Ephesians 4:1-3

III. PART SECONDTHE SPIRIT RULING IN THE CHURCH OF CHRIST

Ephesians 4:1 to Ephesians 6:20

1. The Theme of the Whole Part:

Walk worthy of the calling love and unity

Ephesians 4:1-3

1I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you [I exhort you therefore, I the prisoner in the Lord,]1 that ye walk worthy of the vocation [calling] wherewith ye are [were] called, 2With all lowliness and meekness,2 with long-suffering, forbearing 3one another in love; Endeavoring [Earnestly striving] to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Ephesians 4:1 a. The connection. I exhort you therefore, I the prisoner in the Lord [ΙΙαρακαλῶ οὖν ὑμᾶς ἐγὼ ὁ δέσμιος ἐν κυρίῳ].—The verb παρακαλῶ, placed first for emphasis, marks what follows as the ethical part. Οὑ̄ν, “therefore,” joins this practical, hortatory portion of the letter with the previous theoretical part, and that too as a consequence, so that the one forms a foundation for the other; the context indicating the reference more closely.—Ὁ δέσμιος, “the prisoner,” resumes what was expressed in Ephesians 3:1 and continued further in Ephesians 4:13-14. As Paul in his bonds prays for the Church, so he exhorts it also. Although the paronomasia (παρακαλῶ—κλήσεως) recalls ἐκκλησια, yet the reference is not to ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ Ephesians 4:21, but to the whole of what precedes (τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ has occurred already in Ephesians 1:22), which is, however, summed up in the concluding doxology. Hence Meyer is incorrect in taking οὖν as an inference from Ephesians 3:21 merely.3 The exhortation of the Apostle gives special emphasis to ἐγώ, “I,” even though it stands after ὑμᾶς, “you,” in the Greek. The phrase, ὁ δέσμιος ἐν κυρίῳ4 “the prisoner in the Lord” (which can be taken together grammatically, and must be taken together in view of the reference to Ephesians 3:1), marks the importance of the exhortation of Paul, who as a “faithful member of Christ” bears chains in and for the cause of Christ. Calvin: Erant (vincula) enim veluti sigillum honorificæ illius legationis, quam obtinuerat. Theodoret: Τοῖς διὰ τὸν Χριστὸν δεσμοῖς ἐναβρύνεται μᾶλλον ἤ βασιλεὺς διαδήματι. He is a shining example, and elsewhere he refers to his own walk in agreement with his preaching (1 Corinthians 4:16; 1 Corinthians 11:1; Philippians 3:17); he speaks accordingly ad excitandum effectum, quo sit efficacior exhortatio (Estius), but not ut Paulum obsequio exhilararent (Bengel). He wishes to gain attention and efficacy for his παρακαλεῖν by appealing, not to his imprisonment, which in itself was incapable of strengthening his exhortation, but to his willing, joyful, worthy wearing of the bonds; thus at the same time also strongly urging self-denial. The verb itself means originally to call hither, to invite (Acts 18:20); then to address either hortatively (Romans 12:1; 2 Corinthians 2:8) or consolingly (2 Corinthians 2:7; 2 Corinthians 1:6; 2 Corinthians 7:6-7). Ὑμᾶς, “you,” designates the Church in its individual members; he always conceives of the Church as a fellowship of particular persons.

The fundamental exhortation. Ephesians 4:1 b.

That ye walk worthy of the calling [ἆξιώς περιπατῆσαι τῆς κλήσεως—The infinitive περιπατῆσαι (see Ephesians 2:2), as in Acts 27:33-34, sets forth the purport of the exhortation. The emphasis, of course, rests upon the closer qualification ἀξίως (“worthy”), which stands first; for the kind of walk is the important matter. The genitive (as in Philippians 1:27; Colossians 1:10; Romans 16:2; 1 Thessalonians 2:12) τῆς κλήσεως denotes that call of God, to which the walk must correspond, in order to be worthy.

