Unity in Christ

The building is organic. But it grows. into a holy temple. You had the foundation. And then you had the cornerstone.

But what makes up the rest of the building? Who are the stones? The bricks. That are knit together. to make this magnificent building.

We are. As the Apostle Peter said, We are the living stones that Christ uses to knit together, and he's taking Gentile stones. and Jewish stones. and knitting them together to Build together a dwelling place. of God.

in the spirit. One of the beautiful truths of the gospel is the reality that not only are believers united to Christ, but as a result, We also have union with each other. Christians have unity in Christ. It might not always appear that way. we are all in different stages of our growth in Christ-likeness.

And that's precisely why we need to be reminded of it. recognizing each other as brothers and sisters, living stones being knit together. Welcome to the Sunday edition of Renewing Your Mind, where each week we feature the preaching and teaching ministry of R.C. Sprawl. Last week we started a short series in Ephesians on how there can be peace between sinners and our holy God, and peace between Jew and Gentile.

Although we'll only be considering a short portion of Ephesians, you can study all of Paul's letter when you request Dr. Sroll's commentary on Ephesians. All of Dr. Sproll's teaching on this book was brought together to form this final commentary in his Expositional Commentary series. You can own a copy when you give a donation in support of Renewing Your Mind.

renewingyourmind.org before midnight tonight.

Well, here's Dr. Sprawl on the unity we have. in Christ. Last time we looked at that section of the text where. Poe had contrasted the former situation, the relationship of hostility between.

Jews and Gentiles. Saying that now in Christ Jesus, You who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. And then he says in verse 14, For he himself is our Peace. In this case, Jesus is not merely the peacemaker. It's not as though Jesus himself brings the Jew and the Gentile to the bargaining table and affects.

A successful negotiation for the cessation of hostilities. It's not simply that he brings peace. or that teaches peace. But he himself, Paul is saying now, in a remarkable way. is our Peace.

Oh, what does Paul mean by that? He speaks elsewhere of Christ being our righteousness. That is, his righteousness is imputed to us. But Jesus himself brings peace between these warring parties, not only because he is peaceful, But because he is the very incarnation of peace. You remember his last will and testimony, his legacy pronounced to his disciples in the upper room on the night before he was crucified when he said to his disciples, Peace.

I leave with you. My peace. I give unto you. Not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not.

Your hearts Be trouble.

Now, how does this work? I think Paul here is alluding, at least. to a very core. doctrine that he teaches throughout his epistles. And that is The doctrine of the mystical.

Union of believers with Christ. When we recite the Apostles' Creed, One of the affirmations that we make in that creed is that we believe. In the communio sanctorum. The communion of saints. Have you given much thought to that?

What does it mean? Again, if I can break down the word, it's a simple word, another compound word. There is the prefix calm. Which means what? With And then the root unio.

So a communion Is a uniting of people together with each other. There's a certain withness. A unified witness that we all share as Christians.

Now the foundation. for the communion of saints. is our mystical union as individuals with Christ. As I've said before when looking at this epistle, when you become a Christian, you believe into Christ. And when you believe into Christ.

Christ comes in you. He is now in you. And you are in him. But this mystical union goes far beyond the individual. If I am in Christ.

And Christ is in me. And you are in Christ. And Christ is in you. Then our peace Our reconciliation Our union is found in him.

So that he is Our unity. He is Our Peace. He himself That's the emphatic reference here to Christ. is our peace. who has made both one.

That is Jew and Gentile. and has broken down the middle wall of separation. We remember that the day of our Lord's death. That when he satisfied the demands of God's holiness and justice. that the veil of the temple was rent.

Vertically. opening up access from the holy place. to the Holy of Holies. But that wasn't the only separation. There was the porch of the Gentiles, the area that separated the Gentiles from the Jews.

And that was a place of separation. And now that wall of separation, not only the curtain between the holy place and the holy of holies, has been torn asunder, but the Separation between the Jew and the Gentile. has also been Broken down. Having abolished in his flesh. The enmity.

Now. We know, I think. what the word abolish means. We uh went through a war in this country. To abolish slavery.

And to abolish means to Get rid of. to terminate. To end particularly with respect to legal requirements. And so The enmity that exists between the Jew and the Gentile. is not only overcome by the peace of Christ, but by his authority has been abolished.

It's over. There is no justification to continue any enmity between Jew and Gentile once Christ has abolished that enmity. And how did he do it? He did it. in his flesh.

