In whom you also are built together into an habitation of God in the Spirit.

“"It groweth," saith he, "into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom ye also," he adds, "are builded together." He is speaking continuously: "Into a holy temple, for a habitation of God in the Spirit." What then is the object of this building? It is that God may dwell in this temple. For each of you severally is a temple, and all of you together are a temple. And He dwelleth in you as in the body of Christ, and as in a Spiritual temple. He does not use the word which means our coming to God, (prosodos) but which implies God's bringing us to Himself, (prosagoge) for we came not out of ourselves, but we were brought nigh by Him. "No one," saith Christ, "cometh unto the Father but by Me." And again, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life." He joins them with the Saints and again returns to his former image, nowhere suffering them to be disunited from Christ. Doubtless then, this is a building that shall go on until His coming. Doubtless it was for this reason that Paul said, "As a wise master builder, I laid a foundation." And again that Christ is the foundation. What then means all this? You observe that the comparisons have all referred to the subject-matters, and that we must not expound them to the very letter. The Apostle speaks from analogy as Christ does, where He calls the Father an husbandman, and Himself a root.”

“Having shown above that the Gentiles were admitted together with the Jews to spiritual benefits, here he shows that in those benefits the Gentiles are not of lesser dignity than the Jews themselves are, but were admitted equally fully to the benefits of Christ. Concerning this he does two things: first he sets forth what he intends; second he makes his proposal manifest through an example, at the words built upon, etc. Concerning the first he does two things. First he excludes what belonged to the past state from the present state; second he concludes what befits the present state, at the words but you are fellow citizens, etc. Since, then, the Apostle in concluding introduces this, that he says now therefore, etc., it must be considered that the likeness follows from what has been said before: first indeed from this, that both, having been joined together, are reconciled to God; second, that both have access in one Spirit to the Father. Since, therefore, they are together conformed to the whole Trinity — to the Father, to whom they have access; to the Son, through whom; to the Holy Spirit, in whom they alike draw near — in nothing, therefore, do they fall short of participation in spiritual goods. Now for the understanding of the letter it must be known that the assembly of the faithful is sometimes called, in the Scriptures, a house, according to that word of 1 Timothy 3: that you may know how you ought to behave yourself in the house of God, which is the Church of God. And sometimes it is called a city, according to that word of Psalm 121: Jerusalem, which is built as a city. For a city has a political community, but a house has a domestic one; and between these a twofold difference is found. For those who belong to the community of a house share with one another in private acts, but those who belong to the community of a city share with one another in public acts. Likewise, those who are in the community of a house are ruled by one who is called the father of the family, but those who are in the community of a city are ruled by a king. For the father of a family is in a house just as a king is in a kingdom. So, then, the assembly of the faithful has something of the city, and something of the house. But if the ruler of the assembly is considered, he is a father — Matthew 6: Our Father, who art in heaven, etc.; Jeremiah 3: You shall call me Father, and shall not cease to walk after me; and thus the assembly is a house. But if you consider the subjects themselves, then it is a city, because they shared with one another in the chief acts, namely of faith, hope, and charity. And in this way, if the faithful are considered in themselves, it is the community of a city; but if the ruler of the community is attended to, it is the community of a house. And therefore the Apostle here sets down two words, namely strangers and foreigners. For what strangers are with respect to a house, foreigners are with respect to a city. For a stranger is so called as one alien to a house. Ecclesiasticus 29: an evil life is to be a stranger, going from house to house. But a foreigner is one who comes as an alien to a city. It is as if the Apostle were saying: formerly you were aliens from the assembly of the faithful, as strangers are from a house, and foreigners from a city, just as also the proselytes were to the old law; but now it is not so, because you are no longer strangers, etc. Isaiah 54: behold, a sojourner shall come who was not with me, one who was once a foreigner to you shall be joined to you. Accordingly, when he says but you are fellow citizens of the saints, etc., he concludes what befits the present state, saying but you are fellow citizens of the saints, etc., as if he were saying: since the assembly of the faithful is called a city in comparison to the subjects, and a house in comparison to the ruler, the assembly to which you have been called is the city of the saints and the house of God. Psalm 86: glorious things are said of you, city of God. Whence Augustine: