So then you are no longer foreigners and noncitizens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household,
Our status has changed. We are no longer who we were in relation to God. We cannot be regarded as foreigners, as noncitizens, but have become members of God’s household.
In another place, Paul would say that we have been adopted as sons (Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:4–5).
Whatever limits were placed on us before, starting with the sword dangling in Eden (Genesis 3:24), have not been removed.
Whatever supposed genetic barriers to inheriting the promises of God have not been removed because we have been grafted into the Vine of Christ (Romans 11:17–18).
Whatever barrier that was set up with the appointment of the sons of Levi as priests has been removed since we have been made priests unto our God (Revelation 1:5–6; 5:9–10).
Whatever barriers in the temple have been removed because we are now the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19–20). We do not have to go to a place; God has found a place in us through the blood of Jesus.
Whatever barrier created by the law has been nailed with Christ on the cross so that we have no obligation to meet (Colossians 2:14; Romans 10:4), but rather Christ to rejoice in (Romans 5:2).
Whatever barrier sin created has been removed since Jesus became sin on the cross (2 Corinthians 5:21), so that whoever believes in him will be saved.
It's a change of status, identity, location and relationship.
It's radical, it is enduring, it is unchanging. It is also empowering; it is emboldening.
Now there are no hierarchies, as there were in the Old Testament, when it comes to being close to God. We just have different gifts and callings, different responsibilities.
Note the phrase “fellow citizens with the saints.” Fellow means equal-ness.
The same seed of the word (1 Peter 1:23; James 1:18) saved all of us and empowered us. If there was any distinction Paul would make about himself, it is not to say he is higher than they, but that he has been given a ministry, meaning, he has a distinct work to do for which he has been specially graced.
Jesus called them and said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions use their authority over them. But it is not this way among you. Instead whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
I am trying to impress on us the meaning of the word “fellow.”
The idea of culture of hierarchy was what Jesus disabused the apostles of, and He said, “Regardless of the prevailing practice, this is how I want it in my own kingdom.”
Can you feel that you are fellow with the saints? Or have we ignored the words of Jesus so much that we cannot see what He is saying?
Paul would later say that some people should be esteemed because of their work (1 Thessalonians 5:12–13). That talks about the value we place on their contribution and does not contradict the words of Jesus.
In another place, he said they should welcome someone else with great joy (Philippians 2:29). That still does not contradict the words of Jesus.
Paul wanted the visitor to feel welcome, possibly after a long, tiresome journey, and we can welcome without violating the fact that we are fellows.
We can welcome with joy without taking it too far into blowing the other person's ego just because. And it could be a private welcome.
Paul, when trying to disabuse the people of elevating one person over the others, impressed on the church that the people they are elevating are all there to serve them.
What is Apollos, really? Or what is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, and each of us in the ministry the Lord gave us.
I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused it to grow. So neither the one who plants counts for anything, nor the one who waters, but God who causes the growth. The one who plants and the one who waters work as one, but each will receive his reward according to his work. We are coworkers belonging to God. You are God’s field, God’s building.
Paul is saying we exist for you, that he is not such a big deal. You are actually more important than us; we are dispensable, but you are not. In that context, he is saying that we are servants; you are the children of God we served.
And one member of God's house is not greater than another.
While it is clear that Paul's immediate concern is the Jew-Gentile distinction, we can apply it as a principle to other aspects of life as well.