in whom the whole building, fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord;
Parallel Translations
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in whom the whole building, fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord;
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in whom every bildynge coupled togedder groweth vnto an holy temple in the lorde
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In whom all the building coupled together, groweth vnto an holy Temple in the Lord.
Cross-references (10)
Passages linked to Ephesians 2:21 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 Don’t you know that you are a temple of God, and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is holy, which you are.
- 1 Corinthians 3:9 For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s farming, God’s building.
- 2 Corinthians 6:16 What agreement does a temple of God have with idols? For you are a temple of the living God. Even as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk in them. I will be their God and they will be my people.”
- Ephesians 4:13-16 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a full grown man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we may no longer be children, tossed back and forth and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error; but speaking truth in love, we may grow up in all things into him who is the head, Christ, from whom all the body, being fitted and knit together through that which every joint supplies, according to the working in measure of each individual part, makes the body increase to the building up of itself in love.
- 1 Kings 6:7 The house, when it was under construction, was built of stone prepared at the quarry; and no hammer or ax or any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was under construction.
- Hebrews 3:3-4 For he has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, because he who built the house has more honor than the house. For every house is built by someone; but he who built all things is God.
- Exodus 26:1-37 “Moreover you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, with cherubim. You shall make them with the work of a skillful workman. The length of each curtain shall be twenty-eight cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits: all the curtains shall have one measure. Five curtains shall be coupled together to one another, and the other five curtains shall be coupled to one another. You shall make loops of blue on the edge of the one curtain from the edge in the coupling, and you shall do likewise on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in the second coupling. You shall make fifty loops in the one curtain, and you shall make fifty loops in the edge of the curtain that is in the second coupling. The loops shall be opposite one another. You shall make fifty clasps of gold, and couple the curtains to one another with the clasps. The tabernacle shall be a unit. “You shall make curtains of goats’ hair for a covering over the tabernacle. You shall make eleven curtains. The length of each curtain shall be thirty cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits: the eleven curtains shall have one measure. You shall couple five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves, and shall double over the sixth curtain in the forefront of the tent. You shall make fifty loops on the edge of the one curtain that is outermost in the coupling, and fifty loops on the edge of the curtain which is outermost in the second coupling. You shall make fifty clasps of bronze, and put the clasps into the loops, and couple the tent together, that it may be one. The overhanging part that remains of the curtains of the tent—the half curtain that remains—shall hang over the back of the tabernacle. The cubit on the one side and the cubit on the other side, of that which remains in the length of the curtains of the tent, shall hang over the sides of the tabernacle on this side and on that side, to cover it. You shall make a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red, and a covering of sea cow hides above. “You shall make the boards for the tabernacle of acacia wood, standing upright. Ten cubits shall be the length of a board, and one and a half cubits the width of each board. There shall be two tenons in each board, joined to one another: thus you shall make for all the boards of the tabernacle. You shall make twenty boards for the tabernacle, for the south side southward. You shall make forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards; two sockets under one board for its two tenons, and two sockets under another board for its two tenons. For the second side of the tabernacle, on the north side, twenty boards, and their forty sockets of silver; two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board. For the far side of the tabernacle westward you shall make six boards. You shall make two boards for the corners of the tabernacle in the far side. They shall be double beneath, and in the same way they shall be whole to its top to one ring: thus shall it be for them both; they shall be for the two corners. There shall be eight boards, and their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets; two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board. “You shall make bars of acacia wood: five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the side of the tabernacle, for the far side westward. The middle bar in the middle of the boards shall pass through from end to end. You shall overlay the boards with gold, and make their rings of gold for places for the bars. You shall overlay the bars with gold. You shall set up the tabernacle according to the way that it was shown to you on the mountain. “You shall make a veil of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, with cherubim. It shall be the work of a skillful workman. You shall hang it on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold; their hooks shall be of gold, on four sockets of silver. You shall hang up the veil under the clasps, and shall bring the ark of the covenant in there within the veil. The veil shall separate the holy place from the most holy for you. You shall put the mercy seat on the ark of the covenant in the most holy place. You shall set the table outside the veil, and the lamp stand opposite the table on the side of the tabernacle toward the south. You shall put the table on the north side. “You shall make a screen for the door of the Tent, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of the embroiderer. You shall make for the screen five pillars of acacia, and overlay them with gold. Their hooks shall be of gold. You shall cast five sockets of bronze for them.
