Ephesians · Chapter 4

V. 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.

Verse 1. I therefore] Therefore, because God has provided for you such an abundant salvation, and ye have his testimonies among you, and have full liberty to use all the means of grace;

The prisoner of the Lord] Who am deprived of my liberty for the Lord’s sake.

Beseech you that ye walk] Ye have your liberty, and may walk; I am deprived of mine, and cannot. This is a fine stroke, and wrought up into a strong argument. You who are at large can show forth the virtues of him who called you into his marvellous light; I am in bondage, and can only exhort others by my writing, and show my submission to God by my patient suffering.

The vocation wherewith ye are called] The calling, klhsiv, is the free invitation they have had from God to receive the privileges of the Gospel, and become his sons and daughters, without being obliged to observe Jewish rites and ceremonies. Their vocation, or calling, took in their Christian profession, with all the doctrines, precepts, privileges, duties, &c., of the Christian religion.

Among us, a man’s calling signifies his trade, or occupation in life; that at which he works, and by which he gets his bread; and it is termed his calling, because it is supposed that God, in the course of his providence, calls the person to be thus employed, and thus to acquire his livelihood. Now, as it is a very poor calling by which a man cannot live, so it is a poor religion by which a man cannot get his soul saved. If, however, a man have an honest and useful trade, and employ himself diligently in labouring at it, he will surely be able to maintain himself by it; but without care, attention, and industry, he is not likely to get, even by this providential calling, the necessaries of life. In like manner, if a man do not walk worthy of his heavenly calling, i.e. suitable to its prescriptions, spirit, and design, he is not likely to get his soul saved unto eternal life. The best trade, unpractised, will not support any man; the most pure and holy religion of the Lord Jesus, unapplied, will save no soul. Many suppose, because they have a sound faith, that all is safe and well: as well might the mechanic, who knows he has a good trade, and that he understands the principles of it well, suppose it will maintain him, though he brings none of its principles into action by honest, assiduous, and well-directed labour. Some suppose that the calling refers to the epithets usually given to the Christians; such as children of Abraham, children of God, true Israel of God, heirs of God, saints, fellow citizens with the saints, &c., &c.; and that these honourable appellations must be a strong excitement to the Ephesians to walk worthy of these exalted characters But I do not find that the word klhsiv, calling, is taken in this sense any where in the New Testament; but that it has the meaning which I have given it above is evident from 1 Corinthians 7:20: ekastov en th klhsei h eklhqh, en tauth menetw. Let every man abide in the calling to which he hath been called. The context shows that condition, employment, or business of life, is that to which the apostle refers.

1-6.

(2,) In a due use of their gifts and graces for their own edification, and that of their fellow-Christians, 7-16.

(3,) In the most earnest pursuit of holiness in heart and life, 17-24. (4,) In carefully avoiding lying, sinful anger, dishonesty, corrupt discourse, malice, revenge, and the like sins, to which, as heathens, they had formerly been much addicted, 25-32.

NOTES ON CHAPTER 4.

Verse 1. I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord — Imprisoned for his sake and for yours; for the sake of the gospel which he had preached to them and other Gentiles: see note on Ephesians 3:1: this was therefore a powerful motive to them to comfort him under his sufferings by their obedience; beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation, &c. — That is, in a manner suitable to the privileges which you enjoy, and to the state of grace and favour with God into which you have been brought by hearing and believing the gospel. As if he had said, Let there be nothing in your spirit or conduct beneath the dignity to which you are raised, and the illustrious hopes which are set before you; but show that the crown of glory is ever in your eye, and that your hearts are duly impressed with it. Thus we see the great discoveries in the foregoing part of this epistle, to which the apostle has given the appellation of the mystery of God and of Christ, were set forth by him, not merely for the purpose of enlightening the Ephesian believers in the knowledge of these sublime truths, and fixing them in the belief and profession thereof; but also to give him an elevation of sentiment and affection becoming those to whose minds such glorious discoveries were made; and at the same time to lead them to a proper behaviour toward God, one another, and all men, and that in every circumstance and relation of life wherein they were placed; the various particulars of which are specified in the very excellent summary of practical religion contained in the remaining chapters of this epistle.

Verse 1, 2. I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you — a pathetic argument, for if I hear of discords among you it will add affliction to my bonds; that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called. We are called with a holy calling, according to his purpose and grace. 2 Timothy 1:9. We are called to come out from among the wicked, and to regard the earth only as the land of our pilgrimage. 2 Corinthians 6:17. We are called with a high and holy calling as the sons of God, and to eternal glory in Christ Jesus. What manner of persons then ought we to be! Let us walk worthy of the Lord in all lowliness of mind, as in his sight, and with meekness and forbearance in our behaviour towards men. Galatians 5:22-24.

1. To be a holy and efficient Church, 1-16.

a. In holy unity of spirit, 1-6.

1. I—St. Paul’s powerful Ego again. Note Ephesians 3:1. Therefore— In view of this sublime divine side of your redeemed churchdom. Walk worthy… vocation… called—Had he been addressing sinners he would have exhorted them to enter by faith into the number of God’s elect, and by obedience to the divine call to be numbered among the called. But this they have done. They are elect and the called. He can, therefore, only exhort them to walk worthy of the vocation (and vocation signifies calling) wherewith they were called. They are called as once Gentiles into the spiritual Israel, and called as once sinners into the elect Church. Perseverance and not apostasy, perfectness and not defectiveness, is their now high and holy obligation. Walk here implies Christian activity; just as in Ephesians 2:2 it designates energetic, depraved activity. Dr. Clarke suggests a contrast between the apostles’ confinement to passive duty in prison and their freedom to walk in active Christian life. The antithesis is beautiful, but was imagined by the commentator, not by the apostle. Dr. Eadie’s calling the suggestion “a stroke of very miserable wit” is a “stroke” of very uncandid criticism. The simple-hearted and great-hearted Adam Clarke had not the slightest intention of “wit,” but of beautiful practical reflection.

Ver. 1. I exhort you, then; introduces, as do the same words in Romans 12:1, a practical application of the foregoing teaching. The great truth that God is working in us beyond our thought ought to mould our conduct.

Prisoner in the Lord: Christ the Master being the element in which Paul lives, and so living finds himself in prison at Rome. For all that he is and does is in the Lord. Similar thought in Philippians 1:13: a slightly different conception in Ephesians 3:1.

I, the prisoner: Paul’s own personality and circumstances appealing to his readers: so Ephesians 3:1; Galatians 5:2; 2 Corinthians 10:1. Walk worthily: same words and sense in Colossians 1:10; similar words in Philippians 1:27.

Calling: as in Ephesians 1:18. The grandeur of the Gospel call lays upon us an obligation to choose such steps in life as are in harmony with the prospect of blessing which that call opens to our view.

Verse 2. With all lowliness] It is by acting as the apostle here directs that a man walks worthy of this high vocation; tapeinofrosunh signifies subjection or humility of mind.

Meekness] The opposite to anger and irritability of disposition. Long-suffering] makroqumia. Long-mindedness-never permitting a trial or provocation to get to the end of your patience.

Forbearing one another] anecomenoi allhlwn. Sustaining one another-helping to support each other in all the miseries and trials of life: or, if the word be taken in the sense of bearing with each other, it may mean that, through the love of God working in our hearts, we should bear with each other’s infirmities, ignorance, &c., knowing how much others have been or are still obliged to bear with us.

Verses 2, 3. With all lowliness — Or humility of mind, having mean thoughts of yourselves because of your former sinfulness and guilt, depravity, weakness, and misery, and your unworthiness of that mercy which God hath exercised toward you; and meekness — Maintaining calmness, serenity, and peace of mind, amid the infirmities and indiscretions of your Christian friends, and even amid the affronts and injuries of your enemies; with long-suffering — Toward all men, whether saints or sinners, always possessing your souls in patience, and whatever provocations you receive, never seeking revenge, or yielding to resentment or ill-will toward any. Forbearing — Greek, anecomenoi, bearing with; one another in love — That is, out of a principle of love to God, your fellow-Christians, and all men; endeavouring, so far as in you lies, to keep the unity of the Spirit — That mutual union, concord, and harmony, which is the fruit of the Spirit; in the bond of peace — In a peaceable, kind, and affectionate disposition toward one another.

Verse 1, 2. I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you — a pathetic argument, for if I hear of discords among you it will add affliction to my bonds; that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called. We are called with a holy calling, according to his purpose and grace. 2 Timothy 1:9. We are called to come out from among the wicked, and to regard the earth only as the land of our pilgrimage. 2 Corinthians 6:17. We are called with a high and holy calling as the sons of God, and to eternal glory in Christ Jesus. What manner of persons then ought we to be! Let us walk worthy of the Lord in all lowliness of mind, as in his sight, and with meekness and forbearance in our behaviour towards men. Galatians 5:22-24.

2. With—It must be specially noted that St. Paul here specifies the virtues conducive to the unity which he is preparing to enforce. Lowliness—The reverse of the love of “pre-eminence,” imputed by St. John to Diotrephes, (3 John 1:9,) the greatest of all sources of dissension in Churches. Chrysostom truly says that it is a self-undervaluation, even under consciousness of higher worth. The greater the man, the truer the magnanimity that consents to become nothing in order to common unity. Trench, Alford, and Eadie very inconsiderately deny this statement of Chrysostom; the last going even so far as to say that such a lowliness would be mere simulation. Not at all. The apostle does not prescribe a false intellectual self-estimate, or a pretended one. He prescribes a temper and a will, which, while truly conscious of an entire superiority in fact existing, is willing, for holy ends, to accept a lowly estimate or “a back seat.” Meekness, with longsuffering—As lowliness implies a cheerful submission to a lower rank, so meekness implies a serene self-possession under immediate insult or injury, and longsuffering a calm endurance under the pressure of permanent wrong. These are passive virtues, which paganism underrated, and Christianity, if it did not first transmute into virtues, did yet bring out into a new and beautiful lustre. Though passive virtues, they imply in their true nature greater strength of character, and greater real magnanimity, often, than the more showy and turbulent heroisms. Having these virtues in full possession, then forbearing one another will be easy. The forbearing will be the simple manifestation of the three antecedent graces of the heart. And when this forbearing is truly exercised, the true result is what the apostle is here preparing for, divine unity.

Ver. 2. Lowliness-of mind, meekness, long-suffering: same three words together in Colossians 3:12, where see note. The first two are joined under one preposition and strengthened by the word all. Our walk in life must be accompanied by a correct estimate of our utter powerlessness for good and by a consequent absence of self-assertion; and this at all times and in all circumstances. And with this must be a disposition slow to give way to unfavourable influences from without.

Forbearing one another: same words in same connection in

Colossians 3:13; see note. This participial clause both continues Paul’s account of the disposition he desires in his readers and describes the practical working, and the source, of longsuffering, the point last mentioned. If Christian love be the element of our life, we shall refrain from anything which would injure or grieve our brethren, whatever provocation they may give.

V. 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.

Verse 3. Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.] There can be no doubt that the Church at Ephesus was composed partly of converted Jews, as well as Gentiles. Now, from the different manner in which they had been brought up, there might be frequent causes of altercation. Indeed, the Jews, though converted, might be envious that the Gentiles were admitted to the same glorious privileges with themselves, without being initiated into them by bearing the yoke and burden of the Mosaic law. The apostle guards them against this, and shows them that they should intensely labour (for so the word spoudazein implies) to promote and preserve peace and unity. By the unity of the Spirit we are to understand, not only a spiritual unity, but also a unity of sentiments, desires, and affections, such as is worthy of and springs from the Spirit of God. By the bond of peace we are to understand a peace or union, where the interests of all parties are concentrated, cemented, and sealed; the Spirit of God being the seal upon this knot.

Verses 2, 3. With all lowliness — Or humility of mind, having mean thoughts of yourselves because of your former sinfulness and guilt, depravity, weakness, and misery, and your unworthiness of that mercy which God hath exercised toward you; and meekness — Maintaining calmness, serenity, and peace of mind, amid the infirmities and indiscretions of your Christian friends, and even amid the affronts and injuries of your enemies; with long-suffering — Toward all men, whether saints or sinners, always possessing your souls in patience, and whatever provocations you receive, never seeking revenge, or yielding to resentment or ill-will toward any. Forbearing — Greek, anecomenoi, bearing with; one another in love — That is, out of a principle of love to God, your fellow-Christians, and all men; endeavouring, so far as in you lies, to keep the unity of the Spirit — That mutual union, concord, and harmony, which is the fruit of the Spirit; in the bond of peace — In a peaceable, kind, and affectionate disposition toward one another.

Ver. 3. Endeavouring, studying, and being solicitous to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Whence arose the schisms in the primitive church? From proud men, who aimed at preëminence, or loved some peculiar opinion more than the peace of the church, and more than all the other doctrines of the gospel. Whence arise our modern schisms and discords? From the same spirit. One having committed sin, will not bear the rod of discipline. Another aims at preferment by flattery, and by unlawful means to the injury of modest and more deserving men. How unlike the primitive bishop, dragged trembling from his study to the church to be invested with the sacred charge. The Moseses, whom the Lord finds keeping their father’s flock, and the Elishas, ploughing with their father’s oxen, make the best pastors.

3. Endeavouring—Zealously aiming. Unity of the Spirit—That unity of love which the Spirit inspires and creates. Bond, consisting of peace. Peace is the very girdle and tie which binds the bundle.

Ver. 3. A second participial clause giving a motive for the forbearance just described, viz. that want of it may endanger Christian unity. Giving-diligence: same word and sense in Galatians 2:10; a cognate word in 2 Corinthians 7:11, 12; 8:7, 8, 16. It suggests difficulty, and a resolute effort to overcome it.

The Spirit: of God; see Ephesians 4:4.

The unity of the Spirit: harmony wrought by the Spirit among the members of the one Body of Christ. Similarly, the spirit of life produces harmony in the variously endowed members of the human body, making each member helpful to all the others. In a dead body this harmony is lost; and each member pursues its own way along the path of corruption. Since this unity is a work of the Spirit of God, but is conditional on man’s self-surrender to the Spirit, we are bidden to keep it. And, since this is sometimes difficult, inasmuch as everything which needs forbearance tends to destroy unity in the Church, Paul bids us to give diligence to keep etc. Peace: harmony with those around us: so Ephesians 2:14, 15, 17; Romans 14:19; 1 Corinthians 14:33; Acts 7:26. It is represented as a silken cord binding into one the members of the Church: in the bond of peace. Contrast Acts 8:23, bond of injustice. This mutual peace, which is the encompassing element of the unity of the Spirit, has the same source as the peace of God which fills the breast of each believer: Colossians 3:15; Philippians 4:7.

V. 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.

Verse 4. There is one body] Viz. of Christ, which is his Church. One Spirit] The Holy Ghost, who animates this body. One hope] Of everlasting glory, to which glory ye have been called by the preaching of the Gospel; through which ye have become the body of Christ, instinct with the energy of the Holy Ghost.

Verses 4-6. The apostle proceeds to remind the believers at Ephesus of some of the many very powerful considerations which had force enough, if attended to and laid to heart, to induce them to cultivate and preserve the unity to which he exhorts them. There is one body — One mystical body of Christ, of which he is the living head, and ye all are members; and as such should sympathize with, care for, and assist one another, as the members of the human body do. And in this one body there is one Divine Spirit — Which enlivens, actuates, and fills it, and under his influence it should be your constant concern to act; even as ye are called in one hope of your calling — To the expectation of one and the same common heaven, one and the same glorious abode in the eternal world. One Lord — And Master, of whom you are all servants; one Redeemer and Saviour, who hath assumed our frail nature, lived and died for us, that he might unite us in bonds of mutual, fervent, and everlasting love; one faith — In that one Lord, and in the truths of one and the same divine revelation, all which are designed and calculated to bind the disciples together in the pleasing bonds of love and unity; one outward baptism — Or seal of the covenant of grace, and emblem of the washing of regeneration. One God and Father of all — Whose real people, whose true worshippers, whose beloved children, whose living temples you are; who is above you all — Ruling you as his subjects, and presiding over you as his children; through you all — By his enlightening and directing word; and in you all — By his quickening, sanctifying, and comforting Spirit. Such are the reasons and motives obliging the true disciples of Christ to love and unity with one another; reasons and motives most powerful surely to bind them together in peace and harmony, and such as manifest discord, contention, strife, and division, to be unspeakably unreasonable.

Ver. 4. There is one body and one Spirit. It is therefore as unnatural to sin against the church as for a man to afflict his own person. It is the Holy Spirit that actuates the body, adorning it with gifts and graces, and making the gospel efficacious. It is One Lord Christ, head of the living and the dead; one faith, delivered to the saints, Jude 1:3; and one Spirit, baptizing us all, whether jews or gentiles, into one body. The disturbers of religious society should therefore consider that they sin not only against the brethren, but against heaven and earth.

4. There is—The italics show that these words are supplied by the translators. Like the “for” supplied by Eadie, they weaken the sense. Thus far Paul has been preparing the Ephesians for the unity; he now points to the high centres of unity their Christianity presents, and abruptly exclaims, One body, one faith, etc. Seven times is the word one repeated to show them how perfect is their ideal oneness. One Spirit—Forming the higher soul of the one body. It is the infinite Spirit so animating all their finite spirits as to centralize them into one body, and give that body life and power. One hope—The single blessed hope in Christ, by which they joyfully anticipate a glorious eternity.

Ver. 4. Seven objective unities, underlying the subjective unity which Paul desires his readers to maintain.

One body: the Church, which occupies a unique relation to Christ as His Body. So Ephesians 2:16; Romans 12:5; 1 Corinthians 12:12,13.

One Spirit: the Holy Spirit, the one animating principle of the Church, giving to it life and unity as the one Body of Christ. Thus every living human body is a pattern of the Church. And this unity is in harmony with the truth that the good news of salvation opens, to all who receive it, the same prospect of good things to come: according as ye were called in one hope. Cp. Ephesians 1:18. This one hope animates all the members of the one body, and has its source in the one Spirit. Cp. Colossians 3:5. So in secular matters the uniting power of a common hope often binds together a company of men, and makes it a living unity.

One Lord, or Master: whom all obey. So 1 Corinthians 8:6, cp. 1 Timothy 2:5. Each of His servants relies upon the same Gospel promise: one faith. And each has entered the company of His professed followers by the one gate of Baptism.

One God: final and supreme unity. So 1 Corinthians 8:6; 1 Timothy 2:5. Since the word God does not need a defining genitive in order to give a complete sense, it is perhaps better to understand it absolutely: there is one God who is also Father of all. Grammatically, the word all three times repeated, may denote all things, or men, or believers. Probably here the last. For Paul is evidently thinking about members of the one body. Throughout § 9 we have no reference to the outside world. Above all: reigning supreme over all His people: so Romans 9:5. Through all: using them as instruments to work out His purposes: cp. Romans 11:36; an important parallel.

In all: dwelling in, and filling, their hearts.

Notice here seven unities, arranged in two groups of three and surmounted by one supreme unity presented in a threefold relation to us. Among these unities are the three Persons of the Trinity, each possessing a unity of His own and Himself a centre of unity to the servants of God: One Spirit… One Lord… One God. Same order in 1 Corinthians 12:4-6, a close parallel. As ever, Paul rises from the Son to the Father: and in the presence of the Father he lingers. For all unity in the creature has its source in this Supreme Unity.

V. 5. One outward baptism.

Verse 5. One Lord] Jesus Christ, who is the governor of this Church. One faith] One system of religion, proposing the same objects to the faith of all.

One baptism] Administered in the name of the holy Trinity; indicative of the influences, privileges, and effects of the Christian religion.

Verses 4-6. The apostle proceeds to remind the believers at Ephesus of some of the many very powerful considerations which had force enough, if attended to and laid to heart, to induce them to cultivate and preserve the unity to which he exhorts them. There is one body — One mystical body of Christ, of which he is the living head, and ye all are members; and as such should sympathize with, care for, and assist one another, as the members of the human body do. And in this one body there is one Divine Spirit — Which enlivens, actuates, and fills it, and under his influence it should be your constant concern to act; even as ye are called in one hope of your calling — To the expectation of one and the same common heaven, one and the same glorious abode in the eternal world. One Lord — And Master, of whom you are all servants; one Redeemer and Saviour, who hath assumed our frail nature, lived and died for us, that he might unite us in bonds of mutual, fervent, and everlasting love; one faith — In that one Lord, and in the truths of one and the same divine revelation, all which are designed and calculated to bind the disciples together in the pleasing bonds of love and unity; one outward baptism — Or seal of the covenant of grace, and emblem of the washing of regeneration. One God and Father of all — Whose real people, whose true worshippers, whose beloved children, whose living temples you are; who is above you all — Ruling you as his subjects, and presiding over you as his children; through you all — By his enlightening and directing word; and in you all — By his quickening, sanctifying, and comforting Spirit. Such are the reasons and motives obliging the true disciples of Christ to love and unity with one another; reasons and motives most powerful surely to bind them together in peace and harmony, and such as manifest discord, contention, strife, and division, to be unspeakably unreasonable.

5. One Lord—To whom, as centre, head, and author of our entire salvation one faith unites us, that faith expressed and confirmed by one baptism. Thus one faith supposes a creed. That is, it assumes that Christianity is not only a life but a doctrine. It has its central fundamental truths which must be embraced in this one faith. By these truths believed, and firmly held, men are led to, and united to, Christ as their Saviour. Besides these fundamental truths, by which Christianity is formed and a man becomes “a believer,” there are, doubtless, many truths and many beliefs held by many Christians not necessary to the very existence of the one faith. But we must not give ready heed to teachers who declaim against “doctrines” and “the creeds,” as if truth and sound doctrine were not vital to the reality of our Christianity. One baptism—One affusion by the Spirit, symbolized by water, declaring to the world our living one faith in the one Lord.

V. 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.

Verse 6. One God] The fountain of all being, self-existent and eternal; and Father of all, both Jews and Gentiles, because he is the Father of the spirits of all flesh.

Who is above all] oJ epi pantwn. Who is over all; as the King of kings, and Lord of lords.

