mh_parser/vol_split/49 - Ephesians/Chapter 2.xml

<div2 id="Eph.iii" n="iii" next="Eph.iv" prev="Eph.ii" progress="58.48%" title="Chapter II">
<h2 id="Eph.iii-p0.1">E P H E S I A N S.</h2>
<h3 id="Eph.iii-p0.2">CHAP. II.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Eph.iii-p1">This chapter contains an account, I. Of the
miserable condition of these Ephesians by nature (<scripRef id="Eph.iii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Eph.2.1-Eph.2.3" parsed="|Eph|2|1|2|3" passage="Eph 2:1-3">ver. 1-3</scripRef>) and again, <scripRef id="Eph.iii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Eph.2.11-Eph.2.12" parsed="|Eph|2|11|2|12" passage="Eph 2:11,12">ver. 11, 12</scripRef>. II. Of the glorious
change that was wrought in them by converting grace (<scripRef id="Eph.iii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Eph.2.4-Eph.2.10" parsed="|Eph|2|4|2|10" passage="Eph 2:4-10">ver. 4-10</scripRef>) and again, <scripRef id="Eph.iii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Eph.2.13" parsed="|Eph|2|13|0|0" passage="Eph 2:13">ver. 13</scripRef>. III. Of the great and mighty
privileges that both converted Jews and Gentiles receive from
Christ, <scripRef id="Eph.iii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Eph.2.14-Eph.2.22" parsed="|Eph|2|14|2|22" passage="Eph 2:14-22">ver. 14-22</scripRef>. 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>
<scripCom id="Eph.iii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Eph.2" parsed="|Eph|2|0|0|0" passage="Eph 2" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Eph.iii-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Eph.2.1-Eph.2.3" parsed="|Eph|2|1|2|3" passage="Eph 2:1-3" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Eph.2.1-Eph.2.3">
<h4 id="Eph.iii-p1.8">State of the Ephesians by
Nature. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Eph.iii-p1.9">a.
d.</span> 61.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Eph.iii-p2">1 And you <i>hath he quickened,</i> who were
dead in trespasses and sins;   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:   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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Eph.iii-p3">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, <scripRef id="Eph.iii-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Eph.2.2" parsed="|Eph|2|2|0|0" passage="Eph 2:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>. In the <scripRef id="Eph.iii-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Eph.2.1" parsed="|Eph|2|1|0|0" passage="Eph 2:1">first verse</scripRef> 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
<scripRef id="Eph.iii-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Matt.12.24 Bible:Matt.12.26" parsed="|Matt|12|24|0|0;|Matt|12|26|0|0" passage="Mt 12:24,26">Matt. xii. 24, 26</scripRef>. 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, <scripRef id="Eph.iii-p3.4" osisRef="Bible:Eph.2.3" parsed="|Eph|2|3|0|0" passage="Eph 2:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>. 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, <scripRef id="Eph.iii-p3.5" osisRef="Bible:2Cor.7.1" parsed="|2Cor|7|1|0|0" passage="2Co 7:1">2 Cor. vii.
1</scripRef>. 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
<scripRef id="Eph.iii-p3.6" osisRef="Bible:Eph.2.1-Eph.2.3" parsed="|Eph|2|1|2|3" passage="Eph 2:1-3">these verses</scripRef>, which we
shall find him pursuing again in some following ones.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Eph.iii-p3.7" osisRef="Bible:Eph.2.4-Eph.2.10" parsed="|Eph|2|4|2|10" passage="Eph 2:4-10" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Eph.2.4-Eph.2.10">
<h4 id="Eph.iii-p3.8">The Change Wrought in the
Ephesians. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Eph.iii-p3.9">a.
d.</span> 61.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Eph.iii-p4">4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great
love wherewith he loved us,   5 Even when we were dead in
sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are
saved;)   6 And hath raised <i>us</i> up together, and made
<i>us</i> sit together in heavenly <i>places</i> in Christ Jesus:
  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.   8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that
not of yourselves: <i>it is</i> the gift of God:   9 Not of
works, lest any man should boast.   10 For we are his
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God
hath before ordained that we should walk in them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Eph.iii-p5">Here the apostle begins his account of the
glorious change that was wrought in them by converting grace, where
observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Eph.iii-p6">I. By whom, and in what manner, it was
brought about and effected. 1. Negatively: <i>Not of
yourselves,</i> <scripRef id="Eph.iii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Eph.2.8" parsed="|Eph|2|8|0|0" passage="Eph 2:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>.
