Ephesians 2:19Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

This passage has the greatest force against those who try to preserve the doctrine of two peoples. How did foreigners become fellow dwellers with the saints? How did those who were once alienated from the commonwealth of Israel become near to God, if nature cannot be changed either for the worse or for the better?

The words that follow, "built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets," agree more with the first interpretation than with the second. Above, we said in the second interpretation that before Christ’s coming Israel was near and the Gentiles were far off.

We may use this testimony also against Marcion, and against the other ancient heretics who proclaim that the God of the Law is one and the God of the Gospel another. For if they are no longer foreigners or sojourners, but fellow citizens with the saints and near to God, built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, with Jesus Christ Himself as the final cornerstone, then one God is over one building and temple.

On Him the whole building, fitly raised, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. On Him the Ephesians also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. Thus one God belongs to one building and temple, raised upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets.

Therefore, if the whole building, fitly raised in the Lord, grows into a holy temple, we must strive with all our strength to be those stones of which it is written: "Holy stones move swiftly upon the face of the earth" (Zech 9:16). When we become living stones, hewn on every side, light, carefully smoothed, and without any roughness, then we shall be turned into the building of the temple and shall be a dwelling for God.

The covenant of the ark will be established in us, the guardian of God’s law, and the Cherubim, that is, the multitude of knowledge. The innermost part of our heart will be called by a new name. We shall be called dabir, which we may call an oracle or answer.

To speak more accurately and closer to the letters, we shall be called λαλητήρίον, that is, the place where speech is uttered. Thus we cry out with the Apostle: "Or do you seek proof of Christ who speaks in me?" (2 Cor 13:3).

Yet every building raised upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets may signify not only us, but also the heavenly powers. In this way all alike become a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

For, they say, it would be unfitting that a building composed and ordered from men should grow in the Lord into a holy temple and be a dwelling of God in the Spirit, while angels and certain blessed powers who serve God in heaven were excluded from such happiness.

The final cornerstone, which supports both peoples, or, according to another interpretation, joins earthly and heavenly things, is Christ our Lord. He was cut from the mountain without hands. The Psalmist bears witness of Him in these words: "The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner. This was from the Lord" (Ps 117:22).

He was rejected by the Pharisees, who seemed to have knowledge of the Law and to be building God’s temple on the commandments of the Law. Yet He was received by God as the cornerstone, so that He might have the two enclosures in the middle, and so that through Him both peoples might have access to God.

This cornerstone is, for unbelievers, a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. Whoever falls on Him will be broken. On whomever He Himself falls, He will crush him (Lk 20).

By the saints you may understand the Patriarchs who lived before the Law and under the Law, and, after the appearing of evangelical grace, the Apostles and the other saints.

Yet the apostolic word applies especially to that city of God which the streams of the river make glad, that is, to the Church of Christ. There all who believe in Christ are saints, since they have been sanctified by faith, divine Baptism, and the doing of works pleasing to God.

Why, then, did the Apostle put the Apostles before the Prophets, who foretold Jesus Christ? Because through the Apostles the nations learned faith in Christ. Moreover, the Apostles had greater grace from God than the Prophets, according to the word: "Behold, something greater than Jonah is here" (Mt 12:41).

Why also does he elsewhere call Christ the foundation, elsewhere the head, and here the cornerstone? Because Christ truly is the foundation of the true faith and the head of the body of the Church (1 Cor 3:11).

Here he called Him the cornerstone because he said above that He united two peoples and made them one. For a cornerstone, placed at the corner of a house, joins the two walls of the house into one.

Hear, then, the explanation of all the apostolic words before us. They were written to the Ephesians, but they apply to all who have believed from among the Gentiles.

Thus he says: O Ephesians, since you have believed in Christ, you are no longer strangers to God, nor wanderers in the instability of idolatry. Having entered the house of God, you have become sharers in the citizenship and gifts of the faithful, and true friends of God.

You now have a firm dwelling, the Church of Christ, established on the foundation of the faith proclaimed by the Apostles and foretold by the Prophets. This dwelling has Christ as its cornerstone, who united the two peoples into one. He is the cornerstone:

You are now members of God's household, that is, sons of God. You turn to God with filial hope, as children to a Father. Led by the Holy Spirit, you say: Abba, Father.