Wherewith ye were called, ἦς (instead of ᾑ̄ 1 Corinthians 7:20) ἔκλήθητε.5 This relative clause joined per attractionem (see on Ephesians 1:8) indicates that the call has already taken place and been accepted. He speaks of a walk corresponding to the call already received, not as though we should walk worthy, in order to be called, but, since we are called through the grace of God without our merit or worthiness, we should not be unworthy of such grace (Calvin). Comp. Ephesians 4:17-30; Ephesians 2:10; Titus 2:11 ff.; Romans 8:4 if.; Galatians 5:19 ff.

Closer definition of the Christian walk; Ephesians 4:2-3.

Ephesians 4:2. With all lowliness and meekness [μετὰ πάσης ταπεινοφροσύνης καὶ πραύ̈τητος. See Textual Note2].—This clause defines more closely “walk worthy of the calling,” joining with it two attendants which belong to the Christian walk (Winer, p. 353).6 First stands “lowliness,” which has for its opposite “minding high things” (Romans 12:16), “thinking one’s self to be something” (Galatians 6:3); it is πάσης (Chrysostom). Comp. Philippians 2:3; Colossians 2:18; Colossians 2:23; Colossians 3:12-13. It is belief in our poverty over against faith in Christ, so that we know we have nothing, know nothing, can do nothing, having only an empty hand, yet an open one, to receive what the Lord will give. Accordingly, as in Matthew 5:3-5, to “the poor in spirit” and “they that mourn” (=οἱ ταπεινοφρονοῦντες) are joined “the meek,” so here “meekness,” πραύ̈της is added, that mildness which is gentle toward others, because it thinks: Have I been helped, then I do not know, who should not be helped! Comp. Galatians 6:1; 2Co 10:1; 1 Corinthians 4:21; 2 Timothy 2:25. [See Trench, Syn. N. T. § 42, perhaps the most discriminating essay on these words which can be found.7—R.] The adjective πάσης, “all,” denotes all the various relations and situations of lowliness and meekness; the former must manifest itself in both intellectual and ethical spheres, before God and men, the latter toward friend and foe, under violations of our own rights and property as well as those of our neighbor.

With long-suffering, μετὰ μακροθυμίας, is co-ordinate in form with the other two, standing closely connected, yet taken up by itself. Long-suffering (Matthew 18:26; Matthew 18:29; 1Co 13:4; 2 Corinthians 6:6; Galatians 5:22) is a manifestation of meekness; much depends upon it frequently in the life of a church. Hence it accords with the context to distinguish this by a second μετά and to conjoin it to the other terms. [The word means, not taking swift vengeance or inflicting speedy punishment, though it becomes more general in its sense=forbearance of every kind. The pointing of the E. V. is correct, making the phrase a separate clause. Besides the objection which Braune urges below against connecting it with what follows we may add, that thus the phrase would receive undue emphasis and the parallelism of the participial clauses be disturbed.—R.]

Forbearing one another in love [ἀνεχόμενοι ].—We would expect the accusative here instead of the nominative: παρακαλῶ ὑ μᾶς—περιπατῆσαι—ἀνεχομένους. It is not however the ὑμᾶς, “you,” which is to be more closely defined, but the “walking,” not the subject, who should walk, but the predicate, how the walk is to be conducted; the two participles (here and Ephesians 4:3) do not then present secondary and additional thoughts. The passage is continued as though, in accordance with the sense, περιπατήσατε were to be read. So Ephesians 1:18; Colossians 3:16; Colossians 2:2; Colossians 2:10. Winer, p. 532. Ἀνεχόμενοι are those who endure the injuries and sins of others; ἀνοχή is the action of μακροθυμία “long-suffering,” which as the disposition, virtue, is to be perceived in the former. Comp. Romans 2:4; 2 Corinthians 11:1; 2 Thessalonians 1:4. Ἀνέχεσθαι is the active forbearance, ὑπομένειν the quiet endurance. Tittmann, Syn. I. p. 194. The genitive ἀλλήλων “one another,” refers to the fact, that each one, who has to endure from another, gives occasion also for endurance; “long-suffering” is well aware of this.

