Ephesians 4:4

one body See on Ephesians 1:23; Ephesians 2:15-16; and below, Ephesians 4:15-16. Here as always the imagery of the Body suggests not only union but united energy and operation. Its frequent recurrence emphasizes its importance and significance. Vital union with Christ, by the Spirit, is the one true secret of holy growth and action, alike for the individual and the community. The "one" is highly emphatic. As regards the vital Union, there is one Organism, and one only. Let the relations of practical Christian life and work correspond to that fact, to the utmost possible.

one Spirit The same Divine Spirit as above, Ephesians 4:3. He, the immediate Agent in regeneration (John 3), unites each regenerate individual to the Head, and, as the Sanctifier, maintains that union. He is thus comparable to the all-pervading spirit energizing and preserving the human frame.

Bengel remarks on the close sequence, in the "Apostles" Creed," of the articles of the Holy Ghost and of the Holy Church. Cp. at large 1 Corinthians 12.

ye are called Perhaps a special reference to the work of the Holy Ghost, the immediate Agent in the "call" of grace. Cp. 1 Corinthians 12:13. Lit. and better, ye were called.

in one hope of your calling On the "hope" and the "calling," see on Ephesians 1:18. They were called "in" the hope; i. e., so as to be in it, embraced and possessed by it. On the spiritual power of the "onehope" cp. Colossians 1:4, for a real parallel. There, the "love for all the saints" is (lit.) "on account ofthe hope laid up in heaven." The community of blissful prospect binds faster the communion of sympathy and affection.