And through all] Pervading every thing; being present with every thing; providing for all creatures; and by his energy supporting all things. And in you all.] By the energy of his Spirit, enlightening, quickening, purifying, and comforting; in a word, making your hearts the temples of the Holy Ghost. Some think the mystery of the blessed Trinity is contained in this verse: God is over all, as Father; through all, by the Logos or Word; and in all, by the Holy Spirit.

Verses 4-6. The apostle proceeds to remind the believers at Ephesus of some of the many very powerful considerations which had force enough, if attended to and laid to heart, to induce them to cultivate and preserve the unity to which he exhorts them. There is one body — One mystical body of Christ, of which he is the living head, and ye all are members; and as such should sympathize with, care for, and assist one another, as the members of the human body do. And in this one body there is one Divine Spirit — Which enlivens, actuates, and fills it, and under his influence it should be your constant concern to act; even as ye are called in one hope of your calling — To the expectation of one and the same common heaven, one and the same glorious abode in the eternal world. One Lord — And Master, of whom you are all servants; one Redeemer and Saviour, who hath assumed our frail nature, lived and died for us, that he might unite us in bonds of mutual, fervent, and everlasting love; one faith — In that one Lord, and in the truths of one and the same divine revelation, all which are designed and calculated to bind the disciples together in the pleasing bonds of love and unity; one outward baptism — Or seal of the covenant of grace, and emblem of the washing of regeneration. One God and Father of all — Whose real people, whose true worshippers, whose beloved children, whose living temples you are; who is above you all — Ruling you as his subjects, and presiding over you as his children; through you all — By his enlightening and directing word; and in you all — By his quickening, sanctifying, and comforting Spirit. Such are the reasons and motives obliging the true disciples of Christ to love and unity with one another; reasons and motives most powerful surely to bind them together in peace and harmony, and such as manifest discord, contention, strife, and division, to be unspeakably unreasonable.

Ver. 6. One God and Father of all, as illustrated in 1 Corinthians 8:6.

6. One God—Again St. Paul takes care to fasten our salvation to Him who is above all heavens. He is dealing with late worshippers of Diana or Jupiter. This salvation hangs not from these idols. Nor is it a mere earthly system with no heaven-connected cord. It is bound to the throne of the Infinite. And Father of all—One of the traces of the fatherhood of God, which Gentilism had lost, is the idea that the name Jupiter is in origin Zeus-pater, God-father, or, rather, Sky-father, or Heaven-father. St. Paul restores the true fatherhood to his converted Gentiles, pointing them to the supreme Zeus-pater, whom no image could represent, and no temple hold. Above… through… in—The threefold members are unquestionably based in the Trinitarian thought. Beginning with the baptismal form, (Matthew 28:19,) thence taking that of the benediction (2 Corinthians 13:14) and the trisagion, (Revelation 4:8,) we have models according to which Paul’s trinal clauses should certainly be interpreted. See our note on the Sacred Three, vol. ii, p. 77. The accordance of the prepositions here with the Trinitarian Persons is obvious. The Father, as original creator, is above all; the Son, as agent, or manifest God, is through all; the Spirit, as Sanctifier, is indwelling. Yet while these trinal attributes may thus symbolize the tri-personality, they may still accordantly be considered in pure reference to the one God as Omnipotent, Omnipresent, and Immanent. As the Omnipotent, he is the essential force; as Omnipresent, he fills all space; as Immanent, he is the inmost basis of all substance and all existence. But we must never convert this Omnipresence, or Immanence in things, into an identity with things. For this identity with things is pantheism. It makes all things God. Pope’s lines— “All are but parts of one stupendous whole,

Whose body nature is, and God the soul,” etc.,

do truly express this divine Immanence, with great poetic beauty. They should never be charged with pantheism; they declare that God is in all things, but not that he is all things. But Emerson’s language— “He is the axis of the star;

He is the sparkle of the spar;

He is the heart of every creature;

He is the meaning of each feature;”

identifies God with things, the Creator with the creature. It identifies God with our own persons, and thence becomes self-deification. It identifies God with stocks and stones, and thence becomes fetichism. In you all— The you is rejected by the best readings.

b. As being gifted with Christ-bestowed ministries, 7-12.

V. 7. According to the measure of the gift of Christ-According as Christ is pleased to give to each.

Verse 7. Unto every one of us is given grace] Grace may here signify a particular office; as if the apostle had said: Though we are all equal in the respects already mentioned, yet we have all different offices and situations to fill up in the Church and in the world; and we receive a free gift from Christ, according to the nature of the office, that we may be able to discharge it according to his own mind. So the free gift, which we receive from Christ, is according to the office or function which he has given us to fulfil; and the office is according to that free gift, each suited to the other.

Verses 7-10. But — Though there be so many, and those infinitely important particulars, in which the true members of the church agree, and which furnish such powerful motives to love and unity, yet there are some things wherein they differ. For they occupy, by God’s appointment, different stations in the church, and for these they are fitted by different gifts. These distinctions, however, ought to be regarded by them, not as matters of emulation, and causes of contention, but rather as additional obligations to love and union, considering the great source and design of them all. For unto every one is given grace — Or some particular endowment proceeding from grace; according to the measure of the gift of Christ — In such a measure as seems best to him, the great Head and Governor of the church, to bestow it; whose distributions, we know, are always guided by consummate wisdom and goodness; so that all his disciples have the highest reason to acquiesce entirely in what he does. Wherefore he saith — That is, in reference to which God saith by David, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive — He took captive those who had held mankind in captivity; he conquered and triumphed over all our spiritual enemies, especially Satan, sin, and death, which had before enslaved all the world. This is spoken in allusion 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 Christ gave gifts unto men — Namely, both the ordinary and extraordinary gifts of the Spirit: of the propriety of applying these words of the psalmist to the ascension of Christ, see note on Psalm 68:18. Now this expression, that he ascended, what is it? — What does it imply, but that he descended first? — Certainly it does, on the supposition of his pre-existence as the Son of God, who had glory with the Father before the world was, and who came forth from the Father, and came into the world: otherwise it would not imply that he descended first, since all the saints will ascend to heaven, though none of them descend thence. Into the lower parts of the earth — That is, into the womb of the virgin at his incarnation, and into the grave at his passion; including, however, all the other steps of his humiliation. Bishop Pearson (on the Creed, p. 229) hath shown how very precariously this text is urged as a proof of Christ’s descent into hell, this phrase, the lower parts of the earth, in some other passages of Scripture plainly signifying the womb, as Psalm 139:15, and the grave, Psalm 63:9; Matthew 12:40. He that descended — That thus amazingly humbled himself; is the same that ascended up — That was so highly exalted; far above all heavens — Above the aerial and starry heavens, into the heaven of heavens; or, as the meaning rather is, above all the inhabitants of the heavens, above all the angelical hosts; which is the meaning also of Hebrews 7:26, where he is said to be made higher than the heavens: that he might fill all things — The whole church with his Spirit, presence, and operations.

7. Unto every one—Having in the previous paragraph in spirit secured the unity of his model Church, St. Paul now attends to their individualities. According to the measure—For this unity does not presuppose a perfect equality. It requires that each one should recognise his own measure; and should exercise his gifts, and be expected to so exercise, according to that measure. Gift—A beautiful term to indicate that our every ability, natural, acquired, or gracious, is a divine gratuity, demanding thanks and imposing responsibilities.

Ver. 7. After the unity of the Church, based upon the eternal unities of the Godhead, now follow the manifold gifts to the various members of the Church.

To each one of us: no member left without an endowment.

Was given grace: the undeserved favour of God revealed in the gift of capacities for usefulness: a thought frequent with Paul, e.g. Romans 12:6; 1 Corinthians 12:4, also 1 Peter 4:10. The kind and degree of the grace given to each one is determined by the measure of the free gift of Christ, i.e. by His wisdom and love: a close parallel in Romans 12:3, 6. We may therefore cheerfully acquiesce in the absence of some gifts which others have, knowing that other gifts have been chosen for us by the unerring wisdom of Christ.

V. 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. Psalm 68:18.

Verse 8. Wherefore he saith] The reference seems to be to Psalm 68:18, which, however it may speak of the removal of the tabernacle, appears to have been intended to point out the glorious ascension of Christ after his resurrection from the dead. The expositions of various commentators have made the place extremely difficult. I shall not trouble my reader with them; they may be seen in Rosenmuller.

When he ascended up on high] The whole of this verse, as it stands in the psalm, seems to refer to a military triumph. Take the following paraphrase: Thou hast ascended on high: the conqueror was placed in a very elevated chariot. Thou hast led captivity captive: the conquered kings and generals were usually bound behind the chariot of the conqueror, to grace the triumph. Thou host received gifts for (Paul, given gifts unto) men: at such times the conqueror was wont to throw money among the crowd. Even to the rebellious: those who had fought against him now submit unto him, and share his munificence; for it is the property of a heRomans to be generous. That the Lord God might dwell among them: the conqueror being now come to fix his abode in the conquered provinces, and subdue the people to his laws.

All this the apostle applies to the resurrection, ascension, and glory of Christ; though it has been doubted by some learned men whether the psalmist had this in view. I shall not dispute about this; it is enough for me that the apostle, under the inspiration of God, applied the verse in this way; and whatever David might intend, and of whatever event he might have written, we see plainly that the sense in which the apostle uses it was the sense of the Spirit of God; for the Spirit in the Old and New Testaments is the same. I may venture a short criticism on a few words in the original: Thou hast received gifts for men, באדם twntm tjql lakachta mattanoth baadam, thou hast taken gifts in man, in Adam. The gifts which Jesus Christ distributes to man he has received in man, in and by virtue of his incarnation; and it is in consequence of his being made man that it may be said, The Lord God dwells among them; for Jesus was called Immanuel, God with us, in consequence of his incarnation. This view of the subject is consistent with the whole economy of grace, and suits well with the apostle’s application of the words of the psalmist in this place.

Verses 7-10. But — Though there be so many, and those infinitely important particulars, in which the true members of the church agree, and which furnish such powerful motives to love and unity, yet there are some things wherein they differ. For they occupy, by God’s appointment, different stations in the church, and for these they are fitted by different gifts. These distinctions, however, ought to be regarded by them, not as matters of emulation, and causes of contention, but rather as additional obligations to love and union, considering the great source and design of them all. For unto every one is given grace — Or some particular endowment proceeding from grace; according to the measure of the gift of Christ — In such a measure as seems best to him, the great Head and Governor of the church, to bestow it; whose distributions, we know, are always guided by consummate wisdom and goodness; so that all his disciples have the highest reason to acquiesce entirely in what he does. Wherefore he saith — That is, in reference to which God saith by David, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive — He took captive those who had held mankind in captivity; he conquered and triumphed over all our spiritual enemies, especially Satan, sin, and death, which had before enslaved all the world. This is spoken in allusion 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 Christ gave gifts unto men — Namely, both the ordinary and extraordinary gifts of the Spirit: of the propriety of applying these words of the psalmist to the ascension of Christ, see note on Psalm 68:18. Now this expression, that he ascended, what is it? — What does it imply, but that he descended first? — Certainly it does, on the supposition of his pre-existence as the Son of God, who had glory with the Father before the world was, and who came forth from the Father, and came into the world: otherwise it would not imply that he descended first, since all the saints will ascend to heaven, though none of them descend thence. Into the lower parts of the earth — That is, into the womb of the virgin at his incarnation, and into the grave at his passion; including, however, all the other steps of his humiliation. Bishop Pearson (on the Creed, p. 229) hath shown how very precariously this text is urged as a proof of Christ’s descent into hell, this phrase, the lower parts of the earth, in some other passages of Scripture plainly signifying the womb, as Psalm 139:15, and the grave, Psalm 63:9; Matthew 12:40. He that descended — That thus amazingly humbled himself; is the same that ascended up — That was so highly exalted; far above all heavens — Above the aerial and starry heavens, into the heaven of heavens; or, as the meaning rather is, above all the inhabitants of the heavens, above all the angelical hosts; which is the meaning also of Hebrews 7:26, where he is said to be made higher than the heavens: that he might fill all things — The whole church with his Spirit, presence, and operations.

Ver. 8. And gave gifts to men. To men once rebellious, to the gentiles, some of whom were called to be apostles, prophets, and evangelical men of the first order.

8. Wherefore—In illustration of these gifts, St. Paul now quotes a passage (Psalm 68:18, where see note) in which Jehovah is represented as having ascended on high, and applies it to the ascended Christ, just mentioned as the divine giver. The psalm is a song of Jehovah’s victory, on what occasion written is not certain, but unquestionably applicable to Christ, who is the Jehovah of the Old Testament. But the particular verse quoted seems to describe the triumphant Jehovah ascending Mount Zion, or some other capital, leading his captives and spoils won in battle. The He may refer to Christ, who spoke through the inspired psalmist, and thus shadowed his future triumphant ascension. Yet the same method of introducing Scripture quotation is used at Ephesians 5:14; 1 Corinthians 6:16; Galatians 3:16; and even in the Apocrypha, (1 Mac. 7:16,) and by Philo; from all which it is clear that a divine He was reverently held as speaking, with more or less distinctness and personality, through the old Scriptures. That Jehovah-Jesus is that divine He, is strikingly stated in Revelation 19:10: “The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” When he—St. Paul, for convenience of application without changing the sense, changes thou to he. Led captivity captive— Literal Greek, He captured a captivity; or, He captured a capture. That is, He took a body of captives. Dr. Craven, the American editor of Lange’s “Revelation,” maintains that the phrase implies simply a rescue of friends from captivity in the hands of enemies. But the Greek verb, which is rendered by the phrase led captive, or captured, must mean to reduce to captivity, not deliver from it. Gave… men—The words of the psalm are, “He received gifts for men;” that is, to bestow upon men. Paul simply supplies the sense which the psalmist implies. The psalmist says that the ascending Jehovah took gifts for men; that is, to bestow on men; the apostle, now that the giving is being done, says, he gave gifts unto men. Yet a more literal rendering would be, “he took gifts in men;” that is, he took captives to be distributed as spoils or gifts to his followers.

Verses 8-10 teach the important truth that the inward experiences of Christians rest upon the outward historic facts of the human life of Christ. His descent into the grave has for us the deepest personal interest: His triumphant ascent to heaven was our spiritual enrichment. That this truth is embodied in an O.T. quotation, reminds us that the greatest deliverances in the sacred songs of Israel have been surpassed by the mightier work wrought by Christ. Led from step to step by this quotation, we have followed the Saviour into the dark regions of the dead; and from afar have witnessed His exaltation until the brightest abodes of heaven have been left behind in His triumphal progress. A close parallel in Philippians 2:9-11.

V. 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, Psalm 139:15; the grave, Psalm 63:9.

Verse 9. But that he also descended] The meaning of the apostle appears to be this: The person who ascended is the Messiah, and his ascension plainly intimates his descension; that is, his incarnation, humiliation, death, and resurrection.

Verses 7-10. But — Though there be so many, and those infinitely important particulars, in which the true members of the church agree, and which furnish such powerful motives to love and unity, yet there are some things wherein they differ. For they occupy, by God’s appointment, different stations in the church, and for these they are fitted by different gifts. These distinctions, however, ought to be regarded by them, not as matters of emulation, and causes of contention, but rather as additional obligations to love and union, considering the great source and design of them all. For unto every one is given grace — Or some particular endowment proceeding from grace; according to the measure of the gift of Christ — In such a measure as seems best to him, the great Head and Governor of the church, to bestow it; whose distributions, we know, are always guided by consummate wisdom and goodness; so that all his disciples have the highest reason to acquiesce entirely in what he does. Wherefore he saith — That is, in reference to which God saith by David, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive — He took captive those who had held mankind in captivity; he conquered and triumphed over all our spiritual enemies, especially Satan, sin, and death, which had before enslaved all the world. This is spoken in allusion 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 Christ gave gifts unto men — Namely, both the ordinary and extraordinary gifts of the Spirit: of the propriety of applying these words of the psalmist to the ascension of Christ, see note on Psalm 68:18. Now this expression, that he ascended, what is it? — What does it imply, but that he descended first? — Certainly it does, on the supposition of his pre-existence as the Son of God, who had glory with the Father before the world was, and who came forth from the Father, and came into the world: otherwise it would not imply that he descended first, since all the saints will ascend to heaven, though none of them descend thence. Into the lower parts of the earth — That is, into the womb of the virgin at his incarnation, and into the grave at his passion; including, however, all the other steps of his humiliation. Bishop Pearson (on the Creed, p. 229) hath shown how very precariously this text is urged as a proof of Christ’s descent into hell, this phrase, the lower parts of the earth, in some other passages of Scripture plainly signifying the womb, as Psalm 139:15, and the grave, Psalm 63:9; Matthew 12:40. He that descended — That thus amazingly humbled himself; is the same that ascended up — That was so highly exalted; far above all heavens — Above the aerial and starry heavens, into the heaven of heavens; or, as the meaning rather is, above all the inhabitants of the heavens, above all the angelical hosts; which is the meaning also of Hebrews 7:26, where he is said to be made higher than the heavens: that he might fill all things — The whole church with his Spirit, presence, and operations.

9. Now—The apostle now proceeds to give an exegesis of the psalmist’s words to show their applicability. The fact that the psalmist’s Jehovah ascended, implies that he had previously descended. Now commentators decide variously the questions that naturally arise. Does St. Paul here simply quote a passage from the Psalms as we would quote a passage of poetry apt to our subject? Or, does he view Jehovah’s ascent, with its implied descent, as a fitting emblem of Christ’s descent and ascension? Or is the former a divinely appointed type of the latter? Or were the images and words imparted by the true Jehovah-Jesus to his prophet-psalmist, truly, as by a glimpse, delineating his own descent and ascension? Either of these views justifies the apostle’s language. We prefer the first. As psalmist and apostle were both endowed with the same inspiration, St. Paul assuredly gives a true meaning, if not the sole true meaning, of the psalmist’s words; nay, he had a true endowment to read a new true meaning into the old words. Lower parts of the earth—By one class of commentators this phrase is made to signify simply the earth; that is, these lower grounds, consisting of earth, in contrast with the heavens above. The phrase is used nine times in the Old Testament: Ezekiel 26:20; 31:14, 16, 18; 32:18, 24; 26:20; Isaiah 44:12; and Psalm 63:9. Dr. Craven shows very clearly that in none of these cases can it designate merely the earth. He seems to establish the ground held by another class of commentators, that it signifies hades; by which we understand the unseen world of human disembodied spirits. Most of the above nine texts are, it will be seen, in Ezekiel, where the phrase is in our version freely translated hell. In the passage in Psalms the phrase figuratively designates the womb, as being the dark, semi-conscious hades of the unborn soul. For it was to a dim and obscure hades that good as well as bad expected to descend under the twilight of the old dispensation. See notes on Luke 16:22, 23, and 23:43. That our Saviour, during his three days of burial, did visit in soul the region of spirits, is clear from his own statement to the dying thief, (Luke 23:43,) and from Peter’s words, (Acts 2:27,) and, perhaps, from 1 Peter 3:19.

The lowers or nethers of the earth (for the Greek word for parts is probably not genuine) means apparently the subterranean regions. Clearly in Greek and Roman paganism, Avernus, or the abodes of the spirits of the dead, was held to be beneath the earth’s surface. Both Homer and Virgil lead their heroes through the dark gates into the under world, where are Elysium and Tartarus, and where the good and the evil receive their due awards. No such full narrative or description is found in the Old Testament. And phrases like this might, perhaps, be explained on the principle of our note on Romans 10:7. To the ancients the heavens were a vast concave above, and the earth was a vast plain below, and the two made the great whole. God and angels were above in the heavens; man below; and hades still lower—a descent into the silent shades, and so lower than the plane of which the earth’s surface is part, if not directly beneath the earth’s surface. And these rudimental conceptions, though immensely supplemented by science, are uncontradicted by science, and are still essentially true. The first half of the Eighth Psalm was as true to Newton as to David, with a stupendous amount of underlying meaning superadded. Addison, in the age of Kepler and Newton, paraphrased that psalm in the lines,

“The spacious firmament on high,

With all the blue ethereal sky,

And spangled heavens, a shining frame,

Their great Original proclaim.”

The poet knew that he was painting but an apparent surface of things, yet he knew that that visible or conceptual surface covers and stands for all the truths, regions, and objects underlying that surface, as discovered and revealed to us by astronomy. But see our note, next verse. Dr. Craven, adopting an ancient but not primitive theory, supposes that Christ in his descent to hades bore the spirits of the saints up to the eternal heaven—the abode of the glorified after the resurrection. From that view we dissent. We do suppose—1. That after Christ came, and even as his advent was drawing nigh, it began to be perceived that in the sphere of the disembodied there were not merely indiscriminate darkness and silence, but a paradise of real, yet incomplete bliss. Hence hades is in the New Testament, though really inclusive of the whole, yet usually applied only to the woful side of the spirit domain; just as the name America, though inclusive of the whole continent, is often applied to the United States alone. Usually, we say; yet probably in Acts 2:27 hades includes both.

2. That paradise is the name of the blessed side of the spirit-world until the second advent. Then, as death and hades will be merged in the lake of fire, (Revelation 20:14,) so paradise will be merged in the final abodes of the blest. Revelation 2:7; 22:2. 3. That after the visit of Christ to hades, the third heaven and paradise were different, and not identical, is plain from 2 Corinthians 12:4, where see notes.

Verses 8-10 teach the important truth that the inward experiences of Christians rest upon the outward historic facts of the human life of Christ. His descent into the grave has for us the deepest personal interest: His triumphant ascent to heaven was our spiritual enrichment. That this truth is embodied in an O.T. quotation, reminds us that the greatest deliverances in the sacred songs of Israel have been surpassed by the mightier work wrought by Christ. Led from step to step by this quotation, we have followed the Saviour into the dark regions of the dead; and from afar have witnessed His exaltation until the brightest abodes of heaven have been left behind in His triumphal progress. A close parallel in Philippians 2:9-11.

V. 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.

Verse 10. He that descended] And he who descended so low is the same who has ascended so high. He came to the lower parts of the earth-the very deepest abasement; having emptied himself; taken upon him; the form of a servant, and humbled himself unto death, even the death of the cross; now he is ascended far above all heavens-higher than all height; he has a name above every name. Here his descending into the lower parts of the earth is put in opposition to his ascending far above all heavens. His abasement was unparalleled; so also is his exaltation.