- Psalms 93:5 Your statutes stand firm. Holiness adorns your house, Yahweh, forever more.
- Ezekiel 42:12 According to the doors of the rooms that were toward the south was a door at the head of the way, even the way directly before the wall toward the east, as one enters into them.
- Ezekiel 40:1-42 In the twenty-fifth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was struck, in the same day, Yahweh’s hand was on me, and he brought me there. In the visions of God he brought me into the land of Israel, and set me down on a very high mountain, on which was something like the frame of a city to the south. He brought me there; and, behold, there was a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze, with a line of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate. The man said to me, “Son of man, see with your eyes, and hear with your ears, and set your heart on all that I will show you; for you have been brought here so that I may show them to you. Declare all that you see to the house of Israel.” Behold, there was a wall on the outside of the house all around, and in the man’s hand a measuring reed six cubits long, of a cubit and a hand width each. So he measured the thickness of the building, one reed; and the height, one reed. Then he came to the gate which looks toward the east, and went up its steps. He measured the threshold of the gate, one reed wide; and the other threshold, one reed wide. Every lodge was one reed long and one reed wide. Between the lodges was five cubits. The threshold of the gate by the porch of the gate toward the house was one reed. He measured also the porch of the gate toward the house, one reed. Then he measured the porch of the gate, eight cubits; and its posts, two cubits; and the porch of the gate was toward the house. The lodges of the gate eastward were three on this side, and three on that side. The three of them were of one measure. The posts had one measure on this side and on that side. He measured the width of the opening of the gate, ten cubits; and the length of the gate, thirteen cubits; and a border before the lodges, one cubit on this side, and a border, one cubit on that side; and the lodges, six cubits on this side, and six cubits on that side. He measured the gate from the roof of the one lodge to the roof of the other, a width of twenty-five cubits, door against door. He also made posts, sixty cubits; and the court reached to the posts, around the gate. From the forefront of the gate at the entrance to the forefront of the inner porch of the gate were fifty cubits. There were closed windows to the lodges, and to their posts within the gate all around, and likewise to the arches. Windows were around inward. Palm trees were on each post. Then he brought me into the outer court. Behold, there were rooms and a pavement made for the court all around. Thirty rooms were on the pavement. The pavement was by the side of the gates, corresponding to the length of the gates, even the lower pavement. Then he measured the width from the forefront of the lower gate to the forefront of the inner court outside, one hundred cubits, both on the east and on the north. He measured the length and width of the gate of the outer court which faces toward the north. The lodges of it were three on this side and three on that side. Its posts and its arches were the same as the measure of the first gate: its length was fifty cubits, and the width twenty-five cubits. Its windows, its arches, and its palm trees were the same as the measure of the gate which faces toward the east. They went up to it by seven steps. Its arches were before them. There was a gate to the inner court facing the other gate, on the north and on the east. He measured one hundred cubits from gate to gate. He led me toward the south; and behold, there was a gate toward the south. He measured its posts and its arches according to these measurements. There were windows in it and in its arches all around, like those windows: the length was fifty cubits, and the width twenty-five cubits. There were seven steps to go up to it, and its arches were before them. It had palm trees, one on this side, and another on that side, on its posts. There was a gate to the inner court toward the south. He measured one hundred cubits from gate to gate toward the south. Then he brought me to the inner court by the south gate. He measured the south gate according to these measurements; with its lodges, its posts, and its arches, according to these measurements. There were windows in it and in its arches all around. It was fifty cubits long, and twenty-five cubits wide. There were arches all around, twenty-five cubits long, and five cubits wide. Its arches were toward the outer court. Palm trees were on its posts. The ascent to it had eight steps. He brought me into the inner court toward the east. He measured the gate according to these measurements; with its lodges, its