Epistles of Paul 93

Good evening, brethren. As we've been seeing, the key theme of Ephesians is the unity in Christ.

And the first three chapters address a number of doctrinal principles that Paul is teaching about the unity of Gentiles and Jews. And then, in the last three chapters, he focuses on various Christian behavior principles. We covered in chapter one. Paul starts covering about emphasizing his focus on some of God's great spiritual blessings. In verse five, he showed that God predestined mankind to be spiritual, begotten children. And then, in verse seven, he highlighted that in Christ we have redemption through his blood and the forgiveness of sins.

Then, in verse nine, he emphasized this great spiritual blessing, which is a mystery, which is God's will being shown to us. And this is an area of teaching that Paul emphasizes a lot.

And this mystery of God, which is making both Jews and Gentiles united in Christ. And there's a lot of meaning with that that we'll cover today.

In verse 11, then, he says also that the spiritual mystery, not only do we have redemption through his blood and become children of God through Christ, but also through Christ we have received or we will obtain an inheritance. And then, in verses 13 and 14, he says that God's Holy Spirit is the guarantee of that inheritance until we become spirit beings. Then, in verses 16 and 17, Paul is praying that we may have the wisdom, the wisdom, the spirit of wisdom and understanding and revelation of this knowledge, which we have to grow. And it's very similar along the principles or the teaching in 2 Peter, which concludes in chapter 3 verse 18 that we need to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So, yeah, Paul is also saying that we need to grow in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In verse 18, as part of this prayer, he says that not only do we need that spirit or that wisdom and the revelation, but that is important so that we can understand the hope of this great calling that God has for us. In other words, a calling of glory to be in the family of God and a great inheritance, which God, as it says in verse 20, God worked through Christ by raising Him from the dead and putting Him at the Father's right hand. And so, everything then is put under Christ. He's the head of the church, which is the church is Christ's spiritual body. And so, again, the focus here on chapter 1 in a way of brief repetition, we are predestined to be the children of God and to receive a great inheritance through Christ. We have got the Holy Spirit as a guarantee, as a down payment, and we need to have the wisdom to understand this great hope. And it's all under Christ and what Christ is doing and that unity in Christ. So, we can see that Paul is focusing how God has blessed us and is blessing us with every spiritual blessing from heaven, as he mentions in verse 3 of chapter 1. So now we move to chapter 2, and it is very important for us to fully understand it because it goes further into this unity of Jews and Gentiles and this great spiritual blessing that we have through Christ. And so, let's read in verse 1.

And you, he made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins. It's interesting, Yahweh says he is made as alive. In other words, spiritual alive, when obviously we were baptized, we received Hazzali Spirit, we understand this truth. So we, therefore, were, against the same big part of it, we were in a way, spiritually dead. In other words, spiritually blind. Now it's interesting because we know Romans 6, 23 says the wages of sin is death, and it is important to see how Paul, in a number of places, and even Peter mentions, and also we see the example of Christ, they're talking about people that don't know the truth, or in a sense, and they're not committed to God's way, they don't understand this great blessing. They are spiritually dead, and whilst we are alive. Look at a few scriptures that make mention of that, and when we understand this concept of being spiritually dead, look at, for instance, in Luke chapter 9, Luke chapter 9 verse 60, when Christ is talking in Luke chapter 9 verse 60, Luke 9 verse 60, and yeah, he's talking about a man that is being invited to follow Christ, and he says, well, I can't go, Lord, and says that in verse 59, let me first go and bury my father, and then in verse 60, Christ says, let dead bury their own dead. In other words, we can see, as talking about those that are spiritually dead, in other words, they're not called at this moment, they're not understanding. Let them be involved with burying their dead, and but you have a big responsibility. He's not actually, I don't believe he's actually saying that his dad had just died, and that he needed to go and bury his dead, but the way we read the IIT implies that, well, my dad is getting old, and let me wait a little bit of time until my dad dies, and then I'll follow you, and that to me is more the meaning, and in other words, a lack of sense of urgency, and that's why Paul, a big part of Jesus, is saying to that person, saying, let the dead bury their undead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God. And so Christ was inviting this person to be maybe one of his disciples, and it was such a great opportunity, and he kind of let it slip between his fingers. Let's call it that. There's also another example, which is in 1 Peter. In 1 Peter chapter 4, which is also interesting, this concept of the dead in 1 Peter chapter 4 verse 6, and here we read an example where we see, and for this reason, the gospel was preached also to those who are dead. It was the gospel preached to those that are spiritually dead.

