In whom; or upon whom, viz. Christ the foundation. All the building; whatsoever is built on Christ the foundation, and so all particular believers, as the several parts of the building. Fitly framed together; joined and united both to Christ the foundation by faith, and to each other by love. Groweth; either:
1. Ariseth; the building goeth on till it comes to be a temple. Or:
2. It notes the stones or materials of the house to be living ones, receiving life from Christ, 1 Peter 2:5. Growth supposeth life. The verb is in the present tense, to signify that the builders are still at work, and this temple not yet finished. Unto an holy temple; in allusion to the temple at Jerusalem; whereas the holy of holies was a type of heaven, so the temple itself was a type of the church, both as it was the place of God's presence, and of his worship. In the Lord: either this must be joined to groweth, and then it is a pleonasm, the antecedent being here repeated, though the relative had been expressed, and it implies the growth of believers (the materials of this spiritual building) to be from Christ; or it may be joined with holy, and then it signifies that they have their holiness from Christ; or it may be read, holy to the Lord, and then it expresses the nature of this temple, that it is undefiled, consecrated to the Lord, and meet for him.