That he might fill all things.] That he might be the fountain whence all blessings might flow; dispensing all good things to all his creatures, according to their several capacities and necessities; and, particularly, fill both converted Jews and Gentiles with all the gifts and graces of his Holy Spirit. Hence it follows: {Ephesians 4:11}

Verses 7-10. But — Though there be so many, and those infinitely important particulars, in which the true members of the church agree, and which furnish such powerful motives to love and unity, yet there are some things wherein they differ. For they occupy, by God’s appointment, different stations in the church, and for these they are fitted by different gifts. These distinctions, however, ought to be regarded by them, not as matters of emulation, and causes of contention, but rather as additional obligations to love and union, considering the great source and design of them all. For unto every one is given grace — Or some particular endowment proceeding from grace; according to the measure of the gift of Christ — In such a measure as seems best to him, the great Head and Governor of the church, to bestow it; whose distributions, we know, are always guided by consummate wisdom and goodness; so that all his disciples have the highest reason to acquiesce entirely in what he does. Wherefore he saith — That is, in reference to which God saith by David, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive — He took captive those who had held mankind in captivity; he conquered and triumphed over all our spiritual enemies, especially Satan, sin, and death, which had before enslaved all the world. This is spoken in allusion 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 Christ gave gifts unto men — Namely, both the ordinary and extraordinary gifts of the Spirit: of the propriety of applying these words of the psalmist to the ascension of Christ, see note on Psalm 68:18. Now this expression, that he ascended, what is it? — What does it imply, but that he descended first? — Certainly it does, on the supposition of his pre-existence as the Son of God, who had glory with the Father before the world was, and who came forth from the Father, and came into the world: otherwise it would not imply that he descended first, since all the saints will ascend to heaven, though none of them descend thence. Into the lower parts of the earth — That is, into the womb of the virgin at his incarnation, and into the grave at his passion; including, however, all the other steps of his humiliation. Bishop Pearson (on the Creed, p. 229) hath shown how very precariously this text is urged as a proof of Christ’s descent into hell, this phrase, the lower parts of the earth, in some other passages of Scripture plainly signifying the womb, as Psalm 139:15, and the grave, Psalm 63:9; Matthew 12:40. He that descended — That thus amazingly humbled himself; is the same that ascended up — That was so highly exalted; far above all heavens — Above the aerial and starry heavens, into the heaven of heavens; or, as the meaning rather is, above all the inhabitants of the heavens, above all the angelical hosts; which is the meaning also of Hebrews 7:26, where he is said to be made higher than the heavens: that he might fill all things — The whole church with his Spirit, presence, and operations.

Ver. 10. He ascended up far above all heavens, as described in Acts 1:9.

10. For the purpose of identifying the Jehovah of the psalmist with Christ, Paul in ver. 9 notes that the psalmist’s ascender must have previously been a descender; now, for the purpose of showing Christ’s exaltation, he argues that the descender is the ascender. He—In the Greek emphatic, the identical he. Above all the heavens—With the article in the Greek, the threefold heavens of the Old Testament. Note on 2 Corinthians 12:2-4. As the psalmist’s Jehovah ascends Zion, so the apostle’s Christ ascends from the depth of hades to even above the heavens. For God is truly above all heavens. Fill all things—The Highest is omnipotent, and he takes the highest position that he may pour himself down, over and into all things, natural and supernatural. But while he fills all other things with presence and power, he fills his Church with special plenitudes and endowments. To the questions of modern astronomy, Where are heaven, paradise, hades? we may, (in addition to our notes on 2 Corinthians 12:2-4,) give this further answer: Dr. Dawson, in his Bible and Nature, suggests that heaven, the third heaven, may be supposably located beyond the astral heaven. Assuming our starry universe to be finite, then there is a circumambient pure space, encompassing our whole starry system with its ethereal belt. There God may for us specially dwell, in the third or highest heaven, and in supremacy enthroned above all the heavens, binding the system with his power and sending his volitions as perpetual laws through and to the centre. Paradise we might then identify with the second, lower, or “astral heavens;” but the texts suggest a more limited region. Hence Byron’s conception, though sublime, is too cold and indefinite for the biblical view of the blessed abode of sainted spirits:— “When coldness wraps this suffering clay,

Ah! whither strays the immortal mind?

It cannot die, it cannot stray.

But leaves its darkened dust behind.

Then, unembodied, doth it trace

By steps each planet’s wand’ring way?

Or fill at once the realms of space,

A thing of eyes, that all survey?”

But from the use of the word air in Ephesians 2:2, and Ephesians 6:12, (where see notes,) we should infer that the lowest, or “aerial heaven,” is the border region where the forces of paradise and lower hades blend and struggle. And thence descending, we are led to find the darker and darkest hades in the lower parts of the earth, that is, towards and in the subterranean regions. We should be inclined, therefore, to find the normal paradise in the upper margin of the aerial stratum, undivided yet distinct from the lower hades, and unexcluded from the “astral heavens.” Paradise we should view as a broad, overlying margin of pure ethereal glory, underlaid with shade, deepening to denser and still denser darkness, even, perhaps, to the subterranean centre. That centre is the lowest hades. As to the ouranos, heaven, and the gehenna, hell, beyond the resurrection, see note on 1 Thessalonians 4:17.

That the ancient and biblical idea, which located hades in the interior of the earth, finds nothing in the earth’s solidity nor in any fact of science to contradict it, is well shown in the following passage from the Unseen Universe, p. 160:—

“The deservedly famous Dr. Thomas Young has the following passage in his Lectures on Natural Philosophy: “Nor is there any thing in the unprejudiced study of physical philosophy that can induce us to doubt the existence of immaterial substances; on the contrary, we see analogies that lead us almost directly to such an opinion. The electrical fluid is supposed to be essentially different from common matter; the general medium of light and heat, according to some, or the principle of caloric, according to others, is equally distinct from it. We see forms of matter, differing in subtilty and mobility, bearing the names of solids, liquids, and gases; above these are the semi-material existences, which produce the phenomena of electricity and magnetism, and either caloric or a universal ether. Higher still, perhaps, are the causes of gravitation, and the immediate agents in attractions of all kinds, which exhibit some phenomena apparently still more remote from all that is compatible with material bodies. And of these different orders of beings the more refined and immaterial appear to pervade the grosser. It seems, therefore, natural to believe that the analogy may be continued still further until it rises into existences absolutely immaterial and spiritual. We know not but that thousands of spiritual worlds may exist unseen forever by human eyes; nor have we any reason to suppose that even the presence of matter, in a given spot, necessarily excludes these existences from it. Those who maintain that nature always teems with life, wherever living beings can be placed, may therefore speculate with freedom on the possibility of independent worlds; some existing in different parts of space, others pervading each other unseen and unknown, in the same space, and others again to which space may not be a necessary mode of existence.”

Verses 8-10 teach the important truth that the inward experiences of Christians rest upon the outward historic facts of the human life of Christ. His descent into the grave has for us the deepest personal interest: His triumphant ascent to heaven was our spiritual enrichment. That this truth is embodied in an O.T. quotation, reminds us that the greatest deliverances in the sacred songs of Israel have been surpassed by the mightier work wrought by Christ. Led from step to step by this quotation, we have followed the Saviour into the dark regions of the dead; and from afar have witnessed His exaltation until the brightest abodes of heaven have been left behind in His triumphal progress. A close parallel in Philippians 2:9-11.

V. 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.

Verse 11. He gave some, apostles] He established several offices in his Church; furnished these with the proper officers; and, to qualify them for their work, gave them the proper gifts. For a full illustration of this verse, the reader is requested to refer to the notes on 1 Corinthians 12:6-10, 28-30; and to the concluding observations at the end of that chapter.

Verse 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. The office of an apostle was to declare, in an infallible manner, the whole gospel doctrine: to qualify them for which they were endowed with the plenary and most abundant inspiration of the Holy Spirit, imparting to them a perfect knowledge of all those truths and mysteries which they were to publish to the world. And some he gave to be prophets — Whose office it was to explain infallibly the true meaning of the ancient prophecies, and also themselves to predict future events, by virtue of the extraordinary revelations made to them. And some, evangelists — Who were to preach the gospel in different Gentile nations, either before or after the apostles, under whose direction they seem generally to have acted. To fit them for this office Christ gave them the gift of tongues, and such other miraculous endowments as were necessary for the exercise of their ministry, and the confirmation of their doctrine. All these were extraordinary officers: the ordinary were some, pastors, (called episkopouv, bishops, Acts 20:28,) watching over and feeding their several flocks. To fit them for which work, it appears from 1 Corinthians 12:28-31; 14:1-5, 23-26, that Christ bestowed, at least on some of them, the gifts of miracles and tongues, also the gift of prudence, to enable them to govern their particular churches in a proper manner. And teachers — Whether of the same or a lower order, to assist them as occasion might require. It is probable the peculiar office of those here termed teachers, as distinguished from those called pastors, was to instruct the young and ignorant in the first principles of the Christian religion. And they likewise were doubtless fitted for their work, by such gifts as were necessary to the right discharging thereof; and some infer from 1 Corinthians 12:28, that supernatural gifts, such as those of miracles and tongues, were also conferred on some of them.

Ver. 11. He gave some, apostles. Dr. Hammond has taken great pains to distinguish the officers of the church. See his notes on John 20:1. 1 Corinthians 12:28. They are here classed under five heads. The apostles represented Jesus Christ. They prayed sinners in Christ’s stead to be reconciled unto God. The prophets are placed next, because they resembled the ancient prophets and the holy apostles in speaking wholly from the Spirit, as Theophylact observes. Judas, Silas, and Agabus were of this class. — The didascaloi or doctors are the third. These were preachers, presbyters, or bishops who governed the churches. Evangelists were writers of the gospel as well as preachers; and they composed good books for the edification of the church. The teachers were deacons, catechists, and other laborious persons in word and doctrine. — On the subject of bishops and presbyters, Jerome, on this place, affirms, that they were originally the same, the one being a title of age, the other of dignity. On Titus 1:6, he resumes the subject at some length, to the same effect. But Chrysostom makes this distinction, that to the presbyters was committed the care of the churches, but to the bishops the care of the presbyters was conceded.

11. He gave—The fact that St. Paul here makes the gifts consist, not of the offices bestowed, but of the officers, seems to indicate that he nevertheless retained in thought the other interpretation, “he received gifts in men.” Hereby St. Paul impresses upon his Ephesians that one of the best gifts Christ bestows upon the Church is endowed leaders and inspirers. Some to be apostles—As to the apostolic office, consult notes on Matthew 10:2; 28:20; Luke 1:2; Acts 6:2-4. Prophets— Utterers of inspired truth; whether of prediction, as Agabus (Acts 21:10) and Paul, (2 Thessalonians 2:1-12,) or of inspiration of doctrine or exhortation, as in 1 Corinthians 14:4. Every preacher of the present day who is “moved by the Holy Ghost” to his office, or in its performance, is a true New Testament prophet. And to him the success of his work in the conversion of souls and the upbuilding of the Church, as described in vv. 12-16, is a blessed proof that he is a genuine prophet. Pastors and teachers—Are these two classes, or two functions of one class? The fact that the distinctive some covers both, has induced many commentators to hold them as one class. But it must be noted that St. Paul names the offices in the order of anti-climax, the greatest first, the least last. The distinctive some was due to the dignity of each of the first three; one some will do for the last two. And as they are very subordinate officers, history has lost their real nature. But under a similar revival in modern times, Methodism called into existence its class leaders, who are truly the under pastors of the flock, watching over the spiritual interests of a certain assigned number. The early catechists, who drilled the convert into the history of Jesus and other elementary truths of Christianity, were, very probably, these teachers. The Sunday-school teachers of the present day are, we think, justly entitled to be held their true successors.

c. All for building a compact and energetic Christian Church, 12-16.

Ver. 11. And HE gave: emphatic addition to is Himself also etc. in Ephesians 4:9. It also takes up the thought in Ephesians 4:7 which was interrupted by the reference to the ascension and descent of Christ, to each one has been given grace.

Apostles… Prophets: close parallel in 1 Corinthians 12:28, first apostles, secondly prophets.

Apostles: see under 1 Corinthians 15:7; Romans 1:1: the highest rank in the Church.

Prophets: the second rank. See under 1 Corinthians 14:40. Evangelists or gospellers: see under Romans 1:1. Only found in 2 Timothy 4:5; Acts 21:8. Its position here after apostles and prophets suggests a definite order of men: its form suggests an order of preachers. That they are called a gift of Christ, implies that they were endowed with special capacity for usefulness, as were the apostles and prophets. Shepherds, or pastors: same word in Luke 2:8. A frequent and appropriate metaphor for those who have charge of others in the Church. So Ezekiel 34:2, 9, 10, 23; John 10:16; 1 Peter 2:25; Hebrews 13:20: cognate verb in John 21:16; Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 5:2. It denotes evidently a class of men whose work is to find food for, to protect, and to guide, the members of the Church.

Teachers: men whose work is to impart Gospel truth. Close parallel in 1 Corinthians 12:28, thirdly teachers. Cp. Acts 13:1, prophets and teachers. The pastors and teachers are grammatically closely joined as describing either the same office or offices closely allied. Since the food of the flock of Christ is Gospel truth, these two words describe probably the same office. Now in Acts 20:25 the elders or bishops are exhorted to shepherd the flock of God. And in 1 Timothy 3:2 Paul requires that a bishop be apt to teach. We may therefore take these titles as describing the elders, not however as filling an office but as endowed by Christ with capacity fitting them for it. Such capable officers are indeed Christ’s best gifts to His Church. Moreover, if outside the circle of the elders there were others possessing in a marked degree the gift of teaching, these would come under the assertion of this verse. For all capacities for Christian work are gifts of the Risen Lord.

Notice here not only gifts for each member but special gifts fitting certain members for special offices. Such gifts are an enrichment to the whole Church, which needs for its various officers divinely-given capacities corresponding to the work of each.

V. 12. In this verse is noted the office of ministers; in the next, the aim of the saints; in the 14th, 15th, 16th, Ephesians 4:13, 14, 15, 16, the way of growing in grace. 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.

Verse 12. For the perfecting of the saints] For the complete instruction, purification, and union of all who have believed in Christ Jesus, both Jews and Gentiles. For the meaning of katartismov, perfecting, see Clarke’s note on “2 Corinthians 13:9”.

For the work of the ministry] All these various officers, and the gifts and graces conferred upon them, were judged necessary, by the great Head of the Church, for its full instruction in the important doctrines of Christianity. The same officers and gifts are still necessary, and God gives them; but they do not know their places. In most Christian Churches there appears to be but one office, that of preacher; and one gift, that by which he professes to preach. The apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, are all compounded in the class preachers; and many, to whom God has given nothing but the gift of exhortation, take texts to explain them; and thus lose their time, and mar their ministry.

Edifying of the body] The body of Christ is his Church, see Ephesians 2:20, &c.; and its edification consists in its thorough instruction in Divine things, and its being filled with faith and holiness.

Verses 12, 13. For the perfecting — Prov ton katartismon twn agiwn; in order to, or, for the sake of; completing of the saints — Both in number, and in the various branches of true Christianity, namely, in the knowledge of all Christian doctrines, the possession of all Christian graces, the enjoyment of all Christian privileges, the performance of all Christian duties. Now in order to the attainment of these ends, and thereby the completing the Christian character of each individual member of the church, and of all in general, he appointed the sundry officers above named, whether ordinary or extraordinary, (several of the latter having left their writings for the instruction of the faithful in all ages,) for the work of the ministry — The serving of God and his church, in their various ministrations, especially in dispensing the word, administering the ordinances, maintaining Christian discipline, and performing all other ministerial duties. For the edifying of the body of Christ — The building up Christ’s mystical body, in faith, love, and universal holiness: or by ministering to the increase of the graces of such as were already converted, and by the addition of new members to the true church. Till we all come — Which gifts, offices, and ministrations, are to continue in the church, till every member thereof 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, practical knowledge, or acknowledgment, 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 — Or, to the full measure of his stature, that is, to that maturity of age and spiritual stature, wherein we shall be possessed of his whole mind, and fully conformed to him. But the words eiv thn enothta thv pistewv, &c., which we translate in the unity of the faith, &c., ought rather to be rendered, to the unity, or union, of the faith, or that union which is the fruit or consequence of the faith, namely, of perfect faith, even the faith spoken of by our Lord in his intercessory prayer, recorded John 17:20-23, where he says, I pray for them which shall believe on me, that they all may be one, as thou Father art in me and I in thee, that they may be made perfect in one, that is, may be perfectly united in love to us and one another. The following verses lead us to this meaning of the passage.

12. For—In order to: a different Greek word from the two fors following. This perfecting or fitting the saints is for two things: first, for a (not the) work of service, (not an official ministry,) so as to be a true working Church in all temporal, benevolent, and spiritual matters; and second, for the building up the Church, so that it be at once a strong edifice, and that edifice the body of Christ. The figures of architecture and of anatomy are blended.

Ver. 12.-16. Aim of the gifts just mentioned, viz. the full development of the Church in every part; with an exposition in detail of this development. Full-equipment: for the work and battle of the Christian life. Cognate words in 1 Corinthians 1:10; 2 Corinthians 13:9, 11: see notes. Of the saints: a title noting the sacred relation to God of all Church-members. This first clause states the general aim of Christ’s gift of officers to His Church. Then follow subordinate aims needful for its attainment.

Ministry: see under Romans 12:8. The absence of any reference here to the specific office of a deacon, the mention above of various Church officers, and the frequency of this word in the general sense of any office, suggest that it is here used in this more general sense. So 1 Corinthians 12:5, varieties of ministries.

Work of ministry: result to be attained by this official ministration. For this practical end, Christ endowed certain Church-members with special capacities.

For building up etc.: further aim, parallel with and defining that just mentioned. It reproduces the metaphor of Ephesians 2:2-22. As in English, so in Greek the same word, building, denotes both the structure erected and the act of erection.

The body of Christ: Paul’s favourite metaphor, found already in Ephesians 1:23. This combination of two metaphors links with the idea of the progress of a rising building that of the growth of a living body and the vital relation of the Church to Christ. Similar combination in Ephesians 4:16. This work of ministry and building of the body of Christ, we may perhaps understand as means leading to the full equipment of the saints. [The prepositions prov and eiv are used here together, as in Romans 15:2, apparently for the further and nearer objects in view.] God designs that, through the agency of the officers of the Church and through the consequent progress of the Church as a whole, each individual Christian, standing as he does in special relation to God, may attain his full development.

V. 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.

Verse 13. In the unity of the faith] Jews and Gentiles being all converted according to the doctrines laid down in the faith-the Christian system. The knowledge of the Son of God] A trite understanding of the mystery of the incarnation; why God was manifest in the flesh, and why this was necessary in order to human salvation.

Unto a perfect man] eiv andra teleion. One thoroughly instructed; the whole body of the Church being fully taught, justified, sanctified, and sealed.

Measure of the stature] The full measure of knowledge, love, and holiness, which the Gospel of Christ requires. Many preachers, and multitudes of professing people, are studious to find out how many imperfections and infidelities, and how much inward sinfulness, is consistent with a safe state in religion but how few, very few, are bringing out the fair Gospel standard to try the height of the members of the Church; whether they be fit for the heavenly army; whether their stature be such as qualifies them for the ranks of the Church militant! The measure of the stature of the fulness is seldom seen; the measure of the stature of littleness, dwarfishness, and emptiness, is often exhibited.

Verses 12, 13. For the perfecting — Prov ton katartismon twn agiwn; in order to, or, for the sake of; completing of the saints — Both in number, and in the various branches of true Christianity, namely, in the knowledge of all Christian doctrines, the possession of all Christian graces, the enjoyment of all Christian privileges, the performance of all Christian duties. Now in order to the attainment of these ends, and thereby the completing the Christian character of each individual member of the church, and of all in general, he appointed the sundry officers above named, whether ordinary or extraordinary, (several of the latter having left their writings for the instruction of the faithful in all ages,) for the work of the ministry — The serving of God and his church, in their various ministrations, especially in dispensing the word, administering the ordinances, maintaining Christian discipline, and performing all other ministerial duties. For the edifying of the body of Christ — The building up Christ’s mystical body, in faith, love, and universal holiness: or by ministering to the increase of the graces of such as were already converted, and by the addition of new members to the true church. Till we all come — Which gifts, offices, and ministrations, are to continue in the church, till every member thereof 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, practical knowledge, or acknowledgment, 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 — Or, to the full measure of his stature, that is, to that maturity of age and spiritual stature, wherein we shall be possessed of his whole mind, and fully conformed to him. But the words eiv thn enothta thv pistewv, &c., which we translate in the unity of the faith, &c., ought rather to be rendered, to the unity, or union, of the faith, or that union which is the fruit or consequence of the faith, namely, of perfect faith, even the faith spoken of by our Lord in his intercessory prayer, recorded John 17:20-23, where he says, I pray for them which shall believe on me, that they all may be one, as thou Father art in me and I in thee, that they may be made perfect in one, that is, may be perfectly united in love to us and one another. The following verses lead us to this meaning of the passage.

Ver. 13. Till we all come — to a perfect man, in age, in wisdom, and christian experience; or to use the words of St. John, till we become fathers in Christ, having known him that is from the beginning. Those are fathers, the support and ornament of the church, who are not tossed about with every novelty of doctrine, but stand as pillars in the temple of God.

13. St. Paul gives, in this verse, a picture of growth into churchly manhood, contrasted, in the next verse, by a picture of doctrinal childhood. All come—That is, all attain unto three things: oneness of faith and knowledge, the perfect man, and the measure of Christ’s fulness.

Ver. 13. In Ephesians 4:13 Paul stated that the gifts of Christ to the Church were designed to continue till all His servants attain full development. This was really a statement of Christ’s purpose in bestowing these gifts. Grammatically, Ephesians 4:14-16 announce a further purpose to be attained by the purpose implied in Ephesians 4:13 or by the purpose asserted in Ephesians 4:12. Practically, they expound in detail these purposes; negatively in Ephesians 4:14, positively in Ephesians 4:15, 16.

V. 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.

Verse 14. Be no more children] Children, here, are opposed to the perfect man in the preceding verse; and the state of both is well explained by the apostle’s allusions. The man is grown up strong and healthy, and has attained such a measure or height as qualifies him for the most respectable place in the ranks of his country.

