Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ephesians 4:4

[There is] one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;

4. one body ] See on Eph 1:23; Eph 2:15-16; and below, Eph 4:15-16. Here as always the imagery of the Body suggests not only union but united energy and operation. Its frequent recurrence emphasizes its importance and significance. Vital union with Christ, by the Spirit, is the one true secret of holy growth and action, alike for the individual and the community. The “ one ” is highly emphatic. As regards the vital Union, there is one Organism, and one only. Let the relations of practical Christian life and work correspond to that fact, to the utmost possible.

one Spirit ] The same Divine Spirit as above, Eph 4:3. He, the immediate Agent in regeneration (John 3), unites each regenerate individual to the Head, and, as the Sanctifier, maintains that union. He is thus comparable to the all-pervading spirit energizing and preserving the human frame.

Bengel remarks on the close sequence, in the “Apostles’ Creed,” of the articles of the Holy Ghost and of the Holy Church. Cp. at large 1 Corinthians 12.

ye are called ] Perhaps a special reference to the work of the Holy Ghost, the immediate Agent in the “call” of grace. Cp. 1Co 12:13. Lit. and better, ye were called.

in one hope of your calling ] On the “hope” and the “calling,” see on Eph 1:18. They were called “ in ” the hope; i. e., so as to be in it, embraced and possessed by it. On the spiritual power of the “ one hope” cp. Col 1:4, for a real parallel. There, the “love for all the saints” is (lit.) “ on account of the hope laid up in heaven.” The community of blissful prospect binds faster the communion of sympathy and affection.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

There is one body – One church – for so the word body means here – denoting the body of Christ; see the notes on Rom 12:5; compare notes on Eph 1:23. The meaning here is, that as there is really but one church on earth, there ought to be unity. The church is, at present, divided into many denominations. It has different forms of worship, and different rites and ceremonies. It embraces those of different complexions and ranks in life, and it cannot be denied that there are often unhappy contentions and jealousies in different parts of that church. Still, there is but one – one holy, catholic (i. e., universal) church; and that church should feel that it is one. Christ did not come to redeem and save different churches, and to give them a different place in heaven. He did not come to save the Episcopal communion merely or the Presbyterian or the Methodist communions only; nor did he leave the world to fit up for them different mansions in heaven. He did not come to save merely the black man, or the red, or the white man; nor did he leave the world to set up for them separate mansions in the skies. He came that he might collect into one community a multitude of every complexion, and from every land, and unite them in one great brotherhood on earth, and ultimately assemble them in the same heaven. The church is one. Every sincere Christian is a brother in that church, and has an equal right with all others to its privileges. Being one by the design of the Saviour they should be one in feeling; and every Christian, no matter what his rank, should be ready to hail every other Christian as a fellow-heir of heaven.

One Spirit – The Holy Spirit. There is one and the self-same Spirit that dwells in the church The same Spirit has awakened all enlightened all; convicted all; converted all. Wherever they may be, and whoever, yet there has been substantially the same work of the Spirit on the heart of every Christian. There are circumstantial differences arising from diversities of temperament, disposition, and education; there may be a difference in the depth and power of his operations on the soul; there may be a difference in the degree of conviction for sin and in the evidence of conversion, but still there are the same operations on the heart essentially produced by the same Spirit; see the notes on 1Co 12:6-11. All the gifts of prayer, and of preaching; all the zeal, the ardor, the love, the self-denial in the church, are produced by the same Spirit. There should be, therefore, unity. The church is united in the agency by which it is saved; it should be united in the feelings which influence its members.

Even as ye are called – see Eph 4:1. The sense is, there is one body and one spirit, in like manner as there is one hope resulting from your calling. The same notion of oneness is found in relation to each of these things.

In one hope of your calling – In one hope resulting from your being called into his kingdom. On the meaning of the word hope, see notes on Eph 2:12. The meaning here is, that Christians have the same hope, and they should therefore be one. They are looking forward to the same heaven; they hope for the same happiness beyond the grave. It is not as on earth among the people of the world, where, there is a variety of hopes – where one hopes for pleasure, and another for honor, and another for gain; but there is the prospect of the same inexhaustible joy. This hope is suited to promote union. There is no rivalry – for there is enough for all. Hope on earth does not always produce union and harmony. Two men hope to obtain the same office; two students hope to obtain the same honor in college; two rivals hope to obtain the same hand in marriage – and the consequence is jealousy, contention, and strife. The reason is, that but one can obtain the object. Not so with the crown of life – with the rewards of heaven. All may obtain that crown; all may share those rewards. How can Christians contend in an angry manner with each other, when the hope of dwelling in the same heaven swells their bosoms and animates their hearts?

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Eph 4:4

There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling.

The seven unities of spiritual life

1. One body. Now the body is for our habitation, and it is for our action upon the world around, and it is for our reception of influences that the world around exerts upon ourselves. The body is for habitation, for activity, and for reception. If, then, in our own personal body our spirit so dwells that all the various organs work together for a common end, which end is good, then our body is what God designed it to be. And if in a group of persons the common life actually resides in each individual, so that each for the rest works willingly and earnestly towards procuring a common good, then there is a body. So, if through our bodily frame we act well upon the world, the use for which God designed the body is being fulfilled: and if our various senses are inlets of wisdom and of happiness from the world without, then again the use for which God designed the body is being fulfilled. And if a group of men are acting upon the world by their various individualities, combining by one thought to promote one good, they are a body–the use God designed in forming men into societies is being fulfilled. So, too, if they are receiving from without the various influences of knowledge and of happiness, they are as one body–the use that God designed is being fulfilled. We notice then, again, with respect to the body, that some of its members are more essential to existence than others, and yet they are all essential to completeness of existence. And one last thing concerning the body we may say, which is this–that though particular works require particular organs, or a connection of such organs, these are always best done when the general health and aptitude of the body are highest. Thus, if you have to work as a player upon instruments of music, or work as a painter with colours and with the pencil, the hand is requisite; but will it be merely the hand to which your excellence is due? Certainly not. If there be no general fineness of your senses, there cannot be any peculiar excellence in your specialty. Whatever be that specialty of a man which requires a certain organ or group of organs, his work will always be of the best sort according to the general health of his bodily sensibilities, the general harmony of his bodily powers. And so it will be in the works of a spiritual society. Whatever we require to be done, though it may, so to say, need only a part of our organism to fulfil it, that will be best done when our general state is healthiest. If we be full of bodily excellency, then any particular work will be most excellent.

2. There is one Spirit. Were there not one life in the root, the blade, and the ear, there could be no progression from the root towards the full corn. Were there not one life throughout the bodily frame, there could not be this union of activities to promote common advantage. There is one life in each thing that lives; nay, it could not be called living, were it not for this fact of internal unity. Now, speaking of ourselves completely, and not of the animal man merely, we say that if there be a disturbance in the spirit, the unity of life will show itself in the distress and groans of experience; but we say also, that whatever we do spiritually aright, whether it be to sing, to pray, to read, to give gifts, to discuss, to advise, to study–whatsoever we do aright, the benefit of the part will produce a blessing for the whole. Especially is the Spirit called the Holy Spirit. Now, the first thing required of us in preparing what is holy is separation; and the next thing is conjunction. The soul disunites from the world, and comes into conjunction with the Lord God.

3. One hope. Ye are called in one hope of your calling. A happy thought that is, that we are called. We have not in uncertainty come and asked, Is there any heaven, and which is the way there? Is there any God, and is He friendly? But there has come a call to us, and it is a call upwards. That is the only call that is a sufficient one for men. It is the call to glory and virtue that is a sufficing call for man. We are called, then; and as replying to the Divine call, with our active feet and our ready hands, we partake in a hope. Now, what is this hope? We hope for the redemption of the body, and the full perfection of the spirit; and as we are already much interested in one another, it is not simply the full redemption of our own flesh and blood, and the full perfection of our own individual limited spirit, that satisfies us, but we hope for a wise and happy world; we hope for a full and abiding joy. We are all called to do good–all called to be good; and it is quite certain that we can never be satisfied until individually there be a perfect spirit in a harmonious and healthful frame, and socially, also, there be a perfect spirit in a harmonious and healthful frame. This is our hope, and it is a hope of which we need not be ashamed.

4. One Lord,–the Lord Jesus Christ. One Lord; but men have not been at one in their thoughts of Him; they have not been at one in their conduct, which they have professed was governed by Him. This Lord has brought strife into the world. Now, to reconcile opposed persons is very hard, but to reconcile opposed opinions much easier; for truths have no animosity to each other; but persons, although their interests may be identical, are often, and soon, and very, angry with one another. Now, we must seek to reconcile truths in our own mind. Of course, as they are in the Divine mind which contains all truths in eternal harmony, there is no reconciliation required; but it will require much effort to make our little minds in some humble manner a transcript of the bright Divine mind.

5. One faith: by which we adhere to the one Lord. Faith is at once an expression of a weakness that we acknowledge, and of a strength which we trust and receive. It is, then, our adherence to the one Lord, who in His humanity gives us all necessary example and sympathy, and in His Divinity sustains us with a fund of strength that can never be exhausted.

6. One baptism. The actions that pertain to baptism, like the opinions that pertain to faith, are of comparatively little moment; but baptism itself is essential, because it is the application of the purifying element to the soul. Now, there are two principal elements, the water and the fire, that are applied for purification; and surely any man who comes out of the water after baptism, or has used the water thoroughly in any way for baptism, may say to himself, This very water that cleanses me could drown me; this very water, whose action is so gentle, could sweep me away, as with a mighty rage. In its gentle application, water removes impurities from us, as still capable of being cleansed; but should we become utterly impure, instead of washing in the wave to be made clean, we are washed away by it, that the earth may be cleansed.

7. Then we may speak last of all of the one God,–the one God and Father of us all, who is over all in His creative love, who is through all in the actions of His multiform but harmonious providence, and who is in us all, making the body of the spiritual Church to be the residence of His own love and truth. The Father of all: is the great Fatherhood of God yet manifested to the world? No, Is even His unity as the one Lord of creation manifest to the world? No. And are we approaching–for this is surely a suitable thought to allow ourselves in the closing moments of this discoarse–to a time truly catholic? Is society getting more catholic, or more conglomerate; more of a Church, or more of a medley? Are things becoming more in common; the spirit becoming more truly holy? (T. T. Lynch.)

Gospel unities

1. There is one body–the Church.

2. One Spirit–the Holy Ghost.

3. One hope–the resurrection from the dead.

4. One Lord–Jesus Christ.

5. One faith–the Christian religion.

6. One baptism–Christian baptism.

7. One God and Father of us all–the Lord God Almighty.

(1) He is above all. Then He is supreme. And because of this–

(a) He is worthy of our worship.

(b) He is worthy of all reverence in our worship.

(2) He is through all. Then He permeates all.

(3) He is in you all. Then we may each realize Him. Conclusion: If all this be true–then union should exist everywhere. (A. F. Barfield.)

The unity of the Church

The Church is one. When the apostle wrote this Epistle there were societies of Christians–Churches–in Rome, in Corinth, in Thessalonica, in Philippi, in Colosse, in Ephesus, in the cities and towns of Galatia, in the Syrian Antioch, and in Jerusalem. There were less famous Churches in other cities. They stood apart from each other; every separate Church had authority over its own affairs, maintained its own discipline, elected its own bishops and deacons, organized its own worship. As yet there was no confederation of these independent societies under any central ecclesiastical authority. Their unity was not constituted by an external organization, but by their common possession of the Spirit of God, and it is therefore called by the apostle the unity of the Spirit. He has spoken of the unity of the Church in the earlier part of the Epistle. The exclusion of the pagan races from the commonwealth of Israel had ceased; the middle wall of partition which separated them from the sacred court in which the elect nation had nearer access to God had been broken down. There was now one city of the saints, of which all Christian men of every nation were citizens; one household of God in which they were all children; one holy temple built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, into the sacred walls of which they were all built for a habitation of God in the Spirit. He has asserted this unity in a still bolder form; for after speaking of the glory of Christ, who sits at the right hand of God, far above all rule, and authority, and power, and dominion, and every name that is named not only in this world but also in that which is to come, he described the Church as the Body of Christ, the organ of His life and thought and will, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all. And now he returns to this great conception. The Body of Christ, he says, is one; the Spirit of Goal who dwells in it is one; and in harmony with this unity of the Body of Christ and this unity of the Spirit who dwells in it, the great hope of all Christian men, of all who have been called into the Divine kingdom and have obeyed the call, is one. There is one Lord, only one–Christ Jesus the Prince and the Saviour of men; one faith–not a common creed, but a common trust in Christ for eternal righteousness and eternal glory; one baptism, and one only, the same rite by which Christ visibly claims men as belonging to the race for which He died, and over which He reigns, is administered to all. There is one God and Father of all; we all worship before the same eternal throne, and in Christ we are all the children of the same Divine Father; His sovereignty is absolute and supreme–He is over all; the power of His life penetrates the whole Body of Christ–He is through all; and His home is in all Christians–He is in all. (R. W. Dale, LL. D.)

