One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in us all.

“Now, that this God is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Paul the apostle also has declared, [saying,] "There is one God, the Father, who is above all, and through all things, and in us all." I have indeed proved already that there is only one God; but I shall further demonstrate this from the apostles themselves, and from the discourses of the Lord. For what sort of conduct would it be, were we to forsake the utterances of the prophets, of the Lord, and of the apostles, that we might give heed to these persons, who speak not a word of sense?”

“These things then, brethren, are declared by the Scriptures. And the blessed John, in the testimony of his Gospel, gives us an account of this economy (disposition) and acknowledges this Word as God, when he says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." If, then, the Word was with God, and was also God, what follows? Would one say that he speaks of two Gods? I shall not indeed speak of two Gods, but of one; of two Persons however, and of a third economy (disposition), viz., the grace of the Holy Ghost. For the Father indeed is One, but there are two Persons, because there is also the Son; and then there is the third, the Holy Spirit. The Father decrees, the Word executes, and the Son is manifested, through whom the Father is believed on. The economy of harmony is led back to one God; for God is One. It is the Father who commands, and the Son who obeys, and the Holy Spirit who gives understanding: the Father who is above all, and the Son who is through all, and the Holy Spirit who is in all. And we cannot otherwise think of one God, but by believing in truth in Father and Son and Holy Spirit. For the Jews glorified (or gloried in) the Father, but gave Him not thanks, for they did not recognise the Son. The disciples recognised the Son, but not in the Holy Ghost; wherefore they also denied Him. The Father's Word, therefore, knowing the economy (disposition) and the will of the Father, to wit, that the Father seeks to be worshipped in none other way than this, gave this charge to the disciples after He rose from the dead: "Go ye and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." And by this He showed, that whosoever omitted any one of these, failed in glorifying God perfectly. For it is through this Trinity that the Father is glorified. For the Father willed, the Son did, the Spirit manifested. The whole Scriptures, then, proclaim this truth.”

“The Father makes all things by the Word in the Spirit. So it is that the Unity of the Trinity is safeguarded. So it is that in the Church is proclaimed the one God who is 'above all and through all and in all (Eph 4.6)'. He is 'above all' as Father, as author and source; 'through all' by the Word; 'in all' in the Holy Spirit." - "Letters to Serapion on The Holy Spirit, 1.28"”

“Ye then who in the spiritual world have so great equality of privileges, whence is it that ye are high-minded? Is it that one is wealthy and another strong? How ridiculous must this be? For tell me, if the emperor some day were to take ten persons, and to array them all in purple, and seat them on the royal throne, and to bestow upon all the same honor, would any one of these, think ye, venture to reproach another, as being more wealthy or more illustrious than he? Surely never. And I have not yet said all; for the difference is not so great in heaven as here below we differ. There is "one Lord, one faith, one baptism." Behold "the hope of your calling. One God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all." For can it be, that thou art called by the name of a greater God, another, of a lesser God? That thou art saved by faith, and another by works? That thou hast received remission in baptism, whilst another has not? "There is one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all." "Who is over all," that is, the Lord and above all; and "through all," that is, providing for, ordering all; and "in you all," that is, who dwelleth in you all. Now this they own to be an attribute of the Son; so that were it an argument of inferiority, it never would have been said of the Father.”

“Those who read very closely recognize the Trinity in this passage. Paul writes of God the Father "who is above all and through all and in all." All things are "from God," who owes his existence to no one. All things are "through him," as though to say through the Mediator. All things are "in him," as though to say in the One who contains them, that is, reconciles them into one.”

“Now when the body hath intercourse with the soul, and the soul with the spirit, and through the spirit with the Trinity, in very deed are accomplished the words, "The Lord is over all, and in us all", and, "Ye are the temple of the Lord, and the Spirit of God dwelleth in you." But Paul also frighteneth that soul which alloweth the body to become a minister unto fornication, saying, "Whosoever destroyeth the temple of God, God will destroy." And hereby he teacheth the soul not to allow the body to be corrupted by the union of fornication, because from this injury accrueth unto it, for together with the destruction of the body by its natural lusts, will the soul be condemned by the judgment which is for ever. And well did God ordain this retribution for the soul, though it is decreed for both the soul and the body by Him, because the soul in allowing the body to be debased unto the lusts of its nature will destroy it, and being able to restrain it, restraineth it not, and having the power to make it taste the sweetness of the lust for itself, the sweetness of its own corrupt lust, that is, the motions, and passions, and forms of which belong to shame, was pleasant unto it.”