Why? So that they may be judged according to men in the flesh. Think about it. Our job is to preach the gospel to the world as a witness. In other words, our job, that's Matthew 24 14, is to preach the gospel to those who are, at this moment, spiritually dead. Why? That they might be judged according to men in the flesh. So, in other words, the judgment will come and say, hey, you knew about it, you knew about it, but they will then have the opportunity to have eternal life. Because it says, but live according to God in the Spirit. That they will then later will be able to repent and be able to live according to God's way, ultimately. So, Yah is another example of using the word dead, but it's not referring to people that are physically dead today, but it's talking to people that are spiritually dead. Another example is Luke 15. In Luke 15, we've got the parable of the prodigal son, and we can see... let's just get to Luke 15. Luke 15. And then we know the story that the prodigal son then comes back, and the conclusion of this parable, it says, and it was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead, and he's alive again. In other words, he was dead.

To me, he was as if he was not recognizing the value of the family, and now he's back in the family, and he's alive again. So we can see this expression of being dead, being used in different ways. So let's go back to Ephesians chapter 2. In verse 1, we said, "...you and you he made alive, who were dead in your sins, trespasses and sins, and in which you once walked." In other words, in the past you lived according to the way of the world, according to the course of this world. The word kosya is aeon, age, Greek 165, and the world, the word for world, in Greek is cosmos. So it says you walked according to this age, this age, according to this current world, according to the prince of the power of the air. And so, yeah, we see that the prince of the power of the air is Satan, and Satan has influence in the world's... the way the world is organized politically or whatever. He has influence in humanity in general with its values and standards that we see today. They are going down terribly, and so he has an influence because the world is not following God, is apart from God, and is being influenced by Satan. In other words, it's going in a different direction than God's.

And it's interesting because it says the prince of the power of the air, the spirit, who now works in the sense of obedience among whom also we all once conducted ourselves. And so we were once under that influence. So how does Satan influence people? Well, Satan broadcasts. Mr. Armstrong quite often used to refer to the analogy of Satan broadcasting like different radio frequencies, and you can go from one radio frequency to another, and these... all these spiritual frequencies around us, all these vibes are from this world, is the God of this world, and he's the prince of the power of the air. And so he broadcasts in many ways. Nowadays, particularly with things like the internet, even there's more things in the airwaves, let's call it that. And so Satan is broadcasting how? While in attitudes, in moods, in approaches, in different thoughts, in vibes, people are depressed, a lot of it is because of Satan's broadcast, if not most of it. So he places in people's minds these different thoughts and ideas, and therefore he's influencing. And continuing reading verse 3, among whom also we all once conducted in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind. So how does it influence people with these vibes, these lusts of the flesh, desires of the flesh and the mind? And we were part of that, and we were, as he says, by nature, children of wrath, just as the others, just as the rest of the world. So we were, and we only are because of God's mercy. But it says, yeah, verse 4, but God, who is reaching mercy because of his great love with which he loved us. So it ties into chapter 1. It says some of us are predestined to know the truth now, and you and I are very blessed to receive this mercy today. Others will receive it at another time. And so we have been made alive because we were dead. And that's what he said in verse 1 of chapter 2. He made us alive. We were dead in sins. And again, yeah, in verse 5 he says, even when we were dead in sins, in trespasses, he made us alive together with Christ. Now it is interesting because he's now talking, yeah, to Ephesians, which are basically mostly Gentiles. So he's talking to Gentiles, and he's writing from prison. And he says, we were dead in sins, and he made us alive together with Christ. So he's brought us, and most of his organcy are being Gentiles, he brought the Gentiles together through Christ.

By grace, you have been saved. So it all starts by God's grace, God's unmeditated pardon. And God's unmeditated pardon is one of many of God's many components of God's grace. It's not only one, but it is a very large one. God's unmeditated pardon is an amazing, gracious, merciful act from God to us. And so, as we repent and commit to a new life, as we read, for instance, in scriptures like in Romans 6, at the beginning of Romans 6, that says we baptized, and we come out of the water, and we walk in newness of life.

So we need to live a new life. And that's what he's saying, yeah, in verse 5, that he says made us alive together with Christ. In other words, we now walk in a new life.

So yeah, it is a blessing that God gives us upon baptism, which is his Holy Spirit. And God gives us his Holy Spirit, and through that he makes us his true children. So God's Holy Spirit is the helper to help us to be sanctified. That is a very gracious gift from God, giving us that power, that help.

