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From: Ephesians 4:1-6
A Call to Unity
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Commentary:
1-16. The second part of the letter points out certain practical consequences of
the teaching given earlier. The underlying theme of the previous chapters was the
revelation of the “mystery” of Christ — the calling of all men, Gentiles and Jews, to
form a single people, the Church. The second part of the letter begins with an ap-
peal to maintain the unity of the Church in the face of factors making for division —
internal discord (vv. 1-3), misuse of the different gifts or charisms with which Christ
endows individuals (v. 7), and the danger of being led astray by heretical ideas (v.
14). Against this, St Paul teaches that the Church’s unity is grounded on the one-
ness of God (vv. 4-6), and that Christ acts with full authority in the building up of
his body, through its various ministries (vv. 8-13) and through its members’ solida-
rity (vv. 14-16).
1. The exhortation begins by stating a general principle: a Christian’s conduct
should be consistent with the calling he has received from God.
Enormous consequences flow from the fact of being called to form part of the
Church through Baptism: “Being members of a holy nation,” St. Escriva says,
“all the faithful have received a call to holiness, and they must strive to respond
to grace and to be personally holy [. . .]. Our Lord Jesus Christ, who founds the
holy Church, expects the members of this people to strive continually to acquire
holiness. Not all respond loyally to his call. And in the spouse of Christ there are
seen, at one and the same time, both the marvel of the way of salvation and the
shortcomings of those who take up that way” (”In Love with the Church”, 5-6).
Speaking about incorporation into the Church, which is the way of salvation, Va-
tican II exhorts Catholics to “remember that their exalted condition results, not
from their own merits, but from the grace of Christ. If they fail to respond in
thought, word and deed to that grace, not only shall they not be saved, but they
shall be the more severely judged (see Lk 12:48: ‘everyone to whom much is gi-
ven, of him will much be required’; cf. Mt 5:19-20; 7:21-22; 25:41-46; Jas 2:14)”
(”Lumen Gentium”, 14).
2-3. The virtues which the Apostle lists here are all different aspects of charity
which “binds everything together in perfect harmony” (Col 3:14) and is the mark
of the true disciple of Christ (cf. Jn 13:35). Charity originates not in man but in
God: “it is a supernatural virtue infused by God into our soul by which we love
God above everything else for his own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for
love of God” (”St Pius X Catechism”, 898). In its decree on ecumenism the Se-
cond Vatican Council shows the perennial relevance of these words of St Paul:
“There can be no ecumenism worthy of the name without interior conversion.
For it is from interior renewal of mind (cf. Eph 4:23), from self-denial and unstin-
ted love, that desires of unity take their rise and develop in a mature way. We
should therefore pray to the Holy Spirit for the grace to be genuinely self-deny-
ing, humble, gentle in the service of others and to have an attitude of brotherly
generosity toward them” (”Unitatis Redintegratio”, 7).
Charity is basic to the building up of a peaceful human society. ‘The conscious-
ness of being trespassers against each other goes hand in hand with the call to
fraternal solidarity, which St Paul expressed in his concise exhortation to ‘forbear
one another in love’. What a lesson of humility is to be found here with regard to
man, with regard both to one’s neighbor and to oneself! What a school of good
will for daily living, in the various conditions of our existence!” (Bl. John Paul II,
“Dives In Misericordia”, 14).
The peace which unites Christians is the peace which Christ brings, or rather it
is Christ himself (cf. 2:14). By having the same faith and the same Spirit, “all find
themselves”, says St John Chrysostom, “brought together in the Church — old
and young, poor and rich, adult and child, husband and wife: people of either sex
and of every condition become one and the same, more closely united than the
parts of a single body, for the unity of souls is more intimate and more perfect
than that of any natural substance. However, this unity is maintained only by ‘the
bond of peace’. It could not exist in the midst of disorder and enmity.... This is a
bond which does not restrict us, which unites us closely to one another and does
not overwhelm us: it expands our heart and gives us greater joy than we could
ever have if we were unattached. He who is strong is linked to the weaker one to
carry him and prevent him from falling and collapsing. Does the weak person feel
weak?: the stronger person tries to build up his strength. ‘A brother helped is like
a strong city’, says the wise man (Prov 18: 19)” (”Hom. on Eph, 9, ad loc”.).