In love, ἐν .—This shows at once that the forbearance should not be mere coldness, indifference, obtuseness. Love should be the element of the endurance (Ephesians 3:18). Aliorum infirmitates æquo animo ferimus, nec ob ea, quæ nobis in proximo displicent, ab ejus amicitia recedimus, sed personam constanter amamus, etsi vitia in odio habeamus (Calovius). Hence “in love” is not to be joined with what follows (Olshausen); nor are we besides this qualification of “forbearing,” to take “with long-suffering,” as still another such (Calvin, Rueckert, Harless, Stier and others): for the “forbearing” is the act of the “long-suffering,” and the latter is not therefore the attendant (μετά) of the former, but its ground, its cause; a forbearing without love is conceivable and actually occurs, but never without long-suffering and yet in love, since love, according to its very nature, “suffereth long” (μακροθυμεῖ, 1 Corinthians 13:4). Still less allowable is it to join the first μετά with ἀνεχόμενοι (Bengel). [Meyer properly urges against this view that it makes an abrupt, instead of an easy, transition from the general: “walk worthy,” to the special: “forbearing one another.”—R.]

Ephesians 4:3. Earnestly striving to keep [σπουδάζοντες τηρεῖν].—The participle is to be regarded grammatically like the preceding one. [“This clause is parallel to the preceding, and indicates not so much, as Meyer says, the inward feelings by which the ἀνέχεσθαι is to be characterized, as rather the motive to it, and the accompanying or simultaneous effort” (Eadie).—R.] It describes the zealous striving (Luther: be diligent), as Galatians 2:10; 1 Thessalonians 2:19. The present infinitive τηρεῖν denotes the continued maintenance which is necessary every day, since dangers constantly approach. The idea of the verb refers to retaining possession of property, which has not first to be gained. Etiam ubi nulla fissura est, monitis opus est (Bengel).

The unity of the Spirit, την ἑνότητα τοῦ πνευματου, not τοῦ νοός, is the unity which the Holy Spirit effects. So Chrysostom: τὸ πνεῦμα τους γένει και τροποις διαφόροις διεστηκότας ἑνοῖ and most. It is not the unity peculiar to the Spirit, which needs not to be preserved by us (Schenkel), but the unity and concord of the Church and its members, and indeed only that which the Holy Ghost works; that accomplished by the spirit of the age is not the object of zealous preservation (τηρεῖν), but only of purification. [The genitive is that of the originating cause (Eadie, Ellicott) rather than a possessive.—The reference to the human spirit is altogether inadmissible, yet is advocated by Anselm, Erasmus, Calvin, Estius, Rueckert, and others.—R.]

In the bond of peace, ἐν τῷ συνδέσμῳ τῆς εἰρήνης—This defines more closely the “keeping” which is the object of the “earnestly striving,” and in the same way (ἐν) as in Ephesians 4:2 (“forbearing”—“in love”), since something depends upon the motive and mode of preserving unity. The very “unity,” which is “of the Spirit,” required and wrought by the Spirit, can be fostered, furthered and preserved in a carnal manner, from political and egotistical grounds. Against this our phrase is directed. Ὁσύνδεσμος with the exception of Acts 8:23, occurs only here and in the Epistle to the Colossians (Ephesians 2:19; Ephesians 3:14); to Ephesians 4:2-3, Colossians 3:13-14 are evident parallels. There “love” is “the bond of perfectness,” hence a bond well adapted to preserve the unity of the Spirit. “Peace” is indeed itself a condition corresponding alike with “unity” and “love;” it is in spiritual life, and for the Church, first peace with God, and then that peace of heart which is undisturbed by the assaults, temptations and ills of the world and the flesh, not even by the disquiet of the conscience; and further with respect to our neighbor, it is peace with him in love to him, out of love to the Lord of the Church, the Saviour, to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and our Father, and to His children through Him. Hence love is the bond which cherishes peace in the Church, and in such love should that unity be preserved, which God’s Spirit will work in the Church of Christ; “love edifieth” (1 Corinthians 8:1). Accordingly “the bond of peace” is love itself (so Bengel). The genitive is, therefore, not epexegetical (Bleek), nor the genitive of apposition (Meyer, Schenkel); else, as Rueckert aptly remarks, the foundation of the building would be sustained by a perishable roof, the unity of the Spirit be preserved in or through peace with our neighbor, while the Apostle says, that the unity of the Spirit should be preserved in the efficient strength of the power, which fosters this very peace; that is love, which has peace through faith in love, and brings, establishes and retains peace. Where it is wanting, there is carnal nature and discord (1 Corinthians 3:3). Accordingly the preposition “in” designates love as the element in which the unity of the Spirit is to be maintained; hence ἐν is not=διά (Bleek).

