Ephesians 2.20a-The Foundation of the Church
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Saturday February 10, 2024
Ephesians Series: Ephesians 2:20a-The Foundation of the Church
Lesson # 125
Ephesians 2:20 because each and every one of you as a corporate unit have been built upon the foundation, which is the communication of the gospel to each one of you by the apostles as well as prophets. Simultaneously, He Himself, namely, Christ Jesus is the cornerstone. (Lecturer’s translation)
Ephesians 2:20 is composed of the following:
(1) causal participial clause epoikodomēthentes epi tō themeliō tōn apostolōn kai prophētōn (ἐποικοδομηθέντες ἐπὶ τῷ θεμελίῳ τῶν ἀποστόλων καὶ προφητῶν), “because each and every one of you as a corporate unit have been built upon the foundation, which is the communication of the gospel to each one of you by the apostles as well as prophets.”
(2) temporal participial clause ontos akrogōniaiou autou Christou Iēsou (ὄντος ἀκρογωνιαίου αὐτοῦ Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ), “Simultaneously, He Himself, namely, Christ Jesus is the cornerstone.”
The causal participle clause presents the reason why the recipients of this epistle, who were Gentile church age believers living in the Roman province of Asia, were fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household.
It asserts that it was because they had been built upon the foundation, which is the communication of the gospel to them by the apostles and New Testament prophets, which resulted in the Father declaring them justified as a result of having exercised faith in His Son, Jesus Christ.
The temporal participial clause indicates contemporaneous action with the causal participial clause and asserts that He Himself, the Christ, who is Jesus, is the cornerstone of this building and specifically, temple of God.
Like Ephesians 2:19, Ephesians 2:20-22 contains a metaphor.
In the former, the apostle Paul employs two metaphors to describe Gentile Christians not only in relation to the Jewish Christian community but in relation to every believer in every Old Testament dispensation in the past.
The first metaphor is that Gentile Christians are citizens in a city.
The second is that they are members of a family.
He uses these two metaphors in order to emphatically emphasize that they are share equal status in the kingdom of God with Jewish believers in past Old Testament dispensations and with those believers who lived in the dispensations before the establishment of the nation of Israel.
In other words, Paul is stating in emphatic terms to the Gentile Christian community that they are by no means second rate citizens.
Therefore, we can see that these two metaphors present an emphatic contrast between the unregenerate state of these Gentile church age believers and their present regenerate state as justified sinners who are in union with Jesus Christ and identified with Him in His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at the right hand of the Father.
Now here in Ephesians 2:20, Paul employs a building metaphor and specifically a temple metaphor in order to describe the church.
Now, here in Ephesians 2:20, the noun apostolos (ἀπόστολος) is employed as designation for the temporary spiritual gift assigned to the twelve men Jesus Christ sovereignly chose and delegated authority to exercise over the church.
It is extremely important to understand with regards to this word that the gift of apostleship is in view here and not the twelve men themselves.
It is through the exercise of this gift which serves as the foundation of the church.
This gift was bestowed upon these twelve men at their justification.
The Spirit worked through them when they exercised this gift by communicating the gospel.
Therefore, this word contains the figure of metonymy, which means that the apostles are put for the exercise of their Spirit imparted gift these twelve men received at justification.
This interpretation is supported by the contents of Ephesians 4:11 and 1 Corinthians 12:28, which reveal that the gift of apostleship was foundational to the growth of the church numerically and with regards to the spiritual growth of individual believers.
Now, in Ephesians 2:20, the noun prophētēs (προφήτης), “prophets” refers to the exercise of the temporary or discontinued spiritual gift of being a prophet, which is no longer existent since it existed during the pre-canon period of the church to fill the void until the New Testament canon had been completed (See 1 Corinthians 12:10; 13:2; 14:22; Ephesians 2:20; 3:5; 4:11).
As was the case with the noun apostolos (ἀπόστολος), it is also extremely important to understand with this noun prophētēs (προφήτης), “prophets” that the gift of prophecy is in view here and not the men and women who possessed this gift.
