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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Ephesians II].</TITLE>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1721)
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<CENTER>
<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>E P H E S I A N S.</B></FONT>
<BR>
<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. II.</FONT>
<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
</CENTER>
<FONT SIZE=-1>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
This chapter contains an account,
I. Of the miserable condition of these Ephesians by nature
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+2:1-3">ver. 1-3</A>)
and again,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+2:11,12">ver. 11, 12</A>.
II. Of the glorious change that was wrought in them by converting grace
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+2:4-10">ver. 4-10</A>)
and again,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+2:13">ver. 13</A>.
III. Of the great and mighty privileges that both converted Jews and
Gentiles receive from Christ,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+2:14-22">ver. 14-22</A>.
The apostle endeavours to affect them with a due sense of the wonderful
change which divine grace had wrought in them; and this is very
applicable to that great change which the same grace works in all those
who are brought into a state of grace. So that we have here a lively
picture both of the misery of unregenerate men and of the happy
condition of converted souls, enough to awaken and alarm those who are
yet in their sins and to put them upon hastening out of that state, and
to comfort and delight those whom God hath quickened, with a
consideration of the mighty privileges with which they are
invested.</P>
</FONT>
<A NAME="Eph2_1"> </A>
<A NAME="Eph2_2"> </A>
<A NAME="Eph2_3"> </A>
<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>State of the Ephesians by Nature.</I></FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM><FONT SIZE=-1>A.&nbsp;D.</FONT>&nbsp;61.</TD></TR>
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
</TABLE>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<FONT SIZE=+1>1 And you <I>hath he quickened,</I> who were dead in trespasses and
sins;
&nbsp; 2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of
this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the
spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
&nbsp; 3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in
the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and
of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as
others.
</FONT></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
The miserable condition of the Ephesians by nature is here in part
described. Observed,
1. Unregenerate souls are dead in trespasses and sins. All those who
are in their sins, are dead in sins; yea, in trespasses and sins, which
may signify all sorts of sins, habitual and actual, sins of heart and
of life. Sin is the death of the soul. Wherever that prevails there is
a privation of all spiritual life. Sinners are dead in state, being
destitute of the principles, and powers of spiritual life; and cut off
from God, the fountain of life: and they are dead in law, as a
condemned malefactor is said to be a dead man.
2. A state of sin is a state of conformity to this world,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+2:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
In the
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+2:1">first verse</A>
he speaks of their internal state, in this of their outward
conversation: <I>Wherein,</I> in which trespasses and sins, <I>in time
past you walked,</I> you lived and behaved yourselves in such a manner
as the men of the world are used to do.
3. We are by nature bond-slaves to sin and Satan. Those who walk in
trespasses and sins, and according to the course of this world, walk
<I>according to the prince of the power of the air.</I> The devil, or
the prince of devils, is thus described. See
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+12:24,26">Matt. xii. 24, 26</A>.
The legions of apostate angels are as one power united under one chief;
and therefore what is called <I>the powers of darkness</I> elsewhere is
here spoken of in the singular number. The air is represented as the
seat of his kingdom: and it was the opinion of both Jews and heathens
that the air is full of spirits, and that there they exercise and exert
themselves. The devil seems to have some power (by God's permission) in
the lower region of the air; there he is at hand to tempt men, and to
do as much mischief to the world as he can: but it is the comfort and
joy of God's people that he who is <I>head over all things to the
church</I> has conquered the devil and has him in his chain. But wicked
men are slaves to Satan, for they walk according to him; they conform
their lives and actions to the will and pleasure of this great usurper.
The course and tenour of their lives are according to his suggestions,
and in compliance with his temptations; they are subject to him, and
are led captive by him at his will, whereupon he is called the god of
this world, and <I>the spirit that now worketh in the children of
disobedience. The children of disobedience</I> are such as choose to
disobey God, and to serve the devil; in these he works very powerfully
and effectually. As the good Spirit works that which is good in
obedient souls, so this evil spirit works that which is evil in wicked
men; and he now works, not only heretofore, but even since the world
has been blessed with the light of the glorious gospel. The apostle
adds, <I>Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past,</I>
which words refer to the Jews, whom he signifies here to have been in
the like sad and miserable condition by nature, and to have been as
vile and wicked as the unregenerate Gentiles themselves, and whose
natural state he further describes in the next words.