The communion of saints

Believers in Christ are bound together in the ties of a holy brotherhood. Let us look a little at the nature of this communion.

I. With respect to the condition. There is one Body and one Spirit; and the exercise of that Spirit and the execution of His office are the same in all–to show them the things of Christ, that thus through Christ they may hold communion with the Father. The whole Body of the faithful are joined together in communion with the Father of spirits. They all meet at the same throne; they all unite in one common feeling, and join in one common song of praise.

II. Their pursuits. The Church is dispersed throughout the world; it is separated by difference of language, rank, age, circumstances; but being partakers off one Spirit and one faith, they are of one heart and one mind in the gospel, and they unite in the pursuit of Gods glory.

III. Their enjoyments. Here again their hearts are one. Christ Jesus is the centre of their joy. (William Reeve, M. A.)

One Body and one Spirit

The Church or Body is one. There are not two rival communities. The Body, with its many members and complex array of organs of very different position, function, and honour, is yet one. The Church, no matter where it is situated, or in what age of the world it exists–no matter of what race, blood, or colour are its members, or how various the tongues in which its services are presented–is one, and remains so, unaffected by distance or time, or physical, intellectual, and social distinctions. And as in the Body there is only one Spirit, one living principle–no double consciousness, no dualism of intelligence, motive, and action–so the one Spirit of God dwells in the one Church, and there is, therefore, no rivalry of administration, and there are no conflicting claims. And whatever the gifts and graces conferred, whatever variety of aspect they may assume, all possess a delicate self-adaptation to times and circumstances, for they are all from the one Spirit, having unity of origin and oneness of design and result. (J. Eadie, D. D.)

The oneness of Christs Church

The real spiritual Church of the Redeemer is one Body. All the members of that Church partake of the same grace, adhere to the same rule of faith, are washed in the same Blood, are filled with the same hopes, and shall dwell at length in the same blessed inheritance. Heretics and ungodly men may find their way into the Church, but they remain really separated from its invisible conjunction of charity. There may be variations in what Barrow calls lesser matters of ceremony and discipline, and yet this essential unity is preserved. (J. Eadie, D. D.)

The Church is not a material Body

In contemplating this Body you must divest yourselves of a material idea. What we call matter is by no means essential to living organisms. On the contrary, it is essential to the reality, unity, and permanence of a body that it be not material. There are celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial. But the celestial is much more strictly a body than the terrestrial. For a celestial body is incapable of decay, but an earthly body soon collapses, and falls into an inorganic mass. A body may be material, or psychical, or spiritual. The material is the lowest, and least worthy of being called a body. Strictly speaking, matter is an apparition. It is essentially deficient of the higher qualities of being, and consequently cannot maintain its integrity. It is a dense vapour that appeareth for a little time, and then vanishes away. As our own material body is a veil hiding another body, in like manner, the material universe is a covering upon a more glorious universe. The sanctuary, which was so constructed as to be a figure of creation, had for its outmost covering rough animal skins; but by lifting a series of coverings, you came to gold, and within all was the Divine Presence. Peter, James, and John were permitted to see that our Lord had, within His material body, a divinely luminous one, which was His true body. We are called to become citizens of the kingdom which is the inner and true body of the universe. This is the kingdom of heaven, which our Lord preached and opened to men. Our souls live, move, and have their being in this inner sphere. We are a part of it. (J. Pulsford.)

Sins against unity

All sins against unity are sins against the Holy Ghost. (Dr. Hedge.)

Union is strength

If you consider how it is that a hempen twine is made strong enough to draw a loaded waggon, or to bear the immense strain of a ship as she rides at anchor, you will see a significancy that perhaps did not occur to you before, in the use which Holy Scripture makes of this work of human art as an emblem. It is formed of many threads twisted together into one cord, and these cords are again combined into one cable. Each thread is in itself so weak, that a child could break, or the slightest weight would burst it; but when the threads are turned into one rope, their united strength is such as would have seemed incredible. A three-fold cord is not quickly broken. The truth is just before us that union is strength. They who are weak and helpless singly are able to produce a vast result, when they combine their powers. It was in order to restrain His sinful creatures from carrying out what they had combined with the intention of doing, that God frustrated the building of the tower of Babel, and scattered them over the face of the earth, and He gathers together again His elect people in one body in Christ, that by uniting their various energies in one work, and for one end, they may strengthen each others hands, and effectually bruise under foot the powers of darkness. (Bishop Trower.)

Christian work promotes unity

Captain Moreton, to illustrate the concord that came from union in work, retailed the following incident he had heard from Mr. Macgregor (Rob Roy). He was walking one day on the southern English coast, and fell across some seafaring men quarrelling about the way in which a button had been sewn on one of their coats. They were on the point of coming to blows, when a cry was raised that there was a ship on the Goodwin Sands, and that the lifeboat was needed. Instantly the trumpery quarrel was at an end, and all were heartily at work doing their best to save their shipwrecked brethren.

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 4. There is one body] Viz. of Christ, which is his Church.

One Spirit] The Holy Ghost, who animates this body.

One hope] Of everlasting glory, to which glory ye have been called by the preaching of the Gospel; through which ye have become the body of Christ, instinct with the energy of the Holy Ghost.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

There is one body; i.e. the church of Christ, Eph 1:23; see Col 3:15.

And one Spirit; the self-same Spirit of Christ in that body by which all the members live and act, 1Co 12:11,13.

Even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one inheritance in heaven, to the hope of which ye are called, Col 1:12.

Hope, for the thing hoped for, as Col 1:5; see 1Pe 1:3,4.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

4. In the apostle’s creed, thearticle as to THE CHURCHproperly follows that as to THEHOLY GHOST.To the Trinity naturally is annexed the Church, as the house to itstenant, to God His temple, the state to its founder [AUGUSTINE,Enchiridion, c. 15]. There is yet to be a Church, not merelypotentially, but actually catholic or world-wide; then the Church andthe world will be co-extensive. Rome falls into inextricable error bysetting up a mere man as a visible head, antedating that consummationwhich Christ, the true visible Head, at His appearing shall firstrealize. As the “SPIRIT”is mentioned here, so the “LORD”(Jesus), Eph 4:5, and “GODthe Father,” Eph 4:6. Thusthe Trinity is again set forth.

hopehere associatedwith “the Spirit,” which is the “earnest of ourinheritance” (Eph 1:13;Eph 1:14). As “faith”is mentioned, Eph 4:5, so “hope”here, and “love,” Eph 4:2.The Holy Spirit, as the common higher principle of life (Eph 2:18;Eph 2:22), gives to the Churchits true unity. Outward uniformity is as yet unattainable; butbeginning by having one mind, we shall hereafter end by having “onebody.” The true “body” of Christ (all believers ofevery age) is already “one,” as joined to the one Head. Butits unity is as yet not visible, even as the Head is not visible; butit shall appear when He shall appear (Joh 17:21-23;Col 3:4). Meanwhile the rule is,”In essentials, unity; in doubtful questions, liberty; in allthings, charity.” There is more real unity where both go toheaven under different names than when with the same name one goes toheaven, the other to hell. Truth is the first thing: those who reachit, will at last reach unity, because truth is one; whilethose who seek unity as the first thing, may purchase it at thesacrifice of truth, and so of the soul itself.

of your callingthe one”hope” flowing from our “calling,” is theelement “IN”which we are “called” to live. Instead of privilegedclasses, as the Jews under the law, a unity of dispensation washenceforth to be the common privilege of Jew and Gentile alike.Spirituality, universality, and unity, were designed tocharacterize the Church; and it shall be so at last (Isa 2:2-4;Isa 11:9; Isa 11:13;Zep 3:9; Zec 14:9).

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

There is one body,…. The church; in what sense that is a body, and compared to one, [See comments on Eph 1:23]. It is called “one” with relation to Jews and Gentiles, who are of the same body, and are reconciled in one body by Christ, and are baptized into it by the Spirit; and with respect to saints above and saints below, who make up one general assembly; and with regard to separate societies; for though there are several particular congregations, yet there is but one church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven; and saints of different ages, places, states, and conditions, are all one in Christ Jesus, who is the one, and only head of this body: and this is an argument to excite the saints to unity of Spirit; since they are, as one natural body is, members one of another, and therefore should not bite and devour one another; they are one political body, one kingdom, over which Christ is sole King and lawgiver, and a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand; they are one economical body, one family, they are all brethren, and should not fall out by the way.

And one Spirit; the Holy Spirit of God, who animates, quickens, and actuates the body: there is but one Spirit, who convinces of sin, enlightens, regenerates, and makes alive; who incorporates into the body, the church; who comforts the saints; helps them in their access to God through Christ; makes known the things of Christ to them, is a spirit of adoption, and the seal and earnest of the heavenly glory; and the consideration of this should engage to unity, because a contrary conduct must be grieving to the Spirit of God, unsuitable to his genuine fruits, and very unlike the true spirit of a Christian: and by one spirit may be meant the spirit of themselves, who, as the first Christians were, should be of one heart, and of one soul, of the same mind, and having the same affections for one another; which sense is favoured by the Syriac and Arabic versions; the former rendering the words, “that ye may be one body and one spirit”, making this to be the issue and effect of their endeavours after union and peace; and the latter reads them as an exhortation, “be ye one body and one spirit”; that is, be ye cordially and heartily united in your affections to one another:

even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; that is, the glory hoped for, and which is laid up in heaven, and will be enjoyed there, to which the saints are called in the effectual calling, is one and the same: there are no degrees in it; it will be equally possessed by them all; for they are all loved with the same love, chosen in the same head, and secured in the same covenant; they are bought with the same price of Christ’s blood, and are justified by the same righteousness; they are all equally the sons of God, and so heirs of the same heavenly inheritance; and are all made kings and priests unto God, and there is but one kingdom, one crown, one inheritance for them all; and the holiness and beatific vision of the saints in heaven will be alike; and therefore they should be heartily affected to one another here on earth, who are to be partners together in glory to all eternity. So the Jews say p, that in the world of souls, all, small and great, stand before the Lord; and they have a standing alike; for in the affairs of the soul, it is fit that they should be all , “equal”, as it is said Ex 30:15, “the rich shall not give more”.

p Tzeror Hammor, fol. 154. 2.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

One body ( ). One mystical body of Christ (the spiritual church or kingdom, cf. Eph 1:23; Eph 2:16).

One Spirit ( ). One Holy Spirit, grammatical neuter gender (not to be referred to by “it,” but by “he”).

In one hope ( ). The same hope as a result of their calling for both Jew and Greek as shown in chapter 2.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

The connection with the preceding verses is as follows : I exhort you to unity, for you stand related to the Church, which is one body in Christ; to the one Spirit who informs it; to the one hope which your calling inspires; to the one Lord, Christ, in whom you believe with one common faith, and receive one common sign of that faith, baptism. Above all, to the one God and Father.

Body – Spirit. The body is the invisible Church, the mystical body of Christ : the Spirit, the Holy Spirit. Pneuma spirit, is never used in the New Testament of temper or disposition.

Even as. To the facts of one body and one Spirit corresponds the fact of their calling in one hope. Compare Col 3:15.

In one hope of your calling [ ] . In, not by. Their calling took place in the one hope as its moral element or sphere, since they were called to fellowship with Christ who is the one object and the one inspirer of hope. Compare called in peace, 1Co 7:15; in sanctification, 1Th 4:7 (Rev.). Hope here is not the object but the principle of hope. The phrase hope of your calling signifies hope which is characteristic of God ‘s call to salvation, and is engendered by it. See on ch. Eph 1:18.

