Homily XI.
Ephesians iv. 4–7
“There is one body, and one Spirit, even as also ye were called in one hope of your calling;
one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through
all, and in all. But unto each one of us was the grace given according to the measure of the
gift of Christ.”
The love Paul requires of us is no common love, but that which cements us together,
and makes us cleave inseparably to one another, and effects as great and as perfect a union
as though it were between limb and limb. For this is that love which produces great and
glorious fruits. Hence he saith, there is “one body”; one, both by sympathy, and by not op-
posing the good of others, and by sharing their joy, having expressed all at once by this figure.
He then beautifully adds, “and one Spirit,” showing283 that from the one body there will be
one Spirit: or, that it is possible that there may be indeed one body, and yet not one Spirit;
as, for instance, if any member of it should be a friend of heretics: or else he is, by this ex-
pression, shaming them into unanimity, saying, as it were, “Ye who have received one
Spirit, and have been made to drink at one fountain, ought not to be divided in mind”; or
else by spirit here he means their zeal. Then he adds, “Even as ye were called in one hope
of your calling,” that is, God hath called you all on the same terms. He hath bestowed
nothing upon one more than upon another. To all He hath freely given immortality, to all
eternal life, to all immortal glory, to all brotherhood, to all inheritance. He is the common
Head of all; “He hath raised all” up, “and made them sit with Him.” (Eph. ii. 6.) Ye then
who in the spiritual world have so great equality of privileges, whence is it that ye are high-
minded? Is it that one is wealthy and another strong? How ridiculous must this be? For tell
me, if the emperor some day were to take ten persons, and to array them all in purple, and
seat them on the royal throne, and to bestow upon all the same honor, would any one of
these, think ye, venture to reproach another, as being more wealthy or more illustrious than
he? Surely never. And I have not yet said all; for the difference is not so great in heaven as
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here below we differ. There is “one Lord, one faith, one baptism.”284 Behold “the hope of
your calling. One God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all.” For can
it be, that thou art called by the name of a greater God, another, of a lesser God? That thou
283 [“The ἕν σῶμα means the totality of Christians as the corpus (Christi) mysticum; comp. Eph. ii. 16; Rom.
xii. 5; 1 Cor. x. 17. The ἕν πνεῦμα is the Holy Spirit, the spirit of the corpus mysticum; comp. Eph. ii. 18; 1 Cor.
xii. 13. The explanation, ‘one body and one soul,’ is excluded, as at variance with the context by the specifically
Christian character of the other elements, and rendered impossible by the correct supplying of ἐστί (and not ‘ye
ought to be’).”—Meyer.—G.A.]
284 [Note the triad of trinities:— - one body. 1. The Church: - one spirit. - one hope. - one Lord. 2. Christ: -
one faith. - one baptism. - over all. 3. God: - through all. - in all. —Meyer, substantially.—G.A.]
Ephesians 4:4-7
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Ephesians 4:4-7