[Braune’s view takes the genitive as gen. objecti. It is adopted by Bengel, Rueckert, Harless, Stier, following Theophylact. But it is open to serious objection. It is far from probable that the Apostle would express the notion “in love” by such a periphrasis, especially as the parallel clauses are not parallel in the meaning of their several parts. Certainly the Ephesians would not have the Colossian Epistle at hand to suggest to them this sense, and it is not at all obvious without that suggestion. The assumption that ἐν was instrumental may have led to this view of the phrase (Meyer). On the other hand if the genitive be taken as one of apposition, defining the “bond” as “peace” (so Flatt, Olshausen, Meyer, Eadie, Hodge, Alford, Ellicott), we have an obvious and simple interpretation, suiting the sense of ἐν. Rueckert’s objection really applies only to the instrumental sense of the proposition. Alford: Peace binds together the Church as a condition and symbol of that inner unity which is only wrought by the indwelling Spirit of God—Far more than the union of Jew and Gentile is meant.—R.]

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. Doctrine and Exhortation. “The distinction of doctrinal and hortatory parts must not assume the unapostolical character of that modern fiction, according to which exhortation is so severed from doctrinal discussion, as to contain no doctrine at all. As little as an apostolic Epistle is a mere doctrinal discussion, so little is an apostolic, or even a Christian, exhortation without doctrine. What the Apostle requires, are not requirements in addition to and outside of doctrine, but requirements of doctrine, if by doctrine we mean the knowledge of Christian saving truth. This is the very order, which distinguishes Christian ethics from all other.” The Apostle now shows his readers, “what the gospel requires,” after he has called to their memories what it has given them. It requires manifestations of life from those who had been quickened, not from the dead. It expects works of love and righteousness from those who believe and are justified, from him who has been new-created unto good works (comp. on Ephesians 2:10). It expects good fruit from a good tree. The opinion that men can gather grapes of thorns, see works of holiness without faith, and make man just before God without the Redeemer; the preaching of morality and the theory of good works without faith, all constitute a perversion of Christian intelligence and of the apostolic order into the futility and confusion of pseudo-Christianity (Harless). [The Apostle’s “therefore” rebukes both the dogmatism of dead orthodoxy, and the cry: give us something practical, none of your dry doctrine. At one time the application to the former was more necessary, but the tendency of the present day calls for special attention to the other phase of the matter. When professing Christians or churches tire of the facts respecting God’s love in Christ (the real Christian doctrine on which the Apostle’s “therefore” rests), they have already ceased to be in earnest about the worthy walk.—R.]

2. Paul’s right to exhort. The exhortation of the Apostle proceeds rather from the Christian worthiness of “the prisoner of the Lord,” than from the apostolic dignity of the ambassador of the Lord; the latter is more the merely outward, the former more the inward authority, both belonging together; the latter could not exist without the former and vice versa. The former would have neither courage nor right without the latter, but the latter would lack fervency, sincerity and emphasis without the former. The most winning exordium as well as the most powerful Amen, is still the Christianity of the servant of Christ. Vita clerici evangelium est populi. Non bene auditur, qui non bene diligitur (Gregory the Great). There should be no complaint, because at the present time so much is made to depend on the person, to this first of all men will look.