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

THE SEVEN UNITIES TO GUARD

1) “There is one body, and one Spirit” (en soma kai en pneuma) “There exists a) one body (church body) and b) one Spirit (Holy Spirit).” The one body” means one kind of body (a local assembly), institutionally called the church,” and “one Spirit,” the Holy Spirit, Eph 1:22-23; 1Co 12:27; Col 1:18; Joh 14:16-17.

2) “Even as ye are called” (kathos kai eklethete)

Just as ye were called,” entirely in harmony or accord with their calling to salvation and an heir-setting with Christ through the church, Eph 1:18.

3) “In one hope of your calling” (en mia elpidi tes kleseos humon) “In one hope of your calling.” The object or end purpose of the Divine hope and eternally purposed call of the Ephesians was to “heir-service” to the Lord, through the church, Eph 3:21.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

4. There is one body. (139) He proceeds to show more fully in how complete a manner Christians ought to be united. The union ought to be such that we shall form one body and one soul. These words denote the whole man. We ought to be united, not in part only, but in body and soul. He supports this by a powerful argument, as ye have been called in one hope of your calling. We are called to one inheritance and one life; and hence it follows, that we cannot obtain eternal life without living in mutual harmony in this world. One Divine invitation being addressed to all, they ought to be united in the same profession of faith, and to render every kind of assistance to each other. Oh, were this thought deeply impressed upon our minds, that we are subject to a law which no more permits the children of God to differ among themselves than the kingdom of heaven to be divided, how earnestly should we cultivate brotherly kindness! How should we dread every kind of animosity, if we duly reflected that all who separate us from brethren, estrange us from the kingdom of God! And yet, strangely enough, while we forget the duties which brethren owe to each other, we go on boasting that we are the sons of God. Let us learn from Paul, that none are at all fit for that inheritance who are not one body and one spirit.

(139) “There are ancient medals now extant, which have the figure of Diana on them, with this inscription, κοινὸν τὢς ᾿Ασίας, denoting that the cities of Asia were one body or commonwealth. Thus also were all Christians of all nations, Jews and Gentiles, under Christ.” — Chandler.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES

Eph. 4:4-6. One body and in you all.Seven elements of unity St. Paul enumerates. They form a chain stretching from the Church on earth to the throne and being of the universal Father in heaven (Findlay).

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Eph. 4:4-6

The Sevenfold Unity of the Church reflected in the Trinity of Divine Persons.

I. One Spirit (Eph. 4:4), the animating Principle of the one body (Eph. 4:4)the Church; the Source of its life and ever-watchful Guardian of the Churchs unity; the Inspirer of the one hope, Even as ye are called in one hope of your calling (Eph. 4:4). Where the Spirit of Christ dwells as a vitalising, formative principle, He finds or makes for Himself a body. Let no man say, I have the spirit of religion, I can dispense with forms, I need no fellowship with men, I prefer to walk with God. God will not walk with men who do not care to walk with His people. The oneness of communion amongst the people of Christ is governed by a unity of aim. The old pagan world fell to pieces because it was without hope; its golden age was in the past. No society can endure that lives upon its memories, or that contents itself with cherishing its privileges. Nothing holds men together like work and hope. Christianity holds out a splendid crown of life. It promises our complete restoration to the image of God, the redemption of the body with the spirit from death, and our entrance upon an eternal fellowship with Christ in heaven. The Christian hope supplies to men more truly and constantly than Nature in her most exalted forms

The anchor of their purest thoughts, the nurse,
The guide, the guardian of their heart, and soul
Of all their moral being.

The hope of our calling is a hope for mankind, nay, for the entire universe. We labour for the regeneration of humanity. We look for the actual ingathering into one in Christ of all things in all worlds, as they are already gathered in Gods eternal plan. If it were merely a personal salvation that we had to seek, Christian communion might appear to be an optional thing and the Church no more than a society for mutual spiritual benefit. But seen in this larger light, Church membership is of the essence of our calling (Findlay).

II. One Lord (Eph. 4:5), or Master, whom we are called to serve. A consentaneous and harmonious obedience to His mandates blends His servants into one compact unity. One faith (Eph. 4:5), one body of inviolable truth, one code of divine commands, one gospel of promise, presenting one object of faith. One baptism (Eph. 4:5), one gateway of entrance into the company of believers forming the one Church, one initiatory right common to all. Christians may differ as to the mode of baptism and the age at which it should be administered, but all agree it is an institution of Christ, a sign of spiritual renewal, and a pledge of the righteousness that comes by faith. Wherever the sacraments are duly observed, there the supremacy of Christs rule is recognised, and this rule is the basis on which future unity must be built.

III. One God, the supreme and final unity, who is the Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all (Eph. 4:6). Above allHe reigns supreme over all His people (Rom. 9:5). Through allinforming, inspiring, stimulating, and using them as instruments to work out His purposes (Rom. 11:36). In alldwelling in and filling their hearts and the ever-widening circle of their experience. The absolute sovereignty of the divine Mind over the universe, said Channing, is the only foundation of hope for the triumph of the human mind over matter, over physical influences, over imperfection and death. With what a grand simplicity the Christian conception of the one God and Father rose above the vulgar pantheon, the swarm of motley deitiessome gay and wanton, some dark and cruel, some of supposed beneficence, all infected with human passion and basenesswhich filled the imagination of the Grco-Asiatic pagans. What rest there was for the mind, what peace and freedom for the spirit, in turning from such deities to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! This was the very God whom the logic of Greek thought and the practical instincts of Roman law and empire blindly sought. Through ages He had revealed Himself to the people of Israel, who were now dispersed amongst the nations to bear His light. At last He declared His full name and purpose to the world in Jesus Christ. So the gods many and lords many have had their day. By His manifestation the idols are utterly abolished. The proclamation of one God and Father signifies the gathering of men into one family of God. The one religion supplies the basis for one life in all the world. God is over all, gathering all worlds and beings under the shadow of His beneficent dominion. He is through all and in all; an omnipresence of love, righteousness, and wisdom, actuating the powers of nature and of grace, inhabiting the Church and the heart of men (Findlay).

Lessons.

1. In the moral as in the material world there is diversity in unity and unity in diversity.

2. All phases of good find their consummation in an imperishable unity.

3. To disturb the balance of unity is a great evil.

GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES

Eph. 4:4-6. The Unity of the Church.

I. There is one body.The Church is a body of which Christ is the Head, and believers are the members. Though Christians are formed into distinct societies, they constitute but one body. They are united to the Head by faith and to their fellow-members by love.

II. There is one Spirit.As all members of the natural body are animated by one soul, so all the members of Christs body are sanctified, strengthened, and led by the same Spirit. Since there is one Spirit which dwells in all Christians, all contention, bitterness, and envy, all animosity, division, and separation in the Church are offences against the Holy Spirit.

III. There is one hope of our calling.We are all called by the same word, our hope is grounded on the same promises, the object of our hope is the same immortal life.

IV. There is one Lord.Christ is Lord of all by the same right. He has bought us with a high price, redeemed us by His own blood. There is no respect of persons with him. We are called to the same service, are under the same laws, and must appear at the same judgment.

V. There is one faith.The same gospel is the rule of our faith, and this all Christians profess to receive. The faith of all true Christians is essentially the same. The object of it is the word of God, the nature of it is receiving the love of the truth, the effect of it is to purify the heart.

VI. There is one baptism.We are all baptised in the name of Christ, and He is not divided. May differ as to the age at which persons become the subjects of baptism and the manner of administration, but regarding the design of it we are one. Baptism intended not to divide, but unite the whole Christian world.

VII. There is one God and Father.The Father of the whole creation, but in a more eminent sense the Father of Christians. He is above all. He reigns supreme. He is through all. His essence pervades our frame, His eyes search and try our souls, His influence preserves our spirits. He is in all. In all true Christians by His Spirit. They are the temple of God, and His Spirit dwelleth in them.Lathrop.

Eph. 4:4. The Oneness of the Church.

1. All the members of the Church being one body is a strong argument enforcing the duty of keeping peace and unity; it being no less absurd for Christians to bite and devour one another than if the members of the selfsame natural body should tear and destroy one another.
2. As those in nature are in a hopeless state, having no right to heaven and happiness, so the gospel doth open to the person called a large door of well-grounded hope, that, whatever be his misery here, he shall be perfectly blessed in the full enjoyment of God for ever hereafter.
3. The joint aiming of the saints at one mark should make them of one mind and heart, seeing there is that in glory which will suffice all. Their seeking of one thing need be no occasion of strife and emulation, but rather of unity, for why should they strive together who not only are brethren but also heirs together of the grace of life and shall one day reign together in glory?Fergusson.

One Body and One Spirit.

I. The unity or oneness of the Church as set forth by the unity or oneness of the body.One life animates the whole. The parts mutually subserve one another, while the head thinks and the heart beats for all. There is a certain harmony existing between all the members; they constitute a symmetry among themselves, so that one could not be taken away without destroying the perfection of all the others, more or less marring the grace and beauty of the whole frame. So the Church is oneone mystical bodyhaving one author, God; one Head, which is Christ; and one informing Spirit, the Holy Ghost; one country towards which all its members are travelling, heaven; one code of instructions to guide them thither, the word of God; one and the same band of enemies seeking to bar their passage, the world, the flesh, and the devil. Despite all miserable divisions, wherever there is a man with true love to God and man, any true affiance on Christ, any true obedience to the Spirit and His leadings, there exists a member of this mystical body.

II. As in the human body there is unity, so there is also variety, diversity, multiplicity.This is true of the Church of Christ. Its different members have different functions and offices, and in performing these the Church makes equable and harmonious growth.

Lessons.

1. As members of the same body, let us not separate from brethren in Christ.

2. If we are members one of another, many are the debts as such we owe the one to the other.

(1) We owe one another truth.
(2) Love one to another.

(3) Honour one to another.R. C. Trench.

Eph. 4:5. One Lord.

I. Christ is our Lord according to every notion and acceptation of the word Lord.He is our Prince and Governor, we are His subjects and vassals; He is our Master, and we are His servants; He is our Owner, or the Possessor and Proprietary of us; He is our Preceptor or Teacher; that is, the Lord of our understanding, which is subject to the belief of His dictates; and the Lord of our practice, which is to be directed by His precepts. He is therefore also our Captain and Leader, whose orders we must observe, whose conduct we should follow, whose pattern we are to regard and imitate in all things.

II. Christ is also our Lord according to every capacity or respect of nature or office that we can consider appertaining to Him.

1. He is our Lord as by nature the Son of God, partaking of the divine essence and perfection.
2. He is our Lord as man, by the voluntary appointment and free donation of God His Father; in regard to the excellency of His Person, and to the merit of His performances.
3. He also, considered as God and man united in one Person, is plainly our Lord.
4. If we are to consider Him as Jesus, our Saviour, that notion doth involve acts of dominion, and thence resulteth a title thereto. Nothing more becomes a Lord than to protect and save; none better deserves the right and the name of a Lord than a Saviour.
5. Likewise, if He be considered as the Christ, that especially implieth Him anointed and consecrated to sovereign dominion, as King of the Church.

III. Survey the several grounds upon which dominion may be built, and we shall see that upon all accounts He is our Lord.

1. An uncontrollable power and ability to govern is one certain ground of dominion.
2. To make, to preserve, to provide and dispense maintenance, are also clear grounds of dominion.
3. He hath acquired us by free donation from God His Father.
4. He hath acquired us by just right of conquest, having subdued those enemies unto whom (partly by their fraud and violence, partly from our own will and consent) we did live enslaved and addicted.
5. He hath also further acquired us to Himself by purchase, having by a great price bought us, ransomed us out of sad captivity, and redeemed us from grievous punishment due to us.
6. He likewise acquired a lordship over us by desert, and as a reward from God, suitable to His performances of obedience and patience, highly satisfactory and acceptable to God.
7. He hath acquired a good right and title to dominion over us as our continual most munificent benefactor.
8. Our Saviour Jesus is not only our Lord by nature and by acquisition in so many ways (by various performances, deserts, and obligations put on us), but He is also so by our own deeds, by most free and voluntary, most formal and solemn, and therefore most obligatory acts of ours.
(1) If we are truly persuaded that Christ is our Lord and Master, we must then see ourselves obliged humbly to submit unto and carefully to observe His will, to attend unto and to obey His law, with all readiness and diligence.
(2) If Christ be our Lord, then are we not our own lords or our own men; we are not at liberty, or at our own disposal, as to our own persons or our actions.
(3) If Christ be our Lord (absolutely and entirely such), then can we have no other lords whatever in opposition to Him, or in competition with Him, or otherwise any way than in subordination and subserviency to Him.
(4) If Christ be our Lord, we are thereby disobliged, yea, we are indeed prohibited, from pleasing or humouring men, so as to obey any command, to comply with any desire, or to follow any custom of theirs, which is repugnant to the will or precept of Christ.
(5) Finally, for our satisfaction and encouragement, we may consider that the service of Christ is rather indeed a great freedom than a service.Barrow.

