Bible Commentaries
Ephesians 2

Verses 1-2

We come to the second chapter and I have la­beled this “reconciliation.” We travel a long distance in this passage from utter ruin, from being dead in trespasses and sins to a remarkable position in the heavenlies in Christ.

It’s an amazing chapter that moves from utter ruin to a position of heavenly glory. You will notice, as you read the passage through, that Paul writes about certain things that happened in the past and things that are true now. And if you contrast what we were in time past, out of Christ, dead in trespasses and sins, controlled by the forces of hell, and then see what we are now in Christ—it will fill your heart with joy and thanksgiving and praise. And, may I add, real worship.

To think that God should look upon us with such favor that He would take us out of the hands of the enemy, out from being dead in sins and make us alive and fit us for eternal glory. This is good news. This is good news to sinners. This is what God has provided for any and all who will put their trust in Him.

Let us read the first verses—

Ephesians 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in tres­passes and sins;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:

Ephesians 2:2 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.

I’m very much tempted to read the whole chap­ter. What a wonderful thing this is—from utter ruin into a place of glory. Shall we look into these first three verses? In them, we see our condition in time past—You hath he made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins.

Listen to it. Here we have in these three verses what we were and what we did. What was our condi­tion? We were, first of all, dead in sins. That means spiritual death. Hence, we could produce nothing but death and sin. And this is where every unbeliever in Christ lives. And believe me, my friend, there is nothing attractive about dead people, those dead in trespasses and sins.

In the book of Romans 3:10-12 we have—As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one. There is none that understands, there is none that seeks after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that does good, no, not one. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

The scriptures had concluded all under sin. God had concluded all in unbelief, that He might be merciful to all. I say again, there is nothing attractive about dead people. God looks upon men who are out of Christ, out of His Son, and sees them as those who are dead in trespasses and sins, having no spiritual life of any kind. Now they can be moralists. They can be religionists. They can be wonderful people according to the standards of men. But as far as God is concerned, they’re dead in trespasses and sins.

And I find here that Paul is saying to these Ephesians who at one time were idolators, “You He made alive.” Even those 12 men whom he found in Ephesus (Acts 19:7) were religious people, but they had to be born again. They had to be saved from their sins and given new life. And that is what Paul is dealing with here. He’s not dealing so much with the question of forgiveness; he’s dealing with the fact of life and death—that we at one time were separated from God and hence had no spiritual life.

When I leave my body, my body will be dead. And when a soul is separated from God, that soul is dead; it is separated from its source of all life. There’s no life.

It is well for us to realize the difference between life and death. Spiritual life and eternal death center on relationship to Jesus Christ. Now it’s just that simple. And the Lord wants us to be delivered from death.

I’m glad for that first verse—You hath He made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins. We were Gentiles. We had no covenant. We were without Christ, without promises, aliens without hope, without God in the world. No wonder God had to step into the picture. I’m so glad that times past are times past. We can revel in the fact that we have passed from death to life. We are alive in Christ, one with God’s eternal Son.

In verse three, we have the second thing that we were in times past: We were children of wrath even as others—children of wrath like the rest. That is, by nature we were born in sin, born under judgment. We were born into a rebellious race. There’s no question about this.

My friend, you and I were born into a race that is already under the judgment of God. You remember, the Psalmist said in Psalms 51:5—I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. You do not have to take your child and teach him or her to lie or to steal or to do something bad. It’s right there in the child who is born with a sinful nature. And Paul says in time past we were children of wrath like every­body else.

It might be well for me to say a word of caution here. There are some people who look upon every person who is not a Christian as a child of the devil. Now, I’m not prepared to say that. I know Jesus said to the Jews of His day and I quote from John 8:42-44. You remember they had said that God was their Father. Jesus said words to the effect that if God were your Father, you would believe on me, but you are of your father, the devil, and his works you do. And he was a liar and a murderer from the begin­ning.

In 1 John 3:1-24, we read in verse 10—In this the children of God are manifest and the children of the devil. And He talks about Cain and Abel as an illu­stration of the children of God and the children of the devil. But I notice this, that the ones who are called children of the devil are those who have taken a de­finite stand against the Saviour. For example, in Acts 13:6-10, we have the Apostle Paul faced with a man who was a sorcerer who opposed the gospel. He de­liberately tried to keep the leader of that country from hearing the word of God through the Apostle Paul. And Paul pronounced judgment upon him, that he be blind for a season; and he called him, “Thou child of the devil.”

As I said, I don’t think we should be so quick to call a person a child of the devil. This word is gener­ally coupled with those who have taken a decided stand against the Saviour. On the other hand, every­one out of Christ is a child of wrath. That is, he is born under the judgment and wrath of God. We are born into a rebellious race, a race where the thoughts and imaginations of the heart of man are evil conti­nually. We belong to a human family where death reigns and where sin is rampant.

And may I say very bluntly that when the word of God is spurned, then sin becomes more and more manifest in that person or in that family or in that na­tion. When a government prohibits the Bible’s being taught in schools, the moral dam breaks. How quick­ly immorality and corruption and rebellion come to the front.

You rule the Bible out of a life and you rule in lawlessness. And when a person has heard the truth of God and has voluntarily and determinedly rejected the Saviour, he reveals himself not only as a child of wrath but as a child of the devil.

But all of us were children of wrath like every­body else because we were born into a rebellious family, born under the wrath of God. The Psalmist could say in Psalms 14:3—God looked over the children of men and they were all gone out of the way, all un­profitable, none doing good. And yet, when people hear the gospel of Christ and set their mind and their face against the Saviour, this is a positive act of re­bellion. And such ones, in the scriptures, are called children of the devil.

So the two things we have thus far are that in times past we were dead in sins; secondly, we were children of wrath.

Verse 4

So we come to Ephesians 2:4—

Ephesians 2:4. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us.

Do you remember in Romans 3:1-31 we mentioned the fact how we enjoyed God’s “buts.” In Romans 3:10-20, there was given to us our character, “There is none righteous, no, not one.” Then we had our conduct which paralleled our character. And the cause of it all was there was no fear of God before our eyes; God was not even in our reckoning. We stood before God with our mouth shut, guilty, con­demned to death. Then after God had shut man’s mouth of glorying in his own so-called self-righteousness or goodness, God opened up His heart.

And remember that 21st verse of Romans 3:1-31 de­clared that “now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested.” Having proved man to be ab­solutely unrighteous, then God begins to display His righteousness. We had it also in Romans 5:6; Romans 5:8, “When we were yet without strength, Christ died for the ungodly. But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

And now we have it here again in Ephesians 2:4, having said that we were dead in trespasses and sins, energized by the powers of hell, children of wrath like the rest. Then we have the change. “But God, who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins.”

God steps into the picture when man is in utter ruin. When man gets to the end of himself, then God steps into the picture and does something for him. You know, one of the great reasons why so many people have never accepted Christ is because they have never come to the end of themselves. They’ve always got the idea in their heads that they can do something to merit favor with God. It is very diffi­cult for people to come to the place where they real­ize that they really are helpless when it comes to fitting themselves for the presence of God. We must come to see ourself as God sees us; for, my friend, the true picture of you and me is not what we see, it’s what God sees.

When Job saw the Lord, he cried out, “I have heard of thee by the hearing of mine ears, now mine eyes see thee. I abhor myself.” And he was one of the finest men who ever lived on the earth; and yet, when he caught a glimpse of God in His righteous­ness, he saw how filthy he was.

Like Isaiah, that great prophet in Isaiah 6:1; Isaiah 6:5, when he said that in the year King Uzziah died, “I saw the Lord.” And when he saw the Lord, what did he cry out? “Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King.”

You see, you tell people, “Don’t you know you’re a sinner?”

“Oh, yes, we’re all sinners.”

“Do you know that you’re a lost sinner needing a Saviour?”

And quite often the reaction is, “Mister, I’m just as good as you are.”

We’ll acknowledge that we’re sinners but we will not acknowledge that we’re lost sinners, that we’re hopeless in our sins, that we can’t do anything to save ourselves. But when we come to this place where we realize what we are, then we can thank God for this fourth verse—God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us even when we were dead in sins.

Let’s look at this first little statement—God, who is rich in mercy.