3. The calling. With the calling which God proffers to us, which we have experienced, the Christian life begins. At first we have only to hear (hören), then it comes about that we hearken (zuhören), and finally we adhere (zugehören). Many are the methods of the call: through God’s word sung or spoken in the sanctuary, in the pictures of sacred art, in holy action, in the statements of pious Christians, or in the Scriptures as we read in the closet, from the mouth of a mother or a child, from events in the life of others or ourselves, in the voice of conscience and the immediate suggestion of the Spirit, suddenly, or in the way of gradual consideration, of recollection of what was previously learned and perhaps long-forgotten—thus often is the call addressed to each: every one is more than once, yes many times called by God to Himself. To this the walk should correspond, to this it should give testimony.

4. The worthiness of the walk is determined first and chiefly by the relation of him who is called to the revelation of grace which introduces and regulates the spiritually received, personal fellowship of grace with God. Thus the foundation of the Christian life is laid. In the received benefits and possession lies the germ of all the blessings of eternity. The great matter is constancy, fidelity, personal fidelity to the inwardly efficient word of God, to the personal fellowship with God wrought by the Holy Ghost who calls us, not to a precept, a law, rule, maxim, not even to one’s own nature and soul; this comes in as a result of the first, which is the cause, the basis, the foundation work, followed by a superstructure of fidelity to the renewed soul.

5. Lowliness is the first attendant (μετά) of the Christian walk, beginning after the call of God: He who hears the call, recognizes Jesus as the Christ, feeling. He has more and is more, His, heavenly and Divine fellowship is beyond all our experience, He knows and explains and presents the Father’s will in overpowering clearness, strength and beauty, and thus he who is called ever feels himself to be more insignificant, sinful and needy. In listening to and looking unto Jesus, lowliness springs up within him; he became a Christian not having this, he did not need to bring it to Christianity or as a price for it, but by becoming a Christian he becomes humble, and that too in the most profound earnestness and lively sorrow over his own sin and poverty and weakness. The more the Christian knows and feels himself to be exalted as a child of God, as a member of the body whose Head is Christ, so much the more does he feel himself to be exalted without any desert or worthiness, only through the fellowship of grace with his Creator, Redeemer and Comforter. He rejoices in his peculiar gifts, but only as given, not as profitable or abused. He well knows, that he is of worth before God, but also that what he is and has is little in comparison with what he should and might be and have, that he is an unprofitable servant and yet is a child of God, a joint heir with Christ.

6. Meekness is joined with lowliness. This is not a soft, yielding natural disposition, nor a prudent bridling of a passionate nature, but it is humility applied to the world, not taking offence at the offences of the world, even though misunderstood, mercilessly treated, oppressed and persecuted. This does not estrange her, for she knows herself. The knowledge and experience of corruption and of salvation through Christ in our own heart, produces either no permanent feeling, or else a common feeling, a fellow-feeling, which looks upon him who gives or prepares offence, as one who is suffering under sin, as unfortunate, rather than as evil-minded and rejoicing in sin; accordingly she remains without bitterness, because she has herself experienced the rich grace of God, and perseveres in patience, because she knows God’s patience. [It is also exercised toward God, in submission, which is the foundation of its manifestations toward men.—R.]

7. Long-suffering is added as an especial attendant of the Christian walk in social life. It is meekness towards the sins of others, whom we can punish, meekness, keeping its ground against a long series of these. She knows out of her own experience of the long-suffering of God, that sin is misery, out of which condemning and judging never helps us, but rather grace and mercy, if one will let himself be helped. Long-suffering refrains from punishment, that rejects, cuts off, expels from fellowship and friendship, having instead entreaty, exhortation, instruction, discipline in word and deed. She can lovingly hope, is lovingly spirited and brave. She bears with her neighbor, does not weakly yield, does not stand by coldly and stolidly, nor yet embittered and in carnal anger; she is not whimpering and feeble, but strong and heroic in her love, like a mother or a friend.

8. Unity should be the object of zealous striving, but only that unity which the Holy Ghost works. It is not first to be made, is not factitious, but unity, wrought from above, which we have only to preserve. Over against this, the Christian must keep at a distance from all party combinations, which in effect introduce discord and schism into church-life. But he must also avoid jumbling together the great variety and wealth of gifts and powers, and seeking to unite all under external form and letter. No carnal strife, but also no slothful peace, no patched-up, hypocritical or dead unity.

