The following is my translation of the notes and useful applications for the Epistle Reading for the Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity, Ephesians 4:1–6, as they are found in Das Weimarische Bibelwerk (1877). Square brackets indicate my own notes and additions. For the useful applications, I recommend the reader see this very helpful article by Dr. Benjamin T. G. Mayes.
I. An admonition toward unity. (v. 1–6)
Annotated Text
1. So I now admonish you (my beloved Ephesians), I, the prison in the Lord * (for the sake of the confession of Christ), that you walk (lead such a life) as is proper to your calling into which you were called (as your Christianity, to which you have been called by God through the Gospel, requires),
(Ephesians 3:1; Philippians 1:27; Colossians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 2:12)
* Greek: Alternatively, “I admonish you thus, as a prisoner,” or “I, who am (now) imprisoned in the Lord Christ (that is, for Christ’s sake).” The words “in Christ” refer to the exhortation, which agrees better with Ephesians 3:21.
2. with * all humility and meekness (that you be humble without pride, and friendly without murmuring), with patience (at the same being patient in suffering), and bearing with one another in love (from love, let each regard the other’s faults in the best way; from which love humility, meekness, patience and other virtues ought to spring forth),
* Acts 20:19; Colossians 3:12
3. And be diligent to keep (to guard) the * unity of the Spirit (the concord of the minds in the good, which arises from the Holy Spirit)** through the bond of peace (which ought to bind all of you together).
* 1 Corinthians 12:13 (Acts 4:32; Romans 12:18; 1 Peter 3:11)
** However, this comes from the love of Christ, and is therefore called the “bond of perfection” (Colossians 3:14), the like of which is not to be expected from any natural concord.
4. * One body (indeed, all of you together are members of a spiritual body) and one Spirit (indeed, all of together are ruled and guided by one Spirit), as you also (through the Gospel) were called into a single hope of your calling (you all together have a single calling, and all hope for eternal salvation, Romans 8:24).
* Romans 12:5 (Ephesians 1:18; 1 Corinthians 12:4ff.)
5. One * Lord (there is one Lord for you all, namely Christ, the head of this spiritual body, who has not only created you, but also redeemed you with His blood to be His own possession), one faith (you have a single confession of faith), one baptism (you have been reborn through one baptism, baptized by one Spirit into one body, and made to drink of one Spirit, 1 Corinthians 12:13).
* Deuteronomy 6:4; 1 Corinthians 8:4, 6 (1 Corinthians 12:3; 2 Peter 1:1)
6. * One God and Father (of us) all (we all together have one God and father in heaven), who is over you all (He has authority to command you all), and through you all (He works all good in you), and in you all (He dwells in all of you. The Father is the first person, who is over all, and from Him are all things; the Son is the second person, who is through all, he fulfills all in all, v. 10; the Holy Spirit is the third person, who is in all, Romans 11:36, since the inhabited world is full of the Spirit of the Lord, Wisdom 1:7).
* Malachi 2:10; 1 Corinthians 12:6
Useful Applications
I. CORRECTION: Toward Christian love and peaceableness; because we are one spiritual body, are governed by one Spirit, have one and the same hope of eternal life, there is one Lord of us all, we have one faith, one baptism, there is one God and Father of us all (v. 3–6).
PATTERN OF SOUND WORDS 