The child is ignorant, weak, and unsteady, tossed about in the nurse’s arms, or whirled round in the giddy sports or mazes of youth; this seems to be the apostle’s allusion. Being tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, refers to some kind of ancient play, but what I cannot absolutely determine; probably to something similar to a top, or to our paper kite.

By the sleight of men] The words en th kubeia refer to the arts used by gamesters, who employ false dice that will always throw up one kind of number, which is that by which those who play with them cannot win. Cunning craftiness] It is difficult to give a literal translation of the original words: en panourgia prov thn meqodeian thv planhv. “By cunning, for the purpose of using the various means of deception.” panourgia signifies craft and subtlety in general, cheating and imposition: meqodeia, from which we have our term method, signifies a wile, a particular sleight, mode of tricking and deceiving; it is applied to the arts which the devil uses to deceive and destroy souls; see Ephesians 6:11, called there the WILES of the devil. From this it seems that various arts were used, both by the Greek sophists and the Judaizing teachers, to render the Gospel of none effect, or to adulterate and corrupt it.

Verse 14. That we henceforth be no more children — Mere babes in Christian knowledge, experience, and practice; weak and unstable; tossed — Kludwnizomenoi, fluctuating from within, through various restless lusts and passions working in our hearts, even when there is nothing external to agitate or excite them; and carried about with every wind of doctrine — And temptation from without, when we are assaulted by others who are themselves unstable as the wind; by the sleight, or subtlety, of men — Greek, en th kubeia twn anqrwpwn, which words Chandler

proposes rendering, by the dicing of men; the expression referring to the artifice of those infamous gamesters, who know how to cog the dice. So that the deceitful arts of false teachers and others, who endeavour to draw men from the belief and practice of the truth as it is in Jesus, by their insinuations and wiles, are here compared to the tricks of gamesters, who, by using false dice, and by various arts, cheat those with whom they play. And cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive — Greek, en panourgia prov thn meqodeian thv planhv, a clause which Beza renders, “veteratoria ad insidiose fallendum versutia,” by the tricking of those long exercised in craftily deceiving others; Doddridge’s translation is, by their subtlety in every method of deceit; and Macknight’s, by craftiness formed into a subtle scheme of deceit. The former noun, panourgia, signifies the doing of things by trick and sleight of hand, and the latter, meqodeia, (which, Ephesians 6:11, is applied to the wiles and subtle contrivances of the devil, in order to deceive and ruin men,) properly signifies a regular plan of proceeding in any affair, and is here used for a regular plan of deceit, formed either for upholding people in their ignorance of, and opposition to the gospel, or for drawing them from their faith in, or obedience to, some article of it. “The men,” Macknight thinks, “whose base arts the apostle describes in this passage, were the unbelieving Jews and the heathen philosophers, who opposed the gospel by sophistry and calumny; also such false teachers as arose in the church itself, and corrupted the doctrines of the gospel for worldly purposes, while at the same time they assumed the appearance of great disinterestedness and piety.”

14. Tossed to and fro—A metaphor from waves tossed about by the winds; billowed to and fro. Every wind of doctrine—When we have, by a perfect knowing of Christ, attained the firmness of spiritual manhood instead of the fickleness of childhood, we possess an assurance in our position not to be disturbed by the gusts of popular scepticism or novel dogmas. Sleight, means dice; of men, who are playing a game; spiritual gamblers. Whereby they lie in wait to deceive is a very diffuse rendering. We translate the whole clause, cunning craftiness, exerted in the systemization of deception. All these full formed isms are deceptions fabricated by the craftiness of deep doctrinal gamblers, whom, if we are men (see verse 13) and not children, we will promptly reject. For in deep religious experience, in a thorough experimental knowledge of Christ, do we attain that full assurance of faith which is proof against all scepticism.

Ver. 14. A state from which Christ designs to save His people. The word no-longer implies that it was actual and frequent among the Christians of Paul’s day.

Babes; keeps up by contrast the metaphor of full-grown in Ephesians 4:13. So 1 Corinthians 3:1 in contrast to Ephesians 2:6, where we have the same words. Then follows a picture of spiritual babyhood. Wafted-about: like a wave of the sea. Same metaphor in James 1:6, he who doubts is like a wave of the sea carried by wind: a close parallel. Instability under external pressure is a mark both of weak faith and of spiritual childishness.

Carried-about or around; emphasises an idea already present in wafted-about, viz. useless movement hither and thither.

Every wind of teaching: the changing cause of this ceaseless and useless motion. On babes, teaching operates like wind on water.

Every wind: recalling the infinite variety of such influences. The immature Christian is carried along by what he hears, good or bad. He is therefore at the mercy of every influence brought to bear upon him, and is borne hither and thither in ceaseless and useless movement.

In the trickery of men: the source of this teaching, represented as the surrounding element and atmosphere of this vain movement. Trickery: literally dice-playing, the gamester’s art.

In craftiness etc.: parallel with, and expounding, the foregoing. Craftiness: as in 2 Corinthians 4:2: a disposition to do anything to gain one’s ends. The wiles, or deliberate-system, literally the method, of error: a way of working peculiar to those who are away from the truth. This is the path and goal of those by whom the immature ones are led. This verse opens a dark picture of the Churches in Paul’s day: for this teaching of error must be that of professed Christians. But the picture is no darker than that in 2 Corinthians 12:21. We have here men wandering in, and dominated by, error. While professing to teach Divine truth, they do anything to gain their ends, using even the trickery of a dice-player. By such teachers, some immature Christians are carried about from one belief to another like the tossing waves of the sea. Against their craft nothing can stand firmly except robust Christian manhood. To guard His servants from this peril, by raising them to men in Christ, the Risen Lord has enriched His Church with abundant and various spiritual gifts.

V. 15. Into him-Into his image and Spirit, and into a full union with him.

Verse 15. But, speaking the truth in love] The truth recommended by the apostle is the whole system of Gospel doctrine; this they are to teach and preach, and this is opposed to the deceit mentioned above. This truth, as it is the doctrine of God’s eternal love to mankind, must be preached in love. Scolding and abuse from the pulpit or press, in matters of religion, are truly monstrous. He who has the truth of God has no need of any means to defend or propagate it, but those which love to God and man provides.

Grow up into him] This is a continuance of the metaphor taken from the members of a human body receiving nourishment equally and growing up, each in its due proportion to other parts, and to the body in general. The truth of God should be so preached to all the members of the Church of God, that they may all receive an increase of grace and life; so that each, in whatever state he may be, may get forward in the way of truth and holiness. In the Church of Christ there are persons in various states: the careless, the penitent, the lukewarm, the tempted, the diffident, the little child, the young man, and the father. He who has got a talent for the edification of only one of those classes should not stay long in a place, else the whole body cannot grow up in all things under his ministry.

Verses 15, 16. But speaking the truth — Or, as alhqeuontev may be rendered, teaching, or maintaining the truth; in love — To God and one another, or in that charitable temper which the gospel enjoins, and without which our clearest and most extensive knowledge will be but of little use to us; may grow up into him — Into his image and Spirit, and into a full union with him; who is the head of guidance, as well as of government, to all the members of his mystical body, the chief teacher and director, as well as ruler of his churches; from whom — That is, by wisdom and grace derived from him; the whole body — Of true Christians; fitly — Or orderly; joined together — Every one being put in his proper place and station: or all the parts of his mystical body being fitted for, and adapted to each other, and most exactly harmonizing with the whole; and compacted — Knitted and cemented together with the utmost firmness; that is, closely and firmly united to Christ and each other, by the Holy Spirit, in faith and love; by that which every joint, or part, supplieth — Through proper channels of communication; according to the effectual working in the measure of every part — According as every part, in its measure, effectually works for the support and growth of the whole; maketh increase of the body — Of the whole church, collectively considered, and of each particular member; to the edifying — Or building up; of itself in love — So that all the members may attain unto a greater measure of love to God, one another, and all men; or, by the exercise of love. For, as no animal body can either have health or growth, unless the members thereof continue in union with each other, each performing its office; so neither can Christ’s mystical body possess spiritual health or growth, unless its members cleave to each other in love. The passage, as the reader sees, is a beautiful allusion to our natural bodies, composed of different joints and members, knit together by various ligaments, and furnished with vessels of communication from the head and heart to every other part. And the apostle’s meaning, explained more at large, is, “That as the human body is formed by the union of all the members to each other under the head, and by the fitness of each member for its own office and place in the body, so the church is formed by the union of its members under Christ the head. Further, as the human body increases, till it arrives at maturity, by the energy of every part in performing its proper function, and by the sympathy of every part with the whole; so the body, or Church of Christ, grows to maturity by the proper exercise of the gifts and graces of individuals for the benefit of the whole. By comparing the church to the human body, the apostle teaches, that there ought to be no envy nor ill-will among Christians, on account of the gifts which individuals possess, verse 3. That every one should pay to others that respect and obedience which they owe to them on account of their station and office, verse 11. That no teacher should pervert the doctrine of the gospel, verse 15. And that each, by employing his gifts and graces properly, should extend the knowledge and influence of the Christian religion to the utmost of his power.” — Macknight.

15. Speaking the truth—Not only speaking, but in every respect being and acting in truth; or, to coin a precisely parallel participle, truthing in love. As all these isms are systems of untruth, let us be embodied truth bathed in love: for in this trueness in love is not only firmness but growth, both individual and churchly. Into him… the head—As the great reconciler of all things in and under himself as head in Ephesians 1:10, 11.

Ver. 15.-16. Positive side of Christ’s purpose for His people. Speaking-truth: either statements corresponding with fact, as in Galatians 4:16; or teaching or belief corresponding with reality. This latter sense is at once suggested here by the contrast with error in Ephesians 4:14, and by the whole context. [The participle preceding a finite verb recalls the same construction in Ephesians 3:18.] Paul teaches that knowledge of the truth is a necessary condition of Christian growth. Consequently, it matters little whether the words in love be joined to the words preceding them or to those following, i.e. whether love be the surrounding element of the truth we speak or of our growth. In either case Paul teaches that for growth there must be both love and knowledge of the truth. Cp. Ephesians 3:18.

We-may-grow; keeps before us the idea of progress. So Ephesians 4:13, come to a full-grown man.

Into Him: our spiritual development bringing us into closer inward contact with Christ.

In all things: every part of our nature being, by this development, united more closely to Christ.

Who is etc.: Christ into whom we are to grow is related to the Church as is the head to a living body. Same favourite metaphor in Ephesians 1:22; Colossians 1:18. And He it is from whom the Church, His body, derives unity and growth.

All the body: parallel with we all in Ephesians 4:13. Same words in same connection in Colossians 2:19. They represent the entire Church as one whole.

Being-fitted-together: same word and same present participle in Ephesians 2:21. It suggests harmonious and close union like the various parts of a living body.

Knit-together: same word in Colossians 2:19; a close parallel to this verse. It adds to the idea of adaptation that of actual coming together. Joint: same word and sense as in Colossians 2:19, through the joints and bands receiving supply and being brought together. The similarity of these verses seems to compel us to understand through every joint as the means by which this close union of the various members is brought about; rather than as the means of the growth afterwards mentioned. The added words of the supply teach that the manifold contact of member with member in the Church, which binds these members into one compact body, is also a means of supplying the spiritual needs of the Church and thus helping its spiritual growth. Same thought in Colossians 2:19. The working in measure of each one part: each member of the Church being active for the general good, according to the spiritual endowment of each. Cp. Romans 12:3. Just so, in a healthy body, each member is active, and the activity of each contributes to the general good. And in proportion to this activity of the several parts is the health of the whole: according to the working etc.

Makes the increase (or growth) of the body: chief assertion of Ephesians 4:16, corresponding to may-grow in Ephesians 4:15. This growth is derived from Christ, and is conditioned by compact union of the members and by the normal activity of each.

For the building-up of itself: the metaphor of a rising building added, as in Ephesians 4:12, to that of a living and growing body. In love: the encompassing element of Christian progress. Same words in Ephesians 4:15; 3:18.

In § 9 Paul enters upon the moral teaching of this Epistle. After praise and prayer on his readers’ behalf in Eph. 1-3, interwoven with loftiest doctrinal teaching, he now exhorts them to action worthy of the Gospel call. Of such worthy conduct, the first point emphasised is Christian unity. Paul suggests that the preservation of unity requires effort, and a mutual forbearance possible only to the lowly in heart. Then follows a statement of the objective and eternal unities which underlie all Christian unity. From these he passes to Christ’s various gifts to the members of the Church. He reminds us that these gifts were from the ascended Saviour; and that His ascension was a triumph grander than the many triumphs of God celebrated in the ancient songs of Israel. After this passing reference to Christ’s ascension and to His previous descent into the grave, Paul specifies further His gifts to the Church, mentioning specially the various grades of Church officers. These were given for the full development of the Church, which is the body of Christ. It can rise above the vacillations of childhood only by spiritual growth derived from Christ its Head, a growth uniting it more closely to Him, and nourished by the active co-operation of each member in compact union with his fellows.

That in this Epistle the spiritual union of believers with Christ and with each other is treated of before morality, reveals Paul’s estimate of its importance. The new life in Christ ever draws together those united to Him; and is therefore hindered by all disunion. Therefore, since the mind of Christ moulding human conduct is the one source of the highest morality, whatever separates Christians is hostile to morality.

V. 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.

Verse 16. From whom the whole body] Dr. Macknight has a just view of this passage, and I cannot express my own in more suitable terms: “The apostle’s meaning is, that, as the human body is formed by the union of all the members to each other, under the head, and by the fitness of each member for its own office and place in the body, so the Church is formed by the union of its members under Christ, the head. Farther, as the human body increases till it arrives at maturity by the energy of every part in performing its proper function, and by the sympathy of every part with the whole, so the body or Church of Christ grows to maturity by the proper exercise of the gifts and graces of individuals for the benefit of the whole.” This verse is another proof of the wisdom and learning of the apostle. Not only the general ideas here are anatomical, but the whole phraseology is the same. The articulation of the bones, the composition and action of the muscles, the circulation of the fluids, carrying nourishment to every part, and depositing some in every place, the energy of the system in keeping up all the functions, being particularly introduced, and the whole terminating in the general process of nutrition, increasing the body, and supplying all the waste that had taken place in consequence of labour, &c. Let any medical man, who understands the apostle’s language, take up this verse, and he will be convinced that the apostle had all these things in view. I am surprised that some of those who have looked for the discoveries of the moderns among the ancients, have not brought in the apostle’s word epicorhgia, supply, from epicorhgew, to lead up, lead along, minister, supply, &c., as some proof that the circulation of the blood was not unknown to St. Paul!

Verses 15, 16. But speaking the truth — Or, as alhqeuontev may be rendered, teaching, or maintaining the truth; in love — To God and one another, or in that charitable temper which the gospel enjoins, and without which our clearest and most extensive knowledge will be but of little use to us; may grow up into him — Into his image and Spirit, and into a full union with him; who is the head of guidance, as well as of government, to all the members of his mystical body, the chief teacher and director, as well as ruler of his churches; from whom — That is, by wisdom and grace derived from him; the whole body — Of true Christians; fitly — Or orderly; joined together — Every one being put in his proper place and station: or all the parts of his mystical body being fitted for, and adapted to each other, and most exactly harmonizing with the whole; and compacted — Knitted and cemented together with the utmost firmness; that is, closely and firmly united to Christ and each other, by the Holy Spirit, in faith and love; by that which every joint, or part, supplieth — Through proper channels of communication; according to the effectual working in the measure of every part — According as every part, in its measure, effectually works for the support and growth of the whole; maketh increase of the body — Of the whole church, collectively considered, and of each particular member; to the edifying — Or building up; of itself in love — So that all the members may attain unto a greater measure of love to God, one another, and all men; or, by the exercise of love. For, as no animal body can either have health or growth, unless the members thereof continue in union with each other, each performing its office; so neither can Christ’s mystical body possess spiritual health or growth, unless its members cleave to each other in love. The passage, as the reader sees, is a beautiful allusion to our natural bodies, composed of different joints and members, knit together by various ligaments, and furnished with vessels of communication from the head and heart to every other part. And the apostle’s meaning, explained more at large, is, “That as the human body is formed by the union of all the members to each other under the head, and by the fitness of each member for its own office and place in the body, so the church is formed by the union of its members under Christ the head. Further, as the human body increases, till it arrives at maturity, by the energy of every part in performing its proper function, and by the sympathy of every part with the whole; so the body, or Church of Christ, grows to maturity by the proper exercise of the gifts and graces of individuals for the benefit of the whole. By comparing the church to the human body, the apostle teaches, that there ought to be no envy nor ill-will among Christians, on account of the gifts which individuals possess, verse 3. That every one should pay to others that respect and obedience which they owe to them on account of their station and office, verse 11. That no teacher should pervert the doctrine of the gospel, verse 15. And that each, by employing his gifts and graces properly, should extend the knowledge and influence of the Christian religion to the utmost of his power.” — Macknight.

Ver. 16. From whom the whole body fitly joined together. Christ, the great architect, enthroned in heaven, superintends the elevation of his living temple; his plan is perfect, and his work is before him. The stones, very rough when first raised from the quarry, are polished and fitted for high and important situations, which they are intended to occupy. This is the house of his glory; he will dwell in it for ever.

16. From this head, Christ, the whole body (as in Ephesians 1:22, 23) is organized and made to grow. This is now expressed very anatomically and complexly. The word body is repeated in the first and last part of the verse. The body makes the body grow into a complete self-building in love. It does this by three things: 1. A very compact organism, which is effected by, 2. Matter of supply, and, 3. Both in proportion to the vital energy of every proportional part. To analyze these three more fully: 1. From the vitality in the head we have an organism fitly joined together and compacted. This is a very tersely expressed image of a true Church unity, to which it is of vital importance that every Church should aspire. 2. This is effected by (to change the translation) every joint of supply. This of supply qualifies the joint, and means that every joint is a supplier of strength, as if it read every strength-supplying joint. 3. And this according to the efficient vital energy in the measure or proportion of every part. Paul traces these successive points, because each presents a topic and a lesson. 1. From our Head is all our life and vigour. 2. From Him we should be a bodily unit. 3. That unit supposes a powerful jointing of part to part, and part to whole. 4. To all this efficient compactness every member, however minute or obscure, should contribute. The model Church is vital in every part. Not one can say, I am of no use, am nothing. 5. And all this is an upbuilding in love. The love of Christ is the fountain; the love to each other is the unity; the love to the surrounding world is the stream, pouring itself forth in benevolence, purities, truths, and missions of gospel power. Were St. Paul’s ideal realized, what all-conquering gospel Churches we should have! Having thus far pictured his Church in itself, Paul will now illustrate its purity by contrasts with the opposite Church of the world, of Satan, and the anti-church of Gentilism. The contrast is twofold; touching sins of the spirit and sins of the flesh.

2. To be a Church in double contrast to the anti-Church of Gentilism, Ephesians 4:17-5:21.

First Contrast—Sins of the spirit, 17-5:3.

a. In contrast with the Gentilism which you have left, 17-19.

Ver. 15.-16. Positive side of Christ’s purpose for His people. Speaking-truth: either statements corresponding with fact, as in Galatians 4:16; or teaching or belief corresponding with reality. This latter sense is at once suggested here by the contrast with error in Ephesians 4:14, and by the whole context. [The participle preceding a finite verb recalls the same construction in Ephesians 3:18.] Paul teaches that knowledge of the truth is a necessary condition of Christian growth. Consequently, it matters little whether the words in love be joined to the words preceding them or to those following, i.e. whether love be the surrounding element of the truth we speak or of our growth. In either case Paul teaches that for growth there must be both love and knowledge of the truth. Cp. Ephesians 3:18.

We-may-grow; keeps before us the idea of progress. So Ephesians 4:13, come to a full-grown man.

Into Him: our spiritual development bringing us into closer inward contact with Christ.

In all things: every part of our nature being, by this development, united more closely to Christ.

Who is etc.: Christ into whom we are to grow is related to the Church as is the head to a living body. Same favourite metaphor in Ephesians 1:22; Colossians 1:18. And He it is from whom the Church, His body, derives unity and growth.

All the body: parallel with we all in Ephesians 4:13. Same words in same connection in Colossians 2:19. They represent the entire Church as one whole.

Being-fitted-together: same word and same present participle in Ephesians 2:21. It suggests harmonious and close union like the various parts of a living body.

Knit-together: same word in Colossians 2:19; a close parallel to this verse. It adds to the idea of adaptation that of actual coming together. Joint: same word and sense as in Colossians 2:19, through the joints and bands receiving supply and being brought together. The similarity of these verses seems to compel us to understand through every joint as the means by which this close union of the various members is brought about; rather than as the means of the growth afterwards mentioned. The added words of the supply teach that the manifold contact of member with member in the Church, which binds these members into one compact body, is also a means of supplying the spiritual needs of the Church and thus helping its spiritual growth. Same thought in Colossians 2:19. The working in measure of each one part: each member of the Church being active for the general good, according to the spiritual endowment of each. Cp. Romans 12:3. Just so, in a healthy body, each member is active, and the activity of each contributes to the general good. And in proportion to this activity of the several parts is the health of the whole: according to the working etc.

Makes the increase (or growth) of the body: chief assertion of Ephesians 4:16, corresponding to may-grow in Ephesians 4:15. This growth is derived from Christ, and is conditioned by compact union of the members and by the normal activity of each.

For the building-up of itself: the metaphor of a rising building added, as in Ephesians 4:12, to that of a living and growing body. In love: the encompassing element of Christian progress. Same words in Ephesians 4:15; 3:18.

In § 9 Paul enters upon the moral teaching of this Epistle. After praise and prayer on his readers’ behalf in Eph. 1-3, interwoven with loftiest doctrinal teaching, he now exhorts them to action worthy of the Gospel call. Of such worthy conduct, the first point emphasised is Christian unity. Paul suggests that the preservation of unity requires effort, and a mutual forbearance possible only to the lowly in heart. Then follows a statement of the objective and eternal unities which underlie all Christian unity. From these he passes to Christ’s various gifts to the members of the Church. He reminds us that these gifts were from the ascended Saviour; and that His ascension was a triumph grander than the many triumphs of God celebrated in the ancient songs of Israel. After this passing reference to Christ’s ascension and to His previous descent into the grave, Paul specifies further His gifts to the Church, mentioning specially the various grades of Church officers. These were given for the full development of the Church, which is the body of Christ. It can rise above the vacillations of childhood only by spiritual growth derived from Christ its Head, a growth uniting it more closely to Him, and nourished by the active co-operation of each member in compact union with his fellows.