Eph. 4:6. God the Father.

I. God is the universal Father.

1. God is the Father of all things, or of us as creatures, as the efficient Cause and Creator of them all.
2. The Father of intellectual beings. He is styled the Father of spirits; the angels, in way of excellency, are called the sons of God.
3. The Father in a more especial manner of mankind.
4. The Father of all good men, such a relation being built upon higher grounds; for as good they have another original from Him, virtue springs in their hearts from a heavenly seed, that emendation and perfection of nature is produced by His grace enlightening and quickening them; they are images of Him, resembling Him in judgment and disposition of mind, in will and purpose, in action and behaviour, which resemblances argue them to be sons of God and constitute them such.

II. The uses of this truth.

1. It may teach us what reverence, honour, and observance are due from us to God, in equity and justice, according to ingenuity and gratitude.
2. This consideration may instruct and admonish us what we should be and how we should behave ourselves, for if we be Gods children it becometh us, and we are obliged in our disposition and demeanour to resemble, to imitate Him. It is natural and proper for children to resemble their parents in their complexion and countenance, to imitate them in their actions and carriage.
3. This consideration may raise us to a just regard, esteem, and valuation of ourselves; may inspire noble thoughts and breed generous inclinations in us; may withdraw us from mean, base, and unworthy designs or practices; may excite and encourage us to handsome, brave, worthy resolutions and undertakings suitable to the dignity of our nature, the nobleness of our descent, the eminence of so high a relation, of so near an alliance to God.
4. This consideration is a motive to humility, apt to depress vain conceit and confidence in ourselves. If we are Gods children, so as to have received our beings, all our powers and abilities, all our goods and wealth, both internal and external, both natural and spiritual, from His free disposal, so as be continually preserved and maintained by His providence to depend for all our subsistence upon His care and bounty, what reason can we have to assume or ascribe anything to ourselves?
5. This consideration shows us the reason we have to submit entirely to the providence of God with contentedness and acquiescence in every condition.
6. Obligeth us to be patient and cheerful in the sorest afflictions, as deeming them to come from a paternal hand, inflicted with great affection and compassion, designed for and tending to our good.
7. Shows the reason we have to obey those precepts which enjoin us to rely on Gods providence.
8. Serves to breed and cherish our faith, to raise our hope, to quicken our devotion. For whom shall we confide in if not in such a Father? From whom can we expect good if not from Him? To whom can we have recourse so freely and cheerfully on any occasion if not to Him?
9. Considering this point will direct and prompt us how to behave ourselves towards all Gods creatures according to their respective natures and capacities. If God be the Father of all things, they are all thence in some sort our brethren, and so may claim from us a fraternal affection and demeanour answerable thereto.Barrow.

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

(4) There is one body, and one Spirit.The words There is are not in the original, which starts with a striking abruption, and with that terse concentration of thought and word which marks out an embryo creed.

The one body is the Body of Christ, from whom it is fitly framed, joined together, and compacted, so that in every part it grows up into Him. But this communion with God in Christ being the life eternal, the Holy Ghost, by making it effectual alike to the Church and to the individual soul, is the Lord and Giver of Life. Hence, His presence is spoken of as being to the body of Christ what the spirit is to the natural bodythe uniting and vivifying power for all its members. Under the same idea we have (in 1Co. 12:13), as a description of the first entrance into the Church of Christ, By one Spirit are we all baptised into one body . . . and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

Even as ye are (or rather, were) called in one hope of your calling.The connection, though not at first obvious, is clear on consideration. Since the grace of the Holy Spirit is not only the seal of regeneration, but also the earnest (Eph. 1:14) of future perfection, the mention of the one Spirit suggests naturally the hope of our calling (i.e., the perfect unity of heaven). In this, in spite of all natural and spiritual inequalities, and in spite even of our divisions and strifes upon earth, all Christians are still actually one. Hence the communion of saints is perhaps most clearly realised in the times of high spiritual aspiration, and in the near presence of death.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

4. There is The italics show that these words are supplied by the translators. Like the “for” supplied by Eadie, they weaken the sense. Thus far Paul has been preparing the Ephesians for the unity; he now points to the high centres of unity their Christianity presents, and abruptly exclaims, One body, one faith, etc. Seven times is the word one repeated to show them how perfect is their ideal oneness.

One Spirit Forming the higher soul of the one body. It is the infinite Spirit so animating all their finite spirits as to centralize them into one body, and give that body life and power.

One hope The single blessed hope in Christ, by which they joyfully anticipate a glorious eternity.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘There is one body, and one Spirit, even as also you were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all.’

It may well be that this sevenfold list was regularly recited in some form in a recognised creed in Christian gatherings. It gives the impression of a repetitive statement.

‘One body.’ Paul now stresses that the oneness of His people is based on the oneness of the bases for their faith. Thus ‘one body’ is not just a bald statement, it has in mind the One body of our Lord Jesus Christ, crucified on the cross, in which we are united with Him in His death and resurrection (Eph 2:16). We are one body because we are united in the One body (1Co 10:16-17; Rom 6:4-6), the body of His flesh through death (Col 1:21).

‘One Spirit.’ Compare Eph 2:18; 1Co 12:13. We are made alive, indwelt and sealed by the One Spirit. He is not divided and we too should not be. We should share His aims and purposes. How can we divide the One Spirit?

‘One hope of your calling.’ We have all been called by God and all share the same confident hope. Therefore, with our hope one, our aims should be one. For our calling is not only in relationship to ourselves it is in relationship to the whole of God’s people. We are together a part of His overall purpose.

‘One Lord.’ No overlord would be satisfied to have his armies bickering under his command. He wants them to be working together for the good of the whole. That is why coalitions do not work so well, there is not one overall lord. So our Lord also demands that we love one another and work together as one in loving obedience to Him.

‘One faith.’ Our faith is based on the testimony of Jesus Christ. We thus share the same faith on primary matters, the same essential teachings. These essential truths are important and were carefully guarded by the early church. Without them a man is not a Christian. So our oneness must be on the basis of basic Scriptural truth.

‘One baptism.’ All see in baptism the same essential truth of having received the Holy Spirit (Act 10:47). And see in that one baptism the outward symbol of being baptised in the Spirit into the body of Christ, into oneness with Him in His death and resurrection. Thus baptism should be expressing unity with all who have been baptised into Christ.

‘One God and Father of all, Who is over all, and through all, and in all.’ There is One Who is over all, the One from Whom every Fatherhood in Heaven and earth is named (Eph 3:14-15), Who is Father of all His children, Who works through them, and Who dwells with and in them by His Spirit (Joh 14:23). Thus are we all one family and should maintain family unity under His Fatherhood.

So each of the seven aspects of faith point to our oneness, which He desires will be the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

The seven are divisible into three groups each of which centres on a member of the Godhead. The Spirit was the One Who effectually called us and implanted our hope within us, the Lord taught us our faith and supplies the Spirit testified to in baptism (Joh 14:16; Joh 15:26; Joh 16:7), the Father is over all. Compare 1 Corinthians 12 4-6 where there are diversities of gifts but the same Spirit, diversities of ministrations but the same Lord, and diversities of workings but the same God Who works all things in all.

Other conjunctions are discernible. One body (first) with one Father (seventh). One Spirit (second) with one baptism (sixth). One hope (third) with one faith (fifth), with one Lord central.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Eph 4:4 , on to Eph 4:6 . Objective relations of unity, to which the non-compliance with what is demanded in Eph 4:3 would be contradictory, [200] and which are consequently meant to incite towards compliance, but without (comp. Dissen, ad Pind. Exc. II. p. 277), which gives greater animation to the discourse. The simple is to be supplied (comp. 1Co 10:17 ); for the discourse is not hortatory, as it is taken to be by Pelagius, Theophylact, Oecumenius, Calvin, Camerarius, Estius, Zachariae, Morus, Koppe, and others, including Hofmann, Schriftbew . II. 2, p. 128, with which Eph 4:5-6 would not be in accord; for the same reason also the words are not to be attached appositionally to (Bleek), but they are independent and purely assertive: there is one body and one Spirit . On , by which the totality of Christians as corpus (Christi) mysticum is meant, comp. Eph 2:16 ; Rom 12:5 ; 1Co 10:17 ; 1Co 12:13 ; on , which is the Holy Spirit , the Spirit of that corpus mysticum , Eph 2:18 ; 1Co 12:13 . The explanation: “ one body and one soul ” (“quasi diceret, nos penitus corpore et anima, non ex parte duntaxat, debere esse unitos,” Calvin), is excluded, as at variance with the context, by the specifically Christian character of the other elements, and rendered impossible by the correct supplying of (not esse debetis ).

. . . .] with which unity ( . . .) the relation also of your calling is in keeping (comp. Col 3:15 ), which took place by the fact that ( instrumental, see on Gal 1:6 ) one hope (namely, that of the eternal Messianic bliss) was communicated to you; for all in fact were called by God to this very Messianic (Phi 3:14 ).

. ] genitive, as at Eph 1:18 . Bengel, we may add, aptly remarks: “Spiritus est arrhabo , atque ideo cum ejus mentione conjongitur spes haereditatis. ” Comp. also Clem. Cor. I. 46.

[200] These set forth (1) the church itself constituted on the footing of unity one body, one Spirit, one blessed consummation, ver. 4; (2) means, by which the constitution of it as an unity is produced and preserved one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ver. 5; (3) the supreme ruler, disposer, and sustainer of this entire unity one God and Father, etc., ver. 6. Observe the threefold tripartite arrangement.

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

2. Three motives to the preservation of the unity in the Spirit

Eph 4:4-16

a. The working of the Triune God in the Church

(Eph 4:4-6)

4There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called [as ye were also called] 5in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6One God and Father of all, who is above [over]8 all, and through all, and in you all [in all].

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Connection.These three verses are joined to what precedes without any connecting particle, and, as parallel clauses, follow each other without any such particle, since the context, being quite clear, requires none. Theodoret: . Bugenhagen: omnia, unde Christiani sumus, unitate nobis commendantur. The exhortation to maintain the unity of the Spirit has mainly occasioned these verses; they give a reason for it; is wanting however, on account of the liveliness of the discourse, and for emphasis.9 The objective bases for unity in the Spirit, to which they have been exhorted, the motives for such exhortation are stated.10 Hence we should supply , and not , as though it were continued exhortation (Syriac, Calvin, Hofmann, Schriftbeweis, II. 2, p. 127, and others). [Braunes view is that generally received, and by far the most tenable.R.]

Eph 4:4. The nature of the fellowship.There is one body and one Spirit [ ]. (Eph 1:23; Eph 2:16; Rom 12:5; 1Co 12:13; 1Co 12:20) designates the totality of Christians as a corpus mysticum; it is not=, church, which is to be viewed as the external phenomenon, the body of Christ is hidden, but a reality, like the body of nerves, a hidden reality, which can be traced, making itself perceptible, the invisible church, the unity of which is emphasized by the Apostle and to be held fast. is added to designate the soul of this body, the Holy Ghost, which forms and moulds the body, and to show that this of Christ is no . He is not speaking therefore of an ideal invisible church, which does not actually exist, but of the actual, real essence of the church, which is internal, but comes into being continuously. It is foolish to explain here, we should be united penitus, corpore et anima, non ex parte duntaxat (Calvin and others).

