1Cor 10:17, 12:13, Eph 4:5 | JFB | e4.org | 17. one bread —rather, "loaf." One loaf alone seems to have been used in each celebration. and one body —Omit "and"; "one loaf [that is], one body." "We, the many (namely, believers assembled; so the Greek ), are one bread (by our partaking of the same loaf, which becomes assimilated to the substance of all our bodies; and so we become), one body" (with Christ, and so with one another). we . . . all

‏ 1 Corinthians 10:17

17. one bread—rather, "loaf." One loaf alone seems to have been used in each celebration.

and one body—Omit "and"; "one loaf [that is], one body." "We, the many (namely, believers assembled; so the Greek), are one bread (by our partaking of the same loaf, which becomes assimilated to the substance of all our bodies; and so we become), one body" (with Christ, and so with one another).

we . . . all—Greek, "the whole of us."

‏ 1 Corinthians 12:13

13. by . . . Spirit . . . baptized—literally, "in"; in virtue of; through. The designed effect of baptism, which is realized when not frustrated by the unfaithfulness of man.

Gentiles—literally, "Greeks."

all made to drink into one Spirit—The oldest manuscripts read, "Made to drink of one Spirit," omitting "into" (Joh 7:37). There is an indirect allusion to the Lord's Supper, as there is a direct allusion to baptism in the beginning of the verse. So the "Spirit, the water, and the blood" (1Jo 5:8), similarly combine the two outward signs with the inward things signified, the Spirit's grace.

are . . . have been—rather as Greek, "were . . . were" (the past tense).

‏ Ephesians 4:5

5. Similarly "faith" and "baptism" (the sacramental seal of faith) are connected (Mr 16:16; Col 2:12). Compare 1Co 12:13, "Faith" is not here that which we believe, but the act of believing, the mean by which we apprehend the "one Lord." "Baptism" is specified, being the sacrament whereby we are incorporated into the "one body." Not the Lord's Supper, which is an act of matured communion on the part of those already incorporate, "a symbol of union, not of unity" [ELLICOTT]. In 1Co 10:17, where a breach of union was in question, it forms the rallying point [ALFORD]. There is not added, "One pope, one council, one form of government" [Cautions for Times]. The Church is one in unity of faith (Eph 4:5; Jude 3); unity of origination (Eph 2:19-21): unity of sacraments (Eph 4:5; 1Co 10:17; 12:13): unity of "hope" (Eph 4:4; Tit 1:2); unity of charity (Eph 4:3): unity (not uniformity) of discipline and government: for where there is no order, no ministry with Christ as the Head, there is no Church [PEARSON, Exposition of the Creed, Article IX].