posts, and its arches, according to these measurements. There were windows in it and in its arches all around. It was fifty cubits long, and twenty-five cubits wide. Its arches were toward the outer court. Palm trees were on its posts on this side and on that side. The ascent to it had eight steps. He brought me to the north gate, and he measured it according to these measurements; its lodges, its posts, and its arches. There were windows in it all around. The length was fifty cubits and the width twenty-five cubits. Its posts were toward the outer court. Palm trees were on its posts on this side and on that side. The ascent to it had eight steps. A room with its door was by the posts at the gates. They washed the burnt offering there. In the porch of the gate were two tables on this side, and two tables on that side, on which to kill the burnt offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering. On the one side outside, as one goes up to the entry of the gate toward the north, were two tables; and on the other side, which belonged to the porch of the gate, were two tables. Four tables were on this side, and four tables on that side, by the side of the gate: eight tables, on which they killed the sacrifices. There were four tables for the burnt offering, of cut stone, a cubit and a half long, and a cubit and a half wide, and one cubit high. They laid the instruments with which they killed the burnt offering and the sacrifice on them.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 21. In whom all the building groweth. If this…
21. In whom all the building groweth. If this be true, what will become of Peter? When Paul, in writing to the Corinthians, speaks of Christ as a “Foundation,” he does not mean that the church is begun by him and completed by others, but draws a distinction arising out of a comparison of his own labors with those of other men. It had been his duty to found the church at Corinth, and to leave to his successors the completion of the building.
“According to the grace of God which is given to me, as a wise master-builder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth on it.” (1 Corinthians 3:10.)
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With respect to the present passage, he conveys the instruction, that all who are fitly framed together in Christ are the temple of the Lord. There is first required a fitting together, that believers may embrace and accommodate themselves to each other by mutual intercourse; otherwise there would not be a building, but a confused mass. The chief part of the symmetry consists in unity of faith. Next follows progress, or increase. Those who are not united in faith and love, so as to grow in the Lord, belong to a profane building, which has nothing in common with the temple of the Lord.
Groweth unto an holy temple. Individual believers are at other times called “temples of the Holy Ghost,” (1 Corinthians 6:19; 2 Corinthians 6:16,) but here all are said to constitute one temple. In both cases the metaphor is just and appropriate. When God dwells in each of us, it is his will that we should embrace all in holy unity, and that thus he should form one temple out of many. Each person, when viewed separately, is a temple, but, when joined to others, becomes a stone of a temple; and this view is given for the sake of recommending the unity of the church.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain So that God is the workman not only of…
So that God is the workman not only of the foundation, but also of the whole building.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 21 In whom all the building fitly framed together…
21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
Ver. 21. Fitly framed together] Or, perfectly joined together by the cement of the Holy Spirit, working in the saints faith in Christ and love one toward another, which the apostle calleth the bond of perfection.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain In whom; or upon whom, viz. Christ the foundation.
In whom; or upon whom, viz. Christ the foundation.
All the building; whatsoever is built on Christ the foundation, and so all particular believers, as the several parts of the building.
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Fitly framed together; joined and united both to Christ the foundation by faith, and to each other by love.
Groweth; either:
1. Ariseth; the building goeth on till it comes to be a temple. Or:
2. It notes the stones or materials of the house to be living ones, receiving life from Christ, 1Pe 2:5. Growth supposeth life. The verb is in the present tense, to signify that the builders are still at work, and this temple not yet finished.
Unto an holy temple; in allusion to the temple at Jerusalem; whereas the holy of holies was a type of heaven, so the temple itself was a type of the church, both as it was the place of God’s presence, and of his worship.
