ajnec. ajll .] Latt. supportantes ( sustinentes, sufferentes ), forbearing one another in the case of real grievances: Col. 3:13. The motto of Epictetus was ajnevcou kai; ajpevcou (Aul. Gell. 17.19). The nom. is used for the accus. as the entreaty passes into a command (comp. Col. 1:10). Such exhortations point to the fact that even in the Apostolic Church faults of self-assertion and occasions of offence existed.
3. But, while there is need of forbearance in the Christian, there is need of effort also. We must give diligence to keep the unity of the spirit. As yet there was no outward organisation binding together local Churches. Their unity lay in their common vital relation to Christ, maintained by the spiritual sympathy which held together the members of each Church. External peace tends to guard this inner fellowship.
spoudavzonte"
] 2 Tim. 2:15; Heb. 4:11; 2 Pet. 1:10; 3:14.
th;n eJn. t. pn
.]
the unity of the spirit.
The phrase is ambiguous. It may mean either the unity which finds expression in the human spirit, or the unity which is inspired by the Holy Spirit. In the end the two thoughts are coincident; for the unity which rules man's spirit cannot but be a gift of the Spirit of GOD. Yet the parallel of Eph. 4:13
th;n eJn. th'" pivstew"
, the only other place where
eJnovth"
occurs in the N.T., is in favour of the first interpretation. Unity in the faith which we hold corresponds with unity in the spirit by which we are animated. Oneness in the faith and the knowledge of Christ must issue in oneness of spirit.
In Col. 3:14 love is spoken of as the bond of perfectness, but it is not possible to suppose that St Paul used such a periphrasis as the bond of peace for love itself. Peace itself is the bond; for this use of the
gen.
see Eph. 6:14. The destruction of peace is self-seeking (
pleonexiva
).
2. The unity and harmonious growth of the Christian Society, that Body of which Christ is the Head
(4-16).
Having spoken of the unity of the spirit, the keeping of which is the aim of Christian effort, St Paul seems to pause for a while, and then, moved by the greatness of the thought, he thinks, as it were, aloud and lays open a view of the unity of the whole Christian society, first in its objective foundation (4-6) and then in the provision for its vital realisation (7-16).
The whole paragraph is essentially parenthetical, and the line of thought in vv. 1-3 is resumed in vs. 17.
4. There is one body and one spirit, even as also ye were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism; 6 one GOD and Father of all, Who is over all and through all and in all.
7. But to each one of us was the grace given according to the measure of the gift of the Christ. 8 Wherefore the Psalmist saith
When He ascended on high He led a host of captives in His train
,
And gave gifts unto men.
9.
Now the
statement
He ascended, what is it but that He descended
[first]
into the lower parts of the earth?
10 He that descended, He Himself is also He that ascended far above all the heavens, that He might bring all things to their completeness.
11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers
,
12 with a view to the perfecting of the saints for a work of ministering, for building up the Body of Christ
,
13 till we all attain unto the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of GOD, unto a full-