Since Christs body and the Holy Ghost are perceptible, not in their essence, but only inwardly and in their effects and consequences, Paul refers next to their own experience:

As ye were also called in one hope of your Calling [ ].According to the calling ( ), by means of which he who is called has obtained or can obtain knowledge and perception of the body and Spirit just mentioned! This calling points likewise () to the unity, because it is consummated in one hope; as soon as a man is called of God, he is in the hope of salvation (, ) and this hope is one and the same for each and all who are called, by right, in tendency and effect. This hope belongs so especially to the being called () that it can be termed all along of your calling; hope and calling are not to be separated from each other. Bengel is excellent: Spiritus est arrhabo, atque ideo cum ejus mentione conjungitur spes hereditatis. They belong together from the beginning; Paul here however refers to the history of the origin of church-fellowship which is to be maintained, whether one looks at the unity of the church, or of principle, or of aim. It cannot be said that the calling consists in hope (Bengel: exprimit indolem rei, Harless and others), still less that it takes place by means of hope (Meyer), or that is=. Winer, p. 385.

[See Eadie for a list of prepositions used with in the New Testament. He, with Alford and Ellicott, rightly supports the usual meaning of here: the element in which the calling took place. Ellicott speaks of this sense of the preposition as being, so to say, its theological meaning. He takes the genitive as one of originating cause, but it is rather that of possession, the genitive of the correlative noun, suggesting what belongs to the call and characterized it, when they received it. The hope is one, for it has one object, and that is glory; one fountain, and that is Christ (Eadie). is of course subjective.R]

Eph 4:5. Christ and the union with Him.One Lord, one faith, one baptism.This refers to the way and the means of salvation. , one Lord, is Christ, the Lord par excellence. See Eph 4:1; Eph 1:21. The word found in Deu 6:4 is now applied in the New Testament to Christ (1Co 8:4-6). His will has authority over all. Each one stands equally near to Him; for there is one faith, which unites with Him; faith (Eph 1:1; Eph 1:15; Eph 2:8; Eph 3:12; Eph 3:17) unites inwardly to the one Lord, trusts Him as Lord. Hence there is but one faith, and not several kinds: fides, qua creditur; it is not then a faith in abstracto (Harless), nor the doctrine of faith (Grotius and others); for this faith is actually and efficiently present and a living power, a believing. [A vast deal of difficulty as well as of error is avoided by bearing in mind that , faith, in the New Testament, almost invariably means subjective faith (Gal 1:23 is the only exception, and this perhaps an apparent one). The conception of faith as a universal dogma belongs to a later age, and while it has preserved Roman Catholic uniformity, has not kept the unity of the Spirit. So the Apostle implies: Because there is one faith, keep unity, not because we need unity, lay down one objective Catholic undoubted Christian faith. Dr. Hodge defends the objective sense here, but must make limitations which are of necessity indefinite enough to cast doubt on his own view. Still the context plainly points to the one Lord as the object of the one faith; and in the nature of things one subjective recognition of this eternal truth respecting Christ, this apprehension of Him in His Person and work, necessarily involves a common objective profession of it, and thus we pass to the third term of the verse, which is to be regarded as the external sign of faith, and in one aspect as a profession objectively made.R.]

Faith, which is one, begins with baptism, which is also only one; the former is an internal subjective medium, the latter an objective one, from without and above; these two factors make the Lord our own, and us the Lords own. Modo baptismus modo fides prponitur, Mar 16:16; Col 2:12 (Bengel). [The order of the words does not justify this view of Dr. Braunes. Alford takes the verse as presenting three great facts on which unity rests, the first objective, the second subjective, the third compounded of the two: the objective seal of the subjective faith, by which, as a badge, the members of Christ are outwardly and visibly stamped with His name. To find a reference to one mode of baptism is unwarranted by text or context.R.]

Why the Lords Supper is not mentioned, is evident from the context, which contains the motives for the exhortation, to desire to preserve the unity of the Spirit. The Lords Supper is rather an act of the preserved unity, than a motive for its preservation. It is celebrated by those who have been reconciled with God and hold each other to be brethren; it does not so much give an impulse to peaceableness, as it is a result of the same, as a common celebration of those who have become united together, as an attestation of the church which has become one in the Lord. De Wette refers to this by intimating that the Lords Supper is not mentioned, because it is a representation of unity.11 The reference to the fundamental conditions of the Christian communion at its beginning is an insufficient ground for the omission of this sacrament (Harless and others). Still less admissible is it to suppose that it is included in the one sacrament of baptism (Calovius), or in the one Lord, one faith (Olshausen), or to explain historically, that there has been as yet no separate celebration (Meyer), or that this is prophetic foresight, since the unify of the sacred feast would be broken nevertheless (Stier), or because he did not wish to hinder the manifold form of the rite (Schenkel), or because a definite expression for it was wanting (Bleek).

Eph 4:6. The deepest basis of true unity. One God and Father of all.Hero God the Father is referred to, after the Spirit (Eph 4:4) and the Son (Eph 4:5) have been made prominent. As little as God can be disunited with Himself, so little should you who are His children be among yourselves. Hence to the phrase one God, there is added epexegetically: and Father, the genitive of all, under which Christ cannot be included, leading us to understand it as the Father of believers, of those who have become Gods children in Christ. Father cannot then mean merely creator, according to the heathen conception, nor can of all be neuter in this context. Nam omnes ad unitatem rediguntur (Bengel), and the following all ( ) takes up the first one again, referring to persons, to the members of the Church, who should preserve the unity in the Spirit; on which account Eph 4:7 continues: to every one of you. It is accordingly neither neuter (Irenus and others), nor to be extended to men in general (Holzhausen).

Who is over all, marks the Ruler, Guardian, Guide (Winer, p. 351) governing over all (Winer, p. 390). Chrysostom: , .

And through all, , per omnes operans (Bengel); the individuals are instruments, means, as Rom 15:18; 1Co 3:9; Gal 1:1 : . See Winer, p. 390.

And in all, , dwelling in all (Bengel, Winer), filling them, perfecting them (Joh 14:23). All three qualifications refer to God and Father, hence are not to be interpreted in a trinitarian sense, of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, so that He who is through all is the Head working through all, and He who is in all is the indwelling Spirit, yet such a reference lies unmistakably in the background (Rom 11:36; 1Co 12:4-6; 2Co 13:13), at all events was not far off, so that Harless can discover here a recapitulation of one God, one Lord, one Spirit, which Stier and others think was intentional. Comp. Hofmann, Schriftbeweis, I. p. 201 f., who doubts any reference to the trinity, but applying it to the Father not without the Son and the Spirit, excludes no one Person. The reference to Redemption alone is clearer, hence through all is not to be understood of the all-pervading creative power, nor of Providence in general.

[While the mention of one baptism, with its Trinitarian formula, suggests the great probability of a reference to the Trinity in the several expressions of this verse, which is further favored by the first and third prepositions, it is far safer not to press it. The express mention of the Father is against it; can be referred to the work or office of the Son only by departing from its proper sense or inverting its relation to the rest of the verse (per quem omnia facta sunt, Aquinas, so Olshausen), and as Eadie remarks: In previous portions of the Epistle triune relation has been distinctly brought out; here the representation is different, for unity is the idea dwelt on, and it is the One God and Father Himself who works through all and dwells in all. Ellicott here confessedly allows doctrinal considerations to outweigh his exegetical convictions, and it is precisely thus, that those who defend the well-grounded doctrine of the church lose in their contests with those who impugn it. They attack our exegesis of a passage like this, and we must defend the doubtful, unimportant outpost at a disadvantage.One thing is certain that this passage refers to believers alone, neither teaching Gods Fathership of all men (though Alford thinks it is referred to as a lost possession), nor pantheism of any kind.R.]

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. The unity of the Church. Although and () describe so nearly the same, that of the former it is said (Eph 1:23): which is his body, while in Col 1:24 we read of his body, which is the church, yet the two may be thus distinguished: the former designates the church as an assembly of believers, of saints; the latter as a living organism, the organ of Him who is the Head, thus with the corpus Christi mysticum, giving more prominence to the inner concealed side, the unity of the same. Hence there are indeed churches, but no bodies of Christ. The Nicene creed was right in adding: unam to sanctam catholicam et apostolicam ecclesiam (the Apostles has only: sanctam ecclesiam catholicam); so the Augsburg Confession, Art. vii: quod una sancta ecclesia perpetuo mansura sit. Strictly there is but one Church of Christ, though in groups of congregations with different confessions. No confessional church (though, strictly speaking, the term is a misnomer) is the Church of Christ, it is only a church by the side of others, through which the body of Christ extends itself.

2. The distinction of the body of Christ from the Spirit is indicated definitely enough by their being placed side by side, yet the latter at the same time gives prominence to the church as the working-place of the Spirit.12

3. The call, when accepted and effectual, begins within the called, not with a mere promise which he receives, but with a hope corresponding thereto, so that the objective call of God and the subjective acceptance of the man come together, and he from the very beginning knows and feels himself to be shown out of the lower sphere of life into the higher one.

4. Christ is the One Lord, and no faith in Him is genuine, except it be in Him as Lord. It is not sufficient to believe the Master or Teacher; it is not enough to feel and deem ourselves scholars, hearers, disciples. The Christian must be servant, subject of Christ, not merely to bear or listen to Him, but to belong to Him, to hearken to Him, to obey, to follow Him as His vassal, attendant, servant. No human dignity, in the history of our lives or of the world exceeds the dignity of Christ: He is the one only Lord; who gives Him up, must give up faith and the fellowship of the church.

5. Baptism, with which faith begins (regeneratio prcedit fidem) imparts the germ of the new life, the beginning of the gift of the Holy Ghost, the principle of faith in the subject, as at birth, upon coming to the light of the world, man is endowed with reason. It is not merely a symbolical act, nor a mere prophecy of the cleansing which begins later, but it is the incorporation into the body of Christ, animated by the Spirit, implantation into the soil of divine life. [This is the Lutheran view, approaching, in its estimate of the objective grace of this Sacrament, the position of Romanism and Anglicanism. Certainly the fact that baptism is mentioned at all, puts it into an exalted position, from which unchurchly Zwinglianism would degrade it. But it is not placed before faith, nor is there here any warrant for the assertion that faith begins with baptism. The Reformed or Calvinistic view is most in accordance with our passage. See Heidelberg Catechism, Questions 6974; Belgic Confession, 34; Westminster Confession, 28; comp. especially Romans, p. 206, Doct. Note 3.While there is no reference to the one mode of baptism, there is probably an allusion to the fact that baptism is not or should not be repeated.R.]

6. God, the Father of believers, is not far from them, over them, but near to them, disposing concerning them, working through them, yes, dwelling in them, as in a temple, furnishing His work as in a work-shop. God is a Person, who not only rules throughout the universe, but gives to His own a special personality.

7. The Atheist denies the Father, the Deist the Son, the Pantheist the Holy Ghost, because he substitutes for it the unholy spirit of the world (Baader).

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

Ever return from multiplicity to unity, and in freedom to obligation; but never let your view of the unities be disturbed. Do not hold faith higher than baptism, penetrate into the communion of the Church until you reach the Spirit which is its soul, and do not sunder the Lord Jesus and God the Father!

Starke:There is but one Church, which receives life and movement from the Holy Ghost, and hence but one ship, with which we can sail into the haven of bliss; all other vessels destroy and drown.Christians are all equal in the fellowship of heavenly possessions, and no one has a better God, Christ, Spirit, Faith, etc., but what one has, the others have also, although one may have a greater enjoyment of such possessions than another.

Rieger:The body of Christ is ruled by one Spirit; one Lord gave Himself for the Redemption of all; out of one Word of truth and of faith are we convinced; one baptism is the door of entrance for us into the kingdom of God. Therefore God administers such a government of love over all, that as much as possible equality is established; out of his property every one can contribute something to the common benefit: as God on the other hand so gives Himself to be enjoyed by each, that he dare not look too anxiously upon others, still less through secret envy render difficult his keeping peace with all.Heubner, see Homil. Notes on the preceding section.

Passavant:There is one path, one goal, one house, one family, one home to which you have been called; you all hope for one heaven, and in the same heaven to obtain a common inheritance, an identical blessedness and glory in the heavenly life.I do not know, how it happens, that we glory in being the children of God so confidently and yet at the same time forget brotherly love.

Stier:Where there is still body, there is also Spiritthat is the Apostles great thought.Baptism and Faith belong together: 1. As faith is the subjective appropriation, so baptism is the objective representation of the same; 2. Faith takes out of the Lords hand, in baptism we have the firm foundation and beginning from the Lord.I confess that I find the one faith on the Lord in many a [Roman] Catholic with the hearty joy of fraternal agreement, and in many a zealot for the pure Word and Sacrament I might look for it with pain and in vain.

