19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,  20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,  21in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,  22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Introduction: When it comes to the word "saved" or "salvation" most Christians only think in terms of getting into heaven. But there is much more to being saved than just getting into heaven. Salvation in the New Testament is used in three different tenses; When you accepted Christ as your Savior, you were saved (pass tense). The theological term is "Justification." In other words, you are "justified" or put into a right relationship with God the Father, once and for all, because of Christ's finished work on the cross. If you are a Christian, then you are also being "saved" daily (present tense). The theological term is "sanctification." You have been "set apart" by God for a purpose, and this includes the life long maturing process that helps us to grow in our faith. And finally, there is a future salvation (future tense) which is called "glorification." Someday, we will not only enter into heaven and receive sinless-resurrected bodies, but we'll also receive rewards for our faithfulness to God while we were living on this earth.

It is the subject of salvation in the present tense that I want to address this morning. The Apostle Paul reveals to use about what is expected us of those who have accepted Christ as their Savior. He points out to us that we are "More than just saved."

Transition: First, we must understand that we are. . .

I. Saved To Belong (v.19).
1. Belonging to God's universal family.

A. At one time, we were strangers and foreigners to God and His family, the church.

1) The word "strangers" or "sojourners" carries the idea of someone dwelling near by, but not in the family of God (LBC).

2) The word "foreigners" carries the idea of someone who doesn't have full rights and privileges of citizenship (LBC).

3) Not only were we strangers and foreigners, but we were also openly hostile against God according to Romans 8:7-8, "Because the carnal mind is enmity[hostility, hatred] against God; for it is not subject [to arranger under, to put in subjection, obey] to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God."

B. But once you accept Christ as your Savior, by faith, we enter into God's family and God becomes our Father (BEC).

1) This family is made up of all believers, from all time periods, no matter what racial, national, or physical distinctions we may possess.

2) This is often referred to as the Universal Church.

A) Some Protestant Denominations object to or deny the Universal Church because of the Catholic Church - the word "Catholic" is from the Latin which means "Universal."

- However, the most common use of the term "Universal Church" is based upon the definition of "Universal" which means "for or including all, or the whole of something specified" (Webster's).

B) The more biblically correct terms would be "Christ's body" or the "bride of Christ" (Rom.7:3-4; 1Cor.12:28; 15:9; 2Cor.11:2; Eph.1:21-23; 3:6, 10; 5:22-32; Col.1:18, 24; Heb.12:23; Rev. 19:7-9; 21:2, 9; 22:17).

2. Belonging to God's local family - the local church.

A. The most common use of the term "Church" (i.e., Grk: ekklesia) used 90 times in the N.T., which speaks of an organized assembly of believers (HET).

1) We are told about when the local church met (Acts 20:7).

2) We are told about the leadership of the local church (Acts 20:17).

3) We are told about how church discipline was practiced (1 Cor.5).

4) We are told about how local churches raised money for the work of the gospel (2 Cor.8-9).

5) These are just a few of the examples given in the N.T., that point to the existence and purpose of the local church.

B. And we are even told in Hebrews 10:25, not to forsake "the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some. . ." but instead we are to exhort one another.

Transition: Not only were you saved to belong, but you were also. . .

II. Saved To Obey (v.20).
1. Obedience to Christ, the Chief Corner Stone (v.20b).

A. The cornerstone was the first large stone placed at the corner of a building (NIBC).

1) The builders would line up the rest of the structure to the chief cornerstone.

2) The cornerstone helps bind the structure together (BEC).

B. Jesus Christ the head of the Universal and Local Church and has set the standards for us to follow.

1) Both the church and its members must line up with Christ's standards.

2) Both the church and its members will be bound together only when they are obedient to Christ.

3) 1 Corinthians 3:10-11, "According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ."

2. Obedience to God's Word, as laid by Apostles and Prophets (v.20a).

A. We are saved to obey God's holy Word as revealed to us by His Apostles and Prophets who were inspired by God to write it down in our Scriptures.

B. God's Word is based upon Objective Truth.

Transition: Not only are we saved to belong and obey, but we are also. . .

III. Saved To Serve (vv.21-22).
1. Uniquely selected to serve (v.21).

A. The unity of the local church is made up of its many individual members, who have a specific place in the building for which they are exactly suited (BBC).

1) Being fitted together pictures the process in Roman construction whereby laborers would turn huge rocks around until they fit each other perfectly (NIBC).

2) In similar fashion, God fits each individual believer into the total structure into a spiritual house (McGee).

B. You and I have been hand picked by God, and given the privilege to serve in God's house.

1) God has placed you exactly in this church where He wants him.

2) If you are not serving or ministering were God's wants you to, then you will be out of place anywhere else.

A) You also weaken the whole structure of the local church.

B) If enough people would remove their "stones" from God's structure, then the whole local church would collapse.

2. Uniquely joined together to form a proper dwelling place for God (v.22).

A. The purpose of our service is to provide a place where God can live in fellowship with His people (BBC).

B. The church, the body of Christ, is "a dwelling place" or a "habitation," a permanent temple, of God in the Spirit (McGee).

1) When believers come together in a building to worship, the Holy Spirit is present.

A) In that sense God is in that building.

B) But when every believer has left the building, God has left it also.

2) The purpose of the church as a temple is to reveal the presence and the glory of God on earth.

