be Lord both of dead and of living. Rom. 14, 9. Such being the nature and the grounds of the sovereignty of Christ, it necessarily binds together his people. The slaves of one master and the subjects of the same sovereign are intimately united among themselves, although the ownership and authority are merely ex- ternal. But when, as in our relation to Christ, the proprietorship and sovereignty are absolute, extending to the soul as well as to the body, the union is unspeak- ably more intimate. Loyalty to a common Lord and master animates with one spirit all the followers of Christ.
One faith. This is the fifth bond of union enumer- ated by the apostle. Many commentators deny that the word πίστις is ever used for the object of faith, or the things believed ; they therefore deny that one faith here means one creed. But as this interpretation is in accordance with the general usage of language, and as there are so many cases in which the objective sense of the word is best suited to the context, there seems to be no sufficient reason for refusing to admit it. In Gal. 1, 23, Paul says, ‘“ He preached the faith;” in Acts 6, 7, men, it is said, ‘‘ were obedient to the faith.” The apostle Jude speaks of “the faith once delivered to the saints.” In these and in many other instances the objective sense is the natural one. In many cases both senses of the word may be united. It may be said of speculative believers that they have one faith, so far as they profess the same creed, however they may differ in their real convictions. All the members