“Having set forth their exhortation for preserving ecclesiastical unity, in this part the Apostle suggests to the Ephesians themselves the form of the aforesaid unity. Here it must be known that, since the Church of God is like a city, it is something one and distinct, since it is not one as something simple, but as something composed of diverse parts. And therefore the Apostle does two things. First he shows what is common to the Church; second he shows what is distinct within it, at the place "but to each of us grace was given," etc. Now in any city, in order for it to be one, four things must be common: namely, one ruler, one law, the same insignia, and the same end. And the Apostle says these four things are in the Church. He says therefore: I say that you ought to have one body and one spirit, because you are in the unity of the Church, which is one. First, because it has one leader, namely Christ, and as to this he says "one Lord" — not many, for whose diverse wills you would have to be in discord. For it is said in Hebrews 3:6: "Christ is as a son in his own house." Acts 2:36: "Let all the house of Israel therefore know most certainly, that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified." 1 Corinthians 8:6: "one Lord of ours, Jesus Christ." Zechariah 14:9: "In that day there shall be one Lord, and his name one." Second, because his law is one. For the law of the Church is the law of faith. Romans 3:27: "Where then is your boasting now? It is excluded. Through what law? Of works? No, but through the law of faith." But "faith" is sometimes taken for the very thing believed, according to that: "this is the Catholic faith," etc., that is, these things ought to be believed. But sometimes it is taken for the habit of faith, by which one believes in the heart. And this can be said of both. Concerning the first, so that the sense is "faith is one," that is, you are commanded to believe the same thing and to work in the same way, because it is one and the same thing that is believed by all the faithful, whence it is called universal or Catholic. Hence 1 Corinthians 1:10: "that you all say the same thing," that is, think, etc. In another way, "faith is one," that is, one habit of faith by which one believes; one, I say, not numerically, but in species, because it ought to be the same in the hearts of all; and in this way the same will of those willing is called one will. Third, the insignia of the Church are the same, namely the sacraments of Christ, among which the first is Baptism, which is the door of all the others. And therefore he says "one Baptism." Now it is said to be one for a threefold reason. First, because baptisms do not differ according to those who baptize; for by whomever they are conferred, they have a uniform power, because he who baptizes inwardly is one, namely Christ. John 1:33: "Upon whomever you shall see the Spirit descending and remaining upon him, this is he who baptizes in the Holy Spirit." Second, it is said to be one because it is given in the name of one, namely the Trinity: "Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." Third, because it cannot be repeated. Now Penance, Matrimony, the Eucharist, and Extreme Unction can be repeated, but not Baptism. Hebrews 6:4: "It is impossible for those who were once enlightened," namely through Baptism, "and have tasted the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted nonetheless the good word of God and the powers of the world to come, and have fallen away," namely through sin, "to be renewed again to penance." But it is not repeated either because of the character, or because its cause is not repeated. Romans 6:4: "For we were buried together with him through Baptism into death," etc. But now Christ died once for sins, as is said in 1 Peter 3:18. Fourth, in the Church there is the same end, which is God. For the Son leads us to the Father. 1 Corinthians 15:24: "When he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God and the Father, when he shall have brought to nothing all principality, and power, and virtue; but he must reign," etc. And as to this he adds, saying "one God," etc., where first the Apostle sets down his unity; second, his dignity, at the place "who is above all," etc. Concerning the first he says two things: the first pertains to the divine nature; hence he says "one God." Deuteronomy 6:4: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one." The other pertains to his benevolence toward us and to piety; hence he says "and Father of all." Isaiah 63:16: "You, Lord, are our Father and our Redeemer." Malachi 2:10: "Is there not one Father of us all? Has not God created us?" Now he commends his dignity from three things. From the height of his divinity, when he says "who is above all." Psalm 112:4: "The Lord is above all nations," etc. From the breadth of his power, when he says "through all." Jeremiah 33:24: "I fill heaven and earth," etc. Psalm 8:8: "You subjected all things under his feet," etc. Luke 10:22: "All things indeed have been delivered to me," inasmuch as "all things were made through him," John 1:3. But in the manner in which it is said in Wisdom 11:21: "You have disposed all things in number, and weight, and measure." From the largesse of grace, when he says "and in us all," namely through grace. Jeremiah 14:9: "But you are in us, O Lord," etc. But the first is appropriated to the Father, who is the fontal principle of the divinity and excels all creatures. The second to the Son, who is the wisdom "reaching mightily from end to end," Wisdom 8:1. The third indeed to the Holy Spirit, who "fills the world," Wisdom 1:7.”

