21.What name is borne by all of the Lord’s people?

The name of God, who is the Father of our Lord, Christ, and also our Father. We pray to Him, knowing that He will hear and answer His children as we ask for grace to serve Him.

Paul has been speaking of the Jews and Gentiles being one family of saints, and so we assume he is repeating this idea. The concept of the oneness of Jewish and Gentile believers, which began in Chapter Two, is repeated in Chapter Four: "One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all" (Ephesians 4:6).

All of God’s people, His elect, in Heaven and on the earth, are one family. They are the Lord’s "wheat" that He has planted. Also living on the earth are the "tares." These are not the children of God but of Satan. They are the wicked, of whom the Psalms speak so often.

In the Day of Judgment, the tares will be harvested and burned in the fire. The wheat then will appear in the Kingdom of their Father.