God's Holy Spirit, as we saw early on in chapter 1, in verse 14, God's Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance until we are changed. It was the guarantee of salvation, provided we remain faithful till the end. And so we can see salvation, which is the soul process, which starts with God's grace and the act of faith and trusting in him. And it is a free gift from God, ultimately a free gift from God. And yeah, salvation is not only talking about the final stage of salvation, but salvation from the fact that they didn't have any hope without Christ.

Now they've been saved from this hopeless life, and now they have a life wherein they've got hope. That's why in chapter 1 verse 18, he was saying, you know, that he was praying that they may have wisdom and grace so that they may know what is the hope of his calling.

We need to understand fully what is the hope of God's calling. And so salvation is a great gift that God gives us, and we need to understand this clearly, because it's a wonderful hope, and that hope is an anchor of our souls to keep going and staying close to God. Now read here in verse 6, and raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places through or in Christ Jesus.

So was Paul in heaven? No. He was in prison, in Rome. Well, in a rented house, but still he was a prisoner. So certainly Paul was not in heaven, and so when he says he raised us together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, he's talking about that unity through Christ with Christ, through God's Spirit, which is also the Spirit of Christ dwelling in him and dwelling in us. Therefore, you and I, we all of God's Holy Spirit, have a connection with Christ, and therefore we have that access to Christ, which is in heaven. And that's why he says, and made us sit together in the heavenly in Christ Jesus, through Christ Jesus.

Right, verse 7, that in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. So again, focuses the center that it is through Christ Jesus. And so, as he says here in verse 7, that in ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness towards us. And so, this is a plan that God has for us. God did not need to have this plan for us. God wanted because of his mercy, his kindness, and so it is a blessing that he's given us.

That's why he says, in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace by his kindness towards us through what Christ has done. And so, it is a blessing for us, not only ultimately to be in the kingdom of God, and that is amazing riches of his grace and through his kindness, but also we will then, as called now as the ones that are being chosen to be called first, we have access to a better resurrection. As we read in Hebrews 11 verse 35, we have a better resurrection.

That is the first resurrection, which has greater promises, greater responsibilities, and duties. So, it is exceeding riches of God's grace because of his kindness towards us. That is such an encouraging statement indeed. Now, going on reading verse 8, for by grace you have been saved through faith. So, salvation is a free gift from God by faith, and he says, and that not of yourselves, it's a gift of God, not by ourselves.

Now, salvation, of course, is not by ourselves. That's obvious, but the focus here is that the faith is not of ourselves. The faith that is required for salvation is Christ's, and it is the faith of Christ in us, and that faith is a gift from God.

That's what it says. It says faith, and that not of ourselves, it's a gift of God. God gives us that faith. Christ's faith made him do what he did for us to be redeemed, but that faith is given to us because we need that faith as well. It is a gift from God. So, it's our belief, it's our trust in him, it's our total reliance on God. We have to totally rely on God. We live only due to God's mercy. God, at any moment, could stop our heart, for instance, to beat at any moment. We are... the heart, the pulse of our heart is because God is, has, let's call it, a God signal there to make our hearts beat.

It's a political impulse. How is that? It started, I don't think mankind really knows, but it's God. It's like God's pulse that's keeping us alive. We have to fully trust. We have to be fully reliant on God, and it's not just in every aspect of our lives, be it in our marriage, in our job, but also in our ability to overcome. We need to rely on God to help us to overcome. Think about the example how the Israelites, when they left Egypt and they wandered for 40 years in the wilderness, they had to completely rely on God for food.

And for instance, even for their own things, like for instance, their shoes never wore out for 40 years, walking out in the desert. Their shoes never had or developed a hole. They just kept going.

Just as an example, so the Israelites had to completely rely on God in everything. We ourselves in our lives also have to completely rely on God on everything, even to overcome. We need God's help to help us overcoming our weaknesses. That's what we have God's Holy Spirit for, is Holy Spirit of sanctification for obedience. Now continue reading in verse 9. It says, "...not of our works, lest anybody should boast." You see, you and I can't say, well, I've saved myself or I have great faith. No, we can't boast. It's a gift from God.