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> <scripRef id="Eph.iii-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Eph.2.9" parsed="|Eph|2|9|0|0" passage="Eph 2:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. 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> &amp;c., <scripRef id="Eph.iii-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Eph.2.4" parsed="|Eph|2|4|0|0" passage="Eph 2:4"><i>v.</i>
4</scripRef>. 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>
(<scripRef id="Eph.iii-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Eph.2.5" parsed="|Eph|2|5|0|0" passage="Eph 2:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>), and <i>by
grace are you saved through faith—it is the gift of</i> God,
<scripRef id="Eph.iii-p6.5" osisRef="Bible:Eph.2.8" parsed="|Eph|2|8|0|0" passage="Eph 2:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>. 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 class="indent" id="Eph.iii-p7">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 (<scripRef id="Eph.iii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Eph.2.5" parsed="|Eph|2|5|0|0" passage="Eph 2:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>), 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,
<scripRef id="Eph.iii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Eph.2.6" parsed="|Eph|2|6|0|0" passage="Eph 2:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>. 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 class="indent" id="Eph.iii-p8">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> &amp;c. (<scripRef id="Eph.iii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Eph.2.7" parsed="|Eph|2|7|0|0" passage="Eph 2:7"><i>v.</i>
7</scripRef>), 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> &amp;c., <scripRef id="Eph.iii-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Eph.2.10" parsed="|Eph|2|10|0|0" passage="Eph 2:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>. 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> &amp;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>
</div><scripCom id="Eph.iii-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Eph.2.11-Eph.2.13" parsed="|Eph|2|11|2|13" passage="Eph 2:11-13" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Eph.2.11-Eph.2.13">
<h4 id="Eph.iii-p8.4">The Miserable Condition of the Ephesians by
Nature. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Eph.iii-p8.5">a.
d.</span> 61.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Eph.iii-p9">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;
  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:   13
But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh
by the blood of Christ.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Eph.iii-p10">In these verses the apostle proceeds in his
account of the miserable condition of these Ephesians by nature.
<i>Wherefore remember,</i> &amp;c., <scripRef id="Eph.iii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Eph.2.11" parsed="|Eph|2|11|0|0" passage="Eph 2:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>. 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> &amp;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, <scripRef id="Eph.iii-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Eph.2.12" parsed="|Eph|2|12|0|0" passage="Eph 2:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>. "<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 class="indent" id="Eph.iii-p11">The apostle proceeds (<scripRef id="Eph.iii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Eph.2.13" parsed="|Eph|2|13|0|0" passage="Eph 2:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>) 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> &amp;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
<scripRef id="Eph.iii-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Eph.2.11-Eph.2.13" parsed="|Eph|2|11|2|13" passage="Eph 2:11-13">preceding verses</scripRef>.
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> &amp;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>
</div><scripCom id="Eph.iii-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Eph.2.14-Eph.2.22" parsed="|Eph|2|14|2|22" passage="Eph 2:14-22" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Eph.2.14-Eph.2.22">
<h4 id="Eph.iii-p11.4">The Union of Jews and
Gentiles. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Eph.iii-p11.5">a.
d.</span> 61.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Eph.iii-p12">14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one,
and hath broken down the middle wall of partition <i>between
us;</i>   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;   16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one
body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:   17 And
came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them
that were nigh.   18 For through him we both have access by
one Spirit unto the Father.   19 Now therefore ye are no more
strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and
of the household of God;   20 And are built upon the
foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being
the chief corner <i>stone;</i>   21 In whom all the building
fitly framed together groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord:
  22 In whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of
God through the Spirit.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Eph.iii-p13">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, <scripRef id="Eph.iii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Eph.2.14" parsed="|Eph|2|14|0|0" passage="Eph 2:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>. 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> <scripRef id="Eph.iii-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Eph.2.15" parsed="|Eph|2|15|0|0" passage="Eph 2:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>. 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, <scripRef id="Eph.iii-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Eph.2.16" parsed="|Eph|2|16|0|0" passage="Eph 2:16"><i>v.</i>
16</scripRef>. 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, <scripRef id="Eph.iii-p13.4" osisRef="Bible:Eph.2.17" parsed="|Eph|2|17|0|0" passage="Eph 2:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>. 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 (<scripRef id="Eph.iii-p13.5" osisRef="Bible:Eph.2.18" parsed="|Eph|2|18|0|0" passage="Eph 2:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>): <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> <scripRef id="Eph.iii-p13.6" osisRef="Bible:Eph.2.19" parsed="|Eph|2|19|0|0" passage="Eph 2:19"><i>v.</i>
19</scripRef>. 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 <scripRef id="Eph.iii-p13.7" osisRef="Bible:Eph.2.20" parsed="|Eph|2|20|0|0" passage="Eph 2:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef> 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> &amp;c., <scripRef id="Eph.iii-p13.8" osisRef="Bible:Eph.2.21" parsed="|Eph|2|21|0|0" passage="Eph 2:21"><i>v.</i>
21</scripRef>. 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> &amp;c., <scripRef id="Eph.iii-p13.9" osisRef="Bible:Eph.2.22" parsed="|Eph|2|22|0|0" passage="Eph 2:22"><i>v.</i>
22</scripRef>. 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>
</div></div2>