Last week we looked at Ephesians 2:1-10 to find the who, what, and why of God’s plan/purpose in giving believers spiritual gifts: Who and what we used to be without Christ, who and what we are in Christ, and why does God do an extreme makeover in us?

This second post will focus on where and how God does His extreme makeover as a background to spiritual gifts.

Where does God do His extreme makeover?

• God does His extreme makeover in His people—the church

Ephesians 2:18-22 (NIV): For through Him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone. In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit.

• God does His extreme makeover in the heart
  

Ephesians 3:14-19: For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom His whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.  How does God do extreme makeovers?

• Jesus’ victory over sin, death, and Satan is witnessed through spiritual gifts in His church
  

Ephesians 4:7-13: But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says: “When He ascended on high, He led captives in His train and gave gifts to men. (What does “He ascended” mean except that He also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

According to Ephesians 2:18-22, what is the church?

Have you ever been helped by someone using their spiritual gift?

*Next week: Principles for understanding spiritual gifts.