So verse 10, "...for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus." We are the work of God. He is the master potter. He's the master, let's call it, craftsman. He is the one that is making us in his image, and he's the one that's working and molding us and allowing us to go through certain difficulties and trials, which when we go through them, we think, why, why, why? Well, it's one thing we know that these difficulties and trials do make us better people. They do make us better people. So there are certain little flaws and certain rough edges that need to be filed out, that be certain impurities that need to be taken out, and yeah, we go through trials. And I know it's not easy. It's not easy. We can often ask a lot of questions, but we have to believe and trust God that he knows what he's doing. He is working in us, making us his children. So that's why it says in verse 10, "...for we are his workmanship." And then he says, "...crafted in Christ Jesus for what reason?" For what? For good works.

We have to produce good works. We need to live and practice those good works.

So that's what it says. For good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them, that we should live in them, we should practice them. You see, God did not call us to live a life of sin and rebelliousness? No. The law is not done away. God has called us, yes, to produce works till the end. Sure, we are justified, made right with God, and brought in this path that ultimately is the plan or the way to salvation by God's grace and faith. But once we are in this path, we have to produce good works. We should live according to those principles of God. That's why it says that we should walk in them. All right, verse 11. And yeah, we see an important part of the context of what he's talking about. This is important of this context because the context is talking about the unity in Christ that the Gentiles can have, because understand, he was writing to Ephesus, which was basically a city in which the inhabitants were mostly Gentiles. They were not Jews. Yes, there may have been a few Jews, but mostly were Gentiles. And therefore, it says that, therefore, remember that you, right, was Gentiles in the flesh. You see, we can see the context of the letter that is writing to Gentiles, you, Gentiles, you Ephesians, Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision. You are the ones that were not circumcised by what is called the circumcision. In other words, you, Gentiles, are being called uncircumcised by those that are circumcised, in other words, by the Jews, made in the flesh by hands. So, in a sense, YAH is a type of separation, alienation, that the Gentiles were having. It was a social alienation or separation, because the Jews were, quote-unquote, discriminating against the Gentiles. There was this animosity between Jews and Gentiles. We need to understand now very clearly this meaning of animosity. Is this division, this separation, this alienation, this animosity between Jews and Gentiles, which in a sense was a social separation, but the Gentiles also experienced a spiritual separation.

And that's described in verse 12, because it says that at that time, in other words, before you received Christ, before you've been called, before when you were dead in your trespasses, at that time you were without Christ. So YAH is the spiritual alienation of the Gentiles, which were cut off from God in five ways. And YAH describes in this verse these five ways that the Jews were alienated. Five ways. The first one is they were without Christ. In other words, they didn't have a Messiah. Christ means Messiah. In other words, they didn't have a Savior. So that's the first way in which they were spiritually alienated from God. The second way is being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel. In other words, they were Gentiles. They were not Israelites. They were not part of Israel, God's people, God's chosen people. Thirdly, they were strangers from the covenants of promise. They were covenants of promise.

The covenant first to Abraham. Then there was, for instance, the old covenant. And even the prophetic new covenant, there were strangers to that, because when you read about the new covenant, it says, a matrix covenant between Israel and God. It's a covenant there. So they were strangers from the covenants of promise. That's, in a sense, the third spiritual alienation between them and God. The fourth one is having no hope. They were hopeless. They were not given any divine promises.

So they had no hope. And the first alienation is without God in the world.

They worshipped many gods, yes, but they were idols. They were no real God. They were just idols, statues, whatever, ideas, even let's call it demons. But they didn't have God.

They didn't have God. They were without God in the world. So in all these ways, the gentiles were alienated from God these five ways. Without Christ, aliens from the Commonwealth, strangers of the covenants, no hope, and without God. And so what was God's plan?

God's plan was not for them to stay this way. And so how is God rectifying this? How God is addressing that through His plan? And look at YAH in verse 13. He gives the answer. But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far off, the term far off, is let's call it a common rabbinical term to describe gentiles. You were a gentile. You were, let's call it a third-class citizen. You were far off. And he says, but now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off, have been brought near by the blood of Christ. You brought, been brought near to God, to spiritual Israel, by Jesus Christ's sacrifice. So Jesus Christ's sacrifice removed those barriers. That's what Paul is explaining, that God, through Christ, has reconciled Jew and gentile together.

And He has reconciled both Jew and gentile to God. You see, it's not only that Jews and gentiles that alienation they had with Him too, not only that is removed, but also is removed the alienation that the gentiles had from God. So they now understand, they know the true God.