You are now members of one family, or members of one holy Church, whose head is Christ, the only-begotten Son of God.

"Having been built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the cornerstone." The Apostle presents those who believe in Christ under the image of a temple.

Its foundation is formed by the Apostles and Prophets. Its chief cornerstone, which holds the foundation and the whole building, is Jesus Christ.

Of this cornerstone as the chief foundation, Paul says elsewhere: "No one can lay any foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ" (1 Cor 3:11).

The Apostles were the first in the Church of Christ to receive the Holy Spirit. Strengthened by His power, they carried the preaching of the Gospel throughout the world and planted the Church of Christ in all lands.

For this reason, in the Revelation of Saint John the Theologian, they are called the foundations of the city of the heavenly Jerusalem (Rev 21:14).

The Prophets, enlightened by the Spirit of God, ordered the Old Testament Church, which was established on the same cornerstone, Jesus Christ.

For all the righteous of the Old Testament, the Patriarchs, kings, Prophets, priests, and others, believed in the promised Redeemer. By this faith they hoped to receive salvation at His coming to earth.

They received what they awaited when Jesus Christ offered Himself on the Cross as a propitiatory sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. He descended into Hades, preached to the spirits in prison (1 Pet 3:19), and led out the captives of Hades who awaited deliverance.

The New Testament Church and the Old Testament Church are one in their foundation. Jesus Christ is the cornerstone, or chief foundation, of the Old Testament Church.

One and the same Holy Spirit enlightened the Apostles and the Prophets, though the Apostles have the preeminence. They were eyewitnesses of the majesty of Jesus Christ (2 Pet 1:16), His nearest servants and stewards of the mysteries of Christ (1 Cor 4:1).

They also received the more abundant gifts of the Holy Spirit corresponding to their apostolic ministry.

The Old Testament Prophets, though enlightened by the same Holy Spirit (2 Pet 1:21), foretold the promised Savior. Yet they saw the mysteries of salvation only from afar.

In building the Old Testament Church, they only prepared it to receive the "good things to come" (Heb 10:1), which believers were to receive after the Redeemer of the human race came into the world.

Sojourners, or proselytes, are those who passed from paganism to the Jewish faith.

He speaks of this more directly in another epistle: "Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" (1 Cor 3:16-17). The gathering of all Christians into the one spiritual temple of God’s glory shows their kinship with one another. It also shows their nearness to God, beyond which nothing greater can be imagined.

Together with the greatness of this spiritual image, its practical application is also very important. It stands over against the majestic Ephesian temple of the goddess Artemis, which did not elevate the spirit of its worshipers, but lowered it. They were full of enmity and every evil feeling.

According to the explanation of blessed Theophylact, the Apostle uses three comparisons to define the nearness of Christians to God. They are near as fellow citizens, as members of one family, and as parts of a building in relation to one another.

"We have become fellow citizens not simply of the Jews, but of men great in holiness, such as Abraham, Moses, and Elijah. See into what city we have been enrolled. See where we shall one day appear," says Saint John Chrysostom.

Elsewhere the Apostle says that the builder and maker of this city is God (Heb 11:10). "Believers have one Master, and wherever they live, all are fellow citizens" (Ambrosiaster).

"The thought of household members led to the thought of a house. In both the Old and the New Testament, the Church of God is presented under the image of a building, a house, or a temple. The Church is the temple of faith.

The Apostles are nearer to us and saw the truth tangibly. The prophets are farther away and saw the truth from afar, in images. Therefore the Apostles are placed first. The Apostles with the prophets, by the hand of preaching, take souls and peoples.

They place them into the building of the Church and join them to it. Thus stone is laid upon stone, and the building rises. The Apostles and prophets are laid as the foundation, and you complete the rest of the building" (Bishop Theophan).

"The Apostle added, ‘being the cornerstone,’ to show that Christ holds all things together. The cornerstone is what supports both the walls and the foundation, and on it the whole building is established. He bears all things upon Himself and holds all things together."

Whatever you point to, whether the roof, the walls, or anything else, He holds all things together and bears all things in Himself. "This temple, in which God dwells as in a body, is each one of you and all of you together."