4. We are by nature drudges to the flesh, and to our corrupt
affections,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+2:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
By <I>fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind,</I> men
contract that filthiness of flesh and spirit from which the apostle
exhorts Christians to cleanse themselves,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+7:1">2 Cor. vii. 1</A>.
The fulfilling of the desires of the flesh and of the mind includes all
the sin and wickedness that are acted in and by both the inferior and
the higher or nobler powers of the soul. We lived in the actual
commission of all those sins to which corrupt nature inclined us. The
carnal mind makes a man a perfect slave to his vicious
appetite.--<I>The fulfilling of the wills of the flesh,</I> so the
words may be rendered, denoting the efficacy of these lusts, and what
power they have over those who yield themselves up unto them.
5. We are <I>by nature the children of wrath, even as others.</I> The
Jews were so, as well as the Gentiles; and one man is as much so as
another by nature, not only by custom and imitation, but from the time
when we began to exist, and by reason of our natural inclinations and
appetites. All men, being naturally children of disobedience, are also
by nature children of wrath: God is angry with the wicked every day.
Our state and course are such as deserve wrath, and would end in
eternal wrath, if divine grace did not interpose. What reason have
sinners then to be looking out for that grace that will make them, of
children of wrath, children of God and heirs of glory! Thus far the
apostle has described the misery of a natural state in
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+2:1-3">these verses</A>,
which we shall find him pursuing again in some following ones.</P>
<A NAME="Eph2_4"> </A>
<A NAME="Eph2_5"> </A>
<A NAME="Eph2_6"> </A>
<A NAME="Eph2_7"> </A>
<A NAME="Eph2_8"> </A>
<A NAME="Eph2_9"> </A>
<A NAME="Eph2_10"> </A>
<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Change Wrought in the Ephesians.</I></FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM><FONT SIZE=-1>A.&nbsp;D.</FONT>&nbsp;61.</TD></TR>
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
</TABLE>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<FONT SIZE=+1>4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith
he loved us,
&nbsp; 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together
with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
&nbsp; 6 And hath raised <I>us</I> up together, and made <I>us</I> sit together
in heavenly <I>places</I> in Christ Jesus:
&nbsp; 7 That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches
of his grace in <I>his</I> kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
&nbsp; 8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves: <I>it is</I> the gift of God:
&nbsp; 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
&nbsp; 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto
good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in
them.
</FONT></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
Here the apostle begins his account of the glorious change that was
wrought in them by converting grace, where observe,</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
I. By whom, and in what manner, it was brought about and effected.
1. Negatively: <I>Not of yourselves,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+2:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
Our faith, our conversion, and our eternal salvation, are not the mere
product of any natural abilities, nor of any merit of our own: <I>Not
of works, lest any man should boast,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+2:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
These things are not brought to pass by any thing done by us, and
therefore all boasting is excluded; he who glories must not glory in
himself, but in the Lord. There is no room for any man's boasting of
his own abilities and power; or as though he had done any thing that
might deserve such immense favours from God.
2. Positively: <I>But God, who is rich in mercy,</I> &c.,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+2:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
God himself is the author of this great and happy change, and his great
love is the spring and fontal cause of it; hence he resolved to show
mercy. Love is his inclination to do us good considered simply as
creatures; mercy respects us as apostate and as miserable creatures.
