Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Ephesians 2:19-22 NKJV

2:19 We are no longer guests and outsiders. We have obtained a co-citizenship with everyone who has been set apart to be joined to the Father’s household.

2:20 The household of God is the visible structure that is established upon the substructure (foundation) of apostles and prophets. From a distance (the perspective of those who are outside), you do not typically notice a building’s foundation. The household of God is that which is visible to those who are not yet belonging to the Church. This is their focus and it is what the “outsider” sees.

We know however, that this structure has a foundation to uphold it, keeping it secure and protected from external elements. The chief cornerstone of this foundation is Christ Jesus Himself. His identity, present condition, and future inheritance is what everything else rests upon.

This foundation of Christ also consists of apostles and prophets. Notice, the emphasis here is not regarding “who” are the apostles and prophets. Here is what I mean by this statement: the family of God wasn’t built specifically on Paul or Peter’s apostleship, for instance. The family of God was built upon the foundation laid by a multitude of apostles and prophets.

Deeper Look # 3: A Brief Deeper Look into Ephesians 2:20

To grasp the idea of an apostolic and prophetic foundation, we must ask, “what is an apostle and prophet?”

Apostleship imparts to the family of God the “governmental ambassadorship” of Jesus, the King of the Jews. Governmental ambassadorship is a lot of syllables that simply means the body of Christ has a call to preach, as God’s chosen messengers, all aspects, values, and benefits of Jesus’ kingdom. As the family of God (ie. the Church, body of Christ/Messiah) understands this better, we will reclaim the apostleship of our faith. Apostleship represents the missional heart and zeal that drives us into every tribe, tongue, and nation to proclaim the good news of the coming Kingdom of the Jewish Messiah.

Too many of us have acted as “apostles of spiritual salvation”. Jesus didn’t actually call or anoint any of those. In Acts 18, when Apollos proclaimed an incomplete (though correct, sincere, and honest) gospel, Pricilla and Aquila brought correction so that he and the disciples he ministered to could see and proclaim the whole Gospel. The gift of apostleship equips us in the demonstration that Jesus is the Christ upon which the hope of all the heavens and earth may trust. He is not just a spiritual savior. (Acts 18:24-28)

The prophetic ministry equips us in the testimony of Jesus (the greater story of Jesus from creation to restoration). Not only is Jesus the Christ who will redeem the whole earth when He returns to establish His throne in Israel, but He is also equal to the Father and one with the Father. Jesus is our creator God, who before sin existed, crafted a plan for all creation to be brought into glorious fellowship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Heaven and earth may have been separated in Genesis to begin the long redemptive process of establishing peace in the midst of chaos, but one day these will be brought back together under Jesus’ glorious redemptive leadership. In His prophetic testimony we see every last enemy, even death itself, coming to its final end.

Later in our Ephesians study, we will look further into the ministries of the apostle and the prophet, as these spiritual gifts are highlighted again in chapter four.

2:21 It is upon this foundation the whole “building” (body of Christ) is unified as a “set apart sanctuary” in Jesus.

2:22 We are to this day in a present condition of being unified (built together) as a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. We read elsewhere that we are, as individuals, a temple of the Holy Spirit. Here in Ephesians, we read that we are also collectively set apart together to be a dwelling place (place of encounter and fellowship) for the Holy Spirit.

There may be things we can only attain to in Christ as individuals, for we have an individual relationship and responsibility with God. However, in this verse Paul is directing us to that which can only be obtained by walking in unity and fellowship with other believers. We cannot truly and fully walk in the will of God for the family of God as individuals. We must do so as a family.

I will note, as a preface before looking at the next few verses, that Paul is not simply advocating for religious attendance or detached agreement to your church or ministry’s doctrine or mission statement. As we will see, Paul is addressing something much greater, both in its understanding and its personal cost.