That is, he did it. On the cross. He did it. By suffering, Both For the sins of the Jewish elect. as well as the sins of the Gentile elect.

And so, in the sacrifice of his physical death. He set aside. Not only the enmity between God and us. but also the enmity between Jew And gentle. He abolished In his flesh, the enmity.

That is the law of commandments. contained in ordinances. Again, the big stumbling block between the Jews and the Gentiles were those particularly ceremonial laws that dealt with the liturgical cultic life of Israel that distinguished them from all the nations of the world. And so one of the things that the Gentiles hated about the Jews were all these Jewish rituals and rites and ceremonies and regulations that they did not participate in.

So as to, that is for the purpose here. to create in himself again you see that this This is an act of... Creation? By Christ. That is an act of creation that is not only by Christ.

But it is And Christ. And you might say it is for Christ. Just as the world itself. was created by Christ, for Christ. And he is the one who holds all things together.

So now He's creating in himself. One New Mayan.

Now, that singular use of man there may mislead us for a moment, and we may miss the point. But what Paul is speaking about here. is of Christ has introduced A new Humanity. A new humanity. that abolishes this wall of separation.

between Jew and Gentile so that now in him There is no Jew nor Greek. Only one Common. Humanity.

So In himself, he created one new man. From the two. thus making peace. and that he might reconcile them both to God in one body Through the cross. therefore putting to death the enmity.

These images are simply repeating by way of emphasis what he's already said here. And so he came and preached, peace to you who were afar off. and to those who were near. He preached the same message. both to the Jews and to the Gentiles.

of the presence of the kingdom of God. For through him We both have access. by one spirit to the Father. If there's ever a Trinitarian passage that you're going to run into, here it is, because it says that this work of reconciliation, this making peace between Jew and Gentiles, is a Trinitarian work. It was through Christ.

By the Holy Spirit. Unto the Father.

So that all three persons in the Trinity are working for the same purpose and to the same end here. He says now therefore You're no longer strangers and foreigners. The Old Testament saw the Gentiles foreigners and strangers, to God's covenant community. That old system is gone. It no longer stands.

But instead of being strangers and foreigners, Paul says, that this unity manifests itself fundamentally in three ways, and let's see if we can discover them.

Now therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners. But fellow citizens With the Saints. What's a citizen? A citizen belongs to some political group. A city really comes from the word city.

Or a nation. I told the story at some point on Sunday morning about what happened to Vesta and me. Two of our friends, when I was doing a three-week series of lectures in Eastern Europe right after the wall came down. And the Communists had departed. And I had lectured for a week, first of all, in Czechoslovakia, which is now the Czech Republic, and then a week at the seminary in.

And Buddha passed in Hungary. And from there, we were traveling to Romania to do another week of lectures there. This is shortly after Ceachesco had been overthrown. But we were warned. In our journey.

That things at the border between Hungary and Romania were difficult. and that we might encounter Trouble. by the authorities. at the border. And so when our train, which was an antiquated train, I believe, World War II vintage, Crossed the border from Hungary into Romania and came into the first stop.

We were met. by the Border Patrol. And two, Somewhat rough. and crude.

Soldiers got on the train and demanded that we open up our luggage. Which we did. And they were being very aggressive and unfriendly towards us. And then a moment later, The head officer got on, a great big burly guy. And he walked over to see what was going on here and looked down.

And one of our persons that were with us had a Bible in a brown paper bag. And this chief of the Border Patrol Saw. This Bible and said, What's that? And she poured it out and she said, It's a Bible. And he looked at the Bible.

And I said, you Christians? We said yes. And then he said, looking at our passports, You know Americans. We said, Oh, we're in trouble now. Exception.

You're not American. I'm not real married in them. Then he opened the text of scripture and said, What does this say? We are fellow citizens. of the kingdom of God.

He was a Christian and he told to these other guys, he says, leave these people alone. They're fine. They're fellow citizens. with us. of the kingdom of God.

That was a wonderful taste of the mercy and grace of God. But what he's saying is that the Gentiles now, through the ministry of Christ, have been brought. into the city of God.

Now In this metaphor, he speaks about, first of all, that this house has been built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. If you ask the average Christian on the street, What is the church's foundation? They will say the church's foundation is Jesus Christ.

Well, that's usually because they've heard the hymn. The church's one foundation is Jesus Christ our Lord.

