e 1 Cor. 16. 20. 2 Cor. 13. 12. 1 Thess. 5. 26. 1 Pet. 5. 14. f 2 Thess. 3 6, 14. 1 Tim. 6. 3. Ιουλίαν, Νηρέα καὶ τὴν ἀδελφὴν αὐτοῦ, καὶ Ὀλυμπᾶν, καὶ τοὺς σὺν αὐτοῖς πάντας ἁγίους. 16 e ai Ασπάσασθε ἀλλήλους ἐν φιλήματι ἁγίῳ. Ασπάζονται ὑμᾶς αἱ ἐκκλησίαι πᾶσαι τοῦ Χριστοῦ. f 17 Παρακαλῶ δὲ ὑμᾶς, ἀδελφοὶ, σκοπεῖν τοὺς τὰς διχοστασίας καὶ τὰ σκάν118.3, 5, 6. δαλα παρὰ τὴν διδαχὴν ἣν ὑμεῖς ἐμάθετε ποιοῦντας, καὶ ἐκκλίνατε ἀπ ̓ αὐτῶν Tit. 2 John 10. g Phil. 3. 18, 19 h Matt. 10. 16. ch. 1. 8. 1 Cor. 14. 20. 1 Gen. 3. 15. k Acts 13. 1. & 16. 1. & 17. 5. & 20. 4. 1 Thess. 3. 2. I Tim. 1. 2. 1 Acts 19. 22. I Cor. 1. 15. 2 Tim. 4. 20. Tàs 18 * οἱ γὰρ τοιοῦτοι τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν Χριστῷ οὐ δουλεύουσιν, ἀλλὰ τῇ ἑαυτῶν κοιλίᾳ, καὶ διὰ τῆς χρηστολογίας καὶ εὐλογίας ἐξαπατῶσι τὰς καρδίας τῶν ἀκάκων· 19 η ἡ γὰρ ὑμῶν ὑπακοὴ εἰς πάντας ἀφίκετο· ἐφ' ὑμῖν οὖν χαίρω, θέλω Sè vμâs σopoùs μèv eîvai eis tò ảyaðòv, åkepaíovs dè els tò kakóv. 20 'Ο δὲ Θεὸς τῆς εἰρήνης συντρίψει τον Σατανᾶν ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας ὑμῶν ἐν τάχει. Η χάρις τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ μεθ ̓ ὑμῶν. k 22 21 κ Ασπάζεται ὑμᾶς Τιμόθεος ὁ συνεργός μου, καὶ Λούκιος, καὶ Ιάσων, καὶ Σωσίπατρος, οἱ συγγενεῖς μου· ἀσπάζομαι ὑμᾶς ἐγὼ Τέρτιος ὁ γράψας τὴν ἐπιστολὴν ἐν Κυρίῳ· 23 ' ἀσπάζεται ὑμᾶς Γάϊος ὁ ξένος μου καὶ τῆς ἐκκλησίας Hermes). And one of these names (Hermas) was retained by the writer of the Ecclesiastical book entitled the Пouny, or 'Shepherd,' still extant-whom Origen and others suppose to be the Hermas here mentioned by St. Paul. But this is not probable, for the Author of that book was brother of Pius, Bishop of Rome, A.D. 150 (Canon Muratorian.). Every thing was to be appropriated and consecrated by Christianity. Heathen Temples and Basilicas were to become Christian Churches. A Phoebe (the name of Diana) is a Deaconess of the Church, and a bearer of the Epistle of St. Paul to the Christians at Rome. The names Nereus and Hermes are christianized. The ship called Castor and Pollux brings the Apostle to Rome. See on Acts xxviii. 11. How striking is the contrast between Tryphana and Tryphosa, with their sensuous meaning and voluptuous sound, and the sterner words that follow, τὰς κοπιώσας ἐν Κυρίῳ, labouring in the Lord ! This is a consideration which may serve to remove the scruples of those who cannot prevail on themselves to conform to the common use of the names of the Months of the Year or Days of the Week, because they are derived from Heathen deities or men. Rather, these names, like the appellations in this chapter, have their appropriate uses, as mementos of the sin and misery from which the World has now been delivered, and of the privileges it enjoys under the blessed influence of the Gospel. 16. év qiλhμati ȧyiw] with a holy kiss; especially given in the Church at the Holy Eucharist. See Origen here, and Justin, Apol. ii. p. 97. Athenag. Legat. p. 36. Aug. c. lit. Petil. ii. 22. Cyril. Catech. 5. Cp. Bingham, XV. iii., and note on 1 Thess. v. 26. A very suitable direction, after the exhortations to the Gentile and Jewish Christians in this Epistle, to Christian love, to be sealed with a kiss of peace at the Lord's Table, after hearing this Epistle read in the Church. The precept is repeated twice by St. Paul to the Corinthians (1 Cor. xvi. 20. 2 Cor. xiii. 12), for whom the epithet ayiov was specially needful. In the latter place, S. Chrysostom has some excellent remarks on the sanctification of the lips by the reception of the Holy Eucharist, and on the consequent duty to keep the lips pure from all taint of evil. – αἱ ἐκκλησίαι πᾶσαι] πᾶσαι is omitted by Elz., but found in the best MSS. St. Paul, the Apostle of the Gentiles, speaks in the name of all the Churches-having the care of them all. (2 Cor. xi. 28.) 17. σKOTE] mark them-have your eye upon them-as a helmsman has his eye upon a rock; and steer aside from them. Cp. on Jude 17. On the duty of shunning those who impugn the fundamentals of the Gospel, see Waterland on the Trinity (c. 4), who quotes 1 Cor. v. 5. Gal. i. 8, 9, and Gal. v. 12, in that sense, and 1 Tim. vi. 2-5. 