A) When believers assemble together in a church, the impression should be made upon the world, even in this age, that God is in His holy temple.

B) The world should feel that God can be found in a church service.

Charlie VanderMeer from Children's Bible hour went to an orphanage in Romania where people with physical and mental disabilities live together. Misha, a young man of 24, broadcasts music and Christian programs into the orphanage buildings. Although he is paralyzed below the waist, he gets around just fine. A friend who has Down's syndrome and cannot hear or speak, carries him on his shoulders. Charlie could tell by the smile on the face of the man who carries Misha that this is his mission in life. According to a worker, when Misha had to be gone for a few weeks, his friend didn't know what to do. What a picture of members of the body of Christ relying on one another! Each of us is a little like Misha. We are partially equipped to do the work of the Lord, but we need the "legs" of our fellow believers to carry us along. This example of Misha and his friend reminds us that none of us can do the entire job alone. So look for ways you can help others, and learn to appreciate how much you can do together (Our Daily Bread, Feb 4, 96).

In the gospel of Mark (10:45), we are reminded that "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." Jesus also tells us in John 13:16, "Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him." In light of these two passages, along with our passages this morning, what should our attitudes be then when it comes to us being involved in our local church? You and I have been saved to serve the Lord, and one another.

Invitation:
1. God didn't just save you so you could go to heaven, He saved you. . .

A. To be apart of His family.

B. To be obedient to His Word.

C. To be used where He has placed you.

A. If you are not where God has placed you, then you are rebelling against God, not the church.

B. If you are not where God has placed you, then you are also bringing shame to the Lord in the eyes of both the world and of other Christians.

V.19
- "are," ("este" {es-teh': v, ind, pres, act, 2per, pl}); "to be," denotes what exists.
- "no longer," ("ouketi" {ook-et'-ee: adj, adv}); no longer, no more, no further. (KJV = no more)
- "strangers," ("xenos" {xen'-os: adj, nom, masc, pl}); a foreigner, a stranger, alien.

-- Wuest: The word speaks of that which is of a different quality or nature than something else, thus, alien to it. Sinners are aliens to the kingdom of God, having a totally-depraved nature that makes them different, and different in a hostile sense.

-- Robertson: Dwellers just outside the house or family of God.
-- Vincent: sojourners. Without rights of citizenship.
-- Wuest: The word "foreigners" is paroikos, from para, "alongside," and oikeo, "to make one's home." Thus it speaks of one who has a home alongside of someone else. It is used here of one who comes from another country or city and settles in another, but does not rank as a citizen.

V.20
- "having been built," ("epoikodomeo" {ep-oy-kod-om-eh'-o: v, part, aor, pass, nom, masc, 2per, pl}); to build upon, to finish the
   structure of which the foundation has already been laid. (KJV = are built)
- "foundation," ("themelios" {them-el'-ee-os: n, dat, masc, sg}); the foundation, used figuratively here of the elementary or basic
   teachings, beliefs, and practices.
- "cornerstone," ("akrogoniaios" {ak-rog-o-nee-ah'-yos: adj, gen, masc, sg}); lying at the extreme angle, cornerstone, capstone, the
    finial stone placed at the top of a building structure to integrate it.

-- Robertson: Jesus had spoken of himself as the stone, rejected by the Jewish builders (experts), but chosen of God as the head of the corner (Mt 21:42). The cornerstone is the primary foundation-stone at the angle of the structure by which the architect fixes a standard for the bearings of the walls and cross-walls throughout (W. W. Lloyd).

-- Vincent: Lit., every building. Rev., each several building. But the reference is evidently to one building, and the rendering of A.V. should be retained though the article is wanting.
-- Wuest: The building, of course, is the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ composed of believers who are brought into salvation during the Church Age which began at Pentecost and ends at the Rapture.

-- Vincent: The present participle indicates the framing as in progress.
-- Wuest: The words, "fitly framed together" are the translation of sunarmologeo, from harmos, "a joint," and lego, "to pick out," thus, "to join together," the total meaning being, "to join closely together." It is an architectural metaphor.

-- Vincent: Sanctuary. See on Matthew 4:5. The more sacred portion of the structure is chosen for the figure.
-- Wuest: "Temple" is naos, "the inner sanctuary," not hieros, "the temple with its porches and outbuildings."

V.22
- "being built together," ("sunoikodomeo" {soon-oy-kod-om-eh'-o: v, ind, pres, pass, 2per, pl}); build up (together), to build
    together or with others, to put together or construct by building, out of several things to build up one whole. (KJV = builded together)

-- Robertson: Ye Gentiles also. Present passive indicative (continuous process) of common old verb sunoikodomeo, to build together with others or out of varied materials as here. Only here in N.T. In 1Pe 2:5 Peter uses oikodomeisthe for the same process.
-- Vincent: As component parts of the one building. The reference is to individual Christians, not to communities.

-- Robertson: Possibly each of us is meant here to be the "habitation of God in the Spirit" and all together growing "into a holy temple in the Lord," a noble conception of the brotherhood in Christ.
-- Vincent: Answering to temple. Only here and Revelation 18:2. Indicating a permanent dwelling. See on dwell, Luke 11:26; Acts 2:5; Mark 5:3. In marked contrast with sojourners, ver.19.

-- Vincent: Better, as Rev., in. In the fellowship of the indwelling Spirit.