state of] having been saved’ a permanent position.  It is impossible to earn salvation (v8-9) -it is by grace through faith and results in a life of ‘good works’ that testify to our salvation by grace.