2 Tim. ii. 16-18. Tit. iii. 10. 2 John 10, 11. 18. XpT] Elz. prefixes 'Inooû, not in A, B, C. Koiλia-Kapoias] they are slaves of their own bellies, and deceive the hearts of others. 20. συντρίψει τὸν Σατανᾶν] will bruise Satan under your feet quickly. Satan now rules at Rome, but the Seed of the woman has bruised the Serpent's head, according to the first prophecy in Holy Scripture. (Gen. iii. 15.) After the recent perversion of that prophecy, in the Papal Decree on the Immaculate Conception Rome, Dec 8, 18541, wherein this act of bruising the Serpent's head is applied to the Virgin Mary, as her special prerogative, it is not irrelevant to cite the following testimony to the truth, from the pen of the learned Romanist Commentator, Cornelius A Lapide, in his note here (Rom. xvi. 20): "Alludit Apostolus ad Genes. iii. 15, ut directè habent Hebraica Hic, id est Ipsum Semen, sive Proles mulieris, putà CHRISTUS, conteret caput tuum.” IPSE W35 How is the And so the ancient Bishop of Rome, Leo I. (Serm. de Nativ. ii.), and S. Jerome in his Version of Gen. iii. 15. See his Quæst. Hebr. in Gen. iii. 15; and the masculine there before Popes Sixtus V. and Clement VIII. Church of Rome changed since St. Paul wrote this Epistle to it! (i. 8.) How is the gold become dim, and the fine gold changed: (Lam. iv. 1.) Ἡ χάρις τοῦ Κυρίου] The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. St Paul's own subscription, written with his oơn hand in all his Epistles. See on 1 Thess. v. 28. Heb. xiii. 25. It is repeated in v. 24, where however A, B, C omit it. 21. Ασπάζεται] So A, B, C, D*, F, G. Elz. ἀσπάζονται. Tiμóleos-Zwσimaтpos] Timothy, and Sosipater, or Sopater, of Beroa, were with St. Paul at Corinth when he wrote this Epistle, and accompanied him from it as far as Asia. (Acts XX. 2. 4.) This Epistle to the Romans is almost the only letter of St. Paul, at the writing of which Timothy is known to have been present, and in which he is not joined with St. Paul in the opening address. St. Paul had not been at Rome, but he was the Apostle of the Gentiles, and so had a divine commission to address the metropolis of the Gentile world; which Timothy bad not. Timothy was afterwards with him at Rome in his first imprisonment, and is associated with him in his Epistles written from Rome to the Colossians, Philemon, and the Philippians. See also Heb. xiii. 23; and he was probably also at Rome with him at his second imprisonment and martyrdom. (2 Tim. iv. 9. v. 21.) Aоúkios] Perhaps St. Luke the Evangelist (Origen), who was with St. Paul at this time (Acts xx. 5; cp. on 2 Cor. vin. 18, and accompanied him afterwards to Rome (Acts xxviii. 16) in his first imprisonment there (Col. iv. 14. Philemon 24); and also in his second imprisonment just before his death. (2 Tim. iv. 11.) On the double form of proper names in the New Testament, see above on Acts xv. 22, and Winer, p. 93. -'Idowv] Cp. Acts xvii. 5. 22. TépTios] Tertius. St. Paul employs a secretary, bearing s Roman name, to write to the Romans. The words Kupio are to be connected with what immediately precedes. (Origen.) The work of an amanuensis, as well as of an Apostle, may be done, and ought to be done è Kupís—it is as a labour of love "in the Lord." See above on r. 9, "Tertius ad gloriam Dei scribit, et ideò in Domino scribit." Origen. On St. Paul's habit of writing his Epistles by secretaries, see above on 1 Thess. v. 28. 2 Thess. iii. 17. Gal. vi. 11. 23. Fáïos] Caius. See on 1 Cor. i. 14. According to some, the first Bishop of Thessalonica. Cp. Tillemont, i. 103. ὅλης· ἀσπάζεται ὑμᾶς Εραστος ὁ οἰκονόμος τῆς πόλεως, καὶ Κούαρτος ὁ ἀδελφός. 26 * Η χάρις τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ μετὰ πάντων ὑμῶν· ἀμήν. m m ch. 1. 5. & 15. 18. Eph. 1. 9. Col. 1. 26. & 2 2. 