It is through the exercise of the gift of prophet which serves as the foundation of the church along with the exercise of the gift of apostleship.
These New Testament prophets are also mentioned in Acts 11:27, 13:1, 15:32, 21:10, 1 Corinthians 12:28, 14:29, 32, 37 and Ephesians 4:11.
Like the gift of apostleship, the gift of prophet was bestowed upon people at justification.
The Spirit worked through those who possessed this gift when they communicated the gospel.
Therefore, this word contains the figure of metonymy, which means that the prophets are put for the exercise of their Spirit imparted gift they received at justification.
This interpretation is supported by the contents of Ephesians 4:11 and 1 Corinthians 12:28, which reveal that the exercise or function of the gift of prophecy along with the exercise or function of the gift of apostleship was foundational to the growth of the church both numerically and with regards to the spiritual growth of the individual members of the church.
That the noun prophētēs (προφήτης) here in Ephesians 2:20 does not refer to the Old Testament prophets of Israel is indicated by the fact that Paul is describing the foundation of the church, which was a mystery not known to the Old Testament prophets as indicated by Paul’s statements in Ephesians 3:5.
The articular construction of the noun apostolos (ἀπόστολος) binds together the temporary spiritual gifts of apostles and prophets together signifying that the exercise of both of these discontinued communication spiritual gifts constitutes the foundation of the church.
Now, in the causal participial clause in Ephesians 2:20, the noun themelios (θεμέλιος), “the foundation” is used in a figurative sense for the Spirit empowered communication of the gospel by the apostles and the New Testament prophets to the members of the body of Christ when they were unregenerate.
The word describes the exercise of the temporary spiritual gifts of apostleship and prophecy as the foundational support of the church.
In other words, it was the gifts of apostleship and prophet that were the foundation and not the men themselves since these gifts were imparted to them by the Holy Spirit at their justification.
The Spirit worked through them as they exercised their gifts in communicating the gospel.
In fact, Ephesians 4:11 and 1 Corinthians 12:28 reveal that these two gifts were foundational in relation to the church.
Lastly, the church grew numerically and spiritually as a result of the function of these two temporary spiritual gifts.
The church grew numerically as a result of both Jews and Gentiles responding to the communication of the gospel by the apostles and prophets by exercising faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior.
Consequently, the Father declared them justified and simultaneously, placed them in union with His Son and identified them with His Son in His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at His right hand through the baptism of the Spirit.
The nouns apostolos (ἀπόστολος) and prophētēs (προφήτης) function as epexegetical genitives, which are clarifying the ambiguity expressed by the noun themelios (θεμέλιος).
Thus, the former are identifying the referent of the latter indicating that the apostles and New Testament prophets are in fact the foundation of the church.
Specifically, the former identify the referent of the latter indicating that the function or exercise of the gift of apostleship and prophet are the foundation of the church.
As we noted earlier, the articular construction of the apostolos (ἀπόστολος) unites these temporary spiritual gifts of apostleship and prophets. In other words, the articular construction indicates that both gifts define the referent of the noun themelios (θεμέλιος), “the foundation.”
Thus, both words are functioning as epexegetical genitives defining the noun themelios (θεμέλιος), “the foundation.”
The noun themelios (θεμέλιος) is the object of the preposition epi (ἐπί), which is marking the exercise or function of the gift of apostle and prophet as those who exercise authority over the church through the exercise of their spiritual gifts.
The verb epoikodomeō (ἐποικοδομέω) is used here in a figurative sense for the members of the body of Christ, i.e. the church having been constructed or established upon the foundation, which is the Spirit empowered communication of the gospel to them by the apostles and New Testament prophets.
The participle conjugation of the verb is a causal participle which indicates that it is presenting the reason why Gentile Christians are fellow citizens with the saints from every past Old Testament dispensation and members of God’s household.
Therefore, this verb would express the idea that these Gentile Christians were fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household “because” they have been built up upon the foundation, which is the Spirit empowered proclamation of the gospel to them by the apostles and New Testament prophets.