In Romans 11:33, we have “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!”

My, what treasures we have, those of us who have accepted the Saviour. God is rich in mercy. In the first chapter, God was rich in grace. In the third chapter, God is rich in glory. In the third chapter we also read of the unsearchable riches of Christ. And now we find here in the second chapter that God is rich in mercy.

The 136th Psalms 136:1-26 says—His mercy endureth for­ever.

I do not want to know how much sin you have been in or how bad you are or how corrupt you are. All I know is that the mercy of God can reach us right where we are.

Verse 5

Now we take up the second little statement I want to concentrate on.

Ephesians 2:5. Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved).

As I like to put it, He is not only rich in mercy but He is great in love. When did He start to love you and me? When I believed? Oh, no. When we were dead in sins. When we had absolutely no spiri­tual life.

God puts everyone on the same plane. You and I make a difference of sins. We talk about big sins and little sins; we talk about outbroken sins and secret sins. We talk about all kinds of sins and we catalog them, saying that we are not as bad as somebody else and we are better than most.

Now God doesn’t do that. We were dead. You take a dead body and fix it up, it is still dead. And every one who has not accepted Jesus Christ as per­sonal Saviour is dead in trespasses and sins. My friend, dead people need life; they don’t need to be just powdered up and fixed up. They need life. But before we can have life, something must be done with our sins; something must be done to get rid of this corruption. God is rich in mercy and great in love; and what His righteousness could not do, what His holy character could not do, His love has accom­plished.

You see, we’re dealing with a righteous God. We’re dealing with a holy God. No one in sin can come into the presence of God. When Christ came, He came because of God’s love for you and me. He is great in love. That’s why we have all of those wonderful verses like John 3:16 where “God so loved” and Romans 5:8 where “God commendeth His love toward us” and 1 John 3:1 “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us.” John 13:1 tells us “Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them unto the end.” Jeremiah 31:3 says—and God was talking to a wayward people when He said it—Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love.

In the book of Romans it is a question of unrigh­teousness, whereas in the book of Ephesians it is a question of death. In Romans we had a revelation of the righteousness of God and the sinfulness of man. But when you come to Ephesians it is a question of life and death. To have Christ means life and not to have Christ means death. In other words, the differ­ence between life and death is the person of Christ. The difference between heaven and hell is the person of Christ, not our badness, not our goodness.

Now God is rich in mercy and He is great in His love toward us even when we were dead in sin. And He not only did this, but in verse five He made us alive together with Christ. Even when we were dead in sin, He has made us alive. The old English word “quickened” means to “make alive.” He has made us alive together with Christ.

You know, I have met so many people who told me they were raised in a Christian home, went to Sunday school and church all their lifetime; but for some reason, they never came into the reality of a relationship with God where they experienced life. They say they’ve been baptized and they know the Bible. They say, “I’m not living like those old Phari­sees, like those old sinners on the streets. I’ve never been drunk in my life and I’ve never done this and I’ve never done that.”

And I ask them, “But are you alive in Christ? Do you have LIFE?”

When you meet people like this, give them John 1:4 which I think is the key to the Gospel of John, “In Him (Jesus Christ) is life.” In the third chapter of John, Christ says He is going to give us eternal life. In John 4:1-54, He talks about the water of life. In chapter 5, He talks about everlasting life. In chapter 6, He talks about satisfying life, resurrection life, indwel­ling life. In chapter 10, He talks about an abundant life. In chapter 11, He says, “I am the resurrection and the life.”

In chapter 14, He says, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh to the Father but by me.” In John 20:31, He says that these things are written that we may know that we have eternal life.

Verse 6

Ephesians 2:6. And hath raised us up together, and made us sit to­gether in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

He has quickened us together, the Jew and Gen­tile, together with Christ. The one place where Jews and Gentiles are made one is in Christ. The only place you will find them sitting together in perfect harmony, in perfect fellowship, is in Christ. “He has raised us, Jew and Gentile, up together and made us, Jew and Gentile, sit together in the heavenlies in Christ.”

Every barrier is broken down. We are one in Christ. We can revel in the fact today that we have a myriad of brothers and sisters who are one with us in Christ. See the emphasis here? Twice Paul uses the word “together.” He wants us to sit with them, be at home with them, in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

Think about that today and may the Lord fill your heart with love for your family in Christ.

Verse 7

Now we come to an amazing passage in verse 7:

Ephesians 2:7. That in the ages to come he might show the exceed­ing riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

Now here we have revealed to us what God is going to do and the ground upon which He is going to do it. He shows his mercy and His grace and His love for a purpose, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace and His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

You know, it’s an amazing thing in this book of Ephesians where we read the eternal purpose of God for those who put their trust in Christ.

For example, in chapter 1:4, we read that He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and without blame before Him. Now in 2:7, “That in the ages to come!” My, what a dis­tance—in 1:4 in past eternity, in 2:7 in the future eternity. He saw you and me who believe in His Son in past eternity; He sees us in ages to come, showing forth the riches of His grace.

My friend, why do you think you were born on the earth? Why do you think He saved you? Why do you think He died for you and rose again and then by the Spirit of God brought you to Himself? He opened your eyes by the Spirit of God to the word of God to your need of a Saviour. And in simple faith you took Christ as your Saviour. What for?

I tell you, in the ages to come He’s going to show forth the exceeding riches of His grace. In verse 10, we are His workmanship. He’s going to show us forth to the angelic hosts and to all created intelligences, to all powers, to all authorities, to prin­cipalities, to every personality in God’s universe. He’s going to put on an exhibition, the revelation of His grace and His kindness and His mercy and His love through you and through me. We are going to be the channels for the display of the wonderful, wonderful grace of God.

When we come to chapter 3:9 and 10, we are going to see another thing through eternity. He’s going to show forth His wisdom, His counsel through the church. He’s going to show forth through you and through me the wonderful, mani­fested grace of God. As Peter says—The manifold (many colored) grace of God.

Verses 8-9

Then Paul slips this verse in—

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.

Now why in the world did he put that in? Why not go on and talk about His workmanship? No, you’ll notice in verse 5, he said—By grace ye are saved. In verse 8, he says—By grace ye are saved. In verse 9—

Ephesians 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship . . .

You see, there is always the danger even in the Ephesian church of their boasting in their faith in­stead of Christ. Faith is the only channel used to bring us into contact, into relationship, with Christ. The important thing is not your faith, but Christ. I have met Christians who boast about their faith. I wouldn’t do that. Boast about the One who is the ob­ject of your faith, Christ Jesus.

I could sit here and tell you about Christians who boasted about their faith and they were proud of their experience and proud of their faith. And instead of attracting people to Christ, they were attracting people to themselves. This is a dangerous thing, isn’t it?

For by grace are ye saved through faith. We’ve got nothing to boast about, my friend. We can’t even boast about our faith; our faith was a gift of God. What we have has come because of the mercy of God, because of the love of God. We need to rejoice in Him who is our Saviour instead of rejoicing in the gift. Let us not be children tossed about by every doctrine. Let us be mature men and women in Christ and rejoice—not just because He has blessed us, giv­en us His salvation, but because we’re joined to Him, because He is the object not only of our faith but the object of our love and of our devotion.

It is true in the ages to come, you and I who love the Saviour are going to stand forth as the illustra­tion, as the exhibit to all created intelligences of the wonderful, wonderful grace of God.

But don’t forget, we have nothing to glory in except in Christ. As Paul could say in Galatians 6:14—God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified to me, and I unto the world.

You see, friends, Christ must be the center. Sometimes we sing that song:

O could I speak the matchless worth;

Or could I sound the glories forth

Which in my Saviour shine.

I’d soar and touch the heavenly strings

And vie with Gabriel while he sings

In notes almost divine.
In notes almost divine.

And, you know, we used to sing a little chorus. Maybe you know it:

Holy, holy is what the angels sing; And I expect to help them make The courts of heaven ring.

But when I sing redemption’s story, They will fold their wings;

For angels never felt the joy

That our salvation brings.

