Charles Ellicott Commentary Ephesians 4:6

"one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all." — Ephesians 4:6 (ASV)

One God and Father of all. Necessarily, through the Son, we pass to the Father (as the Lord Himself invariably teaches us to do), since He is (to use the old Greek expression) “the fount of Deity.” He is said to be the “Father of all.” We cannot limit this universal Fatherhood, although undoubtedly the context shows that the immediate reference is to those who are His children by adoption in Jesus Christ. The Church is essentially Catholic, inheriting by special gift what is the birthright of all humanity, incapable of perfection until all are drawn into that closer sonship, yet having neither right nor desire to deny that outside her pale, at any moment, the wider Fatherhood of God extends.

Who is above all, and through all, and in you all. The word “you” in this phrase has little authority; many manuscripts and commentaries read “us” instead. However, the best manuscripts and authorities omit both “you” and “us,” as these are likely early explanatory glosses that have crept into the text.

Accordingly, the word “all” throughout this passage must be understood, as mentioned above, as applying to all God’s rational creatures, made in His image. Indeed, in a lower sense, it applies even to all His creatures, but it refers especially and properly to the members of Christ’s Church.

In this threefold statement, many ancient and modern interpreters trace a reference to the Holy Trinity. Strictly speaking, however, this interpretation cannot be correct, as the passage expressly points to the Father. Nevertheless, by virtue of the eternal unity of the Godhead, it may be true that in the expressions “through all” and “in all” we trace those manifestations of the Father that are especially made through the Son and by the Holy Spirit.

Therefore, we must properly refer all these phrases to the ultimate conception of God the Father.

He is “above all” in the sovereignty of His will, since to work out His pleasure they are and were created, and His will becomes to them the “law eternal.”

He is “through all” in the diffusive power of the forces—physical, moral, and spiritual—by which the world of nature, still more the world of humanity, and most of all the society of Christians, are swayed as wholes.

And He is “in all” by the indwelling of God in the individual for creation, sustentation, and regeneration, which is the breath of life—both physical and spiritual.

(This individuality, and the special reference to Christians, are marked by the very natural gloss “us” or “you” in this last clause.)