25 " Τῷ δὲ δυναμένῳ ὑμᾶς στηρίξαι κατὰ τὸ εὐαγγέλιόν μου καὶ τὸ κήρυγμα τ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, κατὰ ἀποκάλυψιν μυστηρίου χρόνοις αἰωνίοις σεσιγημένου, Tim. 10. ** φανερωθέντος δὲ νῦν, διά τε γραφῶν προφητικῶν, κατ ̓ ἐπιταγὴν τοῦ αἰωνίου 1, 20. Θεοῦ, εἰς ὑπακοὴν πίστεως εἰς πάντα τὰ ἔθνη γνωρισθέντος, 27 ° μόνῳ σοφῷ με 13.15. Θεῷ, διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ᾧ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας· ἀμήν. - Epaoтos & oikovóμos Tĥs nóλews] Erastus the Quæstor | of the City, probably Corinth,-in which City St. Paul was,-or at its harbour Cenchreœ (v. 1), when he wrote this Epistle. (2 Tim. iv. 20.) Erastus, having a financial office at Corinth, was a fit person to be employed by St. Paul in collecting alms in Greece. He appears to have been sent by St. Paul from Ephesus to Macedonia for that purpose (cp. Acts xix. 21, 22), but having an official position, he was not, it seems, able to leave Greece to go with St. Paul to Asia and Jerusalem, with some who are here mentioned, e. g. Timotheus and Sopater. See Acts xx. 4. Cp. Birks, p. 255. Kovapros] Quartus, a Roman name: ὁ ἀδελφὸς, your brother. 24. Ἡ χάρις — ἀμήν] See above on v. 20. 25-27. Τῷ δὲ δυναμένῳ—ἀμήν] This Doxology is placed here in B, C, D, E, and also in N, and some Cursive MSS., and in Vulg., Copt., Ethiop., and other Versions, and Latin Fathers. But it is inserted at the end of Chapter xiv., in the great majority of Cursive MSS., and in the Greek Lectionaries and Fathers. It is found both there and here, in A, and a few Cursives. It is omitted by D**, F, G, and was rejected by Marcion. (Origen vii. p. 453.) The Editors are divided as to its position. Among those who maintain its claim to stand here, are Erasmus, Stephens, Beza, Bengel, Koppe, Knapp, Rinck, Lachm., Scholz, De Wette, Tischendorf, Philippi, Meyer, Alford. Some few Editors and Commentators, Mill, Wetstein, Griesbach, Matthiæ, Eichhorn, would remove it to the end of Chapter xiv.; and two or three deny its genuineness. The genuineness of this Doxology is substantiated by external and internal evidence. Even the involved structure of the sentence, which is such as an interpolator would scarcely have hazarded, is an argument in its favour. It was probably trans Jude 24. n John 1. 1. 1 Tim. 1. 17. Jude 25. posed, or rejected, in the first instance, by some who thought that the words in v. 24 marked the close of this Epistle, as of others from St. Paul's hands. Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my Gospel, and the doctrine preached of Jesus Christ, according to the Revelation of the Mystery, which had been kept secret in all past ages (see Tit. i. 2. 2 Tim. i. 9. Matt. xxv. 46), but hath been now made manifest (in the Gospel), and through the Scriptures of the Prophets made known unto all Nations, according to the commandment of the Eternal God, for their obedience to the Faith. See i. 5. This concluding sentence contains the kernel of the doctrine of the whole Epistle (see on i. 3, and Introduction, pp. 197-201), namely, that God had decreed-even before the world began(and therefore long antecedently to the Cali of Abraham, and to the giving of the Levitical Law) to unite all Nations in one Church Universal by Faith in Christ; and that this Divine Decree was kept secret from former ages, though the way had been prepared for its manifestation by the Prophetical Scriptures of the Old Testament, and is now, at length, in the fulness of time, revealed to all in the Gospel. See below, Eph. iii. 3-9. Col. i. 26. 2 Tim. i. 9, 10. The way for this Evangelical Revelation had been quietly prepared by the Prophetical Scriptures. According to Bengel's comparison, there was in the Old Testament the silent movement of the hands of the Clock; but it sounded forth the Hour with an audible voice in the Gospel. 1 i. e. μóvy oop Oe, To the only wise God, agreeing with T duvauéve, at the beginning of the sentence, which is resumed by, to whom through Jesus Christ be glory for ever. Amen. On this anacoluthon, see Winer, p. 501. Gal. ii. 6. In a less impassioned strain he would have written aur. See xi. 36, and particularly Eph. iii. 20, 21, which is the best exposition of this passage, and may have given occasion to the transfer. VOL. II.