9. The impulse under which we must endeavor to keep this peace, is peaceable love, which can have foes, but is a foe to none, rejoicing in every gift and creature of God, embracing such and leading them into the life of the church, employing and enjoying them, as a nation in time of peace with its various classes, labors and powers, strives in every direction to perform its task, not from the motions of the flesh, but from the basis which God has given, out towards the appointed goal.

10. Paul conceives of the Church of Christ above all as a living company of Christian persons, not as an institution with all its regulations. But the sacredness does not rest upon the individuals, but inheres in the whole organism, which the Holy Ghost animates.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

Suffer as a Christian, in order to be able to work in the service of the Master.—Show thyself in deed a servant of Christ, in order in such service to be able to direct aright in word, those who are directed to thee.—Loosen doctrine from the precept which it contains, but do not sever them from one another; distinguish, but do not divide them. There is no Christianity without Christ, and no religion without morality, but at the same time those ethics are of no value which have no doctrine behind them. True the conscience is the voice of God, but what were that, if it were without the Word of God?—He who walks unworthy of his vocation is doubly culpable, more than a heathen; do not despise the calling.—As a child of man, a son of earth, no one stands alone and solitary, but with others, as child of God also dost thou belong to a family; take heed thereto! Thou belongest not merely to the visible, but also to the invisible church.—The three chief virtues of a Christian: Lowliness, meekness, and long-suffering [Demuth, Sanftmuth, Langmuth].—Humility is the basis of all Christian virtue; without it all is wicked, however praiseworthy it may otherwise appear. It is nothing more than evangelical truth applied to all cases; a doctrine which does not make us humble is of no account.—Christian practice in walk and conversation is indispensable; it is more important to be skilful in this, than to have special insight respecting the theory.

Starke:—Christians have a great and important calling, to walk worthily according to the commands of their Saviour. O that we ever had this calling before our eyes in all our doings!—Where there is much cross, there much light is. Tribulation brings experience; he preaches best who preaches out of his experience.—What God gives and how He gives should satisfy us. Bread and honor are the twin-portions of our calling.—He lives in no shame, who has an unpleasant calling, for God has set him in it. Has God ordained, our pleasure’s gained!—Without lowliness, gentleness and patience the unity of the Spirit cannot be maintained. All discord, heresy and schism come from the vices which are opposed to these virtues.—A gentle spirit is the garden in which patience grows.—Unity of the Spirit, the highest ornament of Christians. How? should those live in discord, who are members of one body, of one Head, Jesus Christ? But that is the very sign of a corrupted Christianity, that there are so many sects, so much discord and strife among Christians.

Rieger:—Paul has just prayed so heartily, now he can exhort so profitably. Have you never found that after secret intercourse with God in prayer, your neighbor’s heart also inclines more to you, and is more willing to receive a word which is redolent of prayer?—The call entitles us indeed to the kingdom and glory of God, but it obligates us also to sanctification, and to adorn the doctrine of God and our Saviour.—Humility stands in the feeling of her own defects, and knows how slowly the growth of the inner man proceeds; hence in meekness she does not exact too much of others, and in long-suffering does not lose patience, when an enduring love is necessary in meeting others. Endurance is keenly felt, but love sweetens it, as we see in the case of our children, what we can endure in them, in order in love to help them out of their infirmities. Endeavor overcomes all difficulties: only ever revert to confidence in God.—Unity in the Spirit we dare not make, but only keep it.—To maintain peace is better than to maintain right.