Union of hearts, affections and intentions is the result of the action of the Holy
Spirit in souls, and it makes for effectiveness and strength in apostolate.
“Do you see? One strand of wire entwined with another, many woven tightly to-
gether, form that cable strong enough to lift huge weights.
“You and your brothers, with wills united to carry out God’s will, can overcome
all obstacles” (St. J. Escriva, “The Way”, 480).
4-6. To show the importance of unity in the Church, and the theological basis of
that unity, St Paul quotes an acclamation which may well have been taken from
early Christian baptismal liturgy. It implies that the unity of the Church derives
from the unicity of the divine essence. The text also reflects the three persons
of the Blessed Trinity who are at work in the Church and who keep it together —
one Spirit, one Lord, one God and Father.
There is “only one” Holy Spirit, who brings about and maintains the unity of
Christ’s mystical body; and there is “only one” such body, the Church: “After be-
ing lifted up on the cross and glorified, the Lord Jesus pours forth the Spirit whom
he had promised, and through whom he has called and gathered together the peo-
ple of the New Covenant, which is the Church, into a unity of faith, hope and chari-
ty, as the Apostle teaches us (Eph 4:4-5; Gal 3:27-28) [...] It is the Holy Spirit,
dwelling in believers and pervading and ruling over the entire Church, who brings
about that wonderful communion of the faithful and joins them together so intima-
tely in Christ, for he [the Spirit is the principle of the Church’s unity” (Vatican II,
“Unitatis Redintegratio”, 2). All Gentiles as well as Jews are called to join this
Church; all, therefore, share the one single hope — that of being saints which is
implied in the vocation they have received.
Recognition of there being only one Lord, who is head of the mystical body, un-
derlines the unity that should obtain among all the many members of this single
body. All its members are solidly built on Christ when they confess “only one”
faith — the faith that he taught and which the Apostles and the Church have ex-
pressed in clear statements of doctrine and dogma. “There can be only one faith;
and so, if a person refuses to listen to the Church, he should be considered, so
the Lord commands, as a heathen and a publican (cf. Mt 18:17)” (Pius XII, “Mys-
tici Corporis”, 10). All Christians have also received only one Baptism, that is, a
Baptism by means of which, after making a profession of faith, they join the other
members of the Church as their equals. Since there is only “one Lord, one faith,
one baptism,” “there is a common dignity of members deriving from their rebirth
in Christ, a common grace as sons, a common vocation to perfection, one sal-
vation, one hope and undivided charity. In Christ and in the Church there is, then,
no inequality arising from race or nationality, social condition or sex, for ‘there is
neither Jew nor Greek; there is neither slave nor free; there is neither male nor
female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus’ (Gal 3:28; cf. Col 3:11)” (Vatican II,
Lumen Gentium”, 32).
God, the Father of all, is, in the last analysis, the basis of the natural unity of
mankind. Pope Pius XII, after recalling that the sacred books tell us that all the
rest of mankind originated from the first man and woman, and how all the various
tribes and peoples grew up which are scattered throughout the world, exclaimed,
“This is a wonderful vision which allows us to reflect on the unity of mankind: all
mankind has a common origin in the Creator, as we are told, ‘one God and father
of us all’ (Eph 4:6); moreover, all men and women share one and the same nature:
all have a material body and an immortal and spiritual soul” (”Summi Pontificatus”,
18). God is “above all”: his lordship and control over things means that he is the
author and maintainer of their unity. Throughout history he has acted “through all”
his children, that is, believers, whom he has used to bring about unity among men
and over all created things. And he dwells “in all” the faithful, for they belong to
him; even the deepest recesses of their hearts are his.
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.