Observe, God's eternal love or good-will towards his creatures is the
fountain whence all his mercies vouch-safed to us proceed; and that
love of God is great love, and that mercy of his is rich mercy,
inexpressibly great and inexhaustibly rich. And then <I>by grace you
are saved</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+2:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>),
and <I>by grace are you saved through faith--it is the gift of</I> God,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+2:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
Note, Every converted sinner is a saved sinner. Such are delivered from
sin and wrath; they are brought into a state of salvation, and have a
right given them by grace to eternal happiness. The grace that saves
them is the free undeserved goodness and favour of God; and he saves
them, not <I>by the works of the law,</I> but through faith in Christ
Jesus, by means of which they come to partake of the great blessings of
the gospel; and both that faith and that salvation on which it has so
great an influence are the gift of God. The great objects of faith are
made known by divine revelation, and made credible by the testimony and
evidence which God hath given us; and that we believe to salvation and
obtain salvation through faith is entirely owing to divine assistance
and grace; God has ordered all so that the whole shall appear to be of
grace. Observe,</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
II. Wherein this change consists, in several particulars, answering to
the misery of our natural state, some of which are enumerated in this
section, and others are mentioned below.
1. We who were dead are quickened
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+2:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>),
we are saved from the death of sin and have a principle of spiritual
life implanted in us. Grace in the soul is a new life in the soul. As
death locks up the senses, seals up all the powers and faculties, so
does a state of sin, as to any thing that is good. Grace unlocks and
opens all, and enlarges the soul. Observe, A regenerate sinner becomes
a living soul: he lives a life of sanctification, being born of God;
and he lives in the sense of the law, being delivered from the guilt of
sin by pardoning and justifying grace. <I>He hath quickened us together
with Christ.</I> Our spiritual life results from our union with Christ;
it is in him that we live: <I>Because I live, you shall live also.</I>
2. We who were buried are raised up,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+2:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
What remains yet to be done is here spoken of as though it were already
past, though indeed we are raised up in virtue of our union with him
whom God hath raised from the dead. When he raised Christ from the
dead, he did in effect raise up all believers together with him, he
being their common head; and when he placed him at his right hand in
heavenly places, he advanced and glorified them in and with him, their
raised and exalted head and forerunner.--<I>And made us sit together in
heavenly places in Christ Jesus.</I> This may be understood in another
sense. Sinners roll themselves in the dust; sanctified souls sit in
heavenly places, are raised above the world; the world is as nothing to
them, compared with what it has been, and compared with what the other
world is. Saints are not only Christ's freemen, but they are assessors
with him; by the assistance of his grace they have ascended with him
above this world to converse with another, and they live in the
constant expectation of it. They are not only servants to the best of
masters in the best work, but they are exalted to reign with him; they
sit upon the throne with Christ, <I>as he has sat down with his Father
on his throne.</I></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
III. Observe what is the great design and aim of God in producing and
effecting this change: And this,
1. With respect to others: <I>That in the ages to come he might
show,</I> &c.
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+2:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>),
that he might give a specimen and proof of his great goodness and
mercy, for the encouragement of sinners in future time. Observe, The
goodness of God in converting and saving sinners heretofore is a proper
encouragement to others in after-time to hope in his grace and mercy,
and to apply themselves to these. God having this in his design, poor
sinners should take great encouragement from it. And what may we not
hope for from such grace and kindness, from riches of grace, to which
this change is owing? <I>Through Christ Jesus,</I> by and through whom
God conveys all his favour and blessings to us.