Heubner:—The Christian should be and remain conscious of the fellowship to which he belongs: it is a calamity in the Christian church, that this consciousness has been so greatly extinguished. This consciousness should not be maintained proudly but humbly, because the higher the aim, the greater the required perfection, so much the more should each one be conscious of his distance from it and his weakness. The principle of the Christian communion is: to humble ourselves, to become the least, to serve; out of this grows meekness, which shows itself towards those who make the fulfilment of the duty difficult for us.—Endurance presupposes, that every one has something that is obnoxious to others. It is necessary, because we ourselves are troublesome to others, and because we are all members of one body, and because it is God who places others by our side.—The unity in the Spirit is something very different from corporate, external, conventional, superficial unity; it dwells deep within, in the entire will and disposition, it is holy, proceeding from the Spirit, not from mere prudence, concerning itself about essentials, not about non-essentials. From this we infer what real union is; the Spirit alone can create it, that made by man is as a rule of no value.—Spangenberg says: “I hold that no one is a child of God merely because he belongs to this or that religion [i.e., Christian confession]; to him who receives Jesus Christ, power will be given to become a son of God. In Christ Jesus nothing avails save faith, which works by love. He in whom I find this faith is my brother. Is he of another religion, that makes no difference, he is still my brother and nearer to me than my fellow-professors who have no faith. Indeed, because he is of another religion, in which the gospel does not shine so brightly, he is to me a miracle of grace.”—The Moravians have been very unjustly accused of narrow-heartedness.

Passavant:—The calling of men was from the beginning, to live innocently and holily, thankfully and obediently toward their God. The calling of the sinner is: to repent, to forsake the ways of sin, to seek pardon, grace and peace; to turn to the holy and living God, whom he has long forsaken. The calling of the Christian is this: internally and externally, with word and work, with his whole life, in all things, at all times in the church, before believers and unbelievers, to give glory to God the Father in Jesus Christ.—One may endure the faults of his neighbor from want of feeling, from mildness of temperament, from human good-nature, from earthly politeness, from temporal policy, from pharisaical hypocrisy; nothing is so common; but it is rarely done out of real Christian love.

Stier:—What is not rooted in humility does not deserve the name of a virtue.—Always and everywhere this alone is of avail, to cherish the unity of the Spirit; thus out of every desolation a new edifice is formed, without this the most beautiful structure becomes rotten and finally breaks.

Gerlach:—Patience manifests itself in the quiet endurance of injuries, long-suffering, more in the active maintenance of others in necessities, even when criminal.

Sermons on the Epistle for the 17th Sunday after Trinity (Ephesians 4:1-6). Westermeier: Unity in., the Spirit: 1. What is it? 2. By what means is it preserved? a) in general (Ephesians 4:1); b) in particular (Ephesians 4:2-3); 3. On what grounds should it be maintained (Ephesians 4:4-6).

Ziel:—Endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit! 1. On what this admonition is based (Ephesians 4:4-6). 2. How we obey it (Ephesians 4:1-3).

Ahlfeld:—Walk worthy of your Christian calling! 1) Your calling as children of God; 2) your calling as brethren to each other; 3) your calling, to derive the power for such a walk from the right sources.—Our joy in the congregation of the saints. 1) Who are these saints and how far does this fellowship extend? 2) What is the bond which encircles them? 3) What blessing and what joy do we derive from this fellowship of the saints?

Rautenberg:—The unity of the children of God. 1) How the Divine call requires it; 2) in what it consists; 3) from what it proceeds; 4) to what it obliges every one.

Kapff:—Endeavor to keep the unity in the Spirit! 1. Let go what disturbs unity. 2. Hold fast what confirms it.

Heubner:—The unity of the Christian Church. 1. Oneness of life: a) Worthy walk, b) brotherly love, c) peaceableness. 2. Oneness of faith: a) in one Holy Ghost, b) in one Saviour, c) in one God and Father.—The duties of Christian church-membership. 1. A walk which is worthy of the call into the church (Ephesians 4:1). 2. Specially fraternal walk in humility and love (Ephesians 4:2). 3. A concordant, harmonious walk, not mere external but internal unity (Ephesians 4:3), for the fellowship of the Church is not merely a body, but a Spirit (Ephesians 4:4); it is founded upon one faith in Christ and one confession (Ephesians 4:3) and is perfected in God the Father.—The communion of the saints. 1. A description: not of a place, nor of a form, but of love and of faith. 2. How is it established: not by force, by human power or act, but by the Spirit of God. 3. Its importance. The equality of our fellowship in Christianity. 1. Proof: we have one calling, one Saviour, one Father. 2. Application: Thanksgiving to God, caution against pride, consolation for the lowly and poor, awakening endeavors after this fellowship.

