Paul's words about one body, one spirit, one shared faithfulness and one baptism sound like one of the earliest Christian creeds. In those days there was no single creed; apparently there were several. And although no one formally canonized these creeds, in practice they...
Paul's words about one body, one spirit, one shared faithfulness and one baptism sound like one of the earliest Christian creeds. In those days there was no single creed; apparently there were several. And although no one formally canonized these creeds, in practice they served their purpose: they enabled Christians to formulate the central credo of their faith and their life briefly and concisely. At the heart of the formulation the apostle offers in his letter is the Church as one body and one spirit, united by one hope, the same hope for everyone.
It is precisely the Church with a capital C that is meant here: not an earthly community founded by human beings, but a spiritual reality. As a spiritual reality, the Church is always the Kingdom on earth. If a Christian is by definition an inhabitant of the Kingdom, then the Church is by definition the Kingdom's representation on earth. Its members are united by the one breath of this Kingdom, shared by all, and bound together by a common hope: the hope that the day will come when Christ returns in glory, when the Kingdom will unfold completely and in all its fullness, embracing and transfiguring the whole world.
That is why all Christians have one Master. In this case, that is exactly the word: Master with a capital M. The King. The Ruler of His Kingdom, the very Kingdom entered through baptism, which is also one. Of course, if there were many churches, there would also be many baptisms. But the Church with a capital C is one by definition. Therefore baptism too is one, if it is genuine: for it brings a person into this very Church with a capital C, not into some earthly community. Or it brings them nowhere at all, but then it is time to put the word ‘baptism’ in quotation marks.
And all Christians also share one faith, provided they truly are Christians: faith, of course, as faithfulness to Christ, not as various descriptions of the numerous versions of a Christian worldview. And there is one God above everyone and everything, and in everyone. For only God's presence can make the Church the body of Christ and the world the Kingdom. This is the hope of Christians, if, of course, we are speaking of genuine Christianity.
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4:1 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord - Imprisoned for his sake and for your sakes; for the sake of the gospel which he had preached amongst them. This was therefore a powerful motive to them to comfort him under it by their obedience.
4:3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit - That mutual union and harmony, which is a fruit of the Spirit.The bond of peace is love.
4:4 There is one body - The universal church, all believers throughout the world. One Spirit, one Lord, one God and Father - The ever - blessed Trinity. One hope - Of heaven.
4:5 One outward baptism.
4:6 One God and Father of all - That believe. Who is above all - Presiding over all his children, operating through them all by Christ, and dwelling in all by his Spirit.
4:7 According to the measure of the gift of Christ - According as Christ is pleased to give to each.
4:8 Wherefore he saith - That is, in reference to which God saith by David, Having ascended on high, he led captivity captive - He triumphed over all his enemies, Satan, sin, and death, which had before enslaved all the world: alluding to the custom of ancient conquerors, who led those they had conquered in chains after them.And, as they also used to give donatives to the people, at their return from victory, so he gave gifts to men - Both the ordinary and extraordinary gifts of the Spirit. Psa 68:18.
4:9 Now this expression, He ascended, what is it, but that he descended - That is, does it not imply, that he descended first?Certainly it does, on the supposition of his being God. Otherwise it would not: since all the saints will ascend to heaven, though none of them descended thence. Into the lower parts of the earth - So the womb is called, Psa 139:15; the grave, Psa 63:9.
4:10 He that descended - That thus amazingly humbled himself.Is the same that ascended - That was so highly exalted. That he might fill all things - The whole church, with his Spirit, presence, and operations.
4:11 And, among other his free gifts, he gave some apostles - His chief ministers and special witnesses, as having seen him after his resurrection, and received their commission immediately from him.And same prophets, and some evangelists - A prophet testifies of things to come; an evangelist of things past: and that chiefly by preaching the gospel before or after any of the apostles. All these were extraordinary officers. The ordinary were. Some pastors - Watching over their several flocks. And some teachers - Whether of the same or a lower order, to assist them, as occasion might require.
4:12 And each of these has three parts, standing in the same order. For the perfecting the saints - The completing them both in number and their various gifts and graces. To the work of the ministry - The serving God and his church in their various ministrations. To the edifying of the body of Christ - The building up this his mystical body in faith, love, holiness.
4:13 Till we all - And every one of us. Come to the unity of the faith, and knowledge of the Son of God - To both an exact agreement in the Christian doctrine, and an experimental knowledge of Christ as the Son of God. To a perfect man - To a state of spiritual manhood both in understanding and strength.To the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ - To that maturity of age and spiritual stature wherein we shall be filled with Christ, so that he will be all in all.
4:14 Fluctuating to and fro - From within, even when there is no wind. And carried about with every wind - From without; when we are assaulted by others, who are unstable as the wind. By the sleight of men - By their "cogging the dice;" so the original word implies.
4:15 Into him - Into his image and Spirit, and into a full union with him.
4:16 From whom the whole mystical body fitly joined together - All the parts being fitted for and adapted to each other, and most exactly harmonizing with the whole. And compacted - Knit and cemented together with the utmost firmness. Maketh increase by that which every joint supplieth - Or by the mutual help of every joint. According to the effectual working in the measure of every member - According as every member in its measure effectually works for the support and growth of the whole. A beautiful allusion to the human body, composed of different joints and members, knit together by various ligaments, and furnished with vessels of communication from the head to every part.