2. With respect to the regenerated sinners themselves: <I>For we are
his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works,</I> &c.,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+2:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
It appears that all is of grace, because all our spiritual advantages
are from God. <I>We are his workmanship;</I> he means in respect of the
new creation; not only as men, but as saints. The new man is a new
creature; and God is its Creator. It is a new birth, and we are born or
begotten of his will. <I>In Christ Jesus,</I> that is, on the account
of what he has done and suffered, and by the influence and operation of
his blessed Spirit. <I>Unto good works,</I> &c. The apostle having
before ascribed this change to divine grace in exclusion of works, lest
he should seem thereby to discourage good works, he here observes that
though the change is to be ascribed to nothing of that nature (<I>for
we are the workmanship of God</I>), yet God, in his new creation, has
designed and prepared us for good works: <I>Created unto good
works,</I> with a design that we should be fruitful in them. Wherever
God by his grace implants good principles, they are intended to be for
good works. <I>Which God hath before ordained,</I> that is, decreed
and appointed. Or, the words may be read, <I>To which God hath before
prepared us,</I> that is, by blessing us with the knowledge of his
will, and with the assistance of his Holy Spirit; and by producing such
a change in us. <I>That we should walk in them,</I> or glorify God by
an exemplary conversation and by our perseverance in holiness.</P>
<A NAME="Eph2_11"> </A>
<A NAME="Eph2_12"> </A>
<A NAME="Eph2_13"> </A>
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Miserable Condition of the Ephesians by Nature.</I></FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM><FONT SIZE=-1>A.&nbsp;D.</FONT>&nbsp;61.</TD></TR>
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
</TABLE>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<FONT SIZE=+1>11 Wherefore remember, that ye <I>being</I> in time past Gentiles in
the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called
the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
&nbsp; 12 That at that time ye 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:
&nbsp; 13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are
made nigh by the blood of Christ.
</FONT></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
In these verses the apostle proceeds in his account of the miserable
condition of these Ephesians by nature. <I>Wherefore remember,</I> &c.,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+2:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
As if he had said, "You should remember what you have been, and compare
it with what you now are, in order to humble yourselves and to excite
your love and thankfulness to God." Note, Converted sinners ought
frequently to reflect upon the sinfulness and misery of the state they
were in by nature. <I>Gentiles in the flesh,</I> that is, living in the
corruption of their natures, and being destitute of circumcision, the
outward sign of an interest in the covenant of grace. <I>Who are
called uncircumcision by that,</I> &c., that is, "You were reproached
and upbraided for it by the formal Jews, who made an external
profession, and who looked no further than the outward ordinance."
Note, Hypocritical professors are wont to value themselves chiefly on
their external privileges, and to reproach and despise others who are
destitute of them. The apostle describes the misery of their case in
several particulars,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+2:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
"<I>At that time,</I> while you were Gentiles, and in an unconverted
state, you were,"
1. "In a Christless condition, without the knowledge of the Messiah,
and without any saving interest in him or relation to him." It is true
of all unconverted sinners, all those who are destitute of faith, that
they have no saving interest in Christ; and it must be a sad and
deplorable thing for a soul to be without a Christ. Being without
Christ, they were,
2. <I>Aliens from the commonwealth of Israel;</I> they did not belong
to Christ's church, and had no communion with it, that being confined
to the Israelitish nation. It is no small privilege to be placed in the
church of Christ, and to share with the members of it in the advantages
peculiar to it.
3. <I>They are strangers from the covenants of promise.</I> The
covenant of grace has ever been the same for substance, though, having
undergone various additions and improvements in the several ages of the
church, it is called covenants; and the covenants of promise, because
it is made up of promises, and particularly contains the great promise
of the Messiah, and of eternal life through him. Now the Ephesians, in
their gentilism, were strangers to this covenant, having never had any
information nor overture of it; and all unregenerate sinners are
strangers to it, as they have no interest in it. Those who are without
Christ, and so have no interest in the Mediator of the covenant, have
none in the promises of the covenant.
4. They had no hope, that is, beyond this life--no well-grounded hope
in God, no hope of spiritual and eternal blessings. Those who are with
out Christ, and strangers from the covenant, can have no good hope; for
Christ and the covenant are the ground and foundation of all the
Christian's hopes. They were in a state of distance and estrangement
from God: <I>Without God in the world;</I> not without some general
knowledge of a deity, for they worshipped idols, but living without any
due regard to him, any acknowledged dependence on him, and any special
interest in him. The words are, <I>atheists in the world;</I> for,
though they worshipped many gods, yet they were without the true
God.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
The apostle proceeds
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+2:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>)
further to illustrate the happy change that was made in their state:
<I>But now, in Christ Jesus, you who sometimes were far off,</I> &c.