two loves make two cities. For love of God even to the contempt of self — namely, of the man who loves — makes the heavenly city of Jerusalem, but love of self even to the contempt of God makes the city of Babylon. Anyone, therefore, either is a citizen of the saints, if he loves God even to the contempt of self — Proverbs, last chapter: all of his household are clothed with double garments — or, if he loves himself even to the contempt of God, he is a citizen of Babylon. Accordingly, when he says built upon, etc., he makes his proposal manifest. It is customary in the Scriptures that, by the figure which is called metonymy, the container is put for the thing contained, as sometimes a house is put for those who are in the house. According to this manner, then, the Apostle speaks of those who are in the house of God, namely of the faithful, as of a single house, and compares them to a building. And concerning this he does two things: first he sets forth what he intends; second he shows that the Ephesians themselves were made participants of this building, at the words in whom you also are built together, etc. Concerning the first he does two things. First he sets forth the foundation of this building; second, its construction or completion, at the words in whom the whole building, being framed together, etc. Now he sets down a twofold foundation: one secondary, and the other principal. The secondary foundation indeed is the apostles and the prophets. And as to this he says that they are no longer strangers, but fellow citizens, who now belong to the spiritual building, as ones built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, that is, of those who are apostles and prophets, that is, upon their teaching. Or otherwise: upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, that is, upon Christ, who is the foundation of the apostles and prophets; as if he were saying: you have been built upon the same foundation upon which the apostles and prophets themselves were built, who were from among the Jews. Now these two expositions differ only as to the words, but the first is more fitting, because if the other were more fitting, then it would add for nothing Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, since Jesus himself is the highest foundation. According to the first manner, then, it agrees better, yet in such a way that the chief stone and highest foundation is Christ. But as to the sense, they differ in nothing, because it is the same to say that Christ is the foundation and that the teaching of the apostles and prophets is, since they preached Christ alone, not themselves; whence to receive their teaching is to receive Christ crucified. 1 Corinthians 1: but we preach Christ crucified, that is, 1 Peter 1: to whom it was revealed, that not to themselves, etc. Likewise 1 Corinthians 2: but we have the mind of Christ. It should be noted that the apostles are called foundations. Psalm 86: his foundations are in the holy mountains. Isaiah 54: I will found you in sapphires, that is, in heavenly men. But they are expressly called foundations in Revelation 21: the wall of the city having twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles. And they are called foundations to this extent, insofar as their teaching announces Christ. Matthew 16: upon this rock I will build my Church. Now he says of the apostles and prophets, in order to signify that each teaching is necessary for salvation. Matthew 13: a scribe instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like a man, a father of a family, who brings forth out of his treasure things new and old. Likewise, in order to show the concord between the one and the other, of each with the other, since the foundation of both is the same. For what the prophets foretold as future, the apostles preached as accomplished. Romans 1: Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart unto the gospel of God, which he had promised before through his prophets. But the principal foundation alone is Christ Jesus, and as to this he says himself being the chief, etc. Where he says three things of him, namely that he is a stone, that he is a cornerstone, and that he is the highest. He is indeed a stone on account of the firmness of the foundation. Whence it is said in Matthew 7, that the house which was founded upon the rock was built firmly, to such an extent that neither rain, nor floods, nor winds were able to destroy it. But it is not so of the house founded upon sand. Daniel 2: a stone cut out of the mountain without hands. Now he is called a cornerstone on account of the joining together of both; for as in a corner two walls are united, so in Christ the people of the Jews and of the Gentiles are united. Psalm: the stone which the builders rejected, this has been made the head of the corner. Acts 4: this is the stone which was rejected by you the builders, which has been made the head of the corner, and there is no salvation in any other. And this same thing he brings forward of himself in Matthew 21: have you never read in the Scriptures: the stone which the builders rejected, this has been made the head of the corner, etc. Now he is called highest on account of the loftiness of his dignity. Isaiah 28: behold, I will lay in the foundations of Zion a cornerstone, tried, precious, founded in the foundation. But it is not the same with the foundation in a spiritual building as in a material building. For a material building has its