You see, friends, angels know nothing of the grace of God. The only thing they know about it is what has been displayed in you and me. How are an­gels going to know about it? There is no need for them to know the grace of God. They’ve never sinned. That’s why Paul could say in 1 Corinthians 4:9 that we’re upon the stage. He uses theatrical terms. And we are a sight. We are actors on the stage to show forth the grace of God to angels, to men, to demons, to all created intelligences. I tell you, it’s a wonderful thing to be a Christian, and it’s a marvel­ous thing to revel in His grace and in His mercy. But it’s still another wonderful thing to look forward to the day when God will take you and me and teach the whole universe the wonderful, wonderful grace of God.

So, today, when you glory, don’t just glory in the gift that God has given to you. But glory in the giver, our precious Saviour. For remember—By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.

Verses 10-12

Now in verse 10, what is He going to do with us? We are His workmanship; we are His handiwork; we are His craftsmanship. Listen to it in verse 10.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Je­sus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:11 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;

Ephesians 2:12 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.

This is what we are, the handiwork of God. We’re not self-made men. We’re God-made men. And this is even more marvelous than in material creation. Do you ever stop to think about the handi­work of God, for example, in Psalms 8:3—The hea­vens and the earth are the work of His fingers. Let me cite that section—When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; what is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou visit­est him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and ho­nour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands and so on. That’s an astounding scripture. The worlds He made with His fingers; but as Isaiah says, with His mighty arm He saved you and me.

And yet it says in verse 10 of Ephesians 2:1-22, that we are His handiwork. We are His craftsmanship. We mean far more to God than all the heavens with their stars and their constellations. That’s what I think was in the mind of Jesus when He said in Matthew 16:26—What shall a man profit if he should gain the whole world and lose his own soul?

You see, the world is a material thing. It is a passing thing. To me, I’m amazed at even God’s people being wrapped up and caught in the mesh of a materialistic philosophy that detracts them from Chr­ist and the purpose of God.

In a conversation with some businessmen yes­terday, one of them said, “I don’t care how you get it as long as you get it.” He was speaking of money. That’s the materialistic philosophy. It is cold, atheis­tic, materialistic. There is no place for God, no place for eternity. And Jesus gives us the solemn warn­ing—What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? What shall a man give in exchange for his soul.

You see, the heavens, the moon, the stars which God has ordained, these which are the work of His fingers are only material things. They are passing things, inanimate things. What is man that God should be mindful of him? Here we are, little specks upon an earth which is just a speck in God’s un­iverse, and yet He deigns to look upon you and me. God is vitally interested in the individual. I am well aware that some people say, “I’m not interested in the individual. I’m interested in society. Let’s forget the individual and save society.”

My friend, what a false premise. How in the world can you save society without saving the indi­vidual who makes up society. We’ve got a distorted idea of values. It is well worth our while to think about what Jesus said—What can a man give in ex­change for his soul. If a man should gain the whole world and lose his soul, what does he have at the end? Nothing but judgment.

But listen to this marvelous verse, “We are His, God’s, craftsmanship. We are His handiwork.” And where are we? We are created in Christ Jesus unto good works. The most marvelous, the most beautiful thing in God’s creation is not the heavens or the earth but a church of living stones, as Peter speaks of it in 1 Peter 2:5—We are living stones in the build­ing. The most marvelous creation which God is per­forming is the building of a church, made up of indi­viduals, of men and women who have been re­deemed by the blood of Christ and who have been brought into a relationship with the Saviour. We are His workmanship, created in Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:17 says—If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, a new creation. And the Apostle Peter says in 1 Peter 1:4—that by these ex­ceeding great and precious promises (speaking of the word of God) we believers have been made partakers of the divine nature. Here is a new thing that God is doing. In Galatians 6:14 Paul says—God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the world is crucified to me and I to the world.

Being a Jew or a Gentile profits nothing, says Paul in Galatians 6:15, but a new creation. You see, we’ve been dealing with the fact that he was glory­ing in the cross. And because of Christ’s work on the cross, the world is crucified to us and we to the world. Why? Because we are a new creation.

Irrespective of our color or our tongue or our tribe or our country, irrespective of who we are, what we are by creation, God demands a new creation.

You remember in John’s gospel, John 1:10, it says—He was in the world and the world was made by Him, but the world knew Him not. The world re­jected its creator. The next verse says the Jew rejected his Messiah. What would God do? He’s going to bring in a new creation. I tell you again, this is an astounding thing. The most beautiful thing in all God’s creative acts is not the heavens or the earth, let me repeat, and not the sun, moon or the stars which He has ordained, but the building of a church of liv­ing stones, of men and women who will come and accept Jesus Christ as their own personal Savior. And then we become the object of the craftsmanship of God.

I repeat, my friends, the body of Christ, is far more important to God than all His creation.

You know, when God starts a work He always finishes it. In Philippians 1:6 we read—Being confi­dent of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Je­sus Christ. Or you go back to Ecclesiastes 3:14—I know that whatever God does, He does it forever. No man can add to it and no man can take from it. And God does it that all might fear before Him.

I say, it is a marvelous thing that we are His craftsmanship. We are new men, new women in Chr­ist. Thank God that He’s not patching up the old cre­ation. He’s not patching up the old man that we re­ceived from Adam’s race, but He’s bringing into be­ing a new thing entirely.

The most astounding thing of all the creative acts of God is the bringing into being of a group of people called the church, called the body of Christ. They’re redeemed. They’ve received eternal life. They’re accepted in the Beloved. They’re joint heirs with Christ in the inheritance. They’ve been vitally, eternally, perfectly joined to the Son of God. This is the light of His heart.

What is God doing today? Saving society? Sav­ing the nations? No. No. That’s in the future for God’s purpose. Today, God is interested in just you and me; in every individual man and woman in the earth. And His great desire is for us to receive His Son and then we become a member of the body of Christ, the church of Christ, and we become His handiwork. He begins to work on us. And we are created in Christ Jesus. “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.” You have to be in Christ to be­long to this new thing. That’s why Peter could say in Acts 4:12—There is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. This is why Jesus said in John 10:9—I am the door. By me if any man enter in, he shall be saved. You see, we belong to Him; we are His handiwork.

This salvation we have is started by God, is con­tinued by God, is going to be completed by God. That’s why Paul could say in Romans 8:18—I reck­on the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. Or Colossians 3:4—When Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall we also appear with Him in glory. That’s why the Apostle John says—When we see Him, we shall be like Him. That’s why God says in Romans 8:29 that He’s determined that we shall be conformed to the image of His Son.

We are His craftsmanship. I always love to think of what dear brother Barker of the Evangelical Al­liance Mission used to say. I’ve heard him say it so often when he was speaking to God’s people, “My dear friends, please do not criticize any child of God. You wait until God gets through with them, then start your criticizing.”

When God gets through with us? Yes, when God gets through with you and me, we’re going to be just like the Lord Jesus—conformed to His image. This is the purpose of God. We are His craftsman­ship. We’re not self-made men. We couldn’t do this. You can’t do it. God must do it. What He wants you and me to do is to come into His presence, into right relationship with Him and let Him, by the Spirit of God, move in upon us and perform His purpose and power.

It may be that today you are in affliction. You are discouraged. You are disheartened. It may be, perchance, you are in sorrow. You say, “Why? Why?” And you begin to question God. But did you ever stop to think that all the tests of life, the afflic­tions, the misunderstandings, the sorrows, the hear­taches, and one could go on—these are nothing else but the open door for God to display His power, His love, His grace, His tenderness, His mercy. We open the door for God to manifest His power.

You see, you and I, if you love the Saviour, are the objects of God’s purpose. And whatever comes into our life is a part of that purpose, part of His han­diwork, His craftsmanship. You remember that when Solomon built the temple, there were no sounds of saw or hammer in the temple. All that noise was down there in the quarry. Solomon’s men quarried the stone and they cut it and they chipped it and they polished it. They fitted it down in the quarry so that when it was brought up from the quarry it fit into a special place in the temple.

Now then, you and I have been “quarried,” if I may use the illustration. We have been quarried out of the quarry of sin and corruption and death, and He’s taken us and given us a new life. And He tests us, He chips us, He grinds us, He’s polishing us down here. What for? That He might fit us into the very place He has for us in the church of Christ in eternal glory. We are His craftsmanship; and you and I are going to display through eternity to all created intelligences the grace of God, the wisdom of God, the wonder of God. We’re going to be on exhibition. We are His craftsmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works. That’s why I think of that verse in John 15:16, you remember, where Jesus said—You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and or­dained you, that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain.