They were far off from Christ, from his church, from the promises, from
the Christian hope, and from God himself; and therefore from all good,
like the prodigal son in the far country: this had been represented in
the
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+2:11-13">preceding verses</A>.
Unconverted sinners remove themselves at a distance from God, and God
puts them at a distance: <I>He be holds the proud afar off. "But now in
Christ Jesus,</I> &c., upon your conversion, by virtue of union with
Christ, and interest in him by faith, you are made nigh." They were
brought home to God, received into the church, taken into the covenant,
and possessed of all other privileges consequent upon these. Note,
<I>The saints are a people near to God. Salvation is far from the
wicked;</I> but God is a help at hand to his people; and this is <I>by
the blood of Christ,</I> by the merit of his sufferings and death.
Every believing sinner owes his nearness to God, and his interest in
his favour, to the death and sacrifice of Christ.</P>
<A NAME="Eph2_14"> </A>
<A NAME="Eph2_15"> </A>
<A NAME="Eph2_16"> </A>
<A NAME="Eph2_17"> </A>
<A NAME="Eph2_18"> </A>
<A NAME="Eph2_19"> </A>
<A NAME="Eph2_20"> </A>
<A NAME="Eph2_21"> </A>
<A NAME="Eph2_22"> </A>
<A NAME="Sec4"> </A>
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Union of Jews and Gentiles.</I></FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM><FONT SIZE=-1>A.&nbsp;D.</FONT>&nbsp;61.</TD></TR>
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
</TABLE>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<FONT SIZE=+1>14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken
down the middle wall of partition <I>between us;</I>
&nbsp; 15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, <I>even</I> the law of
commandments <I>contained</I> in ordinances; for to make in himself of
twain one new man, <I>so</I> making peace;
&nbsp; 16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the
cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
&nbsp; 17 And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and
to them that were nigh.
&nbsp; 18 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the
Father.
&nbsp; 19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but
fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
&nbsp; 20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and
prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner <I>stone;</I>
&nbsp; 21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto
a holy temple in the Lord:
&nbsp; 22 In whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of
God through the Spirit.
</FONT></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
We have now come to the last part of the chapter, which contains an
account of the great and mighty privileges that converted Jews and
Gentiles both receive from Christ. The apostle here shows that those
who were in a state of enmity are reconciled. Between the Jews and the
Gentiles there had been a great enmity; so there is between God and
every unregenerate man. Now Jesus Christ is our peace,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+2:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
He made peace by the sacrifice of himself; and came to reconcile,
1. Jews and Gentiles to each other. He <I>made both one,</I> by
reconciling these two divisions of men, who were wont to malign, to
hate, and to reproach each other before. He <I>broke down the middle
wall of partition,</I> the ceremonial law, that made the great feud,
and was the badge of the Jews' peculiarity, called <I>the
partition-wall</I> by way of allusion to the partition in the temple,
which separated the court of the Gentiles from that into which the Jews
only had liberty to enter. Thus <I>he abolished in his flesh the
enmity,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+2:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
By his sufferings in the flesh, to took away the binding power of the
ceremonial law (so removing that cause of enmity and distance between
them), which is here called <I>the law of commandments contained in
ordinances,</I> because it enjoined a multitude of external rites and
ceremonies, and consisted of many institutions and appointments about
the outward parts of divine worship. <I>The legal ceremonies were
abrogated by Christ, having their accomplishment in him.</I> By taking
these out of the way, he formed one church of believers, whether they
had been Jews or Gentiles. Thus he made <I>in himself of twain one new
man.</I> He framed both these parties into one new society, or body of
God's people, uniting them to himself as their common head, they being
renewed by the Holy Ghost, and now concurring in a new way of gospel
worship, <I>so making peace</I> between these two parties, who were so
much at variance before.