In the Lord: either this must be joined to
groweth, and then it is a pleonasm, the antecedent being here repeated, though the relative had been expressed, and it implies the growth of believers (the materials of this spiritual building) to be from Christ; or it may be joined with holy, and then it signifies that they have their holiness from Christ; or it may be read, holy to the Lord, and then it expresses the nature of this temple, that it is undefiled, consecrated to the Lord, and meet for him.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain In whom all the building fitly framed together,.... This…
In whom all the building fitly framed together,.... This building is to be understood of all the saints, and people of God; of the whole universal church, which is God's building; and is a building of a spiritual nature, and will abide for ever: and this is fitly framed together; it consists of various parts, as a building does; some saints are comparable to beams, some to rafters, others to pillars, &c. and these are joined and united to one another, and are set in an exact symmetry and proportion, and in a proper subserviency to each other; and so as to make for the good, the strength, and beauty of the whole. And it all centres in Christ; he has a great concern in this building; he is the master builder, and the foundation and cornerstone; and it being knit together in him,
groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: it grows by an accession of new stones, or of souls called by grace, and added to it; for this building is not yet openly and visibly completed, as it will be; in order to which the ministry of the word, and administration of ordinances are continued; and this will be in the latter day, when the number of God's elect, among Jews and Gentiles, shall be gathered in: and this growth may be understood also of an increase of those, who are openly laid in the building; of their spiritual growth into their head, Christ; and of an, increase of grace in them; which the word and ordinances are means of, under a divine blessing: and this building grows unto an "holy temple", the Gospel church state, called a "temple", in allusion to the temple at Jerusalem; whose materials were stones made ready and hewn, before they were brought thither; and whose magnificence, beauty, and glory, were very great; and it was the place of public worship, and of the divine abode, and was a very significant emblem of the church of God; see Co2 6:16, which is an "holy" one, set apart for holy uses, and internally sanctified by the Spirit of God; and which is discovered by external holiness of life, and conversation in the members of it: and this is said to be "in the Lord"; which phrase may refer to the word "groweth", and denotes that growth and increase, both of persons and grace, the church has in, and from the Lord Jesus Christ; or to the word "holy", and intimates, that the holiness of the church, and every member of it, is also in and from the Lord; or to the word "temple", which is built for him to dwell in.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On whom all the building fitly framed together -…
On whom all the building fitly framed together - The whole fabric of the universal church rises up like a great pile of living materials. Into an holy temple in the Lord - Dedicated to Christ, and inhabited by him, in which he displays his presence, and is worshipped and glorified. What is the temple of Diana of the Ephesians, whom ye formerly worshipped, to this?
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 21. In whom] By which foundation corner stone,…
Verse 21. In whom] By which foundation corner stone, Christ Jesus, all the building, composed of converted Jews and Gentiles, fitly framed together, συναρμολογουμενη, properly jointed and connected together, groweth unto a holy temple-is continually increasing, as new converts from Judaism or heathenism flock into it. It is not a finished building, but will continue to increase, and be more and more perfect, till the day of judgment.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain In whom - That is, “by” whom, or “upon”…
In whom - That is, “by” whom, or “upon” whom. It was in connection with him, or by being reared on him as a foundation.
All the building - The whole church of Christ.
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Fitly framed together - The word used here means “to joint together,” as a carpenter does the frame-work of a building. The materials are accurately and carefully united by mortises and tenons. so that the building shall be firm. Different materials may be used, and different kinds of timber may be employed, but one part shall be worked into another, so as to constitute a durable and beautiful edifice. So in the church. The different materials of the Jews and Gentiles; the people of various nations, though heretofore separated and discordant, become now united, and form an harmonious society. They believe the same doctrines; worship the same God; practice the same holiness; and look forward to the same heaven.
Groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord - see the 1Co 3:17 note; 2Co 6:16 note.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain In whom--as holding together the whole.
In whom--as holding together the whole.
fitly framed--so as exactly to fit together.
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groweth--"is growing" continually. Here an additional thought is added to the image; the Church has the growth of a living organism, not the mere increase of a building. Compare Pe1 2:5; "lively stones . . . built up a spiritual house." Compare Eph 4:16; Zac 6:12, "The Branch shall build the temple of the Lord," where similarly the growth of a branch, and the building of a temple, are joined.
holy--as being the "habitation of God" (Eph 2:22). So "in the Lord" (Christ) answers to "through the Spirit" (Eph 2:22; compare Eph 3:16-17). "Christ is the inclusive Head of all the building, the element in which it has its being and now its growth" [ALFORD].