Well, the Bible teaches us that the only foundation that can be laid is the one that is laid in Christ Jesus. But again, the main metaphor for the foundation of the church. is not that Jesus is the foundation. But the foundation It's built upon the prophets. And The Apostles And what does that mean?

Why is that important? We have seen in the last 200 years a wholesale assault. against the authority of the Bible. And that assault has not come simply from unbelieving secularists. But in a main, it's come from within the church.

From critics of the scripture. who claim to be Christians. Speaking of the higher critics of the academic world. who have leveled this assault. The founder of the university where I did my doctoral studies was also the prime minister of the Netherlands.

Abraham Kuyper. said at the turn of the century. that biblical criticism can no longer legitimately be called biblical criticism. It must be called, to be accurate, biblical vandalism. That the attacks upon biblical authority have been so severe, it betrays the work of vandals.

Now To say that the church is built on the foundation of the prophets and the apostles is to say that the foundation of the church. is based upon the truth. That is revealed by God through his agents of revelation. Those agents of revelation in the Old Testament were the prophets. In the New Testament, they are the apostles.

We see that same imagery found in the book of Revelation, for example. And again, when the psalmist wrote, he raised the question: if the foundation of the house be shaken How can the building stand? and the foundation of the church. Is the teaching? The words Of the prophets and the apostles.

To put it another way, The church is built on the word of God. And when that foundation is shaken. The building cannot possibly stand. But again, the prophets and the A parcel. Do not serve merely on their own power.

And even on their delegated authority as the whole of the foundation of the church, but that foundation, in order to be able to support the building. Has to be neatly fit together and built upon a sound. Basis and that which knits it together is the cornerstone. Without which the building will not be unified. And so that foundational imagery of the prophets and the apostles is seen to be knit together and unified.

Bye. The Lord Christ himself being the chief Corners now. And a chief cornerstone to a builder in the first century was that stone without which. The building could not stand. in whom the whole building Being fitted together.

Again, it's in Christ. that the whole building is knit together. Through and by The Cornerstone.

So this image now, we've gone beyond citizen. The family. to the building. which is knit together By Christ. himself And it grows.

Here the building is organic. But it grows into a holy temple. This foundation really makes the old temple of brick and mortar. to be obsolete. Because we now have a holy temple in the Lord.

in whom you are also being built together. for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. Again. You had the foundation. And then you had the cornerstone.

But what makes up the rest of the building? Who are the stones? The bricks? Better knit together. to make this magnificent building.

We are. As the Apostle Peter said. We are the living stones. That Christ uses to knit together, and he's taking Gentile stones. and Jewy stones.

and knitting them together. Yeah. Build together. A dwelling place of God In the spirit. If we just would believe those last words.

That last phrase. of this last verse. Chapter two I believe the Life of this church would be transformed. I believe we would have revival. like we've never seen.

I believe that our worship experience on Sunday morning. Would undergo a metamorphosis. Why? Because We have been built together. As a people.

To be a dwelling place. A dwelling place. Of God. In the Spirit. Say, if we really believed that, we would know that when we come together on Sunday morning for worship.

That we're coming into the manifest and manifold. Presence of God. And if we really believe that. If we really believe that God was here. In the power and presence of the Holy Ghost.

Our worship experience would go. Through the roof. and we would experience A renewal of our souls. A refreshment of our spirits. a fullness of reverence.

and adoration. Uh Because we know that we have spent time with the Lord. Isn't that what you long for on Sunday mornings? What a beautiful picture and a glorious reality that we as Christians have unity in Christ. I'm Nathan W.

Bingham, and this is the Sunday edition of Renewing Your Mind. I do hope that what R. C. Sproll just described at the end of today's message is what you experienced as you gathered for worship in a local congregation this morning. We're in the middle of a short series in Ephesians, but Paul addresses many topics in this letter, expounding on the Gospel, and detailing how we are to live as those in the light, the armor of God, and more.

Spend time this year walking through Ephesians line by line. When you request Dr. Sproll's hardcover commentary, If you're looking for reading to help focus your thoughts on the truths of God's Word, this resource could be a great help to you. Request your copy when you give a donation at renewingyourmind.org or when you use the link in the podcast show notes. We'll send you this commentary to add to your library as our way of saying thank you.

And if you live outside of the US and Canada, the e-book edition is waiting for you at renewingyourmind.org/slash global. Make plans to join us next time as RC Scroll teaches on the unsearchable riches of Christ. That'll be next Sunday here on Renewing Your Mind.