You see, this is it. You and I, when we’re saved, we are in the hands of an eternal, wonderful God. And everything that comes into our life, if we love Him, is for a purpose. We may not understand every­thing God does. We may not be able to analyze or plumb the depths of what God is doing; but, my friend, you can trust God. Everything He does is right. And whatever His actions may be to you and to me, it is because He loves us and because He is working out His purpose in us.

We are His craftsmanship. I want you to get this right down into your heart. We are the handiwork of God, created in Christ Jesus unto good works. Titus 2:14 speaks of our having been redeemed and then He goes on to say that we might be unto God a people for His possession, zealous of good works.

In other words, your life, by your action, by your words, by everything, even your very attitude, ought to reveal the fact that you belong to the Saviour.

Now I’m not asking you to do what somebody else may do. All I’m asking you to do is to let God work in your life. Be a yielded vessel to Him so that He can work in and through you. As you have in Phi­lippians 2:15 where Paul says—You are the sons of God and in the midst of a wicked and perverse gen­eration among whom you shine as lights, holding forth the word of life. Remember, the only place where God has a place to manifest His character and His love is through you and me. The Lord is in hea­ven and you and I are His workmanship. He’s shap­ing us and moving us and working in us and through us that we might be to His praise and His glory. You think about that, will you?

I want to say one more thing in regard to verse 10 before I leave it. We have been created in Christ Jesus unto good works. You know, in the Bible there are three kinds of works. There are good works, there are dead works and there are bad works, sinful works. Now the last one I needn’t spend time on be­cause I think anyone who has any sense at all will realize we all know what sin is. We all know what bad works are. I needn’t spend time on that. Christ died to redeem us from such things. But also from dead works.

Now dead works in the Bible speak of those works that men do to try and merit favor with God. As Hebrews 9:14 says—We’ve been delivered, re­deemed from dead works, set free from dead works. What for? In order that we might live pleasing to God. In dead works, people are trusting, for example, in ceremonies, ordinances, sacrifices. They do it to merit favor with God. You see, we do not do these things to merit favor with God. We do them because of the life we have in God. Not to merit favor but be­cause of His grace we do these things. Not to receive grace but because we have grace. Not to become a child of God but because we are children of God.

It’s impossible for an unregenerate person, one who has not come into a right relationship with the Savior, to do these things to merit favor with God. This book says in this chapter—We were dead in sins. And what do dead people do? Nothing. You can fix them up, patch them up and color them up, but they are still dead. What dead people need is life.

Now what are good works? Good works are those works that are done by the Spirit of God in the believer. He has created us in Christ Jesus unto good works. In Romans 3:10-12, God says—There is none righteous. There is none that understands. There is none that seeks after God. There is none that does good, no, not one.

And men with their arrogance will say, I’m going to prove to God that I can do some good works. God says—Being dead in sin, you can’t do any good works. Righteous acts, good works, good acts can only be done by those who are good. Good works are the fruitage of the Spirit of God in the be­liever. As you have in Galatians 5:22—The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentle­ness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control. This is the fruit of the Spirit. These are good works. Philip­pians 2:15 says—You are the sons of God in the midst of a wicked and perverse generation among whom you shine as lights, holding forth the word of life.

Someone says, “Well, what about the preceding verse—Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who works in you both to will and to do His good pleasure?”

My friend, it has to be in you before it can be worked out through you. And when you and I accept the Saviour, He comes to indwell us by His Spirit. And then the Spirit of God takes these various por­tions of faith and uses them to the praise and honor and the glory of God. We have been created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God has before or­dained. This is God’s desire. All of this has been God’s desire that we do this. Again, may I say, we are His workmanship; and God does these things in order to bring praise and honor and glory to His name.

Now we’re going to run from verse 10 over to verse 13. The reason I’m doing that is because we coupled verses 1 and 2, what we were in time past, with verses 11 and 12. In the first 2 verses we were dead in sins. We were children of wrath like the rest. And in verses 11 and 12 we were Gentiles. We were without Christ, we had no promises, we had no co­venants, we had no hope, we were without God in this world, we were afar off.

Now we come to this marvelous section from 13 down to 18. And this has to do with what God is doing in the question of reconciling us. We’ve had in verses 4 to 10 the ground of His mercy, the ground of His love and His grace. He has brought us to this place of having life, so that in the ages to come He is going to show forth the riches of His grace.

Verses 11-13

Now the third thing we had in time past is in verses 11 to 13—

Ephesians 2:11. Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;

Ephesians 2:12. That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel (that is, we had no part in the commonwealth of Israel); and strangers from the covenants of promise; (we had no promise), having no hope (we had no Saviour), and without God in the world.

Ephesians 2:13 says—we were far off.

Now, just briefly, this is what we were in time past, dead in trespasses and sins, children of wrath like the rest; we were absolutely bankrupt. We had no inheritance. We had no covenants. We had no hope. We had no Saviour. We had no God, that is, no God who was alive. We had gods that were no gods. They had eyes that saw not and ears that heard not; and we were afar off, dead in sins.

My friend, may I say that when God looked on the rebellious people on the earth, His heart melted with compassion. He provided a Saviour who came, not to save the righteous, not to save the good people; He came to save sinners. He came to save rebels. He came to save children of wrath. He came to translate us from the kingdom of darkness and to put us into the kingdom of His blessed Son.

It may be that you know some who are church members, but the reality of being a child of God, the reality of being in the kingdom of God has never gripped their heart. May we plead with them to ex­amine themselves, asking them if they have perso­nally, definitely received Jesus Christ into their own life and heart as their Saviour, as their Lord. Until they are in relationship with Him, they are still dead in trespasses and sin.

Now we come to our conduct in time past in verses 2 and 3. In verse 2, we walked “according to the course of this world.” That is, we lived our lives according to the world system in which we lived, to which we were joined. It might be well for me to suggest that regarding this question of “the world” that he is not dealing primarily here with the earth upon which we live, but rather the world of people.

You see, there is a world system. The world is a sys­tem that is directly opposed to God. We read it in Galatians 6:14-15 where Paul writes—God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Je­sus Christ, by whom the world is crucified to me, and I unto the world.

You remember, Jesus Christ could say in John 17:15-16—They are not of the world even as I am not of the world. I do not say, Father, to take them out of the world but to keep them from the evil one (the prince of this world).

Three times in John’s gospel in John 12:31; John 14:30; John 16:11, our Saviour talked about the “prince of this world.” The Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:4 says—The god of this world has blinded the minds of those who believe not.

As I said, it is very obvious that he is not talking about the earth upon which we live. He’s talking about this world system into which we were born when we were born into the world. We became a member of the world. And when you and I accepted the Saviour, we were translated out of this kingdom of the world, out of this kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of His blessed Son. It’s a wonderful thing to know this.

May I give you one other scripture about this in 1 John 2:15-17—Love not the world, nor the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him; for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life is not of the Father but is of the world.

And the world and the lust pass away, but he that does the will of God abides forever.

Think of it! Where did you and I live before we accepted Christ? We had our life. We walked ac­cording to the course of this world. And not only so, we walked according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that energizes the children of dis­obedience. This is the one who was in authority. I said a moment ago that Satan was the prince of this world, the god of this age; and he keeps his children pretty well in check.

And when you and I accepted the Saviour, we were taken out from under his authority. We don’t belong to him any more. He opposes us. That’s what Paul means in Ephesians 6:12—We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against wicked spirits in the heaven-lies. Take unto you the whole armor of God that ye may be able to stand against all the wiles of the de­vil. He is an implacable foe.

Ephesians informs us in Ephesians 2:14-15 that Christ through His death not only delivered us from death and the fear of death but from the one who won authority over death, that is the devil. It says here in verse 2, “he is the spirit that energizes the children of disobedience.” We’re sometimes amazed to find young people, men and women doing the things they do. You wonder why in the world they do it. They do it because they’re energized by Satan, the prince of this world. Now this is in time past for us Christians.