That in this Epistle the spiritual union of believers with Christ and with each other is treated of before morality, reveals Paul’s estimate of its importance. The new life in Christ ever draws together those united to Him; and is therefore hindered by all disunion. Therefore, since the mind of Christ moulding human conduct is the one source of the highest morality, whatever separates Christians is hostile to morality.

V. 17. This therefore I say-He returns thither where he begun, Ephesians 4:1.

And testify in the Lord-In the name and by the authority of the Lord Jesus.

In the vanity of their mind-Having lost the knowledge of the true God, Romans 1:21. This is the root of all evil walking.

Verse 17. Walk not as other Gentiles walk] Ye are called to holiness by the Gospel, the other Gentiles have no such calling; walk not as they walk. In this and the two following verses the apostle gives a most awful account of the conduct of the heathens who were without the knowledge of the true God. I shall note the particulars.

1. They walked in the vanity of their mind, en mataiothti tou noov autwn. In the foolishness of their mind; want of genuine wisdom is that to which the apostle refers, and it was through this that the Gentiles became addicted to every species of idolatry; and they fondly imagined that they could obtain help from gods which were the work of their own hands! Here their foolishness was manifested.

Verses 17-19. This I say, therefore — For your further instruction, how to walk worthy of your calling; (he returns to the subject which he began, verse 1;) and testify in the Lord — In the name and by the authority of the Lord Jesus, that ye, being now happily brought into the Christian Church, and made partakers of all the privileges and advantages belonging to its members; henceforth walk not as other Gentiles — That ye live no longer as the unconverted heathen; in the vanity of their mind — Amused with the empty trifles of this world, and enslaved to low and mean pursuits, utterly unworthy of their rational and immortal nature; having the understanding darkened — With respect to all spiritual and divine things, which is the source of all foolish desires and pursuits; see Romans 1:21; being alienated from the life of God — Being estranged in affection, as well as in practice, from the divine and spiritual life, from all union with, and conformity to, the living and true God; or, from that noble principle of all piety and virtue, the life of God in the soul of man, forming it to the love, imitation, and service of him by whom it is implanted; through the ignorance — Of God and his will, and of their duty and happiness; that is inherent in them — Or natural to them, as fallen and depraved creatures; because of the blindness — Thn pwrwsin, the callousness, or insensibility; of their hearts — This is explained by Chrysostom, Whitby, and some other commentators, as referring to their Gentile state; but though there is no doubt but it partly refers to that, yet there can be no sufficient reason to limit such a description to dark and ignorant heathen; it is but too just a representation of all unregenerate men. Who being past feeling — The original word, aphlghkotev, is peculiarly significant, properly meaning, past feeling pain, or void of distress — Pain urges the sick to seek a remedy, and distress, the distressed to endeavour, if possible, to procure relief; which remedy or relief is little thought of where pain and distress are not felt. Thus, those who are hardened against all impressions of grief on account of their former sins, are not excited to seek either for the pardon of them or deliverance from them. Some MSS. read aphlpikotev, hoping for nothing. These wicked men, disbelieving the resurrection of the body, and the immortality of the soul, have no hope of any happiness after this life, and therefore they have given themselves over — Have abandoned themselves freely, of their own accord; to lasciviousness — To wantonness, to unchaste imaginations and desires, words and actions; to work all uncleanness — Impurity of every kind; with greediness — The word en pleonexia, thus rendered, is commonly used to denote covetousness; because the more the covetous man possesses, the more he desires. Hence the word is used (2 Peter 2:14) to denote inordinate desire in general.

Ver. 17-19. Henceforth walk not as other gentiles. This he said in the Lord, by the special impulse of his Spirit; for the prophets knew the thoughts of their own minds from the dictates of the Spirit of God. Christians are required not to follow after lying vanities, the pleasures and the riches of the world. But the term, vanity, is often restricted to idolatry, for idols are only the work of men. Blinded by crimes, and alienated from God, the great mass of the heathen went on in sin till they had no hope of mercy, and then they launched the reins of passion and appetite. Herodotus, in many places, when describing their feasts, confirms all that Paul had said on the demoralised state of the heathen world. Romans 1:26-32. Livy, on the bacchanalians, and Augustine in his city of God, have borne testimony to the same effect.

17. I say… and testify—I declare and protest. Therefore—In view of your being the model Church described in the last paragraph. Other is omitted by the best readings. Thereby the apostle, by a new antithesis, holds his converts as not now Gentiles but Christians. Walk—Note, Ephesians 4:1. This outward walk springs from internal pravation, located by St. Paul in mind, understanding, inner life, and heart. Mind—Nouv, equivalent to the spirit—the high intuitive faculty, the intellect in its ethical sphere, in which the theory of religion and the sense of conscientious morality dwell. Here should be the divine residence of eternal truth, God, Christ, and holiness. But with these Gentiles here is only vanity, which was a common Hebrew term for idolatry; and here with St. Paul it is a name for all the utter worthlessness of the apostate antitheism of Gentilism. And in this vanity of their highest region of intuition they walked. From that region was shed a haze and a darkness over the ground they walked.

EPHESIANS

SECTION 10. — A TOTAL CHANGE OF LIFE

NEEDED. CH. 4:17-24.

This then I say and testify in the Lord, that ye no longer walk according as the Gentiles walk in vanity of their mind, being darkened in the understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance which is in them because of the hardening of their hearts; men who, being past feeling, have given up themselves to wantonness for the working of all uncleanness with greediness. But not so have ye learnt Christ; if indeed ye have heard Him and have been taught in Him, according as it is truth in Jesus that ye must needs put away, as concerns your former manner of life, the old man which is corrupting according to the desires of deceit; and be renewed by the Spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, which, after God, has been created in righteousness and holiness of truth.

After emphasising the need of unity and mutual help among Christians, Paul now asserts the need of a total change of life, a complete renunciation of the sins of heathenism. This he prefaces in Ephesians 4:17 by a solemn protestation; and then in Ephesians 4:18, 19 depicts, as a warning, the moral and spiritual state of the heathen. He then says that Christ (Ephesians 4:20, 21) requires a complete surrender (Ephesians 4:22) of the old life and (Ephesians 4:23, 24) a life altogether new.

Ver. 17. This then I say; resumes the exhortation interrupted by the assertion in Ephesians 4:4 of the great unities underlying the unity which in Ephesians 4:3 Paul bids his readers endeavour to maintain. Protest: as in Galatians 5:3. He calls God to witness the truth of what he is about to say.

In the Lord: like in Christ in Romans 9:1. This protest is an outflow of Paul’s union with Christ.

That ye no longer walk; recalls their earlier contrary life. Along the same path also the Gentiles now walk. This path Paul bids his readers henceforth avoid.

Now follows-as a warning, a description of the forbidden path. Vainly: cp. 1 Corinthians 3:20, the reasonings of the wise… are vain. Their mind is at work, but with no good result. And this useless activity is the mental element of their action: in the vanity of their mind.

V. 18. Having their understanding darkened, through the ignorance that is in them-So that they are totally void of the light of God, neither have they any knowledge of his will.

Being alienated from the life of God-Utter strangers to the divine, the spiritual life.

Through the hardness of their hearts-Callous and senseless. And where there is no sense, there can be no life.

Verse 18. 2. Having the understanding darkened] This is the second instance alleged by the apostle of the degradation of the Gentiles. Having no means of knowledge, the heart, naturally dark, became more and more so by means of habitual transgression; every thing in the Gentile system having an immediate tendency to blind the eyes and darken the whole soul.

3. Being alienated from the life of God] The original design of God was to live in man; and the life of God in the soul of man was that by which God intended to make man happy, and without which true happiness was never found by any human spirit: from this through the ignorance that was in them, dia thn agnoian thn ousan, through the substantial or continually existing ignorance, which there was nothing to instruct, nothing to enlighten; for the most accurate writings of their best philosophers left them entirely ignorant of the real nature of God. And if they had no correct knowledge of the true God they could have no religion; and if no religion, no morality. Their moral state became so wretched that they are represented as abhorring every thing spiritual and pure, for this is the import of the word aphllotriwmenoi (which we translate alienated) in some of the best Greek writers. They abhorred every thing that had a tendency to lay any restraint on their vicious passions and inclinations.

4. Blindness of their heart] dia thn pwrwsin. Because of the callousness of their hearts. Callous signifies a thickening of the outward skin of any particular part, especially on the hands and feet, by repeated exercise or use, through which such parts are rendered insensible. This may be metaphorically applied to the conscience of a sinner, which is rendered stupid and insensible by repeated acts of iniquity.

Verses 17-19. This I say, therefore — For your further instruction, how to walk worthy of your calling; (he returns to the subject which he began, verse 1;) and testify in the Lord — In the name and by the authority of the Lord Jesus, that ye, being now happily brought into the Christian Church, and made partakers of all the privileges and advantages belonging to its members; henceforth walk not as other Gentiles — That ye live no longer as the unconverted heathen; in the vanity of their mind — Amused with the empty trifles of this world, and enslaved to low and mean pursuits, utterly unworthy of their rational and immortal nature; having the understanding darkened — With respect to all spiritual and divine things, which is the source of all foolish desires and pursuits; see Romans 1:21; being alienated from the life of God — Being estranged in affection, as well as in practice, from the divine and spiritual life, from all union with, and conformity to, the living and true God; or, from that noble principle of all piety and virtue, the life of God in the soul of man, forming it to the love, imitation, and service of him by whom it is implanted; through the ignorance — Of God and his will, and of their duty and happiness; that is inherent in them — Or natural to them, as fallen and depraved creatures; because of the blindness — Thn pwrwsin, the callousness, or insensibility; of their hearts — This is explained by Chrysostom, Whitby, and some other commentators, as referring to their Gentile state; but though there is no doubt but it partly refers to that, yet there can be no sufficient reason to limit such a description to dark and ignorant heathen; it is but too just a representation of all unregenerate men. Who being past feeling — The original word, aphlghkotev, is peculiarly significant, properly meaning, past feeling pain, or void of distress — Pain urges the sick to seek a remedy, and distress, the distressed to endeavour, if possible, to procure relief; which remedy or relief is little thought of where pain and distress are not felt. Thus, those who are hardened against all impressions of grief on account of their former sins, are not excited to seek either for the pardon of them or deliverance from them. Some MSS. read aphlpikotev, hoping for nothing. These wicked men, disbelieving the resurrection of the body, and the immortality of the soul, have no hope of any happiness after this life, and therefore they have given themselves over — Have abandoned themselves freely, of their own accord; to lasciviousness — To wantonness, to unchaste imaginations and desires, words and actions; to work all uncleanness — Impurity of every kind; with greediness — The word en pleonexia, thus rendered, is commonly used to denote covetousness; because the more the covetous man possesses, the more he desires. Hence the word is used (2 Peter 2:14) to denote inordinate desire in general.

Ver. 17-19. Henceforth walk not as other gentiles. This he said in the Lord, by the special impulse of his Spirit; for the prophets knew the thoughts of their own minds from the dictates of the Spirit of God. Christians are required not to follow after lying vanities, the pleasures and the riches of the world. But the term, vanity, is often restricted to idolatry, for idols are only the work of men. Blinded by crimes, and alienated from God, the great mass of the heathen went on in sin till they had no hope of mercy, and then they launched the reins of passion and appetite. Herodotus, in many places, when describing their feasts, confirms all that Paul had said on the demoralised state of the heathen world. Romans 1:26-32. Livy, on the bacchanalians, and Augustine in his city of God, have borne testimony to the same effect.

18. Understanding—The region of the play of reasoning, the channel of the ordinary thought-current. As the intuitive power above, of these men, was filled with vanity, so the current of thought flowed in darkness. Alienated—Foreignized, de-citizenized, as if belonging to another race from the sons of God. From the life of God—That divine regenerative life produced by the vitalizing touches, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, by which we are sons of God. St. Paul’s participle, alienated, glances back to a period when they were home-born natives of the kingdom of God. And this is true both of our humanity and of every man born into this atonement-pervaded world.

Bengel and others discern a parallelism between the present four clauses by which the first corresponds to the third, and the second to the fourth. Thus:—

Having the understanding darkened,

Through the ignorance that is in them:

Being alienated from the life of God,

Through the callousness of their heart.

But, we may add, this whole double process of darkness through ignorance, and alienation through hardness, is the result of the vanity, in the intuitive mind, by which God has been discarded and apostasy been committed. Blindness—Rather, hardness. The Greek term is derived from a word signifying stone, and is then applied, in surgery, to a hardening of the flesh into bone—ossification. Hence, viewing the heart as the symbolical seat of the moral emotions, the word designates a stolid insensibility to moral impressions. It forms an encasement through which the life of God cannot enter.

Ver. 18. In two parallel participial clauses this useless mental effort is traced to its source.

The understanding: the mental eye which looks through objects around to their underlying significance. Same word in Colossians 1:21. Upon this mental eye falls no light: therefore the heathen are in this all-important faculty darkened. This statement, the rest of Ephesians 4:18 further develops.

Alienated: same word in Ephesians 2:12.

The life of God: the immortal life which God Himself lives and which He gives to His servants. Cp. the peace of God, in Philippians 4:7. To this, the only real life, the heathen are strangers. So terrible is their position. The ignorance which is in them: stronger than their ignorance. In their hearts dwells an absence of knowledge of all that is best worth knowing. And, since knowledge of God is the channel of life, ignorance results in separation from life: alienated from the life … because of the ignorance. Cp. John 17:3: this is the eternal life, that they may know Thee. A keen rebuke to the vaunted knowledge of the Greeks. Then follows the cause of their ignorance.

Hardening: as in Romans 11:8. Same phrase in Mark 6:52; 8:17; John 12:40. The heart is hardened when it becomes less sensible to influences from without; in this case, influences from God. These are designed to fill and mould and raise the whole life. But the heart of the heathen is unmoved by these good influences. And, since they are the one source of the only real knowledge, hardening produces ignorance. Moreover, since knowledge is the avenue of spiritual life, the hardened and ignorant ones are destitute of that life. Thus the two clauses, each introduced by the word because-of, are successive links of causation. Such is the inward State of the heathen. Their heart is insensible to things divine; therefore ignorance reigns in them, and the true life is far off. No wonder that in these darkened ones the mind works to no purpose, and that their path in life is wrong.

V. 19. Who being past feeling-The original word is peculiarly significant. It properly means, past feeling pain. Pain urges the sick to seek a remedy, which, where there is no pain, is little thought of.

Have given themselves up-Freely, of their own accord.

Lasciviousness is but one branch of uncleanness, which implies impurity of every kind.

Verse 19. 5. Who being past feeling] oitinev aphlghkotev. The verb apalgein signifies, 1. To throw off all sense of shame, and to be utterly devoid of pain, for committing unrighteous acts. 2. To be desperate, having neither hope nor desire of reformation; in a word, to be without remorse, and to be utterly regardless of conduct, character, or final blessedness. Instead of aphlghkotev, several excellent MSS. and versions have aphlpikotev, being without hope; that is, persons who, from their manner of life in this world, could not possibly hope for blessedness in the world to come, and who might feel it their interest to deny the resurrection of the body, and even the immortality of the soul.

6. Have given themselves over unto lasciviousness] Lasciviousness, aselgeia, is here personified; and the Gentiles in question are represented as having delivered themselves over to her jurisdiction. This is a trite picture of the Gentile world: uncleanness, lechery, and debauchery of every kind, flourished among them without limit or restraint. Almost all their gods and goddesses were of this character.

7. To work all uncleanness with greediness.] This is a complete finish of the most abandoned character; to do an unclean act is bad, to labour in it is worse, to labour in all uncleanness is worse still; but to do all this in every case to the utmost extent, en pleonexia, with a desire exceeding time, place, opportunity, and strength, is worst of all, and leaves nothing more profligate or more abandoned to be described or imagined; just as Ovid paints the drunken Silenus, whose wantonness survives his strength and keeps alive his desires, though old age has destroyed the power of gratification:—

Te quoque, inextinctæ Silene libidinis, urunt:

Nequitia est, quæ te non sinit esse senem.

Fast., lib. i. v. 413.

Thee also, O Silenus, of inextinguishable lust, they inflame; Thou art old in every thing except in lust

Such was the state of the Gentiles before they were blessed with the light of the Gospel; and such is the state of those nations who have not yet received the Gospel; and such is the state of multitudes of those in Christian countries who refuse to receive the Gospel, endeavour to decry it, and to take refuge in the falsities of infidelity against the testimony of eternal truth.

Verses 17-19. This I say, therefore — For your further instruction, how to walk worthy of your calling; (he returns to the subject which he began, verse 1;) and testify in the Lord — In the name and by the authority of the Lord Jesus, that ye, being now happily brought into the Christian Church, and made partakers of all the privileges and advantages belonging to its members; henceforth walk not as other Gentiles — That ye live no longer as the unconverted heathen; in the vanity of their mind — Amused with the empty trifles of this world, and enslaved to low and mean pursuits, utterly unworthy of their rational and immortal nature; having the understanding darkened — With respect to all spiritual and divine things, which is the source of all foolish desires and pursuits; see Romans 1:21; being alienated from the life of God — Being estranged in affection, as well as in practice, from the divine and spiritual life, from all union with, and conformity to, the living and true God; or, from that noble principle of all piety and virtue, the life of God in the soul of man, forming it to the love, imitation, and service of him by whom it is implanted; through the ignorance — Of God and his will, and of their duty and happiness; that is inherent in them — Or natural to them, as fallen and depraved creatures; because of the blindness — Thn pwrwsin, the callousness, or insensibility; of their hearts — This is explained by Chrysostom, Whitby, and some other commentators, as referring to their Gentile state; but though there is no doubt but it partly refers to that, yet there can be no sufficient reason to limit such a description to dark and ignorant heathen; it is but too just a representation of all unregenerate men. Who being past feeling — The original word, aphlghkotev, is peculiarly significant, properly meaning, past feeling pain, or void of distress — Pain urges the sick to seek a remedy, and distress, the distressed to endeavour, if possible, to procure relief; which remedy or relief is little thought of where pain and distress are not felt. Thus, those who are hardened against all impressions of grief on account of their former sins, are not excited to seek either for the pardon of them or deliverance from them. Some MSS. read aphlpikotev, hoping for nothing. These wicked men, disbelieving the resurrection of the body, and the immortality of the soul, have no hope of any happiness after this life, and therefore they have given themselves over — Have abandoned themselves freely, of their own accord; to lasciviousness — To wantonness, to unchaste imaginations and desires, words and actions; to work all uncleanness — Impurity of every kind; with greediness — The word en pleonexia, thus rendered, is commonly used to denote covetousness; because the more the covetous man possesses, the more he desires. Hence the word is used (2 Peter 2:14) to denote inordinate desire in general.

Ver. 17-19. Henceforth walk not as other gentiles. This he said in the Lord, by the special impulse of his Spirit; for the prophets knew the thoughts of their own minds from the dictates of the Spirit of God. Christians are required not to follow after lying vanities, the pleasures and the riches of the world. But the term, vanity, is often restricted to idolatry, for idols are only the work of men. Blinded by crimes, and alienated from God, the great mass of the heathen went on in sin till they had no hope of mercy, and then they launched the reins of passion and appetite. Herodotus, in many places, when describing their feasts, confirms all that Paul had said on the demoralised state of the heathen world. Romans 1:26-32. Livy, on the bacchanalians, and Augustine in his city of God, have borne testimony to the same effect.

19. Being past feeling—The Greek verb so rendered signifies those who have had their crying spell but now are quiescent. Hence it comes to signify such as have become freed from all once-existing moral sensibility. Lasciviousness—Unrestraint, or license of every kind. It is by no means limited to sexual license, but applies to any vice. Uncleanness—Filth, nastiness, baseness, either material or moral. See note, Ephesians 5:3. In 1 Thessalonians 2:3 it refers to avarice. Greediness—Rather, covetousness; grasping after more and more gain. From our definitions of these last three words, it will be seen that we find no reference in the verse to sexual impurity, but to secular and business profligacy. We render the whole verse: Who being past all sensitiveness, (either as to obligation or to reputation) have surrendered themselves to unrestraint for accomplishment of every baseness in gain-getting. Our reasons for finding no reference to sexual license here are: 1. That subject is fully treated in Ephesians 5:3-21. 2. All the vices to be put off, (25-33,) in contrast with the present dark pictures, belong to secular business life and not to sexuality. 3. The terms used, though some of them have a sexual side, yet do not here require that meaning, while the last word, rendered greediness, fairly excludes it. It is derived from pleov, more, and ecw, to have, and is the normal Greek word to signify gain-greed, graspingness, avarice.

In the apostle’s day, as in ours, the supremacy of the money-power, the consequent unscrupulousness and profligacy with which gain was sought, and the readiness to sell one’s self for riches, were overwhelming. The conquered East poured boundless wealth into the Roman empire, and (to use, with Paul, a sexual term) debauched the West into utter prostitution to the baseness of greed. No wonder that St. Paul should have execrated it as a base filthiness.

b. Be ye renewed from the old to the new man, 20-24.

Ver. 19. Further description of the same men, setting forth the immoral result of this hardening.

Past feeling: literally having-become-insensible-to pain, i.e. sin no longer painful to them.

Gave-up: surrender to a hostile power. Same word and sense in Romans 1:24, 26, 28: an important parallel and complement to this passage. By willingly embracing sin they gave up themselves to its power: and by decreeing that sinners fall victims to the power of their own sin God gave them up.

Themselves: the most tremendous sacrifice ever laid on the altar of sin. Wantonness: insolent casting aside of all restraint.

Uncleanness: anything inconsistent with personal purity. Same words together in 2 Corinthians 12:21; Galatians 5:19. Wantonness is almost personified as a power to which these men surrendered themselves in order to work out everything which defiles men.

