Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

Ephesians 4:5

εἷς Κύριος, μία πίστις, ἓν βάπτισμα : one Lord, one faith, one baptism. “One Lord,” that is Christ, He alone and He for all equally whether Gentile or Jew. “One faith,” i.e., one belief having Him as its object; πίστις having here its usual subjective sense of saving trust, not = that which is believed, the Christian doctrine or creed (Grot.) a meaning which is at the best very rare in the NT and not quite certain even in most of the passages usually cited in support of it (Acts 6:7; Galatians 1:23; 1 Timothy 1:4; 1 Timothy 1:19; 1 Timothy 2:7; 1 Timothy 4:1; 1 Timothy 4:6; 1 Timothy 5:8; 1 Timothy 6:10; 1 Timothy 6:21), but most probable in Judges 3:20. “One baptism” the rite, one and the same for all, by which believers in Christ are admitted into the fellowship of His Church, and which is described as “into Christ” (Romans 6:3; Galatians 3:27), into His name (Acts 10:38; Acts 10:48; Acts 19:5), into the “name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost” (Matthew 28:19). No mention is made of the Lord's Supper. This is the more remarkable in view of the fact that elsewhere it is referred to as a token of unity (1 Corinthians 10:17). Various explanations of the omission have been given e.g., the desire to preserve the rhythmical form of the sentence, together with the fact that the Lord's Supper did not as yet stand by itself, but was combined with ordinary Christian meals (Mey.); the fact that it was more a representation than a condition of unity (De Wette); the consideration that it is not like baptism an initial, fundamental rite, but one that comes to be observed after admission (Harl.). None of these reasons can be called satisfactory, nor have we the materials for an adequate explanation.

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Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

Ephesians 4:5

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