[Eadie:One baptism is the result and expression of the one faith in the one Lord, and, at the same time, the one mode of initiation by the one Spirit into the one body.All this unity is but the impress of the great primal unityone God.Christs claim for the preservation of unity is upon all the churchesa unity of present connection and actual enjoymentnot a truce, but an alliance, with one living and cognizancenot a compromise, but a veritable incorporation.Hodge:All sins against unity are sins against the Holy Ghost.R.]

[Seven times does the word one occur in these verses, but the middle term is one Lord, next on either side one hopeone faith.How great a unity results from one faith, the same trust of the heart on the one Lord; one creed often leads and always permits us to chop logic and split hairs, but where the faith is one, hearts are one, and no earnest Christian has failed to notice how quickly this manifests itself.It is a comfort to come back from the jars of the church of to-day and the wars of the church of the past, to the simple truth: There is one body: but here too faith is required.R.]

Footnotes:

[8]Eph 4:6.The Rec. inserts (with very slight authority), while D. F. K. L., good versions and a few fathers, 40 cursives, read ; no pronoun occurs in . A. B. C, 10 cursives. Most fathers also sustain the omission, which is accepted by nearly all editors and commentators since Lachmann, the pronouns being regarded as exegetical glosses to confine the assertion to Christians.R.]

[9][So Eadie with more correctness than Alford and Ellicott, for though is not to be supplied, yet the logical connection of the assertion is argumentative. It is one of the rare cases where the grammatical nicety of the commentator last named has led him somewhat astray.R.]

[10][So Meyer: Objective relations of unity, to which the non-observance of the precept in Eph 4:3 would be opposed. These are: 1. The Church itself constituted as a unityone body, one Spirit, one blessed consummation, Eph 4:4; Ephesians 2. That by which this constitution of the same as a unity has and does come to passone Lord, one faith, one baptism, Eph 4:5; Ephesians 3. The supreme Ruler, Administrator and Preserver of this entire unityone God and Father, etc., Eph 4:6. Notice the triple tri-partite division.R.]

[11][On this question, which seems to have occupied undue prominence from the sacramental tendencies of many commentators, Ellicott remarks that if a reason must be assigned, it must be referred to the fundamental difference between the sacraments. The one is rather the symbol of union, the other, from its single celebration and marked individual reference, presents more clearly the idea of unity,the idea most in harmony with the context.R.]

[12][Hodge: There are many passages to which the doctrine of the Trinity gives a sacred rhythm, though the doctrine itself is not directly asserted. It is so here. There is one Spirit, one Lord, one God and Father. The unity of the Church is founded on this doctrine. It is one, because there is to us one God the Father, one Lord, one Spirit. It is a truly mystical union; not a mere union of opinion, of interest, or of feeling: but something supernatural arising from a common principle of life. This life is not the natural life which belongs to us as creatures; nor intellectual, which belongs to us as rational beings; but it is spiritual life, called elsewhere the life of God in the soul. And as this life is common on the one hand to Christ and all His members, and on the other to Christ and God, this union of the Church is not only with Christ, but with the Triune God.R.]

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

DISCOURSE: 2107
CHRISTIAN UNITY

Eph 4:4-6. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

IT is often urged, as an objection against Christianity, that those who profess it are not agreed respecting the doctrines which it inculcates: and we are triumphantly urged to come to an agreement amongst ourselves, before we attempt to proselyte others to our religion. That persons calling themselves Christians differ widely from each other, is readily acknowledged. But it must be remembered, that Christianity is not a mere theory, which leaves men at liberty in relation to their practice: it is a religion which requires its votaries to have their whole souls brought into subjection to it, and cast, as it were, into its very mould: and those who affect not a conformity to its doctrines, will deny the doctrines themselves; having no alternative, but to set aside the requirements, or to condemn themselves for their disobedience to them. But between real Christians there is, on all the fundamental points of religion, a surprising agreement, even such an unity as does not exist on any other subject under heaven. Every true believer, whether learned or unlearned, feels himself to be a sinner before God; dependent altogether on the blood of Christ to purge him from his guilt, and on the Spirit of Christ to renew and sanctify his soul. The necessity of universal holiness, too, is equally acknowledged by all; so that, whatever difference there may appear to be between the different members of Christs mystical body, it is only such as exists in the countenances of different men; the main features being the same in all; and the diversity being discoverable only on a closer inspection.

That this truth may the more fully appear, I will take occasion, from the words before us, to shew,

I.

The foundation which the Gospel lays for unity

The unity of the Gospel is carried to a great extent
[The whole Christian Church is brought by the Gospel into one body, of which Christ is the head, and all true believers are the members [Note: 1Co 12:12.]. This body is inhabited by one Spirit, even the Holy Ghost, who pervades the whole, and animates it in every part. It is his presence only that gives life; and were he withdrawn for a moment, the soul would be as incapable of all spiritual motion, as a dead corpse is of all the functions of the animal life. To one hope are we all called, even to an inheritance which is incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for us. The one Lord of all is the Lord Jesus Christ, who purchased the Church with his own blood, and presides over it as Lord of all, and will judge every member of it in the last day. To all of them there is but one faith; to which all, without exception, must adhere, and by which alone they can be saved. Into this new-covenant state they are all admitted by one baptism, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. And of all there is one God and Father, who is above all, by his almighty power; and through all, by his superintending providence; and in all, by the constant operation of his Spirit and grace.]

All this may well serve as a foundation for unity, amongst those who profess the Gospel
[The force of this observation is universally acknowledged, in reference to the corporeal frame. The whole human frame proceeds from one source, is subject to the same wants, nourished by the same supplies, and affected with the same lot. In reference to that, it is judged reasonable that every part should have the same care one for the other; and that every member should sympathize with the rest, whether in a way of joy or sorrow, according as circumstances may require [Note: 1Co 12:25-26.]. All idea of a separate interest is quite excluded; and the happiness of every individual part is bound up in the welfare of the whole. Much more, therefore, may all disunion be proscribed in so sacred a body as the Church, where not merely the prosperity of the different members is at stake, but the honour of Almighty God also, and the interests of the whole world.]

Accordingly, we find universal harmony provided for, in,

II.

The unity it enjoins

It requires an unity,

1.

Of sentiment

[This is not to be expected in every thing: for, where the mind is so constituted as ours is, and possesses such different measures of information, and beholds subjects from such different points of view, it is not possible that there should be a perfect agreement of sentiment upon every thing. But it may well be expected to prevail, so far at least as to prevent dissension and division in the Church of God. This the Apostle inculcated with all possible earnestness: I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no division among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind, and in the same judgment [Note: 1Co 1:10.]. A departure from this rule is declared to be a proof of grievous carnality [Note: 1Co 3:3.]: and, if fostered in the soul, and promoted in the Church, it is judged a sufficient ground for the most marked disapprobation from every child of God: Mark them who cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned, and avoid them: for they that are such serve not the Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly and corrupt appetites [Note: Rom 16:17-18.].]

2.

Of affection

[Love is the grace which most adorns the true Christian: it is properly his distinctive mark [Note: Rom 12:10.]. It is not to be interrupted by party distinctions; which, instead of justifying an alienation from each other, should themselves, as far as possible, be buried in oblivion. In the body, no one member can say to another, I have no need of you: the least and lowest has its appropriate office, as well as those whose powers are of a superior order: nor does its difference of form or office cause it to be overlooked, or its welfare to be despised. But herein the Christian world is doubtless very defective. Minor differences and distinctions are magnified among them into occasions of mutual aversion; insomuch, that a circumstantial difference, in relation to the mere externals of religion, often sets persons as far asunder as they are even from professed heathens. But let not Christianity be blamed for this. The evil arises solely from that corruption of the human heart which Christianity is intended to subdue and mortify. And I cannot but regard the change which has taken place in this respect, through the influence of the Bible Society, as a blessing of peculiar magnitude to the whole Church of God. The duty of all, to whatever denomination of Christians they may happen to belong, is, to love as brethren; yea, to be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love, in honour preferring one to another. The true pattern is that which was set us on the day of Pentecost [Note: Act 4:32.] To all, therefore, I would say, with the Apostle, If there be any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfil ye my joy, that ye be like-minded; having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind [Note: Php 2:1-2.].]

3.

Of conduct

[As immortal beings, we all have one great pursuit, which we ought to follow with our whole hearts, and in comparison of which all other things should be as dung and dross. We should all resemble the twelve tribes of Israel, in their journey through the wilderness. All kept their appointed places; those who led, not despising those who followed; nor those who moved in the rear envying those who led the van. All surrounded the tabernacle, as the first object of their unvaried solicitude; and all looked forward to Canaan, as the crown and recompence of all their labours. So should it be with us. To advance the cause of God in this world, and to reach the promised land, should be the objects nearest to all our hearts. In this, then, let us all unite: forgetting the things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, let us press forward for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us, I say, as many as be perfect, be thus minded [Note: Php 3:14-15.].]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;

Ver. 4. In one hope of your calling ] That is, unto one inheritance, which we all hope for. Fall not out therefore by the way, as Joseph charged his brethren.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

4 .] Lachm., joining . . . as far as , with what has gone before, makes these words hortatory: ‘as one Body and one Spirit, even as, &c.’ Certainly the reference to seems to tell for this. But, on the other hand, it is very unlikely that the Apostle should thus use and , and then go on in the same strain, but with a different reference. I therefore prefer the common punctuation and rendering. ( There is ) (better than ‘ ye are ,’ which will not apply to the following parallel clauses. The assertion of the unity of the Church, and of our Lord in all His operations and ordinances, springs immediately out of the last exhortation, as following it up to its great primal ground in the verities of God. To suppose it connected by a understood (Eadie) is to destroy the force and vividness with which the great central truth is at once introduced without preface) one Body (reff.: viz. Christ’s mystical Body. , ; , . . . , . Chrys. But these last hardly sensu proprio here) and one Spirit (viz. the Holy Spirit, who dwells in, and vivifies, and rules that one body: see ch. Eph 2:18 ; Eph 2:22 ; 1Co 12:13 al.: not as Chrys., . , , , , , , . ), as also ( , , , . Emm. Moschop. a Byzantine grammarian, cited by Fabricius, vi. 191. See also Phryn. p. 426, and Lobeck’s note: and Ellic. on Gal 3:6 ) ye were called in (elemental the condition and sphere in which they were called to live and move, see reff. Mey. referring to Gal 1:6 , takes the instrumental sense: see there) one hope of (belonging to: you were called in it as the element, see above: it is then an accident of the . Or perhaps it may be the genitive of the causa efficiens , ‘which the calling works,’ as Ellic. Cf. 1Th 1:6 , ) your calling:

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Eph 4:4 . : There is one body and one Spirit . This is not to be taken as part of the exhortation, or being understood (Calv., Est., Hofm., etc.); for that would not be consistent with the following , . It is a positive statement, made all the more impressive by the lack of or any connecting particle, and giving the objective ground, or basis in fact, on which the walk in lowliness, meekness, long-suffering and loving forbearance is urged, and of which it should be the result. The is the whole fellowship of believers, the mystical body of Christ ( cf. Eph 2:16 ; Rom 12:5 ; 1Co 10:17 ; 1Co 12:13 ; Col 1:24 ). The , as in Eph 2:18 , is the Holy Spirit who is in the Church and in whom we are “baptised into one body” (1Co 12:13 ). The idea that this great sentence means only that we are to be united so as to be one body and one soul, though supported by Calvin, is out of harmony with the larger scope of the following verses, and in any case stands or falls with the view that this verse is part of the exhortation. : even as also ye were called in one hope of your calling . (late Greek for the , , of the Atticists and the earlier writers; cf. under Eph 1:4 , Eph 3:3 above) illustrates and enforces the unity as something entirely in accordance with their calling, the marking this as a second thought suggested by the first. The may be instrumental (so Mey., referring to Gal 1:6 ), the point then being that the calling came by means of one hope, viz. , that of the Messianic salvation. But it is rather = in , expressing the ethical domain or element in which the calling took place (Ell.). The is the gen. of origin or efficient cause , = the hope originated or wrought in you by your calling, as in Eph 1:18 (Ell., Mey.); rather than the gen. of possess. , = the hope belonging to your calling. The fact that, when they were called out of heathenism, one and the same hope was born in them, is a fact in perfect keeping with the unity of the Christian body and the unity of the Divine Spirit operating in it, and the one confirms and illumines the other.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