And he goes on to speak of the fact that “we walked according to the course of this world.” In verse 3, this is what we did; it’s our conduct. Mark it, please. We lived in the lust and desires of the flesh and of the mind. Now this is the life of all the un­saved. And where else can they walk, not having the Saviour, not having a new nature, not being children of God but being children of wrath, belonging to the world. What else or how else can they conduct their lives?

Please, Christian friend, don’t be too quick to judge the unsaved man. He’s energized by another force. And before you and I were saved, we con­ducted our lives and we had our manner of life in the lusts, the desires of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind.

People say, “Well, Mr. Mitchell, I don’t steal. I don’t lie. I don’t commit adultery. I don’t do these things.”

No, that may be true. But would you like me to peer into your mind and declare what I see there? It’s possible, you know, for people who may not go into any perversion, physical perversion, to have their minds filled with things they might like to do. They take great pleasure in letting their minds roam on these sinful, unclean, immoral things. These are the lusts of the mind. The lust of the mind might also be concerned about other things where Christ is left out. A great many dear people, good people as far as you and I know, live wonderful lives, sometimes better lives than Christians; but their lives are built around one thing, the desires, the lusts of the world and of the flesh.

Whereas a Christian in spite of his frailty has a hunger for God, a desire to please God. He’s been brought into life with Christ, and one of these days it’s going to be evident that he belongs not to this world but to the living God. I tell you, it’s a wonder­ful thing to know that times past are times past.

And if I as a Christian profess to others that I be­long to God, that I’m a child of God—no longer a child of wrath but a child of God—then my life, my words, my actions, my very attitude toward things should be changed. It’s high time we Christians lived as Christians, lived as children of God instead of children of wrath. Instead of desiring the lusts of the flesh and the lusts of the mind, may we have a great desire and a great passion for Christ Himself.

May the Lord put that into your heart and into my heart today—the longing, the desire to really know Him, and to live, not like one who belongs to this world, but one who has been raised from the dead, joined to a living Saviour.

Verses 13-18

Now, starting in at verse 13, He tells us the basis for how He has done this—this question of reconcili­ation. Let us read these verses.

Ephesians 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

Ephesians 2:14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;

Ephesians 2:15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;

Ephesians 2:16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:

Ephesians 2:17 And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.

Ephesians 2:18 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

Now we come to this amazing doctrine of recon­ciliation. “You who were far off have been made nigh by the blood of Christ, for He is our peace.” And then in verse 15, He made peace. And then in verse 17 He preached peace. This is what reconcilia­tion is.

In Hebrews 10:19-20, Christ through His work at the cross has opened up a new and a living way by the which we can draw nigh unto God. In Hebrews 9:12, He entered in once into the holy place with his own blood and there obtained for us an eternal re­demption. In 1 John 1:7 I read—In whom we have cleansing through His blood. It says—And the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

What I am emphasizing here is the work of Chr­ist. The only way whereby we can be delivered and cleansed from our sins is on the ground of the blood of Christ. That speaks of His poured-out life at the cross. In Ephesians 1:7 we read—In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. In Revelation 1:5—Unto Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood. In Reve­lation 7:14—For thou hast redeemed us by thy blood out of every nation, kindred, tongue and tribe.

You’ll notice that the cleansing from sin is al­ways on the ground of what our Savior did at the cross. My friend, you may have all kinds of ideas of why Christ died, but let me say, the Bible teaches us, the scriptures inform us. It’s on the ground of the blood of Christ. On no other ground are men and women redeemed from sin, loosed from their sins, cleansed from their sins. He has made us nigh unto God by the blood of Christ. We’re not ashamed of the fact of the blood of Christ. For remember, it is not the value that men put upon the blood of Christ. It is the great value that God has put upon the work of His Son. “In whom we have redemption through His blood. Even the forgiveness of sins” (Ephesians 1:7).

We sing it so glibly at times:

I need no other argument, I need no other plea

It is enough that Jesus died and that He died for me.

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and

righteousness.

I dare not trust the sweetest frame but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

On Christ the solid rock I stand. All other ground is sink­ing sand.

When we sing that, my friend, remember the on­ly way of approach to God is through Jesus Christ and His death on the cross for us. That’s why in the book of Philippians the Apostle Paul speaks of the humiliation of Christ before His exaltation—He who was in the form of God thought it not a thing to be held onto but emptied Himself, made Himself of no reputation, took upon Him the form of a slave and was found in fashion as a man and humbled Himself to death, even the death of the cross.

God forbid that I should glory, says Paul, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. And one could multiply the scriptures.

In Isaiah 53:6—All we like sheep have gone as­tray. We have turned everyone to his own way and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

1 Peter 2:24 says—He bare our sins in His own body on the tree. The scripture speaks from Ge­nesis to Revelation of this fact that whether by type, shadow or by the reality of the cross the only access, the only way into the presence of God, the only way of cleansing is by what Jesus Christ did for us at Calvary.

So I just love this verse—You who sometimes (we Gentiles in our sins) were far off have been made nigh by the blood of Christ. And, oh, how glad I am that the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanses from all sin. And He is our peace. We have it again in Colossians 1:20—And, having made peace through the blood of his cross.

Ephesians 2:13-18

Now we’re dealing with verses 13 through 18 and here we read again,

Ephesians 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

Ephesians 2:14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;

Ephesians 2:15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;

Ephesians 2:16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:

Ephesians 2:17 And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.

Ephesians 2:18 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

We’ve been dealing with the marvelous grace of God and our condition. We’ve been made nigh by the blood of Christ. Remember this: We are dealing here with the question of reconciliation. As I said a moment ago, the only place where you find both Jew and Gentile made one is in Christ, made nigh by the blood of Christ.

Now in verse 14 on through—For He is our peace who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us, having abolished in His flesh the enmity.

He’s ruled out the things that were between them, the barrier has been broken down, and Jew and Gentile have been made one. Peace has been made on the ground that He is our peace.

You know, in thinking about this, it’s a wonder­ful thing sometimes to think through the scriptures how God has made peace for men. You remember in Romans 5:1—Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. This, of course, is the experience of everyone who accepts the Saviour. And then you remember in John 14:27, Jesus said—Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Here we have the gift of peace.

In chapter 16 of John the last verse—In the world ye shall have tribulation; but in me ye shall have peace. In the book of Philippians, chapter 4:7, you remember Paul speaks of experimental peace when he said—And the peace of God, which passes all understanding shall garrison your hearts and your minds through Christ Jesus. In fact, He is more often called “the God of peace” than any other title in the New Testament. He’s the God of Peace, for example,

in Philippians 4:9—And the God of peace shall be with you. He—is—our peace.

In fact, it would be a wonderful thing if we were to take the time to think about what Christ is to us. He not only is our peace, but He’s all that I need. He’s my life. He’s my righteousness. All that I need to stand before God acceptable I find in Jesus Christ.

So when you come to the 14th verse, “He is our peace.” The ground of peace is in Christ and we are reconciled. He not only is our peace, but He made peace and He preached peace. You have this in verses 14, 15 and 17.

Now the ground for our reconciliation is the cross of Christ. In Romans 5:10 I read—For if, when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son. In Colossians 1:20 I read—He made peace through the blood of His cross. The ground of reconciliation, I say, is at the cross. It was at the cross where man was reconciled to God, and it is at the cross where Jew and Gentile were made one in Christ.

In 2 Corinthians 5:19-21, you remember—God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath given unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.

Now, why? Because—He hath made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. He became what I was that I might become what He is. My, what a wonderful thing this is. Reconciled! Barriers broken down! The partition that was between Jew and Gen­tile, the enmity between the two, has been broken down. The law that hemmed the Jew in and shut the Gentile out has been met by Jesus Christ, and now the law with all its ordinances no longer has domi­nion over the man in Christ.

In Colossians 2:14 we read—The law which was contrary to us, He took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross.

What I’m trying to say to you here, friend, is that we are new men and women in Christ. The Jew is no longer a Jew; the Gentile is no longer a Gentile. God makes us both new in Christ. Peace has been made on the ground of what Christ has accomplished for us, and God has been doing an entirely new thing. And I repeat it, the only place where you find a Jew and Gentile in perfect union is in Christ Jesus.