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 21. All the building—The four walls, fastened by the…
21. All the building—The four walls, fastened by the corner stone, as different races are firmly bound into the Church by one common Christ.
Fitly framed together—Adjusted and united by one common gospel of peace.
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Groweth—It is an ever growing building, expanding in time and space over the earth.
Holy temple—Not a temple of idolatry and sorcery, like the great fane of the Ephesian Artemis, but a spiritual temple more worthy than even the edifice on Moriah.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 21. in whom] In close and vital connexion with…
21. in whom] In close and vital connexion with Whom. See last note.
all the building] R. V., “each several building;” as if the great Temple were viewed for the moment in its multiplicity of porches, courts, and towers; each connected with the great bond of the substructure, in and on which the whole architecture was rising.—An interesting grammatical question arises over the reading here and this rendering, and will occur again Eph_3:15 :—does the Greek phrase, in the best attested reading, demand the rendering of the R. V. as against that of the A. V.? We incline to the reply that it does not. The law of the definite article (the absence of which here occasions the question) is undoubtedly somewhat less exact in the Greek of the Scriptures than in that of the classics. And this leaves us free to use (with caution) the context to decide problems which in the classics would be decided by pure grammar. Such a case we take this to be; and the question to ask is, does the context favour the imagery of detail or that of total? Surely the latter. The idea points to one great building, getting completed within itself, rising to its ideal. We retain accordingly the A. V. See further, next note.
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fitly framed together] One word, a present participle, in the Greek. The same occurs below, Eph_4:16 (“fitly joined together”), and nowhere else in N. T. The idea is not of a completed but of a progressive work, a “framing together” of the structure ever more closely and firmly. The building shrinks into greater solidity, binds itself into more intense coherence, as it grows. The spiritual union of the saints needs but to be more believed and realized to tell more on their actual closeness of connexion.—The idea conveyed by this word, which is of course in the singular number, is (see last note) far rather that of one great building growing in internal solidity than of many buildings growing in contact.
groweth] with the perpetual addition of new “living stones” (1Pe_2:5) and the resulting new connexions. Observe two distinct ideas in harmony; growth in compactness, growth in extension.
unto a holy temple] R. V., margin, “into an holy sanctuary.” The Greek (nâos) is not the temple-area with its courts and porches (hiëron), but the temple-house; the place of the Presence.—The phrase, “unto,” “into,” suggests (like that in the next verse) a sanctuary not yet complete and ready for the Presence. The true Church, indeed, is already (1Co_3:16; 2Co_6:16; and cp. 1Co_6:19 of its individual members) “the sanctuary of the living God.” But it is this as a still imperfect thing, and still imperfectly; the absolute and final in the matter is yet to come; and this will so transcend the partial and actual that it is spoken of as if the Indwelling were not yet. We may faintly illustrate by an unfinished cathedral, used already for Divine worship, but not yet ideally prepared for it.—See Rev_21:22 for another side of truth in temple-imagery. There, in the final state, there is “no sanctuary,” for God and the Lamb “are the sanctuary of” the holy City. All, absolutely all, is hallowed by Their Presence indwelling; Sanctuary and Shechinah are, as it were, one; and nothing is there that is not Sanctuary.
Great indeed is the conception in this passage. The saints, in their community “in the Lord,” are preparing, through an Indwelling partial though real, for an Indwelling complete and eternal; the two being, in continuity, one. In no mere figure of speech, their God already “dwells” in their bodies, and in their community; dwells there as in a Sanctuary—in manifested Light, in Peace of covenant and propitiation, in Oracle-speech of “the Spirit’s witness,” in eternal Life. And this precious present fact is germinating to the future result of a heavenly and everlasting Indwelling (likewise in individuals and in community), when the Sanctuary shall reflect without a flaw its Indweller’s glory; when our union and communion with Him, in other words, shall be perfect, absolute, ideal. “We shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.”