Blessed Jerome writes: "If every building, fitly joined together, grows into a holy Church in the Lord, then we must spare no labor. We must strive to become living stones, hewn, cleansed, and polished on every side. Then we shall be built into a temple and shall be a dwelling for God."

In Bishop Theophan’s view, "everything that we believe about the Church is said here. She is one, being established on the one cornerstone. She is holy, being built by the Holy Spirit. She is catholic, embracing all times and peoples (14). She is apostolic, being built upon the foundation of the Apostles (20)."

They have been made partakers with those who were near to God, becoming fellow citizens of the sons of God." The Apostle uses three comparisons to explain how near they have become. They have become near as citizens are near to one another and to their prince.

They are near as members of one household are near to one another and to its head. They are near as parts of a building are near to each other and to the one who dwells in it. These comparisons correspond to the earlier stages of estrangement from God and from His people (12).

"There he says, ‘strangers from the covenants of promise,’ and ‘alienated from the commonwealth of Israel.’ Here, against the first, he says, ‘you are no longer strangers and sojourners.’ Against the second, he says, ‘but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God’" (blessed Jerome).

You were like foreigners living far away in other places. Or, though living there, you did not possess the right of citizenship, being παροικοι, residents, temporary and accidental dwellers. Now you have become fellow citizens, συμπολιται. "Now you have the same city as the saints, the heavenly Jerusalem" (Oecumenius).

"You have been enrolled in the same city, which exists in heaven and abides forever, and which they also ardently desired" (Theophylact). "Do you see? We have been enrolled and made fellow citizens, not simply of the Jews, but of men great in holiness, such as Abraham, Moses, and Elijah.

See into what city we have been enrolled. See where we shall one day appear" (Saint Chrysostom). The gracious Kingdom of Christ was depicted as a city "whose builder and maker is God" (Heb 11:10).

The Old Testament saints knew that they were citizens foreordained for this city. Yet they did not see the city itself, but ardently desired to see it and greeted it from afar. In this respect they too were strangers and sojourners, seeking their own city and fatherland, as they themselves confessed (Heb 11:13).

From this Saint Chrysostom draws the following conclusion: "Those who say such things, that is, who called themselves strangers and sojourners, show that they seek a fatherland (Heb 11:14). But you are already fellow citizens of the saints, and not strangers and sojourners."

"You have been counted worthy of very high dignity by becoming fellow citizens with the saints" (Theodoret). Fellow citizens with the saints means members of one gracious kingdom, all of whom are holy. Indeed, they are members because they are holy.

Here one must understand not only those who came after Christ, but also those who came before Christ, for both are in Christ. The Kingdom of God is the Kingdom of all ages. As the saints of old were holy by faith in the coming Christ, so the new saints are holy by the same faith in Christ who has come.

This faith united them both with Christ and with one another. Believers have one Master, and wherever they live, they are all fellow citizens. Those who wished to acquire Roman citizenship made a payment and bought it. In the gracious Kingdom of Christ, men bring faith in the Lord and are numbered among His fellow citizens (Ambrosiaster).

The Apostle’s second comparison, explaining the nearness into which the Ephesians and all the Gentiles have come by grace, is taken from the closeness of members of one family. "Members of the household of God" means God’s own. This is still nearer.

Fellow citizens are of one spirit and share one love for their fatherland, but they are not children of one father. In a family all are kin and relations. So too all believers have one Father, God. They have been begotten "not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible, through the word of the living God which abides forever" (1 Pet 1:23).

Whatever tribe a man may belong to, grace makes all God’s own. Thus by faith in the Lord, those who receive Him receive the power to become children of God. They are not merely reckoned among children, but truly are children, being born of God.

Therefore they are God’s own, and they bear this kinship in the feeling of the heart, as the reflection of all that grace accomplishes in them. God’s own! What a lofty title. What a consoling and sweet side of Christianity.

This is not a dream of self-deception, but the very essence of the matter. One must note that, although in comparison, conceptually, citizenship and kinship can be distinguished as degrees of nearness, in the gracious kingdom the two converge in reality.

Spiritual citizenship comes from unity of spirit. This unity is produced by the same Spirit through whom all receive the same birth. Through Him they are placed into kinship with one another and with God. All fellow citizens of Christ’s Kingdom are also kinsmen. Such they hold themselves to be in heart and in mutual relations.