Insolence is their master: and every kind of impurity is their aim. Covetousness: desire of having more, an inordinate longing for the good things of earth. See under Colossians 3:5. As a conspicuous form of selfishness, it stands in close relation to bodily self-indulgence. So here and Ephesians 5:3; Colossians 3:5. This close relation makes it needless to give to the word here any other than its ordinary meaning. Such is the state of the heathen. The darkening of their minds has made them in some measure insensible to the evil of sin. They have therefore given themselves up to gross and defiling sin and to the worship of material good.

V. 20. But ye have not so learned Christ-That is, ye cannot act thus, now ye know him, since you know the Christian dispensation allows of no sin.

Verse 20. But ye have not so learned Christ] Ye have received the doctrines of Christianity, and therefore are taught differently; ye have received the Spirit of Christ, and therefore are saved from such dispositions. Some would point and translate the original thus: uJmeiv de ouc outwv. emaqete ton criston. But ye are not thus; ye have learned Christ.

Verses 20-24. But ye — Believers at Ephesus; have not so learned Christ — Or Christianity; that is, ye cannot act thus, now ye are acquainted with Christ and his gospel, which, you know, allows of no sin. If so be — Or rather, seeing that, as ei ge, it seems, should be here rendered; ye have heard him — Teaching you inwardly by his Spirit, as well as outwardly by his word; and have been taught by him — Have been instructed in his religion; as the truth is in Jesus — According to his own gospel, and not in that imperfect and adulterated form, in which some presume to deliver what they call his doctrine: that ye put off — Entirely lay aside; concerning — Or with respect to; the former conversation — That is, those sinful habits and practices to which you were accustomed in your heathen state; the old man — Your old nature and character; or the whole body of sin: which old nature is corrupt — Depraved in every part, so that its dispositions and actions are directed, not by the rules of right reason, or by the word and will of God, but according to the deceitful lusts — Which generally prevail in the unregenerate, and once prevailed in you. Observe, reader, all sinful desires are deceitful, promising the happiness which they cannot give, and deceiving men. And be renewed in the spirit of your mind — That is, in all the faculties of your souls, by seeking and obtaining an enlightened understanding, a rectified will, and holy, well-regulated affections. And that ye put on the new man — That ye apply to God for, and receive from him, a new nature; which after God — That is, after a conformity to his image; is created — For it is his workmanship, see Ephesians 2:10; in righteousness — Toward your fellow-creatures; and true holiness — Toward God. He says true holiness, in opposition to that which is only ceremonial or external, and in appearance. The dispositions of the mind are in Scripture compared to clothes, for two reasons: 1st, Because they render persons beautiful or deformed, according to their nature: 2d, Because they may be put off or on, while we remain in a state of trial, according as we yield to and obey, or resist and reject, the truth and grace of God.

20. But—Now the vivid contrast of ye, from them; ye being emphatic; ye who have abandoned unscrupulous Gentilism. So—In accordance with these Gentile depravities. Learned Christ—As ye were once taught this selfish worldliness. Christ is the embodiment of a new purity, unselfishness, and unworldliness.

Ver. 20.-21a. Ye not so: conspicuous and double contrast to the Gentiles. Christ: Himself the matter of the knowledge they have acquired. So in Galatians 1:16; 1 Corinthians 1:23. He is the matter revealed and preached.

If at least etc.; strengthens the foregoing assertion by adding a condition within which it is undoubtedly true. If they have heard Christ etc., then certainly they have not so learnt Him.

Heard Him: by hearing they received not merely His words but Christ Himself. So in Ephesians 4:20 they learnt Christ. And He is not only the matter heard but the personal encompassing element of the teaching received: taught in Him. They first heard the truth of Christ and thus received Him; and then, abiding in Him, received further instruction.

V. 21. Seeing ye have heard him-Teaching you inwardly by his Spirit. As the truth is in Jesus-According to his own gospel.

Verse 21. If so be that ye have heard him] eige, Seeing that, since indeed, ye have heard us proclaim his eternal truth; we have delivered it to you as we received it from Jesus.

Verses 20-24. But ye — Believers at Ephesus; have not so learned Christ — Or Christianity; that is, ye cannot act thus, now ye are acquainted with Christ and his gospel, which, you know, allows of no sin. If so be — Or rather, seeing that, as ei ge, it seems, should be here rendered; ye have heard him — Teaching you inwardly by his Spirit, as well as outwardly by his word; and have been taught by him — Have been instructed in his religion; as the truth is in Jesus — According to his own gospel, and not in that imperfect and adulterated form, in which some presume to deliver what they call his doctrine: that ye put off — Entirely lay aside; concerning — Or with respect to; the former conversation — That is, those sinful habits and practices to which you were accustomed in your heathen state; the old man — Your old nature and character; or the whole body of sin: which old nature is corrupt — Depraved in every part, so that its dispositions and actions are directed, not by the rules of right reason, or by the word and will of God, but according to the deceitful lusts — Which generally prevail in the unregenerate, and once prevailed in you. Observe, reader, all sinful desires are deceitful, promising the happiness which they cannot give, and deceiving men. And be renewed in the spirit of your mind — That is, in all the faculties of your souls, by seeking and obtaining an enlightened understanding, a rectified will, and holy, well-regulated affections. And that ye put on the new man — That ye apply to God for, and receive from him, a new nature; which after God — That is, after a conformity to his image; is created — For it is his workmanship, see Ephesians 2:10; in righteousness — Toward your fellow-creatures; and true holiness — Toward God. He says true holiness, in opposition to that which is only ceremonial or external, and in appearance. The dispositions of the mind are in Scripture compared to clothes, for two reasons: 1st, Because they render persons beautiful or deformed, according to their nature: 2d, Because they may be put off or on, while we remain in a state of trial, according as we yield to and obey, or resist and reject, the truth and grace of God.

21. Heard him—Preaching to you through his apostles. For the gospel is his living voice. As the truth is embodied in Jesus—What that truth is we are told in the next paragraph. It is the truth of the renewal from the old depravities to the new purities.

Ver. 21b. A statement in harmony with the foregoing. This truth can be no other than that stated in Ephesians 4:22, viz. that God requires us to put away the old man. This is a truth in Jesus: for in Him who was born in Bethlehem a command has gone forth to all men everywhere to repent. The teaching received by the Asiatic Christians was in agreement with the moral truth of this command: according as etc. Notice the Saviours names. They learnt Christ, i.e. they embraced the meaning of His official title. There is truth in Jesus: for in that historic Person God spoke to man.

V. 22. The old man-That is, the whole body of sin. All sinful desires are deceitful; promising the happiness which they cannot give.

Verse 22. That ye put off] And this has been one especial part of our teaching, that ye should abandon all these, and live a life totally opposite to what it was before.

The old man] See Clarke’s note on “Romans 6:6”, and especially the notes on Romans 13:13, 14.

Which is corrupt] The whole of your former life was corrupt and abominable; ye lived in the pursuit of pleasure and happiness; ye sought this in the gratification of the lusts of the flesh; and were ever deceived by these lusts, and disappointed in your expectations.

Verses 20-24. But ye — Believers at Ephesus; have not so learned Christ — Or Christianity; that is, ye cannot act thus, now ye are acquainted with Christ and his gospel, which, you know, allows of no sin. If so be — Or rather, seeing that, as ei ge, it seems, should be here rendered; ye have heard him — Teaching you inwardly by his Spirit, as well as outwardly by his word; and have been taught by him — Have been instructed in his religion; as the truth is in Jesus — According to his own gospel, and not in that imperfect and adulterated form, in which some presume to deliver what they call his doctrine: that ye put off — Entirely lay aside; concerning — Or with respect to; the former conversation — That is, those sinful habits and practices to which you were accustomed in your heathen state; the old man — Your old nature and character; or the whole body of sin: which old nature is corrupt — Depraved in every part, so that its dispositions and actions are directed, not by the rules of right reason, or by the word and will of God, but according to the deceitful lusts — Which generally prevail in the unregenerate, and once prevailed in you. Observe, reader, all sinful desires are deceitful, promising the happiness which they cannot give, and deceiving men. And be renewed in the spirit of your mind — That is, in all the faculties of your souls, by seeking and obtaining an enlightened understanding, a rectified will, and holy, well-regulated affections. And that ye put on the new man — That ye apply to God for, and receive from him, a new nature; which after God — That is, after a conformity to his image; is created — For it is his workmanship, see Ephesians 2:10; in righteousness — Toward your fellow-creatures; and true holiness — Toward God. He says true holiness, in opposition to that which is only ceremonial or external, and in appearance. The dispositions of the mind are in Scripture compared to clothes, for two reasons: 1st, Because they render persons beautiful or deformed, according to their nature: 2d, Because they may be put off or on, while we remain in a state of trial, according as we yield to and obey, or resist and reject, the truth and grace of God.

Ver. 22. Put off — the old man. See notes on Colossians 3:9.

22. That—Depending on have been taught, in verse 21. The verb is, indeed, in the infinitive, and the connexion would have been better preserved had the infinitive been retained. Having pictured the depravities of old Gentilism, 11-19, Paul contrastively adds: But not such the lessons you have received from Christ, if ye have indeed learned, as truth is embodied in him, to put off the old man of Gentile depravation, and put on the new man after God’s image. Concerning… conversation—In regard to your former mode of moral behaviour. Old man—Inherited from Adam, and manifested pre-eminently in Gentilism. Not merely, as Ellicott, the “personification of our whole sinful condition before regeneration;” but the personification of all our sinward tendencies derived from the fall and progressively put off by our regeneration, sanctification, and final resurrection. The term regeneration, used ordinarily and properly to designate an instantaneous act by which we are made “children of God,” does in its larger sense comprehend the entire process by which we are brought from our deepest ruin in sin to our complete final renewal in glory. This last process passes through a series of stages and progressions. In that sense our regeneration is a gradual work. Notes on 23, 24. Is corrupt—Is being ever corrupted, sinking from inborn sinwardness to an ever deeper and deeper progression in corruption—a corruption implying ultimate utter perdition. And this becoming more and more corrupt is according to, that is, in compliance and accord with, the impulses of deceit, tav epiqumiav thv apathv, very incorrectly translated deceitful lusts. The word we render impulses designates, in Greek, any appetance or eagerness, either for good or evil, and usually has no special reference to sexual lust. The word translated deceitful is a genitive noun: of deceit. The entire phrase, then, designates the eager promptings of a natural deceitfulness within. It corresponds with gain-greed, in ver. 19, and the lying they must put away in verse 25; and is antithetic with truth in vv. 21 and 25.

Ver. 22. The moral truth, now plainly stated.

Put-away: as clothes are laid aside. Same word and idea in Colossians 3:8; Romans 13:12.

That ye put away: this moral truth brought to bear on the Christians at Ephesus.

Manner-of life: same word and sense in Galatians 1:13, my manner of life formerly.

In-view-of the former manner-of-life: aspect of their case which makes it needful to put away etc.

The old man: same words and sense in Colossians 3:9, where we have the same metaphor of laying aside clothing: see note.

Which is corrupting: moral deterioration and destruction going on day by day. Of this, eternal death is the awful consummation. So is the corruption of a corpse a consummation of mortification before death. The abstract principle of deceit with its tendencies is represented almost as a person cherishing desires. In the unsaved, these are a ruling power. And the corruption now going on is what we should expect when such a principle guides the steps of men: according to the desires of deceit. These last words keep before us the teaching in Ephesians 4:18 that ignorance and error are the treacherous basis of human life without Christ. A building erected on such a foundation is doomed to fall.

V. 23. The spirit of your mind-The very ground of your heart.

Verse 23. And be renewed in the spirit of your mind] Their old mode of living was to be abandoned; a new one to be assumed. The mind is to be renovated; and not only its general complexion, but the very spirit of it; all its faculties and powers must be thoroughly, completely, and universally renewed. Plautus uses a similar expression describing deep distress, and answerable to our phrase innermost soul:—

Paupertas, pavor territat mentem animi.

Poverty and dread alarm my innermost soul.

Epid., l. 519.

Verses 20-24. But ye — Believers at Ephesus; have not so learned Christ — Or Christianity; that is, ye cannot act thus, now ye are acquainted with Christ and his gospel, which, you know, allows of no sin. If so be — Or rather, seeing that, as ei ge, it seems, should be here rendered; ye have heard him — Teaching you inwardly by his Spirit, as well as outwardly by his word; and have been taught by him — Have been instructed in his religion; as the truth is in Jesus — According to his own gospel, and not in that imperfect and adulterated form, in which some presume to deliver what they call his doctrine: that ye put off — Entirely lay aside; concerning — Or with respect to; the former conversation — That is, those sinful habits and practices to which you were accustomed in your heathen state; the old man — Your old nature and character; or the whole body of sin: which old nature is corrupt — Depraved in every part, so that its dispositions and actions are directed, not by the rules of right reason, or by the word and will of God, but according to the deceitful lusts — Which generally prevail in the unregenerate, and once prevailed in you. Observe, reader, all sinful desires are deceitful, promising the happiness which they cannot give, and deceiving men. And be renewed in the spirit of your mind — That is, in all the faculties of your souls, by seeking and obtaining an enlightened understanding, a rectified will, and holy, well-regulated affections. And that ye put on the new man — That ye apply to God for, and receive from him, a new nature; which after God — That is, after a conformity to his image; is created — For it is his workmanship, see Ephesians 2:10; in righteousness — Toward your fellow-creatures; and true holiness — Toward God. He says true holiness, in opposition to that which is only ceremonial or external, and in appearance. The dispositions of the mind are in Scripture compared to clothes, for two reasons: 1st, Because they render persons beautiful or deformed, according to their nature: 2d, Because they may be put off or on, while we remain in a state of trial, according as we yield to and obey, or resist and reject, the truth and grace of God.

23. And be renewed—Connected as an infinitive verb with the infinitive put off, in last verse, and governed by taught in verse 21; taught to put off and to be renewed, and, ver. 24, to put on. And not only are these verbs in the infinitive, but it is important to note they are in the present tense, and thereby express a continuous process: that is, taught to be putting off, and to be being renewed, and to be putting on the new man. This process looks to its absolute completion in the day of redemption, ver. 30. Spirit of your mind, Not temper of your mind. The word mind, here, is the same word as in verse 17, where see note. Of the Gentile mind the occupant is vanity; of yours, should be Christ’s Spirit. The sense, then, is: Be ye renewed by the Spirit, that is, the indwelling occupant of your higher mind, the divine Spirit, which has expelled the former tenant, vanity.

Ver. 23. Positive side of the moral truth in Jesus.

And be renewed: from day to day, in contrast to the advancing corruption of the old man. Similar word, and same idea of progressive renovation, in Colossians 3:10; Romans 12:2.

The Spirit of your mind: the Holy Spirit looked upon as enlightening the mind. Similarly, in Romans 7:23 the law of God is called the law of my mind. Nowhere else in the Bible is the Holy Spirit spoken of as belonging to man or to man’s mind. But the phrase is intelligible and appropriate. Whereas, to understand it as describing the human spirit, is to make the collocation of spirit and mind unmeaning. The Holy Spirit is the Agent of the renewal: Titus 3:5. And He renews men by enlightening their intelligence. Paul could therefore say, be renewed by the Spirit of your mind, and the Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind.

V. 24. The new man-Universal holiness.

After-In the very image of God.

Verse 24. Put on the new man] Get a new nature; for in Christ Jesus-under the Christian dispensation, neither circumcision avails any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. Therefore ye must be renewed in the spirit of your mind.

Which after God is created in righteousness] Here is certainly an allusion to the creation of man. Moses tells us, Genesis 1:27, that God created man in his own image; that is, God was the model according to which he was formed in the spirit of his mind. St. Paul says here that they should put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness, or, osiothti thv alhqeiav, in the holiness of truth. Both certainly refer to the same thing, and the one illustrates the other. From the apostle we learn what Moses meant by the image of God; it was righteousness and the truth of holiness. See Clarke’s note on “Genesis 1:26”. It is not this or the other degree of moral good which the soul is to receive by Jesus Christ, it is the whole image of God; it is to be formed kata qeou, according to God; the likeness of the Divine Being is to be traced upon his soul, and he is to bear that as fully as his first father Adam bore it in the beginning.

Verses 20-24. But ye — Believers at Ephesus; have not so learned Christ — Or Christianity; that is, ye cannot act thus, now ye are acquainted with Christ and his gospel, which, you know, allows of no sin. If so be — Or rather, seeing that, as ei ge, it seems, should be here rendered; ye have heard him — Teaching you inwardly by his Spirit, as well as outwardly by his word; and have been taught by him — Have been instructed in his religion; as the truth is in Jesus — According to his own gospel, and not in that imperfect and adulterated form, in which some presume to deliver what they call his doctrine: that ye put off — Entirely lay aside; concerning — Or with respect to; the former conversation — That is, those sinful habits and practices to which you were accustomed in your heathen state; the old man — Your old nature and character; or the whole body of sin: which old nature is corrupt — Depraved in every part, so that its dispositions and actions are directed, not by the rules of right reason, or by the word and will of God, but according to the deceitful lusts — Which generally prevail in the unregenerate, and once prevailed in you. Observe, reader, all sinful desires are deceitful, promising the happiness which they cannot give, and deceiving men. And be renewed in the spirit of your mind — That is, in all the faculties of your souls, by seeking and obtaining an enlightened understanding, a rectified will, and holy, well-regulated affections. And that ye put on the new man — That ye apply to God for, and receive from him, a new nature; which after God — That is, after a conformity to his image; is created — For it is his workmanship, see Ephesians 2:10; in righteousness — Toward your fellow-creatures; and true holiness — Toward God. He says true holiness, in opposition to that which is only ceremonial or external, and in appearance. The dispositions of the mind are in Scripture compared to clothes, for two reasons: 1st, Because they render persons beautiful or deformed, according to their nature: 2d, Because they may be put off or on, while we remain in a state of trial, according as we yield to and obey, or resist and reject, the truth and grace of God.

24. After God—So Colossians 3:10. “Renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him.” Created—As Ellicott well notes, in the past tense, as if the image in which we are to be being renewed was itself created at first, though our renewal be a progressive work, to be completed at “the manifestation of the sons of God,” Romans 8:19, when we are to be completely “conformed to the image of his Son” at the final “regeneration,” Matthew 20:28, when we are “children,” or rather, sons, “of the resurrection.” Luke 20:36. And here we learn wherein, in some respects, is the image of God in which Adam was first created, and in which our renewal ultimates. Righteousness… holiness— Rectitude in our dealings with men, holiness in our relations with God; yet the latter giving a higher tone to the former than it could of itself possess. Virtue is hardly virtue until verified by piety. See note on Matthew 5:7. Ellicott well notes “a faint contrast” between righteousness here and greediness, verse 19, (gain-greed, as we have translated it.) as well as between holiness and uncleanness, or baseness, as we have rendered it. If the entire “contrast” which we exhibit, as intended by Paul in these two paragraphs, is realized, the contrast Dr. Ellicott notices ceases to be faint. Our renderings, which exclude the reference to sexuality alone, are thereby confirmed. True—This adjective is in the Greek a genitive noun of truth, and commentators now agree should so be rendered: righteousness and holiness of truth. Truth, then, is here contrasted with the deceit of verse 22, where see our note. And this contrast again confirms our rendering in that verse.

c. By putting off the (five) Gentile vices, 25-5:2.

The five Gentile vices here are: 1. Lying, ver. 25; 2. Anger, vv. 26, 27; 3. Stealing, 28; 4. Ribaldry, 29, 30; 5. Brawling, 31; and 5:1, 2. To his warning against each vice St. Paul adds either its aggravation, as in 1 and 4; or a contrasted picture of the reverse virtue, as in 3 and 5. The contrast in verse 5 is impressively extended.

Ver. 24. And put on: once for all in contrast both to cut off in Ephesians 4:22 and to the gradual renewal in Ephesians 4:23. Same word in Colossians 3:10, where we have also a term equivalent to the new man.

After God: Himself the pattern, as He is also the Author, of this new creation. Cp. Colossians 3:10, according to the image of Him that created Him. The new man has already been created, and is therefore waiting to be put on.

In righteousness: right doing, the surrounding element of this new creation.

Holiness: not the very common word usually so rendered, but a rare word found, in conjunction with righteousness, in Luke 1:75. Cognate words in Acts 2:27; 13:34, 35; 1 Timothy 2:8; Titus 1:8; 1 Thessalonians 2:10. It denotes agreement with the eternal sanctities of right. This righteousness and holiness belong to the truth, just as the desires which lead to moral corruption belong to deceit. The moral teaching which found utterance in Jesus, and which because it corresponds with the eternal realities is truth, finds its outward expression in conduct agreeable to the Law and to the eternal principle of right. Such conduct is the surrounding element of the new man which has been created in the likeness of God and which Paul bids his readers put on.

[Notice carefully the tenses in Ephesians 4:22-24. The old man is day by day corrupting: we are therefore bidden to lay it once for all aside. The new man has already been created: we are therefore bidden once for all to put it on. But the renewal wrought by the Holy Spirit operating on our mind progresses day by day.]

Such is the broad platform which Paul lays for his subsequent moral teaching. He points to the heathen, to their moral insensibility and to the consequent darkness which has clouded their minds and reduced to worthlessness their mental efforts, and to their reckless self-abandonment to every kind of sin; and silently reminds his readers that this was once a picture of themselves. But the truth which spoke in Jesus has changed all this. The old corrupting life, Paul bids them lay aside; and bids them put on the new life breathed into man by the creative power of God, in the likeness of God, and receiving daily progressive renewal by the mental illumination of the Holy Spirit.

V. 25. Wherefore-Seeing ye are thus created anew, walk accordingly, in every particular.

For we are members one of another-To which intimate union all deceit is quite repugnant.

Verse 25. Wherefore putting away lying] All falsity, all prevarication, because this is opposite to the truth as it is in Jesus, Ephesians 4:21, and to the holiness of truth, Ephesians 4:24. Speak every man truth with his neighbour] Truth was but of small account among many of even the best heathens, for they taught that on many occasions a lie was to be preferred to the truth itself. Dr. Whitby collects some of their maxims on this head.

kreitton de elesqai yeudov, h alhqev kakon. “A lie is better than a hurtful truth.”-Menander.

to gar agaqon kreitton esti thv alhqeiav. “Good is better than truth.”-Proclus.

enqa gar ti dei kai yeugdov legesqai, legesqw. “When telling a lie will be profitable, let it be told.”-Darius in Herodotus, lib. iii. p. 101. “He may lie who knows how to do it ev deonti kairw, in a suitable time.”-Plato apud Stob., ser. 12.