in the Lord] The Lord Christ. We have “God” in the next verse, in a way which indicates this distinctive reference here. The imagery leaves the precise idea of the Corner Stone, to present the Lord as the living bond and principle, the secret both of growth and sanctity.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (21) In whom all the building fitly framed together…
(21) In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord.—There is some difficulty about the rendering-”all the building.” Generally the best MSS. omit the article in the original. But the sense seems to demand the rendering of the text, unless, indeed, we adopt the only other possible rendering, “in whom every act of building”—that is, every addition to the building—“is bonded to the rest, and grows,” &c. The clause agrees substantially, and almost verbally with Eph_4:16—“From whom the whole body, fitly joined (framed) together and compacted . . . maketh increase of the body unto the edifying (building up) of itself.” In this latter passage the leading idea is of the close union of the body to the head, to which, indeed, the metaphor more properly applies than to the relation of the building to the corner-stone. For we note that St. Paul, apparently finding this relation too slight to express the full truth of the unity of the Church with Christ, first speaks of the whole building as compacted together in the corner-stone, and growing—that is, being gradually built up—in that closely compacted union; and next, calls the temple so built up a “temple holy in the Lord” (i.e., the Lord Jesus Christ), deriving, therefore, all its sacredness as a temple from a pervading unity with Him. The corner-stone is only a part, though a dominant part, of the building. Christ not only “keeps all together, whether you speak of roof, or wall, or any other part whatsoever” (Chrys.), but by contact with Himself makes the building to be a temple.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain In whom all the building. Not even the figure…
In whom all the building. Not even the figure of a building can keep the apostle from his favorite idea of vital fellowship with Christ as the soul of all Christianity whom." Pasa oijkodomh is rendered in R.V. "each several building." But surely the want of the article does notmake imperative a rendering which is out of keeping with the apostle"s object, viz. to illustrate the organic unity of believers, Jewish and Gentile, as one great body. (comp. Eph_4:4, "There is one body If there had been many several or separate buildings in the apostle"s view, why not a Jewish building and a Gentile building? Or how could the separate buildings have their lines directed by the one chief Cornerstone? Inl (Act_2:36 pav oikov Israh) is not "every house of Israel," but "all the house of Israel." Fitly framed together. There is a jointing and joining of the various parts to each other, forming a symmetrical, compact, well-ordered building. The Church has many members in one body, and all members have not the same office. It is a co-operative body, each aiding in his own way and with his own talent. The Church is not a collection of loose stones and timbers; its members are in vital union with Christ, and ought to be in living and loving and considerate fellowship with each other. Groweth into a holy temple in the Lord. Increase is an essential property of the Church; wherever there is life there is growth. But the growth of the Church is not mere increase of members or size; the growth is towards a temple, of which the character is holy, and it is in the Lord. The world-famed temple of Diana at Ephesus may have been in the apostle"s mind its symmetry, its glory, the relation of each several part to the rest and to the whole, as a suitable external emblem of the spiritual body which is being built up in Christ; but the Christian Church is a holy temple, dedicated to God, purified by his Spirit, entirely foreign to those defilements which disgraced the temple of Diana. The ejn w at the beginning of the verse is followed by ejn Kuriw at the end, as if the union of the Church to Christ could not be too often brought out. In him we are born into it; in him we grow in it; in him the whole temple grows towards the final consummation, when the topstone shall be brought out with shouts of "Grace, grace unto it.
Vers. 21, 22.
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The Church a holy temple.
It is elsewhere called" a spiritual house," composed of "living stones," built upon him who is a living Stone laid in Zion, elect, precious, though rejected of men. (1Pe_2:4, 1Pe_2:5) Each believer is a living stone, dug out of the quarry of nature, hewn by the Word and ministry, laid in the foundation, and built into the heavenly structure. The Church is God"s building, not man"s. There are four things observable in the apostle"s account of this blessed structure.