-PART III. NN INTRODUCTION TO THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. I. On the Design and Contents of the EPISTLE to the EPHESIANS. Ir has been observed by ancient Authors', that the Epistle to the Ephesians stands pre-eminent among St. Paul's Epistles in the sublimity of its revelations of supernatural truths, which could never have been discovered by any efforts of human Intelligence. I. This peculiar characteristic of the Epistle to the Ephesians may be ascribed to several causes— (1) St. Paul had already resided for about three years at Ephesus, and had fully preached the Gospel there, so that "all that dwelt in Asia" (that is, the region of which the capital was Ephesus) "heard the word of the Lord Jesus" (Acts xix. 8-10; xx. 31). In no city, as far as we know, had the Apostle resided and taught continuously for so long a time as Ephesus. The Ephesians, therefore, had been well prepared by previous discipline to receive the full and systematic instruction in the Mysteries of the Gospel, which is embodied in this Epistle. They were specially qualified to do so. (2) Besides, the City of Ephesus occupied a prominent place among the Cities of the World, as having special needs and claims on the Apostle of the Gentiles for such instruction from him. Ephesus was the stronghold of Satan in many forms of spiritual iniquity. It was like a Court and Camp of the Evil One. Thither he had attracted the inhabitants of "Asia and the World'” by the mysterious traditions of an ancient superstition, and by the alluring fascinations of religious pomp and pageantry, and by the no less powerful operations of selfish interests and secular advan tages, represented in the combination of Demetrius and his craftsmen', deriving their wealth from trading and trafficking in the workshop of Idolatry; and there he reigned supreme in the magnificent Temple of the Ephesian Artemis. At Ephesus also he deluded mankind by sorcery and witchcraft. There he beguiled them into converse with himself, and allured them to hold familiar intercourse and communion with the powers of darkness, in order to attain a knowledge of the hidden secrets of the invisible world, and to penetrate into the mysteries of futurity. The immense amount of the price of the Magical Books committed to the flames at Ephesus in consequence of St. Paul's teaching there, is specified by his friend and companion St. Luke', in 1 Chrys. in Prooem. ad Ephes., orl vonμáτwv μeσth † 'ETσTOAǹ vλwv kal doyuárov. And he explains this circumstance from the fact that the Ephesians had been already well instructed in the Articles of the Christian Faith: Aéyera de Kal Tà Baθύτερα τῶν νοημάτων αὐτοῖς ἐμπιστεῦσαι ἅτε δὴ κατηχημένοις. A very just observation, and affording a sufficient answer to those who have argued, from the absence of salutations and personal notices in the Epistle to the Ephesians, that either the Epistle is not correctly inscribed to the Ephesians in our present editions of it, or could not have been written by St. Paul, who had personally resided and preached at Ephesus for about three years. (Acts xix. 8-10; xx. 31.) On the contrary, this Epistle evidently assumes (as Chrysostom remarks) that they to whom it was addressed had been already well schooled in the doctrines of Christianity. The great Gentile Church of Ephesus had been planted and watered by the Apostle of the Gentiles, St. Paul, as is evident from the Acts of the Apostles, xviii. 19; xix. 8—10; xx. 31. In like manner S. Jerome says, "In hanc potissimam Epis tolam ignota sæculis sacramenta congessit." And on Eph... Nulla Epistola Pauli tanta habet mysteria tam reconaitis sen sibus involuta." And on chap. iv., "Inter omnes Pauli Epistolas hæc vel maximè et verbis et sensibus involuta." Jerome (11 Præf. in Epist. ad Ephes.). 2 Acts xix. 27. 