Citizens in the City of God

The words – "Now, therefore", in verse 19 are intended by the apostle Paul to draw our minds back to verses 11-18, where he has been explaining to us, all that Christ has done for us Gentiles in reconciling us unto God, and making us one new body, one new man, in the New Testament Church. Christ Himself, by means of His death on the cross, has become our peace. We are no longer at enmity with Him but have received underserved grace and favor. Not only do we have peace with God, not on the basis of our own works, but on the basis of grace. We are no longer strangers and foreigners, but we are fellow citizens with the saints. That is, that both Jewish and Gentile believers in Christ are God's saints; they are His holy ones set apart to be three things according to our text. 1st – God's saints are Citizens in the City of God. 2nd – They are His Spiritual Household. And 3rd – They are a building fitted together and growing into a holy temple. May the Lord Himself impress upon us these truth so that we will have a high and reverent esteem of them, in our hearts and minds, for Christ's Church.