4:1 "Therefore"or "then"refers to what Paul had said in chapters 1-3. To walk worthily or in balance means to harmonize one's conduct with his or her calling. Calling here refers to God's calling to live in unity as Jews and Gentiles in the church (2:13-16). To walk worthily then would involve behaving in a united way, living in unity with Jewish brethren if one is a Gentile or vice versa in the church. By referring to himself as the Lord's prisoner again (3:1), Paul reminded his readers of his authority to urge them to live this way. He was in prison because he had followed God's will faithfully.
4:2 Three virtues contribute to unity in the church. Humility is a proper assessment of oneself in God's program. A humble Jew or Gentile would regard his ethnic counterpart as equal with himself, not as inferior or superior to himself. Gentleness is the opposite of self-assertion. A gentle person is one whose emotions are under control.
". . . meekness is a virtue of the strong, those who could exert force to get their own way but choose not to."98
Patience is endurance even under affliction. When wronged, the patient person does not retaliate (cf. Gal. 5:22; Col. 1:11; 3:12; 2 Tim. 4:2).
Believers should practice all these virtues with loving forbearance toward one another.
4:3 Christians must preserve the unity between believers that God has created in the church. Paul viewed peace as what keeps potential factions together. He had in mind peace between all kinds of diverse groups in the church the most basic being Jews and Gentiles.
4:4 Seven elements of unity follow that unite believers in the church. Believers should remember them when tempted to break unity. Again all three members of the Trinity are in view and play a part in this process.
The one body is the church, the universal body of believers in the present age (1:23; 2:16; 3:6). The one Spirit is the Holy Spirit who indwells the church as a whole and every individual believer in the church (2:22; 1 Cor. 12:13). The one hope is the hope of the future that each Christian has and the whole church has (cf. 1 Pet. 1:3; 3:15). This hope began when God called us to salvation (1:4, 18; 2:7; 4:1). These identifications seem clear from their occurrences elsewhere in the epistle.
4:5 The one Lord is Jesus Christ, the Head of the church (1:22-23; Col. 1:18). The one faith is probably the faith that each Christian and the whole church has in Christ rather than Christianity viewed as a faith (cf. Col. 2:7). This identification unites faith with Christ in the context (2:8).
The one baptism may be the baptism that unites all believers in the body of Christ. This is Spirit baptism, which water baptism symbolizes. Both kinds of baptism were probably in Paul's mind.99However baptism falls in the second triad of elements that relate to Christ rather than to the first that relate to the Spirit in this verse. Therefore it probably refers to water rather than to Spirit baptism.
4:6 "All"refers to all believers. God is the Father of all believers, who are His children. He is over them in the sense of being their sovereign. He lives through them and manifests Himself in them.
Evidently Paul began this list of seven elements of unity with the Spirit's work because he had been speaking of the unity of the Spirit (v. 3). He then proceeded to discuss the gifts of the Spirit (vv. 7-13; cf. 1 Cor. 12:4-6).