There is. Supply the Ellipsis by “Ye are “.

body. See Eph 2:15, Eph 2:16. Spirit. App-101.

are called = were called also.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

4.] Lachm., joining … as far as , with what has gone before, makes these words hortatory: as one Body and one Spirit, even as, &c. Certainly the reference to seems to tell for this. But, on the other hand, it is very unlikely that the Apostle should thus use and , and then go on in the same strain, but with a different reference. I therefore prefer the common punctuation and rendering. (There is) (better than ye are, which will not apply to the following parallel clauses. The assertion of the unity of the Church, and of our Lord in all His operations and ordinances, springs immediately out of the last exhortation, as following it up to its great primal ground in the verities of God. To suppose it connected by a understood (Eadie) is to destroy the force and vividness with which the great central truth is at once introduced without preface) one Body (reff.: viz. Christs mystical Body. , ; , . . . , . Chrys. But these last hardly sensu proprio here) and one Spirit (viz. the Holy Spirit, who dwells in, and vivifies, and rules that one body: see ch. Eph 2:18; Eph 2:22; 1Co 12:13 al.: not as Chrys., . , , , , , , . ), as also ( , , , . Emm. Moschop. a Byzantine grammarian, cited by Fabricius, vi. 191. See also Phryn. p. 426, and Lobecks note: and Ellic. on Gal 3:6) ye were called in (elemental-the condition and sphere in which they were called to live and move, see reff. Mey. referring to Gal 1:6, takes the instrumental sense: see there) one hope of (belonging to: you were called in it as the element, see above: it is then an accident of the . Or perhaps it may be the genitive of the causa efficiens, which the calling works, as Ellic. Cf. 1Th 1:6, ) your calling:

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Eph 4:4. , one body and one Spirit) In the Apostles Creed, the article relating to the Church properly follows the article relating to the Holy Spirit.- , and one) Spirit, Lord, God and Father: the Trinity; comp. the following verses.- , in one hope) The Spirit is the earnest, and therefore the hope of the inheritance is joined with the mention of His name.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

Eph 4:4

Eph 4:4

There is one body,-The church of the Lord Jesus Christ, in which his Spirit dwells. It is the one spiritual body of the Lord Jesus Christ. The church at Ephesus was the body of Christ at that place.

and one Spirit,-There is but one Spirit to give life, to guide, and direct that one body. The body animated and guided by the one Spirit cannot be divided. It must be a unit.

even as also ye were called in one hope of your calling;-There is one calling to follow Jesus Christ, and one hope of the home in heaven as a result of that calling.

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

one body: Eph 2:16, Eph 5:30, Rom 12:4, Rom 12:5, 1Co 10:17, 1Co 12:12, 1Co 12:13, 1Co 12:20, Col 3:15

one Spirit: Eph 2:18, Eph 2:22, Mat 28:19, 1Co 12:4-11, 2Co 11:4

as: Eph 4:1, Eph 1:18, Jer 14:8, Jer 17:7, Act 15:11, Col 1:5, 2Th 2:16, 1Ti 1:1, Tit 1:2, Tit 2:13, Tit 3:7, Heb 6:18, Heb 6:19, 1Pe 1:3, 1Pe 1:4, 1Pe 1:21, 1Jo 3:3

Reciprocal: 1Ki 18:31 – twelve stones Psa 122:3 – builded Psa 122:8 – General Eze 37:24 – one Joh 17:11 – that Act 2:39 – as many Rom 8:30 – Moreover 1Co 6:17 – General Gal 3:28 – for Eph 1:23 – his Eph 4:3 – General Eph 4:12 – the body Phi 2:1 – if any fellowship Heb 3:1 – the heavenly 2Pe 1:3 – called

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

THE APPEAL FOR UNITY

There is one body, and one Spirit, even as also ye were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, Who is over all, and through all, and in all.

Eph 4:4-6 (R. V.)

The great dangers we are in by reason of the existence of separated Christian bodies lay beyond the horizon of the Apostles. But the seeds of these unhappy divisions were already in the soil, though centuries had to elapse before they bore their bitter fruit. The Apostles were familiar, sadly familiar, with cabals, estrangements, divisions, the spirit of wilfulness and of partisanship, the spirit which postpones the desire for the advantage and progress of the whole society to the desire for the mastery and the pre-eminence of some section of the community. It is against this spirit in its manifold forms that St. Paul in this Epistle makes his solemn protest, over against which he sets his magnificent conception of Christian unity as a supreme law of the Christian Church and a guiding principle of the Christian life. Let us try to follow out his inspired thought.

I. One Spirit.This unity is the unity of the Spirit; that is, it is the unity which the Spirit inspires and confirms. There is one Spirit. We have been all made to drink, as St. Paul says elsewhere, drawing his metaphor from the story of Israel in the wilderness, of one Spirit. One body and one Spirit. The whole figure is taken from human personality. The interpretation is at once clear. Each Christian man and woman is a member in the one body of Christ. None may go his own ways or seek his own ends. None is independent of his fellow Christians. But all (in the ideal) work together and live one life, each taking that particular part in the one life which God assigns to him. Here, in this later Epistle, St. Paul carries forward and explains his earlier parable. What is the reason of the unity of the human body? Why do the limbs co-operate? Because in every man the members are all ruled by one will. The one spirit of the man controls the many members. Not otherwise is it with the Body of Christ. The one Holy Spirit has been given to all. The one Spirit inspires all, governs all, controls all, energises all. We are all one man, one personality, in Christ Jesus.

II. One Lord.And if there is but one Spirit, so also there is but one Lord, one supreme Master of the lives of all Christian men. St. Pauls mind, doubtless, is reverting to what we learn from a a series of passages in his writings to have been the earliest confession of Christian faith, Jesus is Lord, Jesus Christ is Lord. We are His by right of purchase. Ye are not your own; ye were bought with a price. There is one Lordone supreme Master. That is the one faith which all Christian men confess. That is the one baptism by which all Christian men are brought into a vital relation to Him. The inference is clear and immediate. Servants who are loyal to the one Lord and Master are bound together by their one allegiance. The household is one: to divide the household is treason against the one Master.

III. One Father.There remains one plea even higher than the constraining power of the one allegiance to the Lord Christ. One God and Father of all, Who is over all, and through all, and in all. He Who is the primal source of all, Who transcends all, and through the Word transfuses and permeates all, has revealed Himself through Christ as the Father of all for whom Christ died. His fatherly love is the final cause of redemption. He is the Father of all, specially of them that believe. All Christians are His sons. Again the inference is clear and immediate. Sons who love the one Father, and whom the one Father loves with so great a love that for their sakes He spared not the Eternal Son of His love, are bound together by their one sonship. The family is one. To divide the family is treason against the one Father.

One Spirit, one Master, one Father. By these great fundamental verities of the Christian faithnot cold abstract truths, but each instinct with the love of atonementSt. Paul conjures us to labour for peace, for love, for unity.

Bishop Chase.

Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary

(Eph 4:4.) -One body and one Spirit. The connection is not, as is indicated in the Syriac version-Keeping the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, in order that you may be in one body and one spirit. Others construe as if the verse formed part of an exhortation-Be ye, or ye ought to be, one body, or keeping the unity of the Spirit as being one body, etc. But such a supplement is too great, and the simple explanation of the ellipsis is preferable. Conybeare indeed renders-You are one body, but the common and correct supplement is the verb . Khner, indeed ( 760, c), says that such an asyndeton as this frequently happens in classic Greek, when such a particle as is understood. Bernhardy, p. 448. But the verse abruptly introduces an assertatory illustration of the previous statement, and in the fervent style of the apostle any connecting particle is omitted. One body there is, and one Spirit. And after all that Ellicott and Alford have said, the assertatory (rein assertorisch, Meyer) clause logically contains an argument-though grammatically the resolution by be really superfluous. Ellicott, after Hofmann, gives it as Remember there is one body, which is an argument surely to maintain the unity of the Spirit. The idea contained in -the body or the church-has been already introduced and explained (Eph 1:23, Eph 2:16), to the explanations of which the reader may turn. The church is described in the second chapter as one body and one Spirit- – ; and the apostle here implies that this unity ought to be guarded. Rom 12:5; 1Co 12:3; Col 1:24. The church or body is one, though its members are . (Chrysostom.) There are not two rival communitie s. The body with its many members, and complex array of organs of very different position, functions, and honour, is yet one. The church, no matter where it is situated, or in what age of the world it exists-no matter of what race, blood, or colour are its members, or how various the tongues in which its services are presented-is one, and remains so, unaffected by distance or time, or physical, intellectual, and social distinctions. And as in the body there is only one spirit, one living principle-no double consciousness, no dualism of intelligence, motive, and action-so the one Spirit of God dwells in the one church, and there are therefore neither rivalry of administration nor conflicting claims. And whatever the gifts and graces conferred, whatever variety of aspect they may assume, all possess a delicate self-adaptation to times and circumstances, for they are all from the one Spirit, having oneness of origin, design, and result. (See on Eph 4:16.) The apostle now adds an appeal to their own experience-

-even as also ye were called in one hope of your calling. introduces illustrative proof of the statement just made. The meaning of this clause depends very much on the sense assigned to . Some, as Meyer, would make it instrumental, and render it by; others, as Grotius, Flatt, Rckert, and Valpy, would give it the meaning of , and Chrysostom that of . Harless adopts the view expressed by Bengel on 1Th 4:7, and thinks that it signifies an element-indoles-of the calling. We prefer to regard it as bearing its common signification-as pointing to the element in which their calling took place-in una spe, as the Vulgate. 1Co 7:15; 1Th 4:7; Winer, 50, 5. Sometimes the verb is simply used, both in the present and aorist (Rom 8:30; Rom 9:11; Gal 5:8), and often with various prepositions. While represents the element in which the calling takes effect, , 1Co 7:15; , Gal 1:6; , 1Th 4:7 : represents the proximate end, , Gal 5:13; , , 1Th 4:7 : depicts another aspect, , 1Co 1:9; – , Col 3:15; , 1Pe 2:9 -and apparently also the ultimate purpose, , 2Th 2:14; , 1Th 2:12; , 1Ti 6:12; , 1Pe 5:10; other forms being , 1Pe 2:21; , 1Pe 3:9 -while the instrumental cause is given by ; the inner, , Gal 1:15; and the outer, , 2Th 2:14. The following genitive, , is that of possession-in one hope belonging to your calling. See under Eph 1:18, on similar phraseology. The genitive of originating cause preferred by Ellicott is not so appropriate, on account of the preceding verb , the genitive of the correlative noun suggesting what belongs to the call and characterized it, when they received it. The hope is one, for it has one object, and that is glory; one foundation, and that is Christ. Their call- (Php 3:14), had brought them into the possession of this hope. See Nitzsch, System. 210; Reuss, Thol. Chrt. vol. ii. p. 219. There is one body and one Spirit, and the Ephesian converts had experience of this unity, for the hope which they possessed as their calling was also one, and in connection with-

Fuente: Commentary on the Greek Text of Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians and Phillipians

Eph 4:4. Having introduced the subject of unity in the preceding verse, Paul now names the items involved in the setup, consisting of six or seven, depending on the classification named in verse 6, to be considered when we come to that verse. One body and one Spirit. This is logical, far it is universally admitted that there is but one Spirit, hence if there were more than one body (which is the church) then all but one would be without a Spirit and hence would be dead, since a body without a spirit is dead. There can be but one hope because God has called us with only one purpose in view, namely, the life eternal beyond this age.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Eph 4:4. There is. This is properly supplied, since we have here, not an exhortation, but a motive. For is not inserted; the argumentative force of the passage is obvious without it

One body, i.e., the mystical body of Christ, the invisible Church. The existence of this as a unity is a motive for preserving the unity of the Spirit among Christians. The force of this motive is weakened by taking the term as exactly equivalent to church, and such an explanation inevitably leads to false notions of the unity of the Church, and to unwise methods of preserving it.

One Spirit, the Holy Spirit, who is the life of this body, yet distinct from it. The term should not be weakened by any reference to the human spirit. In the New Testament it never means temper or disposition.