3 See on Acts xix. 31. order to give some notion of the powerful dominion exercised by Satan over the minds of that populous, wealthy, commercial, intellectual City, by means of Magical Arts'. (3) Hence it was requisite, that in an Epistle to such a City as Ephesus the Apostle of the Gentiles should reveal the true character of the Spiritual Powers of Darkness, under whose thraldom the Heathen World was enslaved, and should lead men to recognize the dignity and blessedness of that intellectual, moral, and spiritual Emancipation which had been achieved for them by Jesus Christ. The Apostle, therefore, having his spiritual eye illumined by heavenly light, uplifts the veil which separates the Visible World from the Invisible; and enables mankind to contemplate the workings of the two antagonistic Powers, of the Kingdom of Light on the one side, and of the Empire of Darkness on the other. (v. 8.) This is a part of his design in this Epistle; and on the groundwork of the supernatural truths, here communicated as objects of Faith, he builds up a superstructure of moral duties, as subjects of Practice. He executes this great task in a manner adequate to its dignity, grandeur, and importance. His diction in this Epistle bespeaks the transcendent sublimity of the Doctrines which he here reveals. Especially in the dogmatic portion of it, occupying the greater part of the first four Chapters, his style breathes the poetic raptures of an impassioned effusion of Sacred Poetry, like a Divine Dithyramb. It burns with an impassioned fervour kindled by the Holy Spirit, Who descended in tongues of fire on the day of Pentecost. It grows and spreads itself with irresistible power in a spiritual conflagration. Or, to use another figure, its sentences flow on, as it were, in the full strong tide, wave after wave, of an immense and impetuous sea, swayed by a powerful wind, and brightened and sparkling with the golden rays of a rising Sun 3. It is worthy of observation, that although the subject of this Epistle is of so sublime and mysterious a character, and though the language is characterized by a majestic grandeur, and by a poetic and even lyrical tone, yet the whole management of the argument is methodical and systematic, such as might have been looked for in a philosophical Essay on Christian Faith and Practice. Indeed, the Divine Apostle, while revealing in this Epistle the most mysterious supernatural truths, displays in a signal manner a marvellous combination of calm Judgment, temperate Reason, comprehensive Intelligence, tender Affections, and fervid Imagination. II. Let us now consider the plan of the Epistle. The Apostle has his eye fixed on the Great Author of all things, the Fountain of being and blessedness, the Everlasting Father of all. He reveals Him existing before the world, and he reveals to us ourselves existing in the Divine mind and counsel, and as chosen by the Divine love in the unspeakable riches of His Grace, and appointed by the pleasure of His Will for adoption into sonship in Christ". He proclaims the Divine purpose to sum up all things in Christ, the Son of God, the King and Lord of Angels; in Christ, God of God, becoming Man, and so, by His Incarnation, uniting Angels and Men under one Head, in One universal Church in Heaven and Earth. He teaches us to behold God in Christ taking human flesh, and dying in that flesh on the Cross; and thus reconciling God to Man by the offering of Himself a willing Victim for the World, and so destroying the enmity between God and men, and making peace®. He displays Christ on the same Cross reconciling man to man, by fulfilling and taking away the Law of Levitical Ordinances, which separated the Jews from Gentiles, who were aliens from the life of God, and without God in the world', and joining together all, as One New Man, in Himself*; and thus fully revealing the Mystery, which even the Angels themselves had not known, that the Gentiles would be made fellow-heirs of the promise, and be united together in the Body of Christ. He raises our eyes to Christ dying for us all, and redeeming us from the power, and guilt, and punishment of sin by the ransom there paid, and from the bondage of Satan; and also purchasing for us an eternal and heavenly inheritance by the infinite value of His precious Blood poured out for us on the Cross. He