II. The object of imitation.—We must make God the rule of goodness in all our actions: we must be just, to observe the law; valiant, to keep down our passions; temperate, to conform our wills to the rule of reason; and wise, to our salvation. But there is no virtue which makes us more resemble God than this which the apostle here exhorts the Ephesians to; and that is mercy. For although all virtues are in the highest degree, nay, above all degrees, most perfect in Him; yet, in respect of His creatures, none is so resplendent as mercy. Mercy is the queen and empress of God’s virtues; it is the bond and knot which unites heaven and earth, that by which we hold all our titles—our title to be men, out title to the name of Christian, our title to the profession of Christianity, our title to earth, our title to heaven. 1. As God forgiveth us, so we must forgive our enemies. 2. As we must forgive, so God’s mercy must be the motive: we must do it “out of a desire to imitate God.” 3. We must conform our imitation to the Pattern. He with one act of mercy wipes out all scores; so must we. When He forgives our sins, He is said to cast them behind Him, never to think of them, so to forget them as if they never had been; so must we. He doth it too without respect of persons; and so we ought to do. We must forgive all, for ever; and so far must we be from respect of persons that we must acknowledge no title but that of Christian.—Farindon.
Likeness to God.
I. Likeness to God belongs to man’s higher or spiritual nature.—It has its foundation in the original and essential capacities of the mind. In proportion as these are unfolded by right and vigorous exertion, it is extended and brightened. In proportion as these lie dormant it is obscured. Likeness to God is the supreme gift. He can communicate nothing so precious, glorious, blessed as Himself. To hold intellectual and moral affinity with the supreme Being, to partake His Spirit, to be His children by derivations of kindred excellence, to bear a growing conformity to the perfection which we adore—this is a felicity which obscures and annihilates all other good. It is only in proportion to this likeness that we can enjoy either God or the universe. To understand a great and good being we must have the seeds of the same excellence.
II. That man has a kindred nature with God, and may bear most important and ennobling relations to Him, seems to me to be established by a striking proof. Whence do we derive our knowledge of the attributes and perfections which constitute the supreme Being? I answer, We derive them from our own souls. The Divine attributes are first developed in ourselves, and thence transferred to our Creator. The idea of God, sublime and awful as it is, is the idea of our own spiritual nature, purified and enlarged to infinity. It is the resemblance of a parent to a child, the likeness of a kindred nature.
III. God is made known to us as a Father.—And what is it to be a father? It is to communicate one’s own nature, to give life to kindred beings; and the highest function of a father is to educate the mind of the child, and to impart to it what is noblest and happiest in his own mind. God is our Father, not merely because He created us, or because He gives us enjoyment: for He created the flower and the insect, yet we call Him not their Father. This bond is a spiritual one. This name belongs to God, because He frames spirits like Himself, and delights to give them what is most glorious and blessed in His own nature. Accordingly Christianity is said with special propriety to reveal God as the Father, because it reveals Him as sending His Son to cleanse the mind from every stain, and to replenish it for ever with the spirit and moral attributes of its Author.
IV. The promise of the Holy Spirit is among the most precious aids of influence which God imparts. It is a Divine assistance adapted to our moral freedom, an aid which silently mingles and conspires with all other helps and means of goodness, and by which we are strengthened to understand and apply the resources derived from our munificent Creator. This aid we cannot prize too much, or pray for too earnestly.—Channing.
Ver. 2. “And walk in love.” The Nature, Properties, and Acts of Charity.
I. The nature of charity.—1. Loving our neighbour implies we value and esteem him. 2. Implies a sincere and earnest desire for his welfare and good of all kinds in due proportion. 3. A complacence or delightful satisfaction in the good of our neighbour. 4. Condolence and commiseration in the evils befalling him.
II. Properties of charity.—1. Love appropriates its object in apprehension and affection, embracing it, possessing and enjoying it as its own. 2. It desires reciprocal affection. 3. Disposes to please our neighbour, not only by inoffensive but by an obliging demeanour. 4. Makes a man deny himself—despising all selfish regards—for the benefit of his neighbour. 5. To be condescending and willing to perform the meanest offices needful or useful to his friend.
III. Acts of charity.—1. To forbear anger on provocation. 2. To remit offences, suppressing revenge. 3. To maintain concord and peace. 4. To be candid in opinion and mild in censure. 5. Abstain from doing anything which may occasion our neighbour to commit sin, or disaffect him towards religion, or discourage him in the practice of duty.—Barrow.