And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
This short passage from Ephesians 2 is pregnant with doctrinal import.
:17 — Catholicity
And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
Jesus was sent to the Jews first and then the Gentiles. He went to His own people and then to those He was inviting to become His people. In the end, He made one new man out of the two. When He ascended into Heaven there was no longer us and them in the ethnicities of men. That is not to say that the nations went away, but it is to say that the nations were now able to unite. The world could be one without surrendering their distinctions. The same way that the gift of marriage makes men and women one without erasing their distinctions, the Gospel has made the world one without erasing the nations.
:18 — Trinity
For through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
Through Jesus we all have access by the one Holy Spirit to God the Father Almighty. The entire Trinity is present in this one short verse. Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and no one comes to the Father except through Him. (Jn. 14:6) The Spirit of God regenerates those He is calling to repent and believe the Good News of Jesus Christ. The Spirit of Christ confesses that, "Jesus is Lord." This is the only way to be received by the Father. He who knew no sin, the Son of God, because sin for us as the Son of Man, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. Salvation is a Trinitarian work. We need the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost in order to be saved. We cannot confess that "Christ is King" except by the Spirit. A Spirit of adoption does not make us part of God's family without the Son's sacrifice. And the Father remains unapproachable and unreachable outside of the ladder of Christ and the strength of the Spirit.
:20 — Infallibility
And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone.
God has left us His perfect Word to guide us. This Word is built on the foundation of the prophets and the apostles. The Old and New Testaments are the work of the Spirit inspiring men to bear witness to the Word of God. The Bible is the only infallible guide to God. Jesus is the Word who was in the beginning, the Word who was with God, and the Word who was God. He was the first Word and He will be the final Word. He is the cornerstone of the entire project. Every promise of God ever uttered by any of the apostles or prophets is "Yes" and "Amen" in Him alone.
:21-22 — Ecclesiology
In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord. In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
The Church is the building erected on God's Word. God's Word being oriented entirely around its cornerstone, Christ, and rounded out by the writings of the prophets and apostles. This is the foundation. On it the Church is being built brick by brick, soul by soul. This is where the Spirit of God calls home. He goes out to gather more in, but He resides in a special way in the people of the Lord gathered together on the Lord's Day in worship.
So, in summary, God is building His Church and the gates of Hell will not be able to prevail in keeping it from advancing. The Trinity is involved from beginning to end in every aspect of this. From the saving of individual souls, to the joining of the souls in a body catholic, to the writing and preserving of the sacred texts needed to confirm their faith, and to the establishment of church as part of His everlasting kingdom. The Church is not the kingdom, but it is its centerpiece. It is the center of the own and its bells will ring for all to hear.
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