2. There is an enmity between God and sinners, whether Jews and
Gentiles; and Christ came to slay that enmity, and to reconcile them
both to God,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+2:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
Sin breeds a quarrel between God and men. Christ came to take up the
quarrel, and to bring it to an end, by reconciling both Jew and
Gentile, now collected and gathered into one body, to a provoked and an
offended God: and this <I>by the cross,</I> or by the sacrifice of
himself upon the cross, <I>having slain the enmity thereby.</I> He,
being slain or sacrificed, slew the enmity that there was between God
and poor sinners. The apostle proceeds to illustrate the great
advantages which both parties gain by the mediation of our Lord Jesus
Christ,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+2:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
Christ, who purchased peace on the cross, came, partly in his own
person, as to the Jews, who are here said to have been nigh, and partly
in his apostles, whom he commissioned to preach the gospel to the
Gentiles, who are said to have been afar off, in the sense that has
been given before. <I>And preached peace,</I> or published the terms of
reconciliation with God and of eternal life. Note here, When the
messengers of Christ deliver his truths, it is in effect the same as if
he did it immediately himself. He is said to preach by them, insomuch
that he who receiveth them receiveth him, and he who despiseth them
(acting by virtue of his commission, and delivering his message)
despiseth and rejecteth Christ himself. Now the effect of this peace is
the free access which both Jews and Gentiles have unto God
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+2:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>):
<I>For through him,</I> in his name and by virtue of his mediation,
<I>we both have access</I> or admission into the presence of God, who
has become the common reconciled Father of both: the throne of grace is
erected for us to come to, and liberty of approach to that throne is
allowed us. Our access is by the Holy Spirit. Christ purchased for us
leave to come to God, and the Spirit gives us a heart to come and
strength to come, even grace to serve God acceptably. Observe, We draw
nigh to God, through Jesus Christ, by the help of the Spirit. The
Ephesians, upon their conversion, having such an access to God, as well
as the Jews, and by the same Spirit, the apostle tells them, <I>Now
therefore you are no more strangers and foreigners,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+2:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>.
This he mentions by way of opposition to what he had observed of them
in their heathenism: they were now no longer <I>aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel,</I> and no longer what the Jews were wont to
account all the nations of the earth besides themselves (namely,
strangers to God), <I>but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the
household of God,</I> that is, members of the church of Christ, and
having a right to all the privileges of it. Observe here, The church is
compared to a city, and every converted sinner is free of it. It is
also compared to a house, and every converted sinner is one of the
domestics, one of the family, a servant and a child in God's house. In
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+2:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>
the church is compared to a building. The apostles and prophets are
<I>the foundation</I> of that building. They may be so called in a
secondary sense, Christ himself being the primary foundation; but we
are rather to understand it of the doctrine delivered by the prophets
of the Old Testament and the apostles of the New. It follows, <I>Jesus
Christ himself being the chief corner-stone.</I> In him both Jews and
Gentiles meet, and constitute one church; and Christ supports the
building by his strength: <I>In whom all the building, fitly framed
together,</I> &c.,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+2:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
All believers, of whom it consists, being united to Christ by faith,
and among themselves by Christian charity, <I>grow unto a holy
temple,</I> become a sacred society, in which there is much communion
between God and his people, as in the temple, they worshipping and
serving him, he manifesting himself unto them, they offering up
spiritual sacrifices to God and he dispensing his blessings and favours
to them. Thus the building, for the nature of it, is a temple, a holy
temple; for the church is the place which God hath chosen to put his
name there, and it becomes such a temple by grace and strength derived
from himself--<I>in the Lord.</I> The universal church being built upon
Christ as the foundation-stone, and united in Christ as the
corner-stone, comes at length to be glorified in him as the top-stone:
<I>In whom you also are built together,</I> &c.,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+2:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>.
Observe, Not only the universal church is called the temple of God, but
particular churches; and even every true believer is a living temple,
is <I>a habitation of God through the Spirit.</I> God dwells in all
believers now, they having become the temple of God through the
operations of the blessed Spirit, and his dwelling with them now is an
earnest of their dwelling together with him to eternity.</P>
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