Ephesians 2:19

"Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people [saints] and members of God's household."

because of Christ we are no longer foreigners and aliens.

before we came to Christ, we were outside of the people of God. We had no access to God's throne. We had no fellowship with God, because because we were not Jews.

now we are no longer foreigners and aliens. We no longer stand outside of God's family. We once were seen as outsiders or foreigners. We were the ones with the bad customs and bad habits- commonly called sin. We lived lives that were marked by sin, controlled by our old sinful nature, and were opposite in so many ways to those of the saints, the people dedicated to God.

because of Christ's death on the cross, we who were far off are now in the family of God.

we are now citizens in God's Kingdom . A citizen is a person who has full membership, all the common rights and responsibilities of a nation. If you are a migrant to Australia, you can be removed at any time by the government. You have no rights to vote, limited access to Social Security and health cover.

but once you are a citizen, nobody can force you to leave. You belong! As citizens of God's holy nation, we who were once non-citizens, aliens with no rights, are taken in and given all the rights of God's people.

nothing now can separate us from God and his people (Romans 8:25-39). We belong!

We are fellow-citizens. We are not just nameless people in an impersonal society. We belong to each other- to all the other citizens. Nobody is higher or lower. No one lives remote from the others. We are in this together, building God's Kingdom, God's household in a common enterprise directed by God.

The word translate as “God's people” is really the word for saints. In Grteek the word is hagios the holy ones. Holy does not necessarily mean to be righteous or heavenly minded. To be holy is to be set apart for God's purposes.

God’s people, then, are those who have responded to God's call to repentance, but now, having been cleansed by the blood of Christ, are seet apart for God. We no longer live for ourselves, but for God who makes us holy.

So we have joined the citizenry of the holy people, we are saints. We need to see our daily lives as holy times, always on God's mission. This applies at work, at home, at sport, wherever we are. We are people who are called for God's purpose, and every minute belongs to him.

we are not just citizens of a kingdom but members of God's household . We are no longer homeless street dwellers with no place to call home. We have been adopted into God's household, God's family.

in the society of the Roman Empire, a household consisted of every member of the extended family, including slaves and servants. They were considered to belong together, and were in fact the units of society. Each household was ruled over by a patriarch whose job was to lead the family and to protect it.

a person’s standing in the culture was determined by the household they belonged to. If a household was shamed, every member bore the shame. Likewise, if the household was honoured, the standing of every member rose .

now we are in God's household. He is our patriarch- our leader and our protector. He is the one with the highest standing of any patriarch. This is the family into which we has been included!

all of this is by the death of Christ on the cross. It is more than being saved from our sins. We are people of honour and standing, citizens and members of the most honoured household of all.

Key points in this verse:

• we were once foreigners and aliens

• the cross of Christ has brought us into God's Kingdom

• we cannot be separated from God because we are citizens

• we are saints, dedicated to God's purposes

• we are members of God's household, directed and protected by him