So the Jews also need reconciliation, understand this, because they had the promises, yes, they knew God, but still they were cut off from spiritual Israel, because they did not grasp or understanding the deep spiritual meaning of these things. So now we get to verse 14 and 15. Now verse 14 and 15, these two verses are key, key to understand this chapter. So let's just read verse 14 and it says, for He Himself, that's Christ, is our peace.

Who has made both one, in other words, the Jews and gentiles, they made them both one, in Christ, has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation. It was this middle wall of the vision between them, you know, what was between the Jews and gentiles. What is this middle wall of separation or of division? Verse 15, having abolished in His death the enmity, that animosity that they had, that is the law of commandments contained in ordinances. What is this law of commandments? Commandments in ordinances. This is, yeah, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two thus making peace. In other words, there's the Jew and the gentiles and makes one new man spiritual Jew or spiritual Israelites, thus making peace between them and bringing them into the fellowship with God. And so the question is, what is this middle wall of division?

And what was this law of commandments in ordinances? Because this was creating a division, was creating enmity, and so what law is this? Because the laws of God do not cause enmity, do not cause hostility, and Jesus Christ did not come to abolish the law. You and I know, Matthew 5, 17 says, I do not come to do away with the law but to fulfill it. So let's look at this carefully. First, look about this law. Law, it's Greek, nomos, and can also mean procedure or practice that has been held accustomed a rule, a principle, or a norm, according to the Bauer, Danker, Arnold, Gingrich lexicon. And ordinances, Greek 1378, which means dogma, is a formalized rule or set of rules describing what people must do according to low-neider lexicon. And so we have these procedures or practices that has been held as a custom, as a principle, as a norm, which formalized or a set of rules prescribing what people must and must not do. Now, as we read in 2 Peter 3 verse 16, 2 Peter 3 verse 16, we know that Paul's writings are sometimes difficult to understand. We read, yeah, this is but also his epistles. That's Paul. And note, it's it's talking about Paul's letters, epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things are to understand which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they also do the rest of the scriptures. So, yeah, Peter is saying that his Paul's epistles are scripture, right? So, but people twist because it's difficult to understand, and people twist. And in fact, they are two similar sets of scripture. One is this in Ephesians 2 verse 15, and another one is in Colossians 2 verse 14, because in Colossians 2 verse 14, it talks about having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us, and is taken out of the way, having a nail to the cross. So, what are these end writings of requirements, of these things that these certificates of debt, which were these of requirements, which requirements? And you can read, yeah, in Colossians 2, that people use these two sets of scriptures, Colossians 2.14 and Ephesians 2.15, to say, they use these descriptions to say, the laws of the Old Testament are obsolete and invalid for Christians living under the new covenant. That is a complete, a twist of the scripture of what Paul is saying, because you can see there is this division or an animosity between Jews and Gentiles, and it's talking about a middle wall of division or of separation. You read that in Ephesians chapter 2 verse 14. At the end of that, there is this middle wall of separation. This wall is Greek 3320. That is a big separating wall, right, of division. Division is like, is Greek 5418 is phargomos, which is like a fence or a barrier or a railing. What is this middle wall of division that existed at that time?

Well, that wall of division was a wall of about five foot high stone wall in the court that separated the outer court of the Gentiles from what was called the inner court of the Jews or the inner courts of the Jews. And so this this five foot high stone wall was a wall that would not allow any Gentile to pass beyond it into the Jewish section of the temple. Now, you remember in Acts 21 section about verse 26 through 36, you remember that this wall was exactly what Paul was accused falsely of violating by bringing a Gentile. Let me just look at his name. Acts 21, I think it's verse 29. Let's just have a look at 21. Yeah, verse 29. It says, throw famous the Ephesian, and Paul was falsely accused of bringing this individual Gentile Ephesian into the inner courts. And because of that false accusation, Paul ended up in prison in Rome. And so Paul was writing about this wall, which he knew very well what is he talking about, and this wall did not originate from God or from the Torah or from the law. This wall originated from Judaism.

There was a separation between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place, yes, that was biblical. But yeah, it is a different separation. It is a separation dividing the outer court and the inner court between Jews and Gentiles. And by the way, there was also a separate court for women, which is also not scriptural. And so there was this wall of separation, which is what we read here in Ephesians chapter 2 verse 14. There was this wall of separation separating Jews from Gentiles.