Pröhle:—Endeavor to keep the unity in the Spirit! 1. Only in sorrow can we receive this exhortation now-a-days. 2. May it knock loudly upon the conscience of every one. 3. And may it bind anew in firm union our hearts and hands.—Forbearing one another in love. 1. Meaning: a) We should follow after peace, as husbands, wives, kinsmen, masters, servants, b) This is possible through lowliness, meekness, long-suffering. 2. Motive: a) The duty of brotherly love, b) our own defects; to-day I must bear with you, to-morrow you must bear with me.

Footnotes:

Ephesians 4:1; Ephesians 4:1.—Nearly all MSS. have: ἐν κυρίῳ;א.:ἐν κυρίῳ [The change of order is for the purpose of bringing out the emphatic force of παρακαλῶ (exhort rather than beseech); the second I being required in English. In is substituted for of as more correct, while calling is in itself a better word than vocation, serving here to preserve the correspondence between the substantive and verb (aorist: were called).—R.]

Ephesians 4:2; Ephesians 4:2.—[The spelling πραΰτητος (א. B. C. 17) is considered by Tischendorf, Alford, Ellicott, as the best attested form in the dialect of the New Testament. Comp. Galatians 5:23. Braune apparently prefers πραότητος (Rec., A. D. F. L., most cursives). His rendering of the three terms is very neat: mit aller Demuth und Sanftmuth, mit Langmuth.—R.]

[3][Eadie accepts a reference to the preceding paragraph; Alford to the all that precedes (so Hodge), but adds: “here perhaps also a resumption of τούτου χάριν Ephesians 3:1; Ephesians 3:14, and thus carried back to the contents of chaps. Ephesians 1:2.” Ellicott: “To those passages in the preceding chapter which relate to the spiritual privileges and calling of the Ephesians, e. g., Ephesians 4:6; Ephesians 4:12, but especially to Ephesians 4:14 ff., in which the tenor of the prayer incidentally discloses how high and how great that calling really was.” The objection to the more general reference in my mind is, that it assumes the Epistle to have been by the Apostle himself purposely divided into two parts, doctrinal and practical, like the divisions of a sermon. Paul’s method is rather that of concatenation.—R.]

[4][The choice of this phrase here, following Ephesians 3:1, where the genitive occurs, is overlooked in the E. V. Ἐν is not here=διά or σύν (it is doubtful if it ever is), but denotes the sphere or element of the captivity. As distinguished from Ephesians 3:1, this passage gives prominence to the fellowship with Christ and devotion to His cause, while the genitive marks Christ more definitely as the author or originator of the captivity. “In the Lord” seems to be at times, Ellicott remarks, little more than a qualitative definition, yet there is far more danger of abridging than extending its profound spiritual significance.—The phrase cannot be joined with the verb, as is done by Semler and Koppe.—R.]

[5][Meyer thinks the attraction is from the accusative ἥν, though admitting that a dative might be proper here. De Wette denies the propriety of the expression κλῆσιν καλεῖν (cognate accusative), though it is defended by Winer, p. 154, and occurs in Arrian, Epict.: καταισχύνειν τὴν κλῆσιν ἧν κέκληκεν. The dative gives the simpler grammatical form and through a slight violation of the law of attraction, is sustained by the analogy of 2 Timothy 1:9; 2 Timothy 1:0 Cor. 5:20 is not decisive since ἐν with the dative precedes and the relative might be attracted into that case, though it probably is not.—R.]

[6][Σύν denotes coherence, often with the same idea of assistance; μετά refers to an accompaniment or attendant.—R.]

[7][Trench properly objects to Chrysostom’s proud humility, which shows itself in his definition of the first term: “making ourselves small when we are great,” defining it rather: “the esteming ourselves small, inasmuch as we are so: the thinking truly, lowlily of ourselves.”—The second term is more than gentleness, to which Braune and Hodge seem to limit it; it rests on the former as its foundation, accepting God’s dealings in humility, and manifesting itself toward men, because they are His instruments.—R.]