foundation in the earth, and therefore it is fitting that the more principal foundation be the lower. But a spiritual building has its foundation in heaven, and therefore it is fitting that the foundation, the more principal it is, the more sublime it be — so that we should imagine, as it were, a certain city descending from heaven, whose foundation, existing in heaven, and whose building, let down to us, would seem to be lower; according to that word of Revelation 21: I saw the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven, etc. Accordingly, when he says in whom the whole building, etc., he treats of the construction of the building. Now in any construction of a building four things are required: first, the founding of the building; second, its construction; third, its increase; fourth, its completion — which indeed he touches upon briefly. The first, when he says in whom, namely in the foundation, which is Christ principally, and the teaching of the apostles and prophets secondarily, because, as is said in 1 Corinthians 3: no other foundation can any man lay besides that, etc. Second, he touches upon the second, when he says the whole building, being framed together. And if this be understood allegorically, it signifies the Church itself, which is then constructed when men are converted to the faith. But if it be understood morally, it signifies the holy soul, and then a building of this kind is constructed when good works are built upon Christ. Proverbs 14: a wise woman builds her house. 1 Corinthians 3: let every man take heed how he builds thereupon. In this foundation, then, namely Christ, every spiritual building, of Jews or of Gentiles, is constructed by God through his authority. Psalm 126: unless the Lord build the house, etc. Hebrews 3: for every house is built by someone, but he who created all things is God. But instrumentally the building is constructed either by the man who builds himself, or by the prelates. He touches upon the third when he says grows into a holy temple, etc.; which indeed happens when those who are saved are multiplied. Acts 6: the word of the Lord grew, and the number of the disciples in Jerusalem was multiplied greatly. It also grows when a man grows in good works, and grows in grace — and as to this it becomes a holy temple. For a temple is inhabited by God, and therefore it must be holy. Psalm 45: the Most High has sanctified his tabernacle. And because we ought to be inhabited by God, so that God may dwell in us, we ought to prepare ourselves for this, that we may be holy. 1 Corinthians 3: do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? Revelation 21: behold, the tabernacle of God with men, and he shall dwell with them. But is it the case that, immediately from the beginning, when we have charity, we are the temple of God? I answer. It must be said that it is so. And the more we advance, the more God dwells in us. And therefore for this building, fourthly, perfection and completion are required, which he shows when he says in the Lord. Accordingly, when he says in whom you also, etc., he shows how the Gentiles were made participants of this building, saying in whom, namely in the building, not only are the Jews built up together, but you Ephesians also are built together, that is, you are built in the likeness of the others. 1 Peter 2: to whom coming, as unto a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen and honored by God, you also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house. And therefore he adds for a habitation of God, that is, that God may dwell in you through faith. Below, chapter 3: that Christ may dwell through faith in your hearts. Now this cannot come about without charity, because he who abides in charity abides in God, etc., 1 John 4. But charity is given to us through the Holy Spirit. Romans 5: the charity of God is poured forth in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who is given to us. Therefore he adds in the Holy Spirit.”

“In whom you also are builded together,.... As the church universal, so every particular church is a building that is compact together, in and upon Christ, as the church at Ephesus was: God is the builder of it; Christ is the foundation; true believers are the proper materials; the door, or entrance into it, is Christ, and faith in him; the ministers of the Gospel are pillars in it; the ordinances are its windows; its furniture is of various sorts, there are vessels of small, and of great quantity; and its provisions are large and entertaining. A church is a building compact together; it consists of many parts; and these are joined together, by agreement, and are knit and cemented in love; and being thus joined together, they are designed for social worship, and their great concern should be to edify one another. The phrase, "in whom", may either refer to the holy temple before spoken of, the church universal, of which a particular church is a part; or to Christ, who is the master builder, by whom they are built together, and the foundation on whom they are built, and the cornerstone in whom they meet and are united. And the end of their being thus built together is, for an habitation of God through the Spirit; which may be understood of God the Father, since he is distinguished from Christ, in whom, and from the Holy Spirit, through whom, they are built for this purpose, though not to the exclusion of either of them; for a particular church is an habitation of Father, Son, and Spirit: and it being the habitation of God, shows his great grace and condescension, and the great value and regard he has for it; and this makes it a desirable, delightful, and pleasant habitation to the saints; and hence it is a safe and a quiet one, and they are happy that dwell in it; and hither should souls come for the enjoyment of the divine presence: and whereas it is said to be such through the Spirit; hence it appears, that the Spirit is concerned with the other two persons in the building of it; and that hereby it becomes a spiritual house; and is, through his grace, a fit habitation for the holy God to dwell in; and that God dwells in his churches by his Spirit. Next: Ephesians Chapter 3”