And so Paul is explaining God's plan of reconciliation, which involves breaking down these barriers that separated people based on nationality or gender. And these barriers have been broken down at Christ's death. And ultimately, they were physically broken down when the temple was destroyed in A.D. 70. That's why in Galatians 3.28 says we're all one in Jesus Christ. And as you read, and I made reference to you a little earlier about Colossians chapter 2, if you read Colossians chapter 2 from run about verses 16 to 21, and we'll be covering God willing Colossians after we cover Ephesians, we will be covering Colossians as part of these prison episodes. We see pagans in Colossians 2, we're criticizing Gentile members for eating and drinking in the celebration of what they call Jewish, which we know they're not Jewish, God's holidays. And so pagans, we're criticizing Gentile members for celebrating God's holidays, eating and drinking during God's holidays, and pressurizing them to go back to return to their Gnostic or ascetic ordinations, which were pagan. You see, that's the context of Colossians 2 from verse 16 to 21. Pagans, we're criticizing Gentiles, which are now members of the church, and drawing them back to paganism. That's what it was. And so when it's talking there in Colossians 2, for instance, verse 22, it's talking about commandments of man. It was religious injunctions or precepts of man, not of God. And so the main point in Ephesians chapter 2 verse 15, it says that if Christ has abolished in His flesh, that division, that separation, that is the law of commandments containing ordinances, does wear human regulations. And so God, through Christ, has invalidated these man-made rules. These were human regulations. And what do we have today?

Unfortunately, we, quite often, so easily as human beings, fall under the strap that we make human regulations which are too restrictive and too narrow-minded in scope. And these human regulations build walls between people, resulting in strife, discord, and bigotry. And we've got to be careful with that. So continue now in verse 16. And so verse 14 and 15 says that that Christ has broken down the separation, this division, and verse 16, and that He might reconcile them both, in other words, Jews and Gentiles, to God in one body through the cross. I might just mention here that the word cross in Greek is storos, which means like a wooden pole, but it's just just as a point of interest there between brackets, thereby putting to death the enmity.

You see, now both Jews and Gentiles were reconciled into one body. Christ's spiritual body. That's what it says, into one body, which Christ's spiritual body we read in Ephesians chapter 1 verse 23, that Christ's body, which is the church. So we reconciled into one body, into God's church, and putting to death that division, that separation. And then it says verse 17, And He came and preached peace to you, who were afar off, and to those who were near. Again, that far off, that phatocycle approach, saying, oh, they are far off, like third-class citizens. And He says, He came and preached peace to you, who were far off, and it was you Gentiles that were far off, and to those who were near, which is the Jews. So He's preached peace to both. Verse 18, For through Him, through Christ, we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. So it's not only just reconciling Jews and Gentiles, but it's reconciling both Jews and Gentiles to God the Father, through God's Holy Spirit. Verse 19, Now therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners. You Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, it was with those that are called out, separated, and members of the household of God. And so now, you Gentiles are no longer strangers, but we now have one family, one church, through Christ. And through Christ, as one family, we're able to enter the Holy of Holies, as we read, for instance, in Hebrews chapter 10, 19, and 20. Let's just read that very briefly, because it's a very, very important verse. Hebrews chapter 10, 19, and 20 says, Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which He consecrated for us through the veil that is His flesh. So we have boldness to enter the holiness. In other words, He's reconciled us to the Father, to God's very throne, which the Jews did not have access by a new and living way, which He consecrated for us through that veil that is His flesh. Cut that veil and He opened up the way for us to be all together. Now verse 20, back to Ephesians chapter 2 verse 20, having been built on the foundation. So in other words, we're now members of the house of God, in words of God's family, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. We built together on the foundation of the apostles.

That's referring to New Testament and prophets Old Testament, right? Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, being the chief cornerstone. Verse 21, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.

We are part of the spiritual temple of God. We are a holy temple that is growing, growing, that's what it says, grow into a holy temple. And as we read, for instance, in 1st Corinthians 3 verse 16, says, your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit also. So God dwells in us through His Spirit. And so our body is the temple. So we are being part of this bigger temple, which is built on the foundation of the apostles in Old Testament and the prophets, I'll be part of the apostles in the New Testament and prophets in Old Testament. And Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone. Verse 21, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. Verse 22, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. Remember in Exodus 25 verse 8, when we're building the sanctuary, it says, and let them make me a sanctuary that I made well among them. So God dwells in His temple on earth today, which He is His Church. That's why you and I need to be a light, an example to the world through Christ being in us. So we can see how Paul in this epistle to the Ephesians is focusing on God's great spiritual blessings through Jesus Christ. And we can see how the key theme to Ephesians is indeed the importance of the unity that we have in Christ.