“One God and Father of all,.... That there is but one God is the voice of nature and of revelation; and may be concluded from the perfections of deity, for there can be but one eternal, infinite, immense, omnipotent, all-sufficient, perfect, and independent Being; and from one first cause of all things, and the relations he stands in to his creatures: there is but one God, who is truly, and really, and properly God, in opposition to all nominal and figurative deities, and which are not gods by nature, and to the fictitious deities and idols of the nations; and there is but one God of Jews and Gentiles; nor is the unity of the Godhead inconsistent with a trinity of persons in it: and this one God is the Father of all; the Father of all mercies, and of all spirits, both angels and souls of men; and he is the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, and of all the elect in him: and seeing that they have all one covenant God and Father, who has predestinated them to the adoption of children, and who has put them among the children, and adopted them into his family, and stand in the same relation to him, and enjoy the same privileges, they ought to love as brethren: who is above all; which may denote the superior excellency of his nature, not above his Son and Spirit, who are of the same nature with him, but above angels and men; and the extensiveness of his government, over all creatures in general, and over his church and people in particular: and through all; the Arabic version renders it, "taking care of all"; which may have respect to his providence, which is either universal, and reaches to all creatures his hands have made; or special, and concerns his own chosen people, who belong to his family, and to whom he stands in the relation of a covenant God and Father: or this clause may refer to the perfections of his nature, which appear through the whole of the salvation of all the chosen ones; as his wisdom, love, grace, mercy, justice, holiness, truth, and faithfulness: and in you all; which is to be understood, not of his being in his creatures, by his powerful presence, which is everywhere supporting them; but of the gracious union there is between him and his people, and of his gracious inhabitation in them by his Spirit. The Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions, the Complutensian edition, and some copies, read, "in us all"; and the Alexandrian copy, and the Ethiopic version, read only, "in all".”

“One God - The fountain of all being, self-existent and eternal; and Father of all, both Jews and Gentiles, because he is the Father of the spirits of all flesh. Who is above all - Ὁ επι παντων· Who is over all; as the King of kings, and Lord of lords. And through all - Pervading every thing; being present with every thing; providing for all creatures; and by his energy supporting all things. And in you all - By the energy of his Spirit, enlightening, quickening, purifying, and comforting; in a word, making your hearts the temples of the Holy Ghost. Some think the mystery of the blessed Trinity is contained in this verse: God is over all, as Father; through all, by the Logos or Word; and in all, by the Holy Spirit.”

“above--"over all." The "one God over all" (in His sovereignty and by His grace) is the grand source and crowning apex of unity (Eph 2:19, end). through all--by means of Christ "who filleth all things" (Eph 4:10; Eph 2:20-21), and is "a propitiation" for all men (Jo1 2:2). in you all--The oldest manuscripts omit "you." Many of the oldest versions and Fathers and old manuscripts read, "in us all." Whether the pronoun be read or not, it must be understood (either from the "ye," Eph 4:4, or from the "us," Eph 4:7); for other parts of Scripture prove that the Spirit is not "in all" men, but only in believers (Rom 8:9, Rom 8:14). God is "Father" both by generation (as Creator) and regeneration (Eph 2:10; Jam 1:17-18; Jo1 5:1).”