“In whom ye also are builded - The apostle now applies the metaphor to the purpose for which he produced it, retaining however some of the figurative expressions. As the stones in a temple are all properly placed so as to form a complete house, and be a habitation for the Deity that is worshipped there, so ye are all, both believing Jews and Gentiles, prepared by the doctrine of the prophets and apostles, under the influence of the Spirit of Christ, to become a habitation of God, a Church in which God shall be worthily worshipped, and in which he can continually dwell. 1. Many suppose that the apostle in the preceding chapter alludes to the splendor of the temple of Diana at Ephesus, which was reputed one of the wonders of the world. But to me this opinion does not seem sufficiently founded. I believe he has the Jewish temple continually in view; for that temple, above all in the universe, could alone be said to be a habitation of God. Both in the tabernacle and temple God dwelt between the cherubim; there was the symbol of his presence, and there was the worship performed which himself had prescribed. After the model of this was the spiritual temple, the Christian Church, constructed; and God was to dwell in the one, as he had dwelt in the other. This simile, drawn from the temple at Jerusalem, was alone worthy of the apostle's design; to have alluded to the temple of Diana would have disgraced his subject. And as many at Ephesus were Jews, and well acquainted with the temple at Jerusalem, they would both feel and venerate the apostle's simile, and be led to look for the indwelling of God; that which distinguished the Jewish temple from all others on the face of the earth. 2. The Church of God is very properly said to be a most noble and wonderful work, and truly worthy of God himself. There is nothing, says one, so august as this Church, seeing it is the temple of God. Nothing so worthy of reverence, seeing God dwells in it. Nothing so ancient, since the patriarchs and prophets labored in building it. Nothing so solid, since Jesus Christ is the foundation of it. Nothing more closely united and indivisible, since he is the corner stone. Nothing so lofty, since it reaches as high as heaven, and to the bosom of God himself. Nothing so regular and well proportioned, since the Holy Spirit is the architect. Nothing more beautiful, or adorned with greater variety, since it consists of Jews and Gentiles, of every age, country, sex, and condition: the mightiest potentates, the most renowned lawgivers, the most profound philosophers, the most eminent scholars, besides all those of whom the world was not worthy, have formed a part of this building. Nothing more spacious, since it is spread over the whole earth, and takes in all who have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Nothing so inviolable, since it is consecrated to Jehovah. Nothing so Divine, since it is a living building, animated and inhabited by the Holy Ghost. Nothing so beneficent, seeing it gives shelter to the poor, the wretched, and distressed, of every nation, and kindred, and tongue. It is the place in which God does his marvelous works; the theater of his justice, mercy, goodness, and truth; where he is to be sought, where he is to be found, and in which alone he is to he retained. As we have one only God, and one only Savior and Mediator between God and man, and one only inspiring Spirit; so there is but one Church, in which this ineffable Jehovah performs his work of salvation. That Church, however scattered and divided throughout the world, is but one building, founded on the Old and New Testaments; having but one sacrifice, the Lord Jesus, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. 3. Of this glorious Church every Christian soul is an epitome; for as God dwells in the Church at large, so he dwells in every believer in particular: each is a habitation of God through the Spirit. In vain are all pretensions among sects and parties to the privileges of the Church of Christ, if they have not the doctrine and life of Christ. Traditions and legends are not apostolic doctrines, and showy ceremonies are not the life of God in the soul of man. 4. Religion has no need of human ornaments or trappings; it shines by its own light, and is refulgent with its own glory. Where it is not in life and power, men have endeavored to produce a specious image, dressed and ornamented with their own hands. Into this God never breathed, therefore it can do no good to man, and only imposes on the ignorant and credulous by a vain show of lifeless pomp and splendor. This phantom, called true religion and the Church by its votaries, is in heaven denominated vain superstition; the speechless symbol of departed piety.”