being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the corner-stone,
Paul tells believers that they now stand on a foundation already laid, with Christ Himself set at the corner. Two questions come up here. Which prophets does Paul mean? And how can Christ be the corner stone when Scripture also calls Him the only foundation?
The order of the words matters, and Ephesians 3:5 settles the question:
This does not mean Old Testament "prophets" and New Testament "apostles." It means "apostles and prophets" of the New Testament. Ephesians 3:5 puts that beyond all doubt: "as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit." It is a new work built on a new foundation. Jew and Gentile are now built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit, which was not the case in Old Testament times.
If the apostles themselves were the base, the church would rest on men:
"Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets" does not mean that the apostles are the foundation. The apostles are the foundation through their inspired teachings. As Paul wrote, "I laid a foundation." But he also adds, "For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 3:9-11). The Lord Jesus Christ and the doctrine of Christ is the foundation. This the apostles taught.
You lay a foundation once, so this work does not repeat in every generation:
They laid the foundation. Once the foundation of a house is laid, you do not need to keep working at it. You then go on with the building. So you would not expect to have them, in their living ministry, in this day. They remain with us, but only in their writings, and in the unfolding of the truth that God has preserved for us in the holy Scriptures. That is where our faith rests.
Other gifts remain. The same letter names them, and they are of a different order:
We must always keep in mind the distinction this same letter makes here. The apostles and prophets are the foundation on which we are built. The evangelists, pastors, and teachers are the gifts that carry on the work.
The Greek word behind "corner stone" has two senses:
The Greek word translated chief corner stone is akrogōniaios. It means a corner FOUNDATION stone, and also a stone at the extreme angle. The first meaning gives us the thought of the church as God's masterpiece, taking its character from Christ as the chief corner stone. It also tells us that this glorious foundation stone was laid in the atoning sufferings of our Lord at Calvary's cross, sufferings beyond words.
The second sense — the stone at the sharp angle — fits a church made of Jews and Gentiles. The stone men threw away is where the two walls meet:
God has raised the One who was rejected and crucified from among the dead by His power, and has glorified Him at His right hand. Now the rejected Stone has become the Corner for those called out from the Jews and those called out from the Gentiles. There both meet and grow into one building in Him. Although rejected, He is the chosen of God. Israel stumbled at the Stumbling Stone. Man refused Him, but God glorified Him.
A corner stone does two things. It ties the building together, and it sets the lines the rest must follow.
Christ is also the corner stone of the house. He gives character to all the building and binds it together. He is not only the underlying foundation on which others build. In Him "the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord" (v.21). As it grows, every stage of the building stays joined to Him and depends on Him at all times.
Israel's temple had a stone that marked it complete. The church's picture has no such stone:
Israel's temple had a capstone (Zechariah 4:7), which seems to mark the completion of the building. As to the Church this does not appear to be mentioned, and there is surely a divine reason. Perhaps this is because the Church will not be displayed on earth as a completed building. As the temple it is not yet complete; it will keep growing until the Rapture, when the Church will be complete for ever.
- Foundation. The apostles and prophets here are New Testament ones; Ephesians 3:5 puts it past doubt. So this is a new work on a new foundation, not a carry-over from Old Testament times.
- Teaching. They are the foundation through their inspired teaching, not through their persons. What they taught is Christ, and no one can lay any other foundation.
- Finished. A foundation is laid once. Their living ministry has passed, but they remain with us in their writings, and that is where faith rests. Evangelists, pastors and teachers carry the work on.
- Corner. The corner stone was laid in the atoning sufferings of Calvary. The stone men rejected is now the angle where believing Jews and believing Gentiles meet in one building.
- Character. As the corner stone, Christ binds the building together and gives it its character. It is still growing, and every stage depends on Him.
in whom all [the] building fitted together increases to a holy temple in the Lord;
Paul has just told the Ephesians they belong to a building that rests on Christ the corner stone. Now he says what that building is: one, joined together, and still growing. The writers below quote an older translation, which reads "all the building, fitly framed together."
Every stone in this building takes its line from Christ, and the work goes on without noise.
All the building is "fitly framed together" in the Chief Corner Stone; that is, every part of the building has reference to Him, and directs the eye to Him. And like Solomon's temple, this temple "grows." It is recorded of that house: "When the house was built, it was with stone prepared at the quarry, so that neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was being built" (1 Kings 6:7). In the same way, this holy temple grows silently, under the skilful eye of the divine builder, according to His own plan.
Some translations read "each several building," which would allow many separate buildings. One writer rejects that reading, on the grounds of what the whole letter argues.
In Ephesians 2:21 the temple is seen as growing; "it grows to a holy temple in the Lord." This takes in every believer of this present age. In this sense the temple is not complete until the Lord comes. "All the building" is the correct idea, not "each several building." That second reading goes against the whole teaching of the letter, which is the unity of those blessed in Christ.
Scripture also speaks of building that men do. One writer points to the phrase that marks the difference.
When Christ builds, He does not commit it to man at all, and no responsibility of man comes in. He dies and rises again, and what He builds on the imperishable foundation of faith in His person in resurrection is secured for ever! Ephesians 2:20-21 shows us this building. Christ builds it, and it is "fitly framed together" — mark those words strongly. This temple began when the Holy Spirit came down from heaven. It "grows" until all is in glory, right to the very end of the church's stay on earth. It is not yet complete. You will not find those words, "fitly framed together," where what man builds comes before us. In verse 21 he looks at the progressive work — the whole temple, which God purposes to be His sanctuary, the home of the brightest display of His glory for ever.
Buildings do not grow. This verb changes how we should think about the church's unfinished state.
The building "grows." Grow is a word that only applies to something that has life. A child grows, a plant grows. At every stage a child, or a plant, is complete. Growth may add size, and qualities hidden in the child or plant come into view. But we never think of either as incomplete at any stage. So God's temple is always seen as complete, yet growing. Yet the end is in view when the last stone is added.
Whatever the stones looked like at the quarry, the finished fit will be exact.
"In whom all the building, fitly framed together, grows up to a holy temple in the Lord." This is the grand future and sure result. The building grows to that. Never did the highly polished stones of Solomon's temple fit more perfectly, or lie more exactly, than these stones will rest together in that completed temple of beauty, grace and holiness. They were once so shapeless, so angular, so mismatched.
Paul changes the image here, and the word he picks carries more than the idea of shelter.
But in the verse before us we have Christians looked at as "a holy temple in the Lord." The figure is changed. This sets before us the great truth of God dwelling among His people on this earth. God dwells there, and there is more. The word temple carries the thought of a shrine — a dwelling place, yes, but joined with the thought of holiness, because of who dwells there. It becomes a sanctuary, a sphere of priestly activity, a place of worship — a place made by the persons who compose it, not by stones and mortar. "God … does not live in temples made by man" (Acts 17:24).
A Christian's place among other Christians is not his own choice.
One stone cannot make a building, and stones do not choose their own place. Each stone finds its place according to the mind of the Divine Architect.
- In Him — every part of the building points to Christ the corner stone, and He sets how it fits.
- All — one building, not many; the whole letter argues the unity of those blessed in Christ.
- Fitted — "fitly framed together" belongs to what Christ builds, never to what man builds, so it cannot fail.
- Growing — a word for living things: complete at every stage, yet still rising until the last stone goes in.
- Holy — the end is a sanctuary, a place of worship made of people, where God dwells among them.