through that patience and consolation which the scriptures produce ;' or the words through patience may be disconnected from the word scrips tures, and the sense be, ' that we, through patience, and through the con- solation of the scriptures,' &c. The former method is the most com- nionly adopted, and is the most natural. Might have hope; this may mean that the design of the divine instructions is, to prevent all despond- ency, to sustain us under our present trials ; or the sense is, that they are intended to secure the attainment of the great object of our hopes, the blessedness of heaven. Either interpretation of the word hope is con- sistent with usage, and gives a good sense.
(5) Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be like minded one towards another, according to Jesus Christ. * May God, who is the author of patience and consolation, grant,' &c. Here the graces, which in the preceding verse are ascribed to the Scriptures, are attributed to God as their author, because he produces them by his Spi- rit through the instrumentality of the truth. Paul prays that God would grant them that concord and unanimity which he had so strongly ex- horted them to cherish. The expression to be like minded does not here refer to unanimity of opinion, but to harmony of feeling; see ch. 8 : 5. 12:3. .Recording to Jesus Christ, i. e. agreeably to the example and command of Christ; in a Christian manner. It is, therefore, to a Chris- tian union that he exhorts them.
(6) That ye may with one mind and with one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. This harmony and fellow- ship among Christians is necessary in order that they may glorify God aright. To honour God effectually and properly, there must be no un- necessary dissensions among his people. God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, means either that God who is the Father of the Lord Jesus ; or the God and Father of Christ. The latter is the more correct rendering. This expression occurs frequently in the New Testament ; see 2 Cor. 1:3. 11 : 31. Eph. 1 : 3. 1 Pet. 1:3. It means that God whom Jesus Christ acknowledged and served, and who stood to him in the relation of a Father.
(7) Therefore receive ye one another, as Christ also hath received us, to the glory of God. The word rendered receive has the same sense here that it has in ch. 14: 1. * Take one another to yourselves, treat one another kindly, even as Christ has kindly taken us to himself.' The words to the glory of God may be connected with the first or second clause, or with both. ' Receive ye one another that God may be glori- fied ;' or ' as Christ has received us in order that God might be glorified ;' or, if referred to both clauses, the idea is, ' as the glory of God was illus- trated and promoted by Christ's reception of us, so also will it be exhibited by our kind treatment of each other.' The first method seems most con- sistent with the context, as the object of the apostle is to enforce the duty of mutual forbearance among Christians, for which he suggests two