All the barriers that were raised up from the day of Moses until the day our Lord died on the cross are gone. Remember, the law was given to God’s people, Israel; and it shut the Jew in from the Gen­tile. It made them a separate people. Now at the cross, God broke the barrier down. There is now no difference between the Jew or the Gentile. They can be reconciled together in Christ.

I repeat it as Colossians 2:14 says—He took it out of the way. This barrier which shut the Jew in and shut the Gentile out has been removed through the work of Christ at the cross. And now any indi­vidual whether Jew or Gentile can come to the Lord Jesus Christ and have perfect peace of heart and mind and say with Paul—Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, for He is our peace who has made both one.

This is what you have here in chapter 2 of Ephe­sians, verse 14. Christ has broken down the wall of partition between us. He has given us access unto the Father. The law with all its ordinances no longer has dominance, I repeat, over the new man in Christ Je­sus. And the result, of course, is in verse 17.

Verses 17-18

Ephesians 2:17 And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.

Ephesians 2:18 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

Oh, I tell you, it is a wonderful thing. We are no longer afar off and dead in sins, no longer estranged from God by wicked works, no longer barred be­cause of the law of Moses that shut the Jew in and shut us Gentiles out; but now we come with confidence into the very presence of God. He has made the way. Peace has been made.

You know, sometimes people say, “Mr. Mit­chell, have you made your peace with God?”

My friend, I couldn’t do that. Neither can you. The fact is, God has made peace for us through Jesus Christ and you experience that peace when you ac­cept Him as your own personal Saviour.

Again I would suggest that you read this chapter over and over and over again. The more you read it, the more you milk it, the more marvelous is the grace of God to usward.

My friends, as I talk to you, I just pray that the Spirit of God will today and in the days to come fill your heart with a passion for Christ and fill you with worship and praise to the One who has done so much for us.

I want to read again verses 17 and 18.

Ephesians 2:17 And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.

Ephesians 2:18 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

Do you ever stop to think of it? We who were afar off are no more strangers and foreigners. We have access into the presence of God. We are no longer, I say, afar off, no more strangers, no longer foreigners but having peace with God. You see, in verse 13, sin must be met and hence we were made nigh through the sacrifice of Christ, He having met the demand of putting away sin.

Now in verses 17 and 18, relationship, sonship must be established if we are to come into the pres­ence of God, Jew or Gentile. That’s what you have in verses 17 and 18. Those of you who were afar off were Gentiles. Those of you who were Jews were nigh. Through Him and only through Him on the same ground do we have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Here is a new relationship. Sonship must be established.

If you say that God is your Father, my friend, then you must be declaring the fact that you are a child of God. You’re declaring you’ve been born again from above. Then you’re no longer a child of wrath which we read in the last three verses of the chapter, but we’re now coming unto the Father.

You remember that the Lord Jesus, after resur­rection, could say to His disciples in John’s gospel, John 20:17—I ascend to my Father and your Fa­ther, and to my God and your God. I repeat it; and, by the way, I do not mind repeating these things be­cause I believe that until we see this amazing fact, this wonderful truth, we’ll not begin to appreciate our position in Christ. God is not patching up the old creation, whether Jew or Gentile. God is bringing in­to being an entirely new thing. And because of this, whether you are a Jew or a Gentile, you come into the same relationship having the same privileges and the same inheritance in Christ. We have access unto the Father by the same Spirit of God. Hence He could say in verse 19,

Verses 19-22

Ephesians 2:19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and fo­reigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God.

What I’m after here is in Ephesians 2:18, to have access into the presence of God sonship must be es­tablished.

You know, I was talking to some friends just last night on this question. They asked about angels and cherubims and the children of God. I’d like to sug­gest to you that when you and I accept the Saviour, we belong to a race of people, to a new family that is eternal, that is perfect, and that has full access to God. As far as I can read my Bible, I do not believe that angels can come and go in the presence of God as they desire. Angels are in the family of God by creation; they know nothing of redemption. They know nothing of the grace of God as you and I do because they’ve never sinned. They’re holy angels who have always done His bidding. And yet the Christian has been brought into a closer relationship with God than even the holy angels.

You remember in Hebrews 1:14 it says—angels are sent forth to minister to us who shall be the heirs of salvation. Allow me, please, to repeat myself. I think not long ago I mentioned the fact in John’s gospel, chapter 1—if you go from verse 10 down to 13—He was in the world and the world was made by Him; and the world knew Him not. The world, the Gentile world, did not know its Creator. And then in verse 11 we have the Jewish people—He came unto His own and His own received Him not. The Gen­tiles rejected their Creator; the Jews rejected their Messiah. Now is God in a dilemma? Oh, no. Oh, no. What is He going to do then? The Gentiles have spurned Him; the Jews have spurned Him; what will God do?

God will take individuals out of the Jews and Gentiles and make them something entirely new. For we read—To as many as receive Jesus Christ, to them He gives the right to become the children of God, even to them that believe on His name who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, but who were born of God.

In John, chapter 3, Jesus said to Nicodemus, “You are born wrong. You must be born from above.” If any man be in Christ, he’s a new creation.

Galatians 6:16 says the same thing. Being a Jew or a Gentile doesn’t mean anything, but a new crea­tion. What I’m trying to get to you is the fact that when you and I accept the Saviour, He not only for­gives us our sins, He not only pronounces us righ­teous, not only gives us eternal life. These are won­derful facts. But He brings us into a relationship with Himself that’s beyond the ken (the understanding) of men. And we have access. This is the thing I’m af­ter—because of this relationship we have access unto the Father. Is it not, I say, a wonderful thing that you and I as Christians can come into the presence of the Father at any time, under any circumstance?!

“Oh,” you say, “well, that’s all right for you preachers or for those who are walking with God, but for me—I’m just a backslider—I’m a cold, indiffe­rent Christian. I don’t know much about it and I’m so tied up with the things of the world that I don’t know what to do with myself.”

Listen. In the book of Hebrews 4:16, I read these words—Let us therefore come with boldness to the throne of grace, and there obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

You see, my friend, God is accessible to the man who will put his trust in Jesus. This is what you find in Hebrews 11:6—He that cometh to God must be­lieve that He is and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.

God is more open to your reception than you are to receive Him. God is more desirous of coming into your life than you are to have Him come. The trouble is not with God, my friend. The trouble is with you and me. And here the Apostle says whether you are a Jew or a Gentile, through Jesus Christ we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Think of it! You and I can come with all our frailty and failure, what­ever the problems may be. We can come at any time, under any circumstances, into the presence of God.

I remember writing a friend of mine many years ago, encouraging him to come to the Saviour. He wrote me and said, “You know, when I think of what I have done in my life, I’m afraid to come into the presence of God.”

My friend, do you realize that when Jesus Christ (this is what I wrote him) died on the cross, He opened the way for man to come into the presence of God? He opened the way for sinners to come to God? He removed all the barriers between God and men? This is reconciliation. It is not that you are making peace with God but God has made peace for you; and that if you will come in simple faith, trust­ing the Saviour, you have access unto the Father. Notice what He says. He didn’t say access unto God—though that’s true—but access unto the Fa­ther.

Here is a relationship that has been established by God for any man or any woman. I don’t care who they are or where they are or what they’ve done. The way has been opened for you and me to come into the very presence of God. As Hebrews 10:20 says, “By a new and living way which He has consecrated, which He has set apart through the veil, that is to say His flesh.” In other words, He died to remove the barrier of sin between and make it possible for you and me to have access unto God. Is it not a wonder­ful thing, my friend, that you can come into the very presence of God through faith in Jesus Christ and come where angels fear to come? In fact, they cannot come unless bidden to come. But you can come be­cause you’re in the family, because you belong to this new race.

What a wonderful thing this is. Aren’t you glad God isn’t passing you up? He’s making you new, and through Jesus Christ, whether Jew or Gentile, we have access unto the Father by one Spirit. I say, a new relationship has been established.

Now we’ve been slowly expounding these verses for the purpose that it might get into your heart and into your mind. Indeed, we pray that the Lord may grant to you and to me an enlargement of capacity to receive the word of God.

I would like to read again from verse 17 to verse 22.

Ephesians 2:17 And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.

Ephesians 2:18 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

Ephesians 2:19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and fo­reigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God.