“There is nothing decorous in truth but when it is profitable; yea, sometimes kai yeudov wnhsen anqrwrouv, kai tJ alhqev eblayen, truth is hurtful, and lying is profitable to men.”-Maximus Tyrius, Diss. 3, p. 29.

Having been brought up in such a loose system of morality, these converted Gentiles had need of these apostolic directions; Put away lying; speak the truth: Let lying never come near you; let truth be ever present with you.

We are members one of another.] Consider yourselves as one body, of which Jesus Christ is the head; and as a man’s right hand would not deceive or wrong his left hand, so deal honestly with each other; for ye are members one of another.

Verses 25-27. Wherefore — Since you have been thus taught what is your duty and interest, let it appear in your tempers, words, and works, that there is such a change wrought in them; and that, having received a new nature, you live in a new manner. The apostle now proceeds to caution them against particular sins, to which they had been habituated, and to urge them to the pursuit of particular graces, and the practice of particular virtues, which they had formerly neglected. Putting away lying — Which many of your philosophers have thought allowable, in certain cases; (so Whitby has shown in his note here;) speak every man truth with his neighbour — In your converse with your fellow-creatures; for we are members one of another — By virtue of our union with Christ our common head, to which intimate union, all deceit is quite repugnant. Be ye angry, and sin not — That is, if at any time ye are angry, take heed ye do not sin. We may be angry, as Christ was, and not sin; when he looked round about upon the people with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts; (Mark 3:5;) that is, we may be displeased and grieved at the sin or folly of others, and not sin by being so. Indeed, if we should observe people to do or say what we know to be sinful, or should see them indulging evil tempers and vile affections, and should not be displeased and grieved, we would commit sin. For to be insensible, and without emotion, when we observe God to be dishonoured, his laws violated, his presence, power, and holiness disregarded, and his justice and wrath contemned, certainly manifests a state of soul devoid of all proper religious feeling. But in what sense we may be angry and not sin, see explained more at large in the note on the above-cited text. Let not the sun go down on your wrath — If at any time you be in such a sense angry as to sin — if your anger imply resentment of an injury or affront received, or ill-will and bitterness of spirit, look to God for grace to enable you to suppress this kind of anger or wrath speedily: reprove your brother for the offence he has given you, and be reconciled immediately: lose not one day. A clear, express command this; but, alas! how few observe it. Neither give place to the devil — By delaying to cast the fire out of your bosom; remembering how much that enemy of mankind labours to inflame the spirits of men with mutual animosity, malevolence, and hatred; and, in order thereto, induces them to give ear to slanderous reports and accusations, that he may make their state and character miserable and detestable, like his own.

25. Wherefore—In view of your sustaining this new contrast to your old Gentilism, put away in detail the individual Gentile vices. He is not satisfied with a conceptual contrast that may end in theory. He would root out every outward evil practice under the power of this inward renewal. Putting—Rather, having put away; having at start renounced and stopped it. Lying—Literally, the lie; the universal lie, outside and inside, vocal, acted, or purposed. This lie is identical with the deceit of verse 22 and the fraud of verse 19. Speak—The vocal species of truth. Members… another—Said in accordance with the general idea of the epistle—a model Church.

EPHESIANS

SECTION 11. — SUNDRY PRECEPTS.

CH. 4:25-5:21.

For which cause, having put away falsehood, Speak ye truth each with his neighbour For we are members one of another. Be angry and sin not: let not the sun go down on your provocation; neither give place to the devil. He that steals, let him steal no longer; but rather let him labour, working with his hands that which is good, that he may have to impart to him who has need. Let no corrupt speech go forth from your mouth, but if anything is good for edifying as the need may be, that it may give grace to those that hear. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God in whom ye have been sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and fury and anger and clamour and railing be put away from you, with all badness. And become kind one to another, compassionate, forgiving each other, according as God in Christ forgave you.

Become then imitators of God as beloved children: and walk in love according as Christ loved you and gave up Himself on our behalf an offering and sacrifice to God for an odour of perfume. But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let them not be named among you, as becomes saints: and shamefulness and foolish talking and jesting, which are not fitting, but rather thanksgiving. For this ye know being aware that no fornicator or unclean person or covetous one, which is an idolater, has inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words. For because of these things comes the anger of God upon the sons of disobedience. Become not then partakers with them.

For ye were once darkness, but are now light in the Lord. As children of light walk, (for the fruit of the light is in all goodness and righteousness and truth,) proving what is well-pleasing to the Lord. And be not sharers with others in the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For the things secretly done by them, it is a shame even to Speak of. But all things when reproved are made manifest by the light. For everything which is made manifest is light. For which cause he says, “Rise up, sleeper and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give light to thee.”

Look then carefully how ye walk, not as unwise but as wise, buying up the opportunity, because the days are bad. For this cause be not senseless, but understand what is the will of the Lord. And be not drunk with wine, in which is riot, but be filled with the Spirit; speaking one to another with psalms and hymns and Spiritual songs, singing and chanting in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to God even the Father; subjecting yourselves one to another in the fear of Christ. After asserting in § 10 the broad underlying principles of Christian morality, Paul comes in § 11 to apply them in detail to various specific vices and virtues. Without my formal divisions, his discourse flows on with orderly sequence, shedding light on each point it touches. In Ephesians 4:25-31 we have a series of prohibitions; and in Ephesians 4:32-5:2 positive injunctions supported by the example of God and of Christ. Then follow in Ephesians 5:3-7 other prohibitions, supported by threatenings. These are further supported in Ephesians 5:8-14 by a comparison of the past and present under the aspects of darkness and light. In Ephesians 5:15-21 we have sundry exhortations culminating in an exhortation to spiritual song and praise. A word about mutual subordination closes § 11, and becomes the key-note of § 12.

Ver. 25. For which cause: a desired practical result of the foregoing general moral principles.

Falsehood: in all its forms. [The Greek article looks upon it as a definite and well-known object of thought.]

Having-put-away: once for all. [The participle does not imply that this had already taken place, but merely makes it a necessary preliminary to the truth-speaking to which Paul here exhorts his readers. See under Romans 5:1.]

Speak ye truth each with his neighbour: almost word for word from Zechariah 8:16, the prophet’s word correctly expressing Paul’s thought. That this exhortation comes first, was probably suggested by the last word of § 10.

Members one of another: same words in same sense in Romans 12:5. They bring Paul’s favourite metaphor of the Church as the body of Christ, asserted in Ephesians 1:23 and further expounded in Ephesians 4:12, 16, to bear upon this detail of practical morality. If we are members of one body, we have one interest. And, where this is recognised, falsehood is impossible. For it is only a cloak to hide our selfish disregard of the interests of others.

To limit the word neighbour to fellow-Christians, would contradict both the broad compass of the word itself and the plain teaching of Luke 10:29. And the same width must be given to the words following which support this exhortation. If so, all men are here said to be members of one body. And, in a very real sense, this is true. The whole human race, like a human body, is so joined together that benefit or injury to any one member is done to the whole, and thus indirectly done in some measure to each other member. They who know this have nothing to hide; and will therefore speak the truth. Notice here an application of Paul’s favourite metaphor wider than is found elsewhere in his Epistles.

V. 26. Be ye angry, and sin not-That is, if ye are angry, take heed ye sin not. Anger at sin is not evil; but we should feel only pity to the sinner. If we are angry at the person, as well as the fault, we sin. And how hardly do we avoid it.

Let not the sun go down upon your wrath-Reprove your brother, and be reconciled immediately. Lose not one day. A clear, express command. Reader, do you keep it?

Verse 26. Be ye angry, and sin not] orgizesqe, here, is the same as ei men orgizesqe, IF YE be angry, do not sin. We can never suppose that the apostle delivers this as a precept, if we take the words as they stand in our version. Perhaps the sense is, Take heed that ye be not angry, lest ye sin; for it would be very difficult, even for an apostle himself, to be angry and not sin. If we consider anger as implying displeasure simply, then there are a multitude of cases in which a man may be innocently, yea, laudably angry; for he should be displeased with every thing which is not for the glory of God, and the good of mankind. But, in any other sense, I do not see how the words can be safely taken.

Let not the sun go down upon your wrath] That is: If you do get angry with any one, see that the fire be cast with the utmost speed out of your bosom. Do not go to sleep with any unkind or unbrotherly feeling; anger, continued in, may produce malice and revenge. No temper of this kind can consist with peace of conscience, and the approbation of God’s Spirit in the soul.

Verses 25-27. Wherefore — Since you have been thus taught what is your duty and interest, let it appear in your tempers, words, and works, that there is such a change wrought in them; and that, having received a new nature, you live in a new manner. The apostle now proceeds to caution them against particular sins, to which they had been habituated, and to urge them to the pursuit of particular graces, and the practice of particular virtues, which they had formerly neglected. Putting away lying — Which many of your philosophers have thought allowable, in certain cases; (so Whitby has shown in his note here;) speak every man truth with his neighbour — In your converse with your fellow-creatures; for we are members one of another — By virtue of our union with Christ our common head, to which intimate union, all deceit is quite repugnant. Be ye angry, and sin not — That is, if at any time ye are angry, take heed ye do not sin. We may be angry, as Christ was, and not sin; when he looked round about upon the people with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts; (Mark 3:5;) that is, we may be displeased and grieved at the sin or folly of others, and not sin by being so. Indeed, if we should observe people to do or say what we know to be sinful, or should see them indulging evil tempers and vile affections, and should not be displeased and grieved, we would commit sin. For to be insensible, and without emotion, when we observe God to be dishonoured, his laws violated, his presence, power, and holiness disregarded, and his justice and wrath contemned, certainly manifests a state of soul devoid of all proper religious feeling. But in what sense we may be angry and not sin, see explained more at large in the note on the above-cited text. Let not the sun go down on your wrath — If at any time you be in such a sense angry as to sin — if your anger imply resentment of an injury or affront received, or ill-will and bitterness of spirit, look to God for grace to enable you to suppress this kind of anger or wrath speedily: reprove your brother for the offence he has given you, and be reconciled immediately: lose not one day. A clear, express command this; but, alas! how few observe it. Neither give place to the devil — By delaying to cast the fire out of your bosom; remembering how much that enemy of mankind labours to inflame the spirits of men with mutual animosity, malevolence, and hatred; and, in order thereto, induces them to give ear to slanderous reports and accusations, that he may make their state and character miserable and detestable, like his own.

Ver. 26, 27. Be ye angry, and sin not. All strong passions should be reined with a strong arm. Anger must never supersede the laws of love; otherwise anger is madness. It is safer to be angry with one’s self. — Neither give place to the devil, to let him enter your heart, and foster enmity, like Esau, for twenty years against your brother.

26. Be… angry… sin not—And if there be no sinless anger, this forbids all anger. They are welcome to any anger which violates not this proviso. And no doubt there is a sinless anger. For anger is all adverse emotion in view of any wrong done to ourself or against any law of right, and often suggesting the due punishment of the wrongdoer. The emotion is, in itself, right; is consistent with uninterrupted love; may be proportioned to the object; and it may not break the clear self-possession or Christian serenity of the man. If this be not the case there is reason to suspect sin. If there be a fierce flash of the eye, a loud and forcible utterance, and an unfitting violence of words, very likely the sin not problem has not been well worked out. Sun… wrath—Let the tranquillizing shades of evening compose the excitement of the emotion, even though it be your duty to see that the wrong be righted. When the excitement and the sun have gone down, you will have time to revise and settle if there be not some mistake; and your decisions in view of the fact that you desire to commit yourself into the hands of God in slumber, will be passionless and pure in the sight of God.

Ver. 26.-27. Be angry and sin not: word for word from Psalm 4:4. Grammatically each word conveys an exhortation. But practically the whole force of the exhortation falls upon the second verb. The first exhortation implies that anger may sometimes be right; and is therefore practically permissive. Paul bids us see that our anger be ever joined to sinlessness. Then follow two warnings against dangers which always attend anger. It is always wrong when it becomes an abiding state of mind: and in all danger Satan is near, seeking for entrance.

The sun go down: the solemn close of the day. Even nature, by dividing life into short portions; suggests retrospection as each portion passes. And such retrospection is a safeguard against sinful anger. Your provocation, or any provocation of yours: cognate word in Romans 10:19. It is therefore not necessarily sinful. It denotes a rousing of the emotion of anger.

Give place: as in Romans 12:19. Paul suggests that when anger continues Satan is near; and warns that we be careful not to afford him an opportunity of doing us spiritual harm.

The devil: see under Ephesians 6:11.

V. 27. Neither give place to the devil-By any delay.

Verse 27. Neither give place to the devil.] Your adversary will strive to influence your mind, and irritate your spirit; watch and pray that he may not get any place in you, or ascendancy over you.

As the word diabolov is sometimes used to signify a calumniator, tale-bearer, whisperer, or backbiter; (see in the original, 1 Timothy 3:11; 2 Timothy 3:3, and Titus 2:3;) here it may have the same signification. Do not open your ear to the tale-bearer, to the slanderer, who comes to you with accusations against your brethren, or with surmisings and evil speakings. These are human devils; they may be the means of making you angry, even without any solid pretence; therefore give them no place, that you may not be angry at any time; but if, unhappily, you should be overtaken in this fault, let not the sun go down upon your wrath; go to your brother, against whom you have found your spirit irritated; tell him what you have heard, and what you fear; let your ears be open to receive his own account; carefully listen to his own explanation; and, if possible, let the matter be finally settled, that Satan may not gain advantage over either.

Verses 25-27. Wherefore — Since you have been thus taught what is your duty and interest, let it appear in your tempers, words, and works, that there is such a change wrought in them; and that, having received a new nature, you live in a new manner. The apostle now proceeds to caution them against particular sins, to which they had been habituated, and to urge them to the pursuit of particular graces, and the practice of particular virtues, which they had formerly neglected. Putting away lying — Which many of your philosophers have thought allowable, in certain cases; (so Whitby has shown in his note here;) speak every man truth with his neighbour — In your converse with your fellow-creatures; for we are members one of another — By virtue of our union with Christ our common head, to which intimate union, all deceit is quite repugnant. Be ye angry, and sin not — That is, if at any time ye are angry, take heed ye do not sin. We may be angry, as Christ was, and not sin; when he looked round about upon the people with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts; (Mark 3:5;) that is, we may be displeased and grieved at the sin or folly of others, and not sin by being so. Indeed, if we should observe people to do or say what we know to be sinful, or should see them indulging evil tempers and vile affections, and should not be displeased and grieved, we would commit sin. For to be insensible, and without emotion, when we observe God to be dishonoured, his laws violated, his presence, power, and holiness disregarded, and his justice and wrath contemned, certainly manifests a state of soul devoid of all proper religious feeling. But in what sense we may be angry and not sin, see explained more at large in the note on the above-cited text. Let not the sun go down on your wrath — If at any time you be in such a sense angry as to sin — if your anger imply resentment of an injury or affront received, or ill-will and bitterness of spirit, look to God for grace to enable you to suppress this kind of anger or wrath speedily: reprove your brother for the offence he has given you, and be reconciled immediately: lose not one day. A clear, express command this; but, alas! how few observe it. Neither give place to the devil — By delaying to cast the fire out of your bosom; remembering how much that enemy of mankind labours to inflame the spirits of men with mutual animosity, malevolence, and hatred; and, in order thereto, induces them to give ear to slanderous reports and accusations, that he may make their state and character miserable and detestable, like his own.

Ver. 26, 27. Be ye angry, and sin not. All strong passions should be reined with a strong arm. Anger must never supersede the laws of love; otherwise anger is madness. It is safer to be angry with one’s self. — Neither give place to the devil, to let him enter your heart, and foster enmity, like Esau, for twenty years against your brother.

27. Place… devil—For whom a man in a passion is a very exposed and endangered object.

Ver. 26.-27. Be angry and sin not: word for word from Psalm 4:4. Grammatically each word conveys an exhortation. But practically the whole force of the exhortation falls upon the second verb. The first exhortation implies that anger may sometimes be right; and is therefore practically permissive. Paul bids us see that our anger be ever joined to sinlessness. Then follow two warnings against dangers which always attend anger. It is always wrong when it becomes an abiding state of mind: and in all danger Satan is near, seeking for entrance.

The sun go down: the solemn close of the day. Even nature, by dividing life into short portions; suggests retrospection as each portion passes. And such retrospection is a safeguard against sinful anger. Your provocation, or any provocation of yours: cognate word in Romans 10:19. It is therefore not necessarily sinful. It denotes a rousing of the emotion of anger.

Give place: as in Romans 12:19. Paul suggests that when anger continues Satan is near; and warns that we be careful not to afford him an opportunity of doing us spiritual harm.

The devil: see under Ephesians 6:11.

V. 28. But rather let him labour-Lest idleness lead him to steal again. And whoever has sinned in any kind ought the more zealously to practise the opposite virtue.

That he may have to give-And so be no longer a burden and nuisance, but a blessing, to his neighbours.

Verse 28. Let him that stole steal no more] It is supposed that, among the rabbins, stealing was not entirely discountenanced, provided a portion was given to the poor. The apostle here teaches them a different doctrine: as they should speak truth every man with his neighbour, so they should in every respect act honestly, for nothing contrary to truth and righteousness could be tolerated under the Christian system. Let no man, under pretence of helping the poor, defraud another; but let him labour, working with his hands to provide that which is good, that he may have to give to him who is in necessity. Stealing, overreaching, defrauding, purloining, &c., are consistent with no kind of religion that acknowledges the true God. If Christianity does not make men honest, it does nothing for them. Those who are not saved from dishonesty fear not God, though they may dread man.

Verse 28. Let him that stole — While he was in his heathen condition of ignorance and vice; steal no more — Under a conviction that God is the avenger of all such injuries, 1 Thessalonians 4:6. Stealing, as Macknight justly observes, “is a vice most pernicious to the thief himself. For finding it more easy to supply his necessities by stealing than by working, he falls into a habit of idleness, which, among the lower classes of mankind, is an inlet to all manner of wickedness. Next, the ease with which the thief gets, disposes him to squander thoughtlessly his unjust gain in the gratification of his lusts. Hence such persons are commonly addicted to lewdness and drunkenness.” But rather let him labour — In some honest calling; working with his hands — Which he formerly employed in stealing; the thing which is good — And creditable. The same command the apostle gave to the Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians 3:11, 12; that he may have to give to him that needeth — May be able even to spare something out of what he gains by industry in his calling, for the relief of such as stand in need of it; and so may be no longer a burden and a nuisance, but a blessing to his neighbours. Thus every one who has sinned in any kind, ought the more zealously to practise the opposite virtue.

28. Stole—In the present steals. Steal no more—St. Paul puts the maxim in the general form, so that if there be any one in the Church who does steal he may apply it. Some have been surprised that such a person could be supposed as being in an apostolic Church. But, as Meyer suggests, if there could be a fornicator in the Corinthian Church, there might be a stealer in the Ephesian Church; and, perhaps, apologists for both question how far the laws of marriage and the laws of property were binding under the new Christianity. Dr. Eadie quotes the testimony of Eusebius, showing that throughout the eastern world a man called a thief did not at all resent it. In countries where living is easy, and the standard of living low, the laws of property are easily violated. A Spartan punished his boy who stole, not for his theft, but for his stupidity in being caught, esteeming skill in avoiding detection a greater virtue than honesty in avoiding theft. St. Paul teaches his converts that a Christian, instead of stealing from others, should work, and so be able to give unto others. He must not be a pilferer, but a benefactor. Working with his hands—This, rather than stealing with his fingers: for Paul points out not only the wrong, but more abundantly shows the reverse right. The… good—Instead of the evil, namely, the theft. Laziness is the father of poverty and the grandfather of theft. Men at the present day avoid the labour of the hands, and seek for political office that they may steal plentifully and genteelly. When the standard of living is high, the temptations to theft in such forms are often very powerful, and the crime of embezzlement should be severely punished. Give—For giving, of the result of our honest toil, is a great and honourable Christian virtue. Whether in kindness to the poor, in public endowments of educational institutes, the upbuilding of churches, or the spreading of the Gospel, there is a blessed glory in giving. If at the present day there be prodigality in living and profligacy in stealing, there is also a great and glorious liberality in giving. If this be an age of very bad men it is also an age of very good ones.

Ver. 28. He that steals etc.: a general precept which all Paul’s readers must obey. For Christ bids every sinner to put away his sin. But rather let him labour… that he may have to impart etc.: exact opposite to stealing. To avoid labour, a thief impoverishes others. He must now work that by possessing he may be able to impart, i.e. to give a portion of his own possession, to him that has need. Working with his hands: vivid picture of actual toil. That which is good: in contrast to the evil of theft.

V. 29. But that which is good-Profitable to the speaker and hearers. To the use of edifying-To forward them in repentance, faith, or holiness. That it may minister grace-Be a means of conveying more grace into their hearts. Hence we learn, what discourse is corrupt, as it were stinking in the nostrils of God; namely, all that is not profitable, not edifying, not apt to minister grace to the hearers.

Verse 29. Let no corrupt communication] pas logov saprov. Kypke observes that logov saprov signifies a useless, putrid, unsavoury, and obscene word or conversation. 1. Useless, particularly that which has been rendered so by old age and corruption. 2. Putrid, impure; so Aristophanes in Lysistrat., p. 859, calls a bad woman sapra: emoi su loutron, w sapra. Tune, Spurca! balneum mihi parabis? 3. Calumnious, or reproachful; whatever has a tendency to injure the name, fame, or interest of another. In short, it appears to mean any word or thing obscene, any thing that injures virtue, countenances vice, or scoffs at religion. In the parallel place, Colossians 4:6, the apostle exhorts that our speech may be seasoned with salt, to preserve it from putrefaction. See Kypke and Macknight.