I IT HAS A GOOD FOUNDATION. Built on the foundation of apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief Cornerstone." It is built on the foundation that apostles and prophets laid, namely, on Jesus Christ himself, who is at once Foundation and Cornerstone: Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Christ Jesus". (1Co_3:11) This was the Foundation which the apostle was always laying: "I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon". (1Co_3:10) But it was God himself who laid this stone in Zion: "Behold, I lay in Zion a chief Cornerstone, elect, precious". (1Pe_2:6) The foundation is not, therefore, in man, but in God, not in Rome, but in heaven. Therefore it is an indestructible building. Jesus Christ is called "the chief Cornerstone," which has its true supporting-place in the foundation, because it is the binding-stone of the building, holding two walls because it is built into both. Perhaps there is a reference to the union of Jews and Gentiles in Christ, who has made both one, and thus builds the whole number of believers into the glorious temple, and bears the weight of the whole structure.
II IT IS FITLY FRAMED TOGETHER. It is not a mere heap or mass of heterogeneous materials.
1. The materials must be prepared for their place in the building so as to promote its unity and compactness. All the members of the Church must first be joined to Christ as the Foundation, and then cemented to one another by love. Thus their unity gives beauty as well as strength to the structure. Happy, indeed, the stones that God chooses to be living stones in this spiritual temple; though they be hammered and hewed to be polished for it by afflictions and the inward work of mortification and repentance.
2. The members are to have each their proper place in the building. Thus only can it become a compact structure. Some have a higher, some a lower place; some are appointed to teach, others to be taught; some to lead, others to be led; some to counsel, some to execute; but all the stones are to keep their due place, and thus grow up into a holy temple, "edifying itself in love". (Eph_4:16) The Lord requires stones of all sorts and sizes, the smallest as well as the largest, for his temple; and it ought to reconcile us to our respective positions, that it is the Lord"s own hand which not only fits us into our place, but keeps us there.
III IT IS IMPERFECT BUT STILL GROWING. "It groweth into a holy temple." It is growing by the accession of new stones, or by the addition of new members, and by the addition of new graces in the individual members. Provision is made for a vast increase in its size and height, but as it is fitly framed together in its growing dimensions, it will lose nothing in symmetry and strength by its continuous elevation.
IV THE END OR DESIGN OF THE BUILDING. "For a habitation of God." When we build houses, it is that men may dwell in them. Thus the Church is the temple of God. "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?". (1Co_3:16) "I will dwell in them, and walk in them". (2Co_6:16) Thus "we will be filled with all the fullness of God". (Eph_3:19) Thus we have the true temple of the Father, built in the Son, inhabited in the Spirit, the offices of the three blessed Persons being distinctly pointed out: God the Father in all his fullness dwells in, fills the Church; that Church is constituted to him a holy temple in the Son; is inhabited by him in the ever-present indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
PRACTICAL LESSONS.
1. Think of the safety and glory of the church. Christ is its Foundation. All the stones are knit to the Cornerstone. It is well proportioned, because the Holy Spirit is the Architect; it is vast in its proportions, for it is spread over the earth; and it is inviolable, for it is devoted to the Lord.
2. Think of God dwelling in the Church. The Christian is an epitome of the Church. He is himself a temple of the Holy Ghost.
(1) What condescension in God to dwell in human hearts! It is a marvel that the habitation he has chosen for himself is an impure cue.
(2) What a fearful thing it would be to be in collision with such a God!
(3) How careful we ought to be not to defile this temple! We ought to live purer lives, to breathe a sweeter air, to open our hearts to all that is heavenly.
(4) What an awful thought, that the holy God dwells in our unholy hearts, watching us in our secret moments, and reading our very thoughts!
(5) Yet let us remember with gratitude and love that "the high and lofty One who inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy," selects his dwelling-place "with him that is of a contrite and humble spirit. T.C.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 21. In whom. In Christ himself. All the building…
21. In whom. In Christ himself. All the building fitly framed together. The several parts, or buildings, are united in him, so as to form one holy temple. That is, all races, Jews and Gentiles, are compacted in one church.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 2:21 Joined together in Christ, Gentile and Jewish Christians…
2:21 Joined together in Christ, Gentile and Jewish Christians become a holy temple for the Lord, because the Lord himself is among his people (see Matt 18:20; 28:20; 1 Cor 3:16; 1 Pet 2:4-5).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.