Ephesians 2:20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;

Ephesians 2:21 In whom all the building fitly framed together gro­weth unto an holy temple in the Lord:

Ephesians 2:22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habita­tion of God through the Spirit.

Now we’ve been dealing with our condition past and what we are now in Christ. And now we are coming to our condition in the future. Verses 19 to 22 show our permanent position. Now this is a logi­cal sequence to what we’ve been going through. He came and preached peace to those that were afar off—us Gentiles—and to the Jews who were nigh. And through Him, both Jew and Gentile who believe on the Saviour have access by one Spirit unto the Fa­ther. Therefore we are no more strangers and foreigners. We are fellow-citizens with the saints and of the household of God.

Let me just stop there for a few moments. Here you have access unto the Father as we have men­tioned. The Jew and Gentile come in one spirit, one in life, one in relationship, one in the Holy Spirit. All barriers are gone. All legal obstacles have been bro­ken down. All fear is gone and the result is we have access to the Father.

I am very much tempted, by the way, to just stay there. Oh, how I wish God’s people would real­ize the privileges they have in Christ Jesus. Many Christians thank God that He’s forgiving, but going on from there seems to be foreign to them. This life in Christ is a wonderful life of living each day in the consciousness that we are sons of one who is God and that, whatever our circumstances may be, we have the right and the privilege of access unto the Father.

Friend, have you ever stopped to think of it? We run hither and yon. We run to this one and that one with our problems, with our troubles, and rightly so. I’m not saying anything against that; but why not try to come into the presence of God?

“You mean to tell me, Mr. Mitchell, that I can come with any little detail of my life to God?”

Well, who better can you bring them to?

“The little wee decisions to be made?”

Yes. If you can’t make a decision, why not talk to God about it? In other words, why not come in ac­tual experience ? Take your place as a child of God in the family. The eternal sovereign God is your Father and you can come to Him at any time under any circumstance. Make a confidant of God.

Can I put it that way? Make a confidant of God. In your blessings, in your joys, thank Him for them. Praise Him for them. In your tests, in your trials, your afflictions, your sorrows, turn to Him. He un­derstands.

Sometimes people say, “Well, Mr. Mitchell, no­body seems to understand me.”

Oh, yes, there is One who really understands you. As we used to sing that song, you remember:

"Oh, yes, He cares;
I know He cares,
His heart is touched with my grief.
When the days are dreary
The long nights weary,
I know my Savior cares."

Yes, He does. Oh, why don’t you and I take the access He has given to us. He says, “Come with boldness to the throne of grace and there obtain mer­cy.” Find grace to help in every time of need. Which leads me to verse 19:

19. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and fo­reigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God.

Paul is telling especially Gentile believers that they are no more strangers, no more those on the outside, without covenants, without inheritance, no more foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints and of the household of God, citizens of heaven. This is their present relationship.

You see, in Philippians 3:20, it says, “Our con­versation (citizenship) is in heaven; from whence al­so we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” You see, Israel is God’s earthly people, but we are of the household of God just as they are. Only we be­long to His heavenly household. We were once strangers, but now we’re citizens. Once we were afar off, now we’ve been made nigh. Once we were on the outside; now we’re members of the family. No, not boarders, not roomers, not guests, but we belong to the family, having equal rights.

Oh, think of it. Access to God. The objects of His love. Intimate fellowship with the Father. Heirs, and joint-heirs with Christ Jesus, one in the family. I tell you it is a wonderful thing to belong to a family, isn’t it? You have your family. I have my family and there’s something about it. It’s a family matter. We’re “family men.” Some children in the family— you wonder why they are so different. There are generally one or two in the family. You wonder what in the world has happened to them, but they belong to the family. Some Christians are lovable and sweet. You just love them. And you find some Christians who are ornery and sour and they’re out of fellow­ship with God.

Did you ever go to a foreign land where you don’t know their language? I’ve had the privilege of traveling quite a bit in the ministry of the word of God in southeast Asia a number of times; in Africa, in Central and South America; and I’ve been around to different mission fields of the world. And I tell you, it is a strange feeling to come into a country where they look different and they talk differently. They act differently. Their attitude, their philosophy of life is different; and you feel so out of everything. You can’t talk to people. You know you don’t be­long. You’re a stranger. You’re a foreigner. They don’t take you into the intimacy of their hearts or their lives. You’re on the outside. It’s a funny feel­ing, isn’t it? It’s a strange feeling, an empty feeling.

Listen, you and I are not foreigners with God. We belong to the household of faith; we belong to heaven. When you and I as Christians get to heaven, it’s going to be no strange place. We’ll not have to learn a new language. We belong to the family. We’re on the inside. We’re children of one who is God. We belong to this new race of people. We have eternal life. Death doesn’t even cast a shadow.

I tell you, my friends, we Christians who are rich in the grace of God, rich in things that are eternal, we live like paupers down here. We get our lives clut­tered up with material things and fleshly things, car­nal things, good things and miss—oh, I say it so sad­ly—we miss the riches of the grace of God; we miss the riches of fellowship with God. We miss the thrill of belonging to the family of God.

When you go down the street today, when you go among your neighbors, when you go to work, when you deal with your children and your own family, remember, we’re children of One who is God. We’re no longer foreigners and strangers; we’re fel­low citizens with the saints. We’re on the inside, not the outside. We’re in the family of God.

Oh, listen, Christian friend, don’t rob yourself of the treasures of the grace of God. No wonder Paul could speak in chapter three of the “unsearchable riches of Christ.” I pray that some of this will get a hold of your heart and my heart. Instead of living like spiritual paupers, let us be rich in the grace of God, living as the sons of One who is God, living as those who have an eternal, complete inheritance which neither thieves can break through and steal nor can rust corrupt. We have an inheritance which is eternal, sure, and perfect.

Now then, you’re not a stranger or a foreigner, but you are a fellow citizen with the saints in the household of God.

You see, that’s why when you and I walk with God, the man of the world, the man outside of Chr­ist, can’t understand us. I’m not asking you to be unique or funny or peculiar or to dress peculiarly. I’m talking about a real life with God, just as when our Saviour walked the earth. The Pharisees, scribes and Herodians couldn’t stand Christ because they couldn’t understand Him. They knew He was differ­ent.

I trust you and I today will live before God no longer as a foreigner and a stranger but as a member of the household of God.

I say again, isn’t it a wonderful thing to be a member of the family of God?

Ephesians 2:20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;

Ephesians 2:21 In whom all the building fitly framed together gro­weth unto an holy temple in the Lord:

Ephesians 2:22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habita­tion of God through the Spirit.

May I just suggest to you for your thoughts that certain things are said in the epistles about the rela­tionship between Jesus Christ and His church. For example in Ephesians 1:23, we find that the church is called “the body of Christ.” In Ephesians 2:21 we find the church is called “the temple of God.” In chapter 5:25-32 we find the church is referred to as “the bride of Christ” and one could go on. We find that as the branch is to the vine and as members are to the body and the stone is in the building and as the flock is to the shepherd and the bride is to the bride­groom, so the church is to Christ. These are different aspects of truth concerning the same relationship be­tween Christ and His people.

Now I’ve heard people say, “Well, a person can­not be in the body of Christ and be in the bride of Christ.”

Of course, one can be in the body of Christ and be a stone in the temple. These are just aspects of truth. For example, when He talks about the church being the body of Christ, Paul is just talking about our union with Him. When he talks about the church being the temple of God, he is speaking of the church’s being an habitation of God through eternity. When it comes to the question of the church and the bride, he is speaking of the relationship of the love that Christ has for His church. He loved the church. He gave Himself for the church. So don’t go off the deep end by trying to read into the scriptures what was never the intent of the Spirit of God.

Now we’re dealing here in Ephesians 2:19-22 with the temple of God. “We are built upon the foundation,” and the church is a habitation of God. In other words, the church constitutes the temple of God for eternity. The temple of God is not made with stones and bricks and mortar, but He comes to live in His people. And you remember, our Saviour spoke of this as also did the apostles.

Our Lord, for example, in Matthew 16:17-18 said after Peter’s confession, identifying Him as the Christ, the Son of the living God, “Flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven. I say that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

Now certainly Peter was not the rock. Peter him­self corrects that idea in his first epistle (1 Peter 2:5) when he said that he, also, was just one of the living stones, an elder with the rest of them. No, “upon this rock” means Christ Jesus.

