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The apostle having exhorted the Ephesians to a strict unity and concord amongst themselves next proceeds to enforce his exhortation with several arguments; and there are no fewer than seven summed up in the three verses now before us.
1. Says the apostle, there is one body, that is, one universal church, whereof ye are all members.
2. There is one Spirit, by which ye are all animated and enlivened, and therefore keep the unity of the Spirit.
3. There is one hope of eternal life, by which we are all excited. Our inheritance in heaven is the same; God doth not give one a double portion, or a parti-coloured coat above another; but it is called an inheritance in light, because all alike are partakers of it, and sharers in it: the saints have all one hope, therefore should have all but one heart.
4. One Lord Jesus Christ, the head of his church, the Saviour of the body, one whom we all profess to serve and obey: Be ye therefore one, for your Lord is one.
5. There is one faith: that is, either one grace of faith whereby we believe, or one doctrine of faith which is believed; ye all believe in one and the same Saviour, and are justified by him after one and the same manner; therefore be ye also one; one in affection as well as one in belief.
6. There is one baptism, one door by which we all enter into the church; both Jew and Gentile, bond and free, rich and poor, they are all one in Christ Jesus, and by one Spirit baptized into one body.
7. One God and Father of all things. And of all persons in Christ, whom we all expect one and the same salvation from. And this God is transcendently above all, and over all: his eye penetrates and pierces through you all, and he is in and among you all, as in his holy temple; therefore such as endeavour to divide you, do as much as in them lies to divide God himself that dwells in you.
This then is the sum of the apostle's argument: Seeing ye are all members of one body, partakers of one Spirit: expectants of one hope, having one Lord and common Saviuor, one faith and belief, one and the same baptism in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and one and the same God and Father in Christ; seeing you are one in all these particulars, be one among yourselves, and endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
From the whole learn, That so many are the obligations, so strong the bonds and ties, which lie upon all the members of the church to be at unity among themselves, of one judgment, and of one heart; that such as violate these bonds, and culpably divide and separate themselves from communion with their brethern, Christ looks upon them no longer as members of his body, but as having rent and torn themselves from it.