He came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near, 18 for through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.
19 So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God, 20 built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone. 21 Through him the whole structure is held together and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord; 22 in him you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
Paul writes to mostly Gentile believers around Ephesus. Just before this passage, he reminds them that they once stood “far off”—outside Israel’s covenant life—but now, by Christ’s blood, they have been brought near (2:11-13). Jesus has come announcing peace that embraces the whole human family, fulfilling Isaiah’s word of “peace to those far and near” (Is. 57:19). In Ephesians that peace means the dividing wall between Jew and Gentile has been torn down so that one new people may be reconciled to God through the cross; and the claim reaches farther, because Christ Himself is our peace—He removes what stands between us and God and what stands between us and one another (2:14-16; Rom. 5:1).
“He came and preached peace.” Paul is not describing a slogan but a presence. Christ brings former outsiders in and heals division among those already near. His cross ends the hostility that kept peoples apart and kept humanity at a distance from God. Peace here is more than the absence of strife; it is restored communion with the Father and with one another in Christ (Eph. 2:17).
Paul then states the heart of Christian worship and prayer in one line: through Christ we have access, in one Spirit, to the Father. The way to the Father is opened by the Son; we are drawn into that way by the Spirit. The whole Christian life has this Trinitarian shape. We do not climb to God; we are welcomed in the Son and made bold by the Spirit. That is why believers cry “Abba! Father!” and why confidence, not fear, marks our access (Gal. 4:6; Eph. 3:12; Rom. 8:15-16).
Because of this access, believers are no longer strangers or sojourners—outsiders without standing—but fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household. They are fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household. Citizenship says we share the same public identity and protection. Household says we share one table and one name. The Church is not a club with tiers of belonging; it is a family formed by Christ’s work (Phil. 3:20; 1 Tim. 3:15).
Paul describes this people as a building with a real foundation: the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the capstone. The foundation points to the apostolic witness and the prophetic word by which the Gospel is handed on; it is received in every age, not reinvented. Calling Christ the capstone (or cornerstone) makes clear that He bears the weight and sets the true lines. Without Him the structure cannot hold together; with Him the whole takes its true form (Is. 28:16; Ps. 118:22; 1 Pt. 2:6-7; Rev. 21:14).
Through Christ, the whole structure is joined and grows into a holy temple in the Lord. Paul does not picture a static monument but a living temple that grows as people come to faith and are fitted together. The “joins” are not human agreements but the work of Christ who binds many into one. This fulfills the promise that God would dwell among His people in a new way, not in stone but in persons made holy (1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19; 1 Pt. 2:5).
Paul makes it personal and communal at once: in Christ, you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. This is not only about individual believers as temples; it is about the Church as God’s chosen dwelling. The Spirit does not simply visit; He indwells and unites, so that worship, mission, and ordinary daily life become the place where the living God is present and at work (Rev. 21:3).
Preaching on this passage, St. John Chrysostom (c. 349–407) stressed that Christ “did not make them merely friends but fashioned them into one new man,” and that the Church is “a temple continually in building,” joined and strengthened by Christ Himself. His emphasis falls where Paul’s does: unity is not a treaty we keep; it is a life we receive in the Son and share in the Spirit.
Lord Jesus Christ, our peace, our hope, and our life, draw us by Your Spirit into the Father’s presence. Fit us together on the apostolic foundation, keep us aligned to You, the capstone, and make our lives a worthy dwelling for God. Amen.
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Sources and References:
- The Holy Bible, New American Bible, Revised Edition (2011).
- St. John Chrysostom (c. 349–407), Homilies on Ephesians.
- Bernard Orchard et al., A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture (1953).
- Faculty of the University of Navarre, The Navarre Bible: New Testament Expanded Edition (2008).
- José Enrique Aguilar Chiu et al., eds., The Paulist Biblical Commentary (2018).
- Raymond E. Brown et al., The New Jerome Biblical Commentary (1990).
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