Verse 4
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 (Ephesians 1:23; Ephesians 2:16; Ephesians 3:6). The one Spirit is the Holy Spirit who indwells the church as a whole and every individual believer in the church (Ephesians 2:22; 1 Corinthians 12:13). The one hope is the hope of the future that each Christian has and the whole church has (cf. 1 Peter 1:3; 1 Peter 3:15). This hope began when God called us to salvation (Ephesians 1:4; Ephesians 1:18; Ephesians 2:7; Ephesians 4:1). These identifications seem clear from their occurrences elsewhere in the epistle.
Be the first to react on this!