But that which is good to the use of edifying] To be good for a thing is a Græcism, as well as an Anglicism, for, to be fit, proper, suitable, &c.; so Achilles Tatius, lib. iv. p. 231: a gaqon eiv filian oida se. I know thee to be good (formed) for friendship. And Appian, de Bell. Hisp., p. 439, terms both the Scipios, andrav ev panta agaqouv genomenouc, men who were good (suitable) for all things. And also Lucian, in Toxari, p. 53: ou monon ara toxeuein agaqoi hsan skuqai. The Scythians were not good (expert) in archery only. See Kypke, from whom I quote. That it may minister grace] iJna dw carin. This may be understood thus: 1. Let your conversation be pure, wise, and holy, that it may he the means of conveying grace, or Divine influences, to them that hear. 2. Let it be such as to be grateful or acceptable to the hearers. This is the meaning of iJna dw carin in some of the most correct Greek writers. Never wound modesty, truth, or religion with your discourse; endeavour to edify those with whom you converse; and if possible, speak so as to please them.

Verses 29, 30. Let no corrupt communication — Or discourse, dictated by corruption in the heart of the speaker, and tending to corrupt the minds or manners of hearers; proceed out of your mouth — At any time, or on any occasion. The original expression, logov saprov, is literally, rotten or putrid speech; that is, speech offensive to the hearers, or calculated to infect them with sin; and is in direct opposition to that which is seasoned with salt, and is recommended (Colossians 4:6) as tending to preserve persons from corruption. The apostle does not merely include in this expression obscene discourse of every kind, but also all flattery, calumny, railing, boasting, tale-bearing, backbiting, commendations of vice and impiety, profane jestings on religion, its ministers and professors, trifling conversation; and, indeed, all discourse that is not either about necessary business, or, as the next clause expresses it, is not good to the use of edifying — Calculated to instruct, direct, reprove, encourage, excite to duty, comfort, or in some way edify and minister grace to the hearers. And grieve not — By any act of disobedience, particularly by any kind of corrupt discourse, or by any of the following sins; the Holy Spirit of God — The original expression is very emphatical, to Pneuma, to agion, tou Qeou, the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, of God. Grief is ascribed to the Holy Spirit here metaphorically; for, strictly speaking, he is incapable of pain or disquiet of any kind. But he acts, on the occasion referred to, as men do who are grieved. And the purport of the caution is, Do not cause him, by any sinful temper, word, or work, to withdraw from you, as a friend does whom you grieve by unkind or improper behaviour. The expression conveys a strong idea of the love which the Holy Spirit bears to men in general, and to the disciples of Christ in particular; and of his desire to promote their salvation. Whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption — The time when you shall receive the redemption of your bodies from the grave; (Romans 8:23;) shall be acquitted at the judgment-seat of Christ, fully delivered from all the consequences of sin, and made perfectly and unchangeably happy: the day when your redemption will be fully completed. See note on Ephesians 1:13.

29. Corrupt—Literally, putrid, rotten, as a dead animal or vegetable body: figuratively, any indecent or debasing communication. The “idle word,” (Matthew 12:36, where see note,) the “vain words” of 5:6, are worthless talk: this is disgusting language, as ribaldry and filthiness, which some persons think it no sin to use. While all prudery should be avoided, every Christian should disuse all degrading indecency of language. But— Again showing the reverse right. Edifying—Building up in knowledge, virtue, or piety.

Ver. 29. Every corrupt (or bitter) word: put conspicuously first as the serious matter of this prohibition.

Out of your mouth: graphic delineation of speech, revealing the inappropriateness of such talk from the lips of Christians. Then the prohibition: let it not go forth.

But if any discourse be good etc.: the contrasted positive exhortation. For edification: i.e. tending to build-up the spiritual life, and thus to supply the need (same word as above) of men. A further purpose, explaining the foregoing words, is that it may give grace to the hearers, i.e. convey to them the favour of God and its consequent benefits. In James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5; Psalm 84:11; Exodus 3:21, God gives grace. This last passage denotes the favour towards Israel wrought by God in the hearts of the Egyptians. The others refer to His own favour with which God enriches the lowly: a meaning practically the same as here.

V. 30. Grieve not the Holy Spirit-By any disobedience. Particularly by corrupt discourse; or by any of the following sins. Do not force him to withdraw from you, as a friend does whom you grieve by unkind behaviour.

The day of redemption-That is, the day of judgment, in which our redemption will be completed.

Verse 30. Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God] By giving way to any wrong temper, unholy word, or unrighteous action. Even those who have already a measure of the light and life of God, both of which are not only brought in by the Holy Spirit, but maintained by his constant indwelling, may give way to sin, and so grieve this Holy Spirit that it shall withdraw both its light and presence; and, in proportion as it withdraws, then hardness and darkness take place; and, what is still worse, a state of insensibility is the consequence; for the darkness prevents the fallen state from being seen, and the hardness prevents it from being felt. Whereby ye are sealed] The Holy Spirit in the soul of a believer is God’s seal, set on his heart to testify that he is God’s property, and that he should be wholly employed in God’s service. It is very likely that the apostle had in view the words of the prophet, Isaiah 63:10: But they rebelled, and VEXED his HOLY SPIRIT; therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and fought against them. The psalmist refers to the same fact in nearly the same words, Psalm 78:40: How oft did they PROVOKE him in the wilderness, and GRIEVE him in the desert! Let every man, therefore, take heed that he grieve not the Spirit of God, lest God turn to be his enemy, and fight against him.

Verses 29, 30. Let no corrupt communication — Or discourse, dictated by corruption in the heart of the speaker, and tending to corrupt the minds or manners of hearers; proceed out of your mouth — At any time, or on any occasion. The original expression, logov saprov, is literally, rotten or putrid speech; that is, speech offensive to the hearers, or calculated to infect them with sin; and is in direct opposition to that which is seasoned with salt, and is recommended (Colossians 4:6) as tending to preserve persons from corruption. The apostle does not merely include in this expression obscene discourse of every kind, but also all flattery, calumny, railing, boasting, tale-bearing, backbiting, commendations of vice and impiety, profane jestings on religion, its ministers and professors, trifling conversation; and, indeed, all discourse that is not either about necessary business, or, as the next clause expresses it, is not good to the use of edifying — Calculated to instruct, direct, reprove, encourage, excite to duty, comfort, or in some way edify and minister grace to the hearers. And grieve not — By any act of disobedience, particularly by any kind of corrupt discourse, or by any of the following sins; the Holy Spirit of God — The original expression is very emphatical, to Pneuma, to agion, tou Qeou, the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, of God. Grief is ascribed to the Holy Spirit here metaphorically; for, strictly speaking, he is incapable of pain or disquiet of any kind. But he acts, on the occasion referred to, as men do who are grieved. And the purport of the caution is, Do not cause him, by any sinful temper, word, or work, to withdraw from you, as a friend does whom you grieve by unkind or improper behaviour. The expression conveys a strong idea of the love which the Holy Spirit bears to men in general, and to the disciples of Christ in particular; and of his desire to promote their salvation. Whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption — The time when you shall receive the redemption of your bodies from the grave; (Romans 8:23;) shall be acquitted at the judgment-seat of Christ, fully delivered from all the consequences of sin, and made perfectly and unchangeably happy: the day when your redemption will be fully completed. See note on Ephesians 1:13.

Ver. 30. Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God. Neither by levity, nor foolish conversation; nor by unhallowed tempers of bitterness and wrath, nor by any unholy passion, or criminal reveries of the mind. Quench not the Spirit, when he draws you to secret and public duties. For when the Spirit is grieved, he hides himself as in a cloud, and leaves the offender, in some sort, under his frowns. He must ever be in your heart what he was in the beginning, the Spirit of grace and supplication, the life, the light, and joy of your soul. It is the Spirit of God that adorns you with all the graces of the heavenly family. He seals you with the beautiful image and name of God: and would you mar and deface that image, to indulge in the folly and sin of any evil propensity? Rather keep the seal perfect in all its marks and configurations, till the day when your bodies shall rise from the tomb.

30. And—Caution as to the consequences of the putrid communication. There is a pure, a Holy Spirit who hears. Grieve not—It is not only a pure Spirit, but a tender, a sensitive Spirit: for all pure natures are sensitive. The modest spirit cannot bear indecency; the pure spirit cannot bear foulness: and the divine Spirit is here said to be grieved because such lips utter such words, before it is angry. Its grief, amazement, and horror precede its wrath and departure. Ye are sealed—Repetition of same image as 1:13, (where see note,) of a spirit-seal to the day of redemption, 1:14, typified by attainment of Canaan, and exhibited in the central verse, 1:10. The danger of apostasy is exemplified by this allusion to Israel, who “rebelled, and vexed his Holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy.” Isaiah 63:10. For the Spirit bestowed upon us is itself the seal, 1:13, and so the departure of the Spirit is the withdrawal of the seal. By that withdrawal they were sealed over to a reverse destiny. The pedantic remark of Riddle (in Schaff’s Lange) that the words imply a “logical possibility of falling” while “the more theological and soteriological statements preclude such a possibility,” seems an attempt to overrule the apostle’s purpose with his own dogma. There is not a statement in the Bible that would “preclude such a possibility.” Nor is there any reason, from experience, to doubt that such apostasies often occur in human history. Dr. Eadie says it is an appeal to their love, and not to their fear, and asks: “Which of the twain is the stronger appeal? And this is the question we put as our reply to Alford and Turner.” We answer: The appeal is made to both their love and their fear; and which is the stronger, an appeal to one or both? And so all the encouragements and warnings of Scripture are equally sincere, and by attracting to a real reward and determining by a real danger (not a factitious “logical possibility”) would, by a double force, gain us to a happiness we may freely forfeit. And that is our reply to Dr. Eadie.

Ver. 30. A fifth prohibition.

The Holy Spirit of God: full and solemn title.

Grieve: literally cause-sorrow-to: same word several times in 2 Corinthians 2:2-5; 7:8, 9. It is here a strong anthropomorphism. They who resist the Spirit and thus provoke His displeasure are here said to cause Him sorrow. Only thus can we conceive the influence of man’s sin upon the mind of God. If it stood alone, this phrase would not in itself necessarily imply that the Spirit of God is a Person distinct from the Father. For it might be understood as a mere circumlocution for Him. But when we have learnt this doctrine from John 16:13; Matthew 28:19, (see under 1 Corinthians 12:11,) it sheds new light upon, and thus receives confirmation from, these words.

Ye were sealed: same phrase in same connection and sense in Ephesians 1:13.

Redemption: as in Ephesians 1:14; Romans 8:23. The great day will be a final and complete deliverance of the servants of Christ, and in this sense a day of redemption. And the gift of the Spirit has that day in view: sealed for the day etc. God has given to believers the Holy Spirit that in their hearts. He may be a divine testimony that in the day of days they will be rescued from death and the grave. Now all sin tends to deface that seal and thus to destroy this divine attestation. Consequently, this last prohibition contains a strong motive for obedience to those foregoing.

V. 31. Let all bitterness-The height of settled anger, opposite to kindness, Ephesians 4:32.

And wrath-Lasting displeasure toward the ignorant, and them that are out of the way, opposite to tenderheartedness.

And anger-The very first risings of disgust at those that injure you, opposite to forgiving one another.

And clamour-Or bawling. "I am not angry," says one; "but it is my way to speak so." Then unlearn that way: it is the way to hell.

And evil speaking-Be it in ever so mild and soft a tone, or with ever such professions of kindness. Here is a beautiful retrogradation, beginning with the highest, and descending to the lowest, degree of the want of love.

Verse 31. Let all bitterness] pasa pikria. It is astonishing that any who profess the Christian name should indulge bitterness of spirit. Those who are censorious, who are unmerciful to the failings of others, who have fixed a certain standard by which they measure all persons in all circumstances, and unchristian every one that does not come up to this standard, these have the bitterness against which the apostle speaks. In the last century there was a compound medicine, made up from a variety of drastic acrid drugs and ardent spirits, which was called Hiera Picra, iera pikra, the holy bitter; this medicine was administered in a multitude of cases, where it did immense evil, and perhaps in scarcely any case did it do good. It has ever appeared to me to furnish a proper epithet for the disposition mentioned above, the holy bitter; for the religiously censorious act under the pretence of superior sanctity. I have known such persons do much evil in a Christian society, but never knew an instance of their doing any good.

And wrath] qumov is more properly anger, which may be considered the commencement of the passion.

Anger] orgn is more properly wrath-the passion carried to its highest pitch, accompanied with injurious words and outrageous acts, some of which are immediately specified.

And clamour] kraugh Loud and obstreperous speaking, brawling, railing, boisterous talk, often the offspring of wrath; all of which are highly unbecoming the meek, loving, quiet, sedate mind of Christ and his followers.

And evil speaking] blasfhmia. Blasphemy; that is, injurious speaking-words which tend to hurt those of whom or against whom they are spoken.

With all malice] kakia. All malignity; as anger produces wrath, and wrath clamour, so all together produce malice; that is, settled, sullen, fell wrath, which is always looking out for opportunities to revenge itself by the destruction of the object of its indignation. No state of society can be even tolerable where these prevail; and, if eternity were out of the question, it is of the utmost consequence to have these banished from time.

Verses 31, 32. Let all bitterness — Of disposition or expression, or, as some render the word, all peevishness; and wrath — Or indignation, as qumov seems here to signify; that is, anger mingled with contempt or disgust; the next expression in the original, orgh, rather signifying wrath, or lasting displeasure; and clamour — Loud threatenings, brawlings, or other intemperate speeches, whereby inward anger vents itself. And evil speaking — Mentioning the faults of absent persons, be it in ever so mild and soft a tone, or with ever such professions of kindness; with all malice — Every unkind disposition, every temper contrary to love. Here appears to be a beautiful retrogradation, beginning with the highest and descending to the lowest degree of the want of love. Or perhaps, as Dr. Doddridge observes, “it was not the apostle’s intention that a different idea should be annexed to each different word here used: Possibly it might only be his intention, in amassing so many almost synonymous expressions together, to show that he would have them to be on their guard against all the malevolent passions, and those outrages of speech and expression which they tend to produce. And the like remark may be applied to many other passages of Scripture, and particularly to those where all kinds of lewdness are forbidden in such a variety of phrase and language.” And be ye kind one to another — Courteous and obliging in your daily deportment; tender-hearted — Greek, eusplagcnoi, tenderly compassionate; especially toward those that are in any affliction or distress; forgiving one another the injuries done, or supposed to be done you; even as God — Showing himself kind and tender-hearted in the highest degree; for Christ’s sake — Through his atonement and intercession, by which God could exercise his mercy to you in a way consistent with his holiness and justice; hath forgiven you — Such inexcusable and heinous injuries and affronts, as are infinitely greater than any which it is possible for you to receive from your fellow-creatures.

31. Bitterness—The climax of wrathful terms in this verse, rising to clamour, sounds like a reminiscence of the uproar of the Ephesian mob. Acts 19. Bitterness—This is a permanent state of virulent temper, which easily swells up into wrath and then breaks forth in anger. Then may follow outcry or clamour of the individual or the mob. This is the way of a turbulent state of society, ready for tumult. All—This climactic rise of violence the Christian in Ephesus must put away. And this is, as Dr. Eadie happily styles it, “a genealogy of bad passions,” each begetting its successor to the end of the fierce chapter. All—Having their base and fountain in the final kakia, (translated malice,) that is, badness, a full, deep, cherished depravity of nature, deepened by unrestrained indulgence. And this fearful Ephesian picture is an example to avoid, which our apostle will complete by a counter picture for a Christian Church in Ephesus in the following verse.

Ver. 31. A compact group of prohibitions. Notice its comprehensiveness: all… all.

Bitterness: cognate to a word in Colossians 3:19; see note. Fury and anger: see under the same words in Colossians 3:8. Clamour: a loud or earnest cry. Same word in Acts 23:9; Matthew 25:6; Hebrews 5:7. Both anger and clamour so easily pass the bounds of right that the words are, as here, often used in a bad sense.

Railing… badness: as in Colossians 3:8, in the same connection. This last term is separated from the others as generic and inclusive. Ver. 32.-Ch. 5. Ver. 2. A group of closely allied positive exhortations, inserted as a conspicuous contrast among these warnings against sin. Become: in contrast to put away from you. It implies that the readers are not yet what Paul desires them to be.

Compassionate: literally, good-hearted.

Forgiving each other: as in Colossians 3:13, where the same motive is given.

God forgave you: (cp. Colossians 2:13:) as the ultimate source of the grace of pardon. But it reaches us in Christ, i.e. through the facts of His human life and through inward union with Him. Outside of Christ there is no forgiveness from God.

V. 32. As God, showing himself kind and tenderhearted in the highest degree, hath forgiven you.

Verse 32. Be ye kind one to another] ginesqe-crhstoi. Be kind and obliging to each other; study good breeding and gentleness of manners. A Christian cannot be a savage, and he need not be a boor. Never put any person to needless pain.

Tender-hearted] eusplagcnoi. Compassionate; having the bowels easily moved (as the word implies) to commiserate the state of the wretched and distressed.

Forgiving one another] Should you receive any injury from a brother, or from any man, be as ready to forgive him, on his repentance and acknowledgment, as God was, for Christ’s sake, to forgive you when you repented of your sins, and took refuge in his mercy.

1. THE exhortations given in this chapter, if properly attended to, have the most direct tendency to secure the peace of the individual, the comfort of every family, and the welfare and unity of every Christian society. That God never prohibits any thing that is useful to us, is an unshaken truth. And that he never commands what has not the most pointed relation to our present and eternal welfare, is not less so. How is it, then, that we do not glory in his commandments and rejoice in his prohibitions? If the gratification of our fleshly propensities could do us good, that gratification had never been forbidden. God plants thorns in the way that would lead us to death and perdition.

2. From the provision which God has made for the soul’s salvation, we may see the nature, and in some sense the extent, of the salvation provided. Much on this subject has been said in the preceding chapter, and the same subject is continued here. God requires that the Church shall be holy, so that it may be a proper habitation for himself; and he requires that each believer should be holy, and that he should, under the influences of his grace, arrive at the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ! Ephesians 4:13. This is astonishing; but God is able to make all grace abound towards us.

3. It is the will of God that Christians should be well instructed; that they should become wise and intelligent; and have their understandings well cultivated and improved. Sound learning is of great worth, even in religion; the wisest and best instructed Christians are the most steady, and may be the most useful. If a man be a child in knowledge, he is likely to be tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine; and often lies at the mercy of interested, designing men: the more knowledge he has, the more safe is his state. If our circumstances be such that we have few means of improvement, we should turn them to the best account. “Partial knowledge is better than total ignorance; he who cannot get all he may wish, must take heed to acquire all that he can.” If total ignorance be a bad and dangerous thing, every degree of knowledge lessens both the evil and the danger. It must never be forgotten that the Holy Scriptures themselves are capable of making men wise unto salvation, if read and studied with faith in Christ.

4. Union among the followers of Christ is strongly recommended. How can spiritual brethren fall out by the way? Have they not all one Father, all one Head? Do they not form one body, and are they not all members of each other? Would it not be monstrous to see the nails pulling out the eyes, the hands tearing off the flesh from the body, the teeth biting out the tongue, &c., &c.? And is it less so to see the members of a Christian society bite and devour each other, till they are consumed one of another? Every member of the mystical body of Christ should labour for the comfort and edification of the whole, and the honour of the Head. He that would live a quiet life, and keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, must be as backward to take offence as to give it. Would all act on this plan (and surely it is as rational as it is Christian) we should soon have glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace and good will among men.

5. A roughness of manners is to some unavoidable; it is partly owing to the peculiar texture of their mind, and partly to their education. But there are others who glory in, and endeavour to cultivate, this ungentle disposition; under this is often concealed a great degree of spiritual pride, and perhaps some malignity; for they think that this roughness gives them a right to say grating, harsh, and severe things. They should be taught another lesson; and if they will not demean themselves as they ought, they should be left to themselves, and no man should associate with them. They are not Christians, and they act beneath the character of men.

EPHESIANS

Verses 31, 32. Let all bitterness — Of disposition or expression, or, as some render the word, all peevishness; and wrath — Or indignation, as qumov seems here to signify; that is, anger mingled with contempt or disgust; the next expression in the original, orgh, rather signifying wrath, or lasting displeasure; and clamour — Loud threatenings, brawlings, or other intemperate speeches, whereby inward anger vents itself. And evil speaking — Mentioning the faults of absent persons, be it in ever so mild and soft a tone, or with ever such professions of kindness; with all malice — Every unkind disposition, every temper contrary to love. Here appears to be a beautiful retrogradation, beginning with the highest and descending to the lowest degree of the want of love. Or perhaps, as Dr. Doddridge observes, “it was not the apostle’s intention that a different idea should be annexed to each different word here used: Possibly it might only be his intention, in amassing so many almost synonymous expressions together, to show that he would have them to be on their guard against all the malevolent passions, and those outrages of speech and expression which they tend to produce. And the like remark may be applied to many other passages of Scripture, and particularly to those where all kinds of lewdness are forbidden in such a variety of phrase and language.” And be ye kind one to another — Courteous and obliging in your daily deportment; tender-hearted — Greek, eusplagcnoi, tenderly compassionate; especially toward those that are in any affliction or distress; forgiving one another the injuries done, or supposed to be done you; even as God — Showing himself kind and tender-hearted in the highest degree; for Christ’s sake — Through his atonement and intercession, by which God could exercise his mercy to you in a way consistent with his holiness and justice; hath forgiven you — Such inexcusable and heinous injuries and affronts, as are infinitely greater than any which it is possible for you to receive from your fellow-creatures.

32. The and shows that this verse, together with Ephesians 5:1, 2, is the completion of 31, as 30 is of 29. The therefore of the next verse, Ephesians 5:1, does not imply transition to a new paragraph. Be ye— Rather, become ye. Thisdoes not imply, as Alford and Braune (Schaff’s Lange) imply, any particular late transgression in these respects by the Ephesian Christians, but only that their transition from Gentilism to a perfect Christianity was a perfecting process, a becoming. Kind—The Greek word that so nearly resembled Christ (Chrestos) that pagans confounded it and Christians boasted it. Note on Acts 18:2. As God— All in common had been forgiven, and could, therefore, mutually forgive. And in the two following verses St. Paul carries out into striking detail this following our divine model, God.