As ye were also called, etc. Were called points to the time when they became Christians; what occurred then corresponded with the fact that there is one body, and one Spirit, enabling them to recognize this fact. The correspondence is better suggested by joining also (not even) with the verb.

In one hope of your calling. In points to the element in which the calling took place; the one hope is not that which is hoped for, but our hope, which is one, because it has one object and source. Of your calling may mean either that the hope resulted from the calling, or belonged to it, as characteristic of it. The latter is perhaps preferable.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

The apostle having exhorted the Ephesians to a strict unity and concord amongst themselves next proceeds to enforce his exhortation with several arguments; and there are no fewer than seven summed up in the three verses now before us.

1. Says the apostle, there is one body, that is, one universal church, whereof ye are all members.

2. There is one Spirit, by which ye are all animated and enlivened, and therefore keep the unity of the Spirit.

3. There is one hope of eternal life, by which we are all excited. Our inheritance in heaven is the same; God doth not give one a double portion, or a parti-coloured coat above another; but it is called an inheritance in light, because all alike are partakers of it, and sharers in it: the saints have all one hope, therefore should have all but one heart.

4. One Lord Jesus Christ, the head of his church, the Saviour of the body, one whom we all profess to serve and obey: Be ye therefore one, for your Lord is one.

5. There is one faith: that is, either one grace of faith whereby we believe, or one doctrine of faith which is believed; ye all believe in one and the same Saviour, and are justified by him after one and the same manner; therefore be ye also one; one in affection as well as one in belief.

6. There is one baptism, one door by which we all enter into the church; both Jew and Gentile, bond and free, rich and poor, they are all one in Christ Jesus, and by one Spirit baptized into one body.

7. One God and Father of all things. And of all persons in Christ, whom we all expect one and the same salvation from. And this God is transcendently above all, and over all: his eye penetrates and pierces through you all, and he is in and among you all, as in his holy temple; therefore such as endeavour to divide you, do as much as in them lies to divide God himself that dwells in you.

This then is the sum of the apostle’s argument: Seeing ye are all members of one body, partakers of one Spirit: expectants of one hope, having one Lord and common Saviuor, one faith and belief, one and the same baptism in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and one and the same God and Father in Christ; seeing you are one in all these particulars, be one among yourselves, and endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

From the whole learn, That so many are the obligations, so strong the bonds and ties, which lie upon all the members of the church to be at unity among themselves, of one judgment, and of one heart; that such as violate these bonds, and culpably divide and separate themselves from communion with their brethern, Christ looks upon them no longer as members of his body, but as having rent and torn themselves from it.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

God’s Plan For Unity

To have unity, we also must have a plan. The Spirit’s message will cause us to realize there is only one body, or church ( Eph 1:22-23 ). There is only one Holy Spirit to give us life and peace through his message. Our hope is eternal life in heaven with God and it serves as an anchor during life’s troubling storms to sustain our lives (4:4; Heb 6:19 ).

If there is to be unity, there can only be one master. For the church, that master is the Lord Jesus Christ ( Eph 1:22-23 ; Mat 28:18 ; Act 2:36 ; Act 10:36 ; Act 10:43 ; Rom 10:12 ; 1Pe 3:22 ). It seems to this writer, the one faith is the sum of all that is believed. However, it should also be noted there is only one faith that saves and that is an active faith ( Jas 2:17-18 ). Only an active, obedient faith would cause one to be in the one body and under the one Lord ( Gal 5:6 ). Only baptism in the name of Jesus, for the remission of sins is able to put off the old man of sin and bring us into a new life (4:5; Act 2:38 ; Rom 6:3-4 ).

There is but one God, the great creator, who is over all things. There is nothing that exists without him or is outside of his authority. He rules, even now, in all the universe and we are sustained through his power ( Col 1:15-17 ; Act 17:24-28 ). All of the statements of this verse may have special reference to the Christian and his relationship to the Father. If not, it appears this last does because God can only be said to dwell in the lives of his purchased people (4:6; 1Co 6:19-20 ).

Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books

Eph 4:4-6. The apostle proceeds to remind the believers at Ephesus of some of the many very powerful considerations which had force enough, if attended to and laid to heart, to induce them to cultivate and preserve the unity to which he exhorts them. There is one body One mystical body of Christ, of which he is the living head, and ye all are members; and as such should sympathize with, care for, and assist one another, as the members of the human body do. And in this one body there is one Divine Spirit Which enlivens, actuates, and fills it, and under his influence it should be your constant concern to act; even as ye are called in one hope of your calling To the expectation of one and the same common heaven, one and the same glorious abode in the eternal world. One Lord And Master, of whom you are all servants; one Redeemer and Saviour, who hath assumed our frail nature, lived and died for us, that he might unite us in bonds of mutual, fervent, and everlasting love; one faith In that one Lord, and in the truths of one and the same divine revelation, all which are designed and calculated to bind the disciples together in the pleasing bonds of love and unity; one outward baptism Or seal of the covenant of grace, and emblem of the washing of regeneration. One God and Father of all Whose real people, whose true worshippers, whose beloved children, whose living temples you are; who is above you all Ruling you as his subjects, and presiding over you as his children; through you all By his enlightening and directing word; and in you all By his quickening, sanctifying, and comforting Spirit. Such are the reasons and motives obliging the true disciples of Christ to love and unity with one another; reasons and motives most powerful surely to bind them together in peace and harmony, and such as manifest discord, contention, strife, and division, to be unspeakably unreasonable.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

ARGUMENT 15

THE HEAVENLY CHAIN

4-6. Here we have a beautiful golden chain, consisting of seven links, one body, which is the mystical spiritual body of Christ, the Church of the Firstborn, without spot or wrinkle.

One Spirit, the blessed Holy Ghost, the Third Person in the adorable Trinity, the illuminator, convictor, regenerator, adopter, sanctifier, and glorifier of fallen humanity. One hope, the sweet anticipation of universal Christendom singing away the lugubrious clouds of human woe, and spanning the firmament with a thrilling prelibation of coming glory. One faith, the spiritual hand alone competent to receive the things of God, take Jesus by the hand, and turn over to him the battle of life, shouting victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil. One baptism; we take it for granted that no one reading these pages will be so foggy as to see water here in this beautiful golden chain of seven links, which lifts humanity up to God; you would not be so inadvertent as to insert a water link, as in that case your chain would be weak as water, and lift no soul up to glory. This is most assuredly the baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire (Mat 3:2), administered by our Savior to his own children exclusively. You must not mar the spiritual homogeneity of this beautiful gospel chain, by inserting a water link. Again, beware that you do not nullify the unity of Christian baptism by a baptism of fire, distinct from that of the Spirit. There is no danger of your having too much fire nor too much water; the latter the symbol, and the former concomitant of the spiritual baptism administered by the omnipotent Sanctifier. One God; we must beware of heresies on all lines, and not emphasize the three persons of the Trinity so forcibly as to drift into the dogma of three gods. There is but one God, of whom the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are three distinct persons, accommodatory to finite apprehension and the redemptive scheme.

7. To each one of us grace has been given according to the measure of the gift of Christ. We should never measure other peoples corn by our half- bushel, as God will attend to measuring their corn as well as ours. We who have long enjoyed the experience of entire sanctification, should deal very tenderly with young converts and weak believers, if we discourage them, remembering that infinite diversity of spiritual idiosyncrasies and magnitude characterizes the kingdom of God.

Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament

Verse 4

One body; meaning the church, that is, the community of believers.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

4 [There is] one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 One God and Father of all, who [is] above all, and through all, and in you all.

We want to look at the series of ones for a moment, but before we do I would point out that the word “one” used in these verses is always Strong’s number 1520 which is the Greek word “heist” and it is mostly translated one. There is one exception. The “one” in “one baptism” is an irregular feminine form of “heist” – “mea” (Strong’s number 3391). It is also normally translated “one.”

What is the significance of this change in word? Why did Paul set down such a series and change only one of the words? It may relate to the fact that all these items are things except baptism which is more correctly considered an action.

ONE:

a. “body Within our context the body would relate to the church, the body of Christ, that group of people that have a common salvation in the Lord, a common calling and a common purpose. We are one, no matter how many titles we give our gatherings. We call our selves Baptists, and Congregationalists, and Methodists, and all sorts of other names, but if we have a common salvation in Christ, we are one, like it or not.

We may differ in other doctrine, in our methods and our standards but we are one body, the body of Christ. This was the great commonality that the Fundamentalist movement had. All agreed on the fundamentals of the faith and all worked toward the furtherance of those fundamentals, while differing in other areas of doctrine, method and practice.

Today “fundamentalist” is a four-letter word that is relegated to those radical whackos that are portrayed in movies as the lunatic fringe – not so in days past, and not necessarily true today either.

b. “Spirit The Spirit is that part of the Trinity that drew and worked with the believer in their lostness. He is the reason that we have become who we are in Christ. He revealed unto us that which we needed to be saved and drew those that we needed to hear to our side so that we could hear about the Gospel of Christ. It is the Spirit that works in us today to lead, guide and empower. It is the Spirit that gifts the church with gifts for the edification of the saints. It is one Spirit, not many spirits; it is He that moves the church along in its ministry of reconciliation.

c. “hope There is only one “hope” and that is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. No other hope that exists can produce the saving power needed to draw the lost into that one body of Christ. Hope is a joyful contemplation of what is surely to come. It is assured, not something that we hope might come to pass. If I need ten dollars to pay a bill, I can hope that I find that ten dollars, which probably isn’t going to happen, or I can hope in my bank account that has fifty dollars. It is a sure thing, not pie in the skyism.

d. “Lord One Lord relates to Christ and His position over us. He provided salvation, He purchased us and we are now His. It is up to us to recognize Him as such and place ourselves in a servant position under His leadership and ownership.

e. “faith This is the normal term for faith, but in this context I believe it to refer to “the faith” – that set of beliefs that the Word of God teaches. It is the faith for which we serve, it is the faith for which we live, and it is the faith for which Christ died. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown submit that this is not the case, but that it is saving faith. Something more for you to study out for yourself.

f. “baptism There is two possibilities for what baptism is referring to here. There is water baptism and there is the baptism of the Spirit at the moment of salvation. I would opt for the later due to the context in which it resides.

g. “God and Father And lastly the third member of the Trinity is mentioned, the Father that set all this into motion so many eons ago before the foundation of the world.

The older commentators make strong note that the list ends where it ends. It does not include “one priest” or “one pope” or “one hierarchy” – that there is no hint of Romanism in this passage and rightly they draw this conclusion.

The sentence ends with a phrase relating to the Father, “who [is] above all, and through all, and in you all.” He is everywhere, might be the thought here – even inside you. He is above, through and in. Rather, thought provoking at best. He is declared to be all encompassing in our salvation, and this is part of the basis for our walk with Him.

If we are really in the faith, if we are all really in that hope, if we are really filled with this God that has saved us, how can we do anything but fall on our faces before Him and promise to serve Him to the best of our abilities. He has done it all; we ought to do something. I trust that last sentence rings loud in your ears the next time that you take time to pray, as well as many times in the future.

Fuente: Mr. D’s Notes on Selected New Testament Books by Stanley Derickson

4:4 {4} [There is] one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;

(4) An argument of great weight for an earnest displaying of brotherly love and charity with one another, because we are made one body as it were of one God and Father, by one Spirit, worshipping one Lord with one faith, and consecrated to him with one baptism, and having hope of one self same glory, unto which we are called. Therefore, whoever breaks charity, breaks all of these things apart.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

Seven elements of unity follow that unite believers in the church. Believers should remember them when tempted to break unity. Again all three members of the Trinity are in view and play a part in this process.

"Paul now gives the basis [for unity] by explaining in more detail how elements of the Christian faith revolve around the three persons of the Trinity. Unity is stressed by the sevenfold use of ’one’ (eis, mia, en)." [Note: Hoehner, Ephesians, p. 513.]

The one body is the church, the universal body of believers in the present age (Eph 1:23; Eph 2:16; Eph 3:6). The one Spirit is the Holy Spirit who indwells the church as a whole and every individual believer in the church (Eph 2:22; 1Co 12:13). The one hope is the hope of the future that each Christian has and the whole church has (cf. 1Pe 1:3; 1Pe 3:15). This hope began when God called us to salvation (Eph 1:4; Eph 1:18; Eph 2:7; Eph 4:1). These identifications seem clear from their occurrences elsewhere in the epistle.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

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