leads us to contemplate ourselves in Christ, by reason of His Incarnation. He shows us ourselves delivered, by virtue of His Death, from the debasing dominion of the Powers of the Air and of the Satanic Spirits of Darkness, and made children of light in the Lord, as members of His Church, formed from His most precious side pierced on the Cross for us. He unfolds the glory and blessedness of the Church, taken from that side, as Eve was taken from Adam when he slept, and being no other than bone of His bone, and flesh of His flesh,-the Spouse of Christ'. He represents us, as members of Him, Who, as God consubstantial with the Father, fills all things by His Godhead, and Who, as God-Man, by reason of His Birth, His Death, Burial, Descent into Hell, and Ascension into Heaven, fills all things, and has made us whose Nature He has taken, and whose Nature He wears, to be partakers of His own fulness, and has united us in Himself to God, and Who, as our Head, has quickened us His members by His own free Grace, who before were dead in trespasses and sins, and has raised us from the Dead, and has carried us up with Himself into Heaven, and has made us to sit with Himself in heavenly places3, and has given us access in Himself by one Spirit to the Father'. He declares to us also the instrumental means by which these blessings of mystical incorporation in Christ are conveyed to us and to the whole race of Mankind. He declares that Christ has instituted a Visible Society, His Church Universal, which is to continue for ever in the World; that this Society is One Body, animated by One Spirit, and to be known by the worship of One Lord, by the profession of One Faith, and by the administration of One Baptism; that Christ "loved the Church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the Word ';" and that after His Ascension into Heaven, He gave spiritual gifts to men, and that He gave certain offices, the highest of which is that of Apostles, "for the perfecting of the Saints, and the building up of the body of Christ, till we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man," that is, to the ripeness of spiritual manhood, "to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ"." He refers, therefore, to the practice of the Holy Apostles; and He teaches us that in the instrumental means employed by them for the maintenance of the Life and Unity, and for the expansion of the growth and stature, of the Church, and for the full development of her organization, we may see an exhibition of the mind of Christ Himself in the dispensation of those gifts and graces which He bestows by the operation of the Holy Ghost for that purpose, even to the end of time. Thus, then, we may recognize in the Epistle to the Ephesians a divinely-inspired System of Instruction concerning the Origin, and Institution, and purposes of the Universal Church of Christ. This is the dogmatic design of the Epistle. III. In the second, or ethical, portion of it, the Apostle proceeds to show that this spiritual Teaching, revealing the transcendental doctrines and sublimest Mysteries of our Faith concerning the Eternal Love, and Prescience, and Purpose of God the Father toward Man in the Incarnation of His Dear Son, and in delivering Him up to die for the sins of the whole World, and in summing up all things in Him, and in reconciling all things to Himself in Him dying on the Cross, descending into Hell, ascending into Heaven, and sitting on His own Right Hand in Glory, and sending the Gift of the Holy Ghost from heaven, and in uniting all men as fellow-members and as sons of God by adoption in Christ, in an Universal Church foreknown and predestined from Eternity, is not a mere scholastic thesis of speculative Philosophy, but is the very root and mainspring of all true Christian Practice. He reminds us, that by reason of our Baptismal incorporation in the mystical Body of Christ, which is His Church, and by our fellowship with one another in Him, we are bound to abstain from lying, and to speak the truth, for "we are members one of another "." |