“Bearing with one another in love”: Robert Rollock on Ephesians 4:3

We owe a debt of gratitude to Reformation Heritage Books and General Editors, R. Scott Clark and Casey Carmichael, for the latest publication in their “Classic Reformed Theology” series, Robert Rollock’s Commentary on Ephesians.

In reviewing Rollock’s comments on Ephesians 4:1–3 for teaching I am to do next week, I was struck by the profundity of his treatment of the virtues Paul commends in this passage. I found his treatment of Paul’s exhortation to “bear one another in love” especially helpful, given the intensity of conflict we are witnessing inside and outside the church in recent days.

According to Rollock, Paul’s call to “tolerate” one another in love is a specific application of the more general virtues of modesty and gentleness. Whereas modesty involves having a restrained, humble opinion of oneself, gentleness involves restraining our anger when wronged by our neighbor.

But tolerance, as Rollock understands it, is not mere passivity in the face of interpersonal injustice. Tolerance is a form of love, and that in two senses. Read more»

Scott Swain, “‘Bearing with one another in love:’ Robert Rollock on Ephesians 4:3,” Reformed Blogmatics (March 31, 2021)

Resources

Subscribe to the Heidelblog today!