Commentary on Galatians Ephesians Philippians Colossians Thessalonians Timothy Titus and Philemon John Calvin
CHAPTER 4
attention. The first is what has now been stated. All the life or health which is diffused through the members flows from the head; so that the members occupy a subordinate rank. The second is, that, by the distribution made, the limited share of each renders the communication between all the members absolutely necessary. The third is, that, without mutual love, the health of the body cannot be maintained. Through the members, as canals, is conveyed from the head all that is necessary for the nourishment of the body. While this connection is upheld, the body is alive and healthy. Each member, too, has its own proper share, --- according to the effectual working in the measure of every part.
Lastly, he shows that by love the church is edified, --- to the edifying of itself in love. This means that no increase is advantageous, which does not bear a just proportion to the whole body. That man is mistaken who desires his own separate growth. If a leg or arm should grow to a prodigious size, or the mouth be more fully distended, would the undue enlargement of those parts be otherwise than injurious to the whole frame? In like manner, if we wish to be considered members of Christ, let no man be anything for himself, but let us all be whatever we are for the benefit of each other. This is accomplished by love; and where it does not reign, there is no ``edification,'' but an absolute scattering of the church.
Ephesians 4:17-19
Ephesians 4:17-19
17. This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind;
17. Hoc ergo dico et testificor in Domino, ne ambuletis amplius, quemadmodum et gentes reliquae ambulant,
18. Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
18. In vanitate mentis suae, excaecatae in intelligentia, alienatae a vita Dei propter ignorantiam, quae in illis est, propter caecitatem cordis earum;
19. Who, being past feeling, have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
19. Quae postquam dolore tangi desierunt, seipsas tradiderunt lasciviae, ad perpetrandam omnem immunditiam cum aviditate.
17. This I say therefore. That government which Christ has appointed for the edification of his church has now been considered. He next inquires what fruits the doctrine of the gospel ought to yield in the lives of Christians; or, if you prefer it, he begins to explain minutely the nature of that edification by which doctrine ought to be followed.
That ye henceforth walk not in vanity. He first exhorts them to renounce the vanity of unbelievers, arguing from its inconsistency with their present views. That those who have been taught in the school of Christ, and enlightened by the doctrine of salvation, should follow vanity, and in no respect differ from
John Calvin those unbelieving and blind nations on whom no light of truth has ever shone, would be singularly foolish. On this ground he very properly calls upon them to demonstrate, by their life, that they had gained some advantage by becoming the disciples of Christ. To impart to his exhortation the greater earnestness, he beseeches them by the name of God, --- this I say and testify in the Lord, 160 --- reminding them, that, if they despised this instruction, they must one day give an account.
As other Gentiles walk. He means those who had not yet been converted to Christ. But, at the same time, he reminds the Ephesians how necessary it was that they should repent, since by nature they resembled lost and condemned men. The miserable and shocking condition of other nations is held out as the motive to a change of disposition. He asserts that believers differ from unbelievers; and points out, as we shall see, the causes of this difference. With regard to the former, he accuses their mind of vanity: and let us remember, that he speaks generally of all who have not been renewed by the Spirit of Christ.
In the vanity of their mind. Now, the mind holds the highest rank in the human constitution, is the seat of reason, presides over the will, and restrains sinful desires; so that our theologians of the Sorbonne are in the habit of calling her the Queen. But, Paul makes the mind to consist of nothing else than vanity; and, as if he had not expressed his meaning strongly enough, he gives no better title to her daughter, the understanding. Such is my interpretation of the word {διανοία}; for, though it signifies the thought, yet, as it is in the singular number, it refers to the thinking faculty. Plato, about the close of his Sixth Book on a Republic, assigns to {διανοία} an intermediate place between {νόησις} and {πίστις} but his observations are so entirely confined to geometrical subjects, as not to admit of application to this passage. Having formerly asserted that men see nothing, Paul now adds, that they are blind in reasoning, even on the most important subjects.
Let men now go and be proud of free-will, whose guidance is here marked by so deep disgrace. But experience, we shall be told, is openly at variance with this opinion; for men are not so blind as to be incapable of seeing anything, nor so vain as to be incapable of forming any judgment. I answer, with respect to the kingdom of God, and all that relates to the spiritual life, the light of human reason differs little from darkness; for, before it has pointed out the road, it is extinguished; and its power of perception is little else than blindness, for ere it has reached the fruit, it is gone. The true principles held by the human mind resemble sparks; 161 but these are choked by the depravity of our nature,
160"{Μαρτύρομαι} {ἐν} {κυρίῳ} --- In this sense {μαρτύρομαι} is obviously used by Polybius: {συνδαραμόντων} {δὲ} {τῶν} {ἐγχωρίων} {καὶ} {μαρτυρομένων} {τοὺς} {ἄνδρας} {ἐπανάγειν} {ἐπὶ} {τὴν} {ἀρχήν}, when the inhabitants had run together and besought to bring the men to the magistrates. It is more customary to use {διαμαρτύρομαι} in this sense. {Πολλὰ} {γὰρ} {τῶν} {κυβερνητῶν} {διαμαρτυρομένων} {μὴ} {πλεῖν} {παρὰ} {τὴν} {ἔξω} {πλευρὰν} {τὢς} {Σικελίας}, because the pilots earnestly implored them not to sail along the opposite coast of Sicily.'' --- Raphelius.
161"Il y a bien en l'esprit de l'homme des principes et maximes veritables, qui sont commes estincelles." "There are, in the mind of man, many true principles and maxims, which resemble sparks."