For example, in 1 Corinthians 3:11, Paul speaks of the fact that our Saviour is the foundation, “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” You have it also in Ephesians 4:11. God gave to the church prophets and apostles.

In 1 Peter 2:4-6, Peter talks about the fact that we are living stones in the building; but Christ is the foundational stone. And the apostles in their writing made Jesus Christ, the person and work of Christ, the foundation of all that they taught.

You see, the foundation was laid by them. They gave to us these foundational truths concerning the person of Christ. And, by the way, when Paul talks about the apostles in prophecy, he’s not talking about the Old Testament prophets. He is talking about the New Testament apostles and prophets.

You have this in Ephesians 3:5, “Which in other ages (he’s talking about the church) was not made known unto the sons of men as it is now revealed un­to His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.” He’s not talking about Old Testament prophets. And by the way, may I say this very frankly, you do not find the church in the Old Testament. You had in the first chapter of Ephesians, remember, the last two verses, that the church is a complement of Christ, that our Saviour in His death, resurrection and exaltation be­came the head over all things to the church. There could be no church until we had a risen, exalted Sa­viour.

When it comes to the revelation of the church in chapter 3, we’re going to see that the church was something that was hidden in God from past ages but is now made manifest to His people.

So here you have, first of all, the foundation of the church and Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone. And you remember that the corner stone, the founda­tion stone, is that which gives strength to all the building. In fact, all that we have, all that we hope for, rests on Christ Jesus. Everything we have rests on Him.

I tell you it is a wonderful thing to have the Lord of glory who put away sin, who burst the bands of the tomb, who defeated death, who defeated Satan. He is the foundation and other foundations can no man lay but that which is laid, which is Christ Jesus. The structure of a building depends upon its founda­tion. And if the local church (allow me to say this) is not built upon the foundation of Jesus Christ and the word of God, my friend, that structure will fail.

I wish in some way I could get this clear to the hearts of every professing Christian, every church member, every pastor and teacher. Unless it is built upon the foundation of Jesus Christ, who He is and what He has accomplished and His precious word where we have the revelation, then that church will not be spiritual and will not stand in these last days.

Can I just say this? Let me just bring this up to your heart.

Ephesians 2:21 In whom all the building fitly framed together growth unto an holy temple in the Lord:

Ephesians 2:22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habita­tion of God through the Spirit.

We’re all fitly framed. Each one has a particular place in the body of Christ, and each one is being fit­ted for that place. And when the church of Christ is completed, it will be taken to glory to be a habitation of God. The eternal habitation of God will be in the finished building. Beautiful, perfect, glorious, com­plete, indestructible and eternal, this is the church of Christ. It is not only the body of Christ, but the tem­ple of God.

I plead with you to revel in your Saviour. Get to know something of the purpose of God for you as well as for the church.

All individual believers, it is true, are now the temple of the Spirit of God; but collectively we’re also the temple of God. It would be a wonderful thing to remember this, that each individual believer in His body has become the sanctuary of God. You remember 1 Corinthians 6:19 which says “Don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spi­rit?” This is true now of individual believers as you have it in Isaiah 66:1-2, “The heaven is my throne, the earth is my footstool: where will you build a house that I may find my rest? All these things have my hands made, but to this man will I look.”

I tell you again, my Christian friend, it is a mar­velous thing to know of the relationship and the un­ion we have with the Son of God. I tell you, it was no simple thing when the Lord Jesus died to put away our sins. But the more marvelous thing is that you and I are identified with Him in His death, burial and resurrection and exaltation. Each individual believer has a special place in the heart of God and a special place in the temple of God.

Ephesians 2:22. In whom ye also are builded together for an habita­tion of God through the Spirit.

Now this is what God is doing. As Acts 15:14 says, “God did visit the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name.” And here you have the fi­nished building occupied.

You remember in the Old Testament when the tabernacle was finished, the glory of God filled it. When Solomon built his temple, the glory of God filled that tabernacle; and when the church of Christ is completed, the glory of God will fill it then, too. It will be an indestructible building of living stones.

No wonder Jesus said in Matthew 16:18, “On this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Nothing can prevail against this purpose of God of gathering out a people and knitting them together in one body called the church. That was Ephesians chapter 1.

Now in chapter 2 we are His temple. We are a building. We are stones in the building—prepared, polished, fitted for a special place in the building.

You know, I think we Christians have failed to realize the marvel of it all, that God today is doing something that was never known in past ages and will never be duplicated, as far as I know, in the ages to come. He’s bringing out a people.

You see, when God created man in the garden and gave him special responsibilities, man failed God. And it came to pass that the very thoughts and imaginations of the heart of man were evil continual­ly. Failure was everywhere and, God’s being righ­teous, He must judge. As a result, the flood came and destroyed that whole human race. Only eight souls were saved, Noah and his family. Not very long after the earth had been renovated, you have sin and rebel­lion coming in. God judged the people at Babylon, the seat of idolatry. He scattered them upon the earth, and they became nations. I’m quoting from chapters 10 and 11 of Genesis.

Then God let the nations go their own way; and He picked up Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and on down through to the other people of Israel. He gave them His word; He sent them His prophets. He dwelt in the midst of them doing marvelous things. But when they failed, He scattered them among the na­tions of the earth.

Now what will God do? As I’ve said before, God is doing a new thing. He’s taking men and women, individuals like you and me and saving us, transforming us. And He’s not only making us mem­bers of the body of Christ—and this speaks of life— but now he’s joining us together into what He calls a temple, a building, a habitation of God in the Spirit, a building that’s complete. It is beautiful, it is per­fect, it is glorious, it is nearly complete. And when the church is complete, God is going to inhabit the presence of His people. God is going to be in the midst of us and, as the book of Revelation 22:4 says, “We shall see His face; and His name shall be in their foreheads.”

As Revelation 21:3 says, God will be with men and will dwell with them. But the church of Christ is going to be a special company through eternity. We’re not going to be the only saints in heaven, the only saints in God’s universe. Oh, no. God has dif­ferent kinds of saints. The church is only one com­pany of saints, one company of His people, but a special company, the temple of God. We are to be the habitation of God.

Just as God indwells the believer now indivi­dually, God is going to indwell all believers collec­tively; and we are to be the habitation of God through eternity.

What I’m trying to say to you is this, that God today is gathering out a people for his name called the church and it has become a building. We are to be the ones in whom God will dwell through eterni­ty. No wonder Paul or whoever the writer of He­brews was, chapter 1, the last verse, said, “The very angels of God are sent forth to minister unto us who are the heirs of salvation.” Even the very holy angels have been called to be the servants, the ministers, of God’s people in the church.

Now it is true in the kingdom period, when Chr­ist returns, Israel will be the leading nation; but they will be limited to the earth. But the Christian today, the man who is trusting Christ, whether Jew or Gen­tile, as we have had in this second chapter of Ephe­sians is “reconciled in the body by the cross, having access unto the Father.” We are special members of a new race. We can cry, as Paul says in Romans 8:15, “Abba, Father.” We will have the same relationship as a child to his Daddy. And here we are in a rather wonderful, peculiar place in the purpose of God.

I say again, I wish in some way you and I could, by the Spirit of God, be gripped by this amazing fact that we not only have forgiveness, we not only have eternal life, we not only have all these wonderful things, but we’ve been brought in the purpose of God into a special, special relationship with God Himself.

This is something different from anything that’s ever preceded us and, as far as I know, will not fol­low us. God’s eternal people will be a habitation of God through eternity. A perfect, complete, beautiful group called “the church,” the temple of God.

I am not surprised, as I read the rest of the New Testament, that what God has purposed He will sure­ly perform. God is not playing at this business. God doesn’t play with souls. He takes all of us willing men and women and transforms us in Christ, brings us right to Himself, and not only gives us life, but joins us to Himself to have a peculiar place in the purpose of God through eternity as the temple of God.

We shall be a temple made of living stones, each one having a particular place in that temple. This is what God is doing, my friend. And this is what we have in the revelation of Paul in the book of Ephe­sians.

Now we start with the third chapter dealing with revelation. Read it through, will you please. And the Lord bless you.