The Pulpit Commentary — Ephesians — Section 164

Vers. 4-6.-Tlie sevenfold unity. The apostle proceeds to state the nature and [;rounds of the unity which is to be so oaretully guarded. It has its basis in the fact that the Church is one, and does not consist of two rival societies. I. "THERE IS ONE BODY." The body with_its many members and its many funo. t ions is yet one. Similarly, "we being many, are one body in Christ, and every one mcm bers one of another" (Rom. xii. 5); so that believers, no matter how separated by r~cc, colour, language, station, opinion, interest, circumstance, experience, are members <'f this one body. The body cannot, therefore, be an external visible society, but a >;itritnal bcxly of which Christ is the Head. It may not be so easy to realize this unity iu the midst of the n:ultiplication of sects and denominations, each with its well-. ,,,-~ae<l lines of doctrine and order, and each more or less sharply distinguished from ;:s uighbour. Yet the.re is still but "one body "-there is amidst accidental diver- l''ties a snbst=tial unity, s unity that co,ers all truly essential elements. The ,:i,crsity arising from temperament, culture, h11.bit, has had its due effect in the ,:e,elopment of truth; for some parts of the Church have thus given prominence to >'•)me troth ~hich other parts ha,e allowed to fall inro tl1e background. The beauty • 0f the Church is manifest in this very diversity, just as it requires all the hues of the rninbow to make the clear, white ray of colourless sunshine. The duty, therefore, of l,eJievers is to r8<,CT3.I"d the differences that keep them apart, not as hindrances to loving intercourse, but as helps to the fuller development of Divine truth and the fuller manifestation of the mind of God to the Church. II. "ONE SPIBIT." As in the human body there is but one spirit, with a single Yivifying power, so in the Church there is but one Spirit, animating all its ·members, as the common principle of life. "By one Spirit were we all baptized into one body," and "were made to drink into one Spirit" (1 Cor. xii. 13). "We have access by one Spirit unto the Father." There is, therefore, no room for a conflicting administration. "There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit" (1 Cor. xii. 4); and therefore all sins ~Cl'l!inst unity are sins against the indwelling Spirit. Sectarian or divisive courses have a tendency to grieve the Spirit. Indeed, it is a mark of a separatin,Q: apostasy that it has not the Spirit (Jnde 19). Let us remember that the one Spirit who animates the body of Christ produce;; as his own choicest fruits-" love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance" (Gal. v. 22). These are ~es with a distinctly unifying tendency. . IlL "OKE HOPE OF YOUR CALLING." 1. Its 'llatu.re. Here it is not the thing "hoped for,"' as it is in CoL i. 5 and Titus ii 13, bnt the emotion of hope, the expectation of fu.tnre good. All believers ha,e the same aspirations, the same anticipations of coming glory, as the effect of the Spirit's indwelling. The hope is subjective. 2. Its origin. 'L'he hope is" of your calling." It springs out of the effectual call of the Spirit, who begets us to "a lively hope" (1 Pet. i. 3), being himself the Earnest and Seal of the future inheritance. We natura'lly hope for what we are invited to rcc~ive. 3. Its effect. Just as two strangers meeting for the first time on the deck of an emigrant ship, both bound for the same new land, and purposing to pursue the same occupation, are united by a common interest of expectation, so believers are drawn together into unity by a consideration of their common hopes. IV. "O~'E Lonn." As the Head of the Church, the supreme Object of faith, and into whose Name all saints arc baptized. '!'here are two ideas involved in this b~essed lordship-ownersbip and authority. 1. Ownership. Jesus Christ is not only Lord of all, but especially Lord of his own people. We are not our own, for we have beeo,, redeemed and bought with a price (1 Cor. vi. 20), even with his precious blood. For this end he both ciied and rose and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living (Rom. xix. 4). 2. .Authority. Therefore we are subject to him, our reason to his guidance, our consc_ience to ~ii; precepts, our he~rts to hi~ constrain_ing lc,ve. There is no part of our bcmg, there 1s no event of our hves, that 1s not subJect .0 th~ auth,,rity which brooks no rival. It is this subjection of all believers to one Lord that mark.£ the inner unity of the Church; for loyalty to a common Lord makes t:;e:m stand tvgether in a oommon hope, a common life, a common love. i'. "0:sB F AITR." Not one creed, though all believers do really hold all that is es&c:ntial to ,;ah•ati<m, but one 1'11.ith in its 81lbjective aspect, through which the one Lord i. 3J•prtl,enrJe,L It is one in all believers, for they arc all justified in exactly the samo 0 OH, IV. 1-32.] THE EPISTLE TO 'fHE EPHESIANS. 163