Ephesians 2:18,19 - You are no longer foreigners and strangers

2:18

“For through Him we both have access to the Father by the one Spirit”. This is a wonderfully trinitarian verse, with Father, Son and Holy Spirit all featuring, and all working together in harmony. There are two other key things to notice from this verse. The first is that it is through Christ that we have access. No ethnicity nor religious practice gain us access, it is Christ alone. Then, and perhaps this is the most important point from this verse, the “prize” is “access to the Father”. God Himself is the prize! It is not taking pride in being Jewish or Gentile, in being black or white, or any other distinction we might draw between peoples, it is having access to the Father, it is knowing God. If the focus is put anywhere else then we are badly mistaken, and we are offering a cheapened gospel (which is no gospel at all).

2:19

We are “no longer foreigners and strangers”. There is something called “imposter syndrome” where one feels that one doesn’t really have the right to be in a certain job, or to hold a certain position. We can sometimes have the same feeling about our place in God’s kingdom. Paul assures them that they rightly belong in the kingdom of God. We are fellow citizens with all of God’s people. The grounds for this are placed firmly in Christ alone (2:16), not in ourselves. Our only part is to repent and believe. We are members of God’s household. We are members of the household of the king! We need to appreciate the highly privileged position we are in. But we do not use this privilege to feather our own nest, but to serve the king and the world.