Ephesians 2:19-22

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TALKS FOR GROWING CHRISTIANS

The Church is the Temple of the Holy Spirit

BACKGROUND NOTES



DOCTRINAL POINT(S)

  1. Believers are citizens of heaven

  2. Believers are members of God’s family

  3. Believers are the temple of the Holy Spirit
    a. The foundations of the temple
    b. The cornerstone of the temple
    c. The architect of the temple
    d. The materials of the temple
    e. The purpose of the temple

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

  1. Let’s not make noise in the temple area.

QUESTIONS

  1. How would the Ephesian believers known about temples?

  2. How does Acts 19:23-28 relate to the temple of Diana?

  3. What is the living structure built by God Himself of which Paul writes?

  4. On what is the foundational teaching of the Church based?

  5. Who is the architect of the temple of believers?

  6. What are the materials of this temple?

ANSWERS

  1. Many of the Jewish believers would have seen Herod’s Temple in Jerusalem, and both Jewish and Gentile believers would have known of the great temple in Ephesus dedicated to the pagan goddess Diana.

  2. The merchants made and sold silver models of Diana in this temple.

  3. It is the Church, the body of believers.

  4. The apostles and the prophets of the New Testament. See 1 Corinthians 12:28 and Ephesians 3:5.

  5. God Himself, who fits the whole building together according to plan in relationship to the Cornerstone.

  6. All believers who form the one true Church.

DISCUSS/CONSIDER

  1. Read Ephesians 2:19 and Philippians 3:20. Consider the fact that you are no longer a stranger, or an alien, but a fellow citizen with all the saints. What does this mean to you, both positionally and practically?

  2. God Himself is the architect, Christ is the Cornerstone, and believers are the building blocks of the living temple of the Holy Spirit. How do you fit into this temple?

CHALLENGE

  1. In Jerusalem, the temple was not a place for noise or commercialism. Beware disrupting the church in any way.

KEY VERSES

  • “…you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.” Ephesians 2:19

  • “…in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.” Ephesians 2:22

Ephesians, New Testament, TalksDeb HarmsEphesians 2:19-22