Morning Bible Study: Ephesians 2:19-22

19  Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God's people and also members of his household, 

20  built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 

21  In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 

22  And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. NIV

*or*

19  That's plain enough, isn't it? You're no longer wandering exiles. This kingdom of faith is now your home country. You're no longer strangers or outsiders. You belong here, with as much right to the name Christian as anyone. God is building a home. He's using us all - irrespective of how we got here - in what he is building. 

20  He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation. Now he's using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone 

21  that holds all the parts together. We see it taking shape day after day - a holy temple built by God, 

22  all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home. The Message 

(the following is from Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary -- www.christianity.com)

"Concise Commentary on Ephesians 2:19-22

The church is compared to a city, and every converted sinner is free of it. It is also compared to a house, and every converted sinner is one of the family; a servant, and a child in God's house. The church is also compared to a building, founded on the doctrine of Christ; delivered by the prophets of the Old Testament, and the apostles of the New. God dwells in all believers now; they become the temple of God through the working of the blessed Spirit. 

Let us then ask if our hopes are fixed on Christ, according to the doctrine of his word? 

Have we devoted ourselves as holy temples to God through him? 

Are we habitations of God by the Spirit, are we spiritually-minded, and do we bring forth the fruits of the Spirit? 

Let us take heed not to grieve the holy Comforter. Let us desire his gracious presence, and his influences upon our hearts. Let us seek to discharge the duties allotted to us, to the glory of God."