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one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.
Ephesians 4:6 · New American Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in us all.
  • KJV One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
  • BSB one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
  • NKJV one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
  • NLT one God and Father of all, who is over all, in all, and living through all.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

There is one God and Father who is sovereign over, working through, and present in all his people. This shared Father grounds the unity of the church.

Overview

Paul caps his sevenfold list of 'ones' with the supremacy of the one God and Father. His being 'over all, and through all, and in us all' describes God's transcendence and his intimate, indwelling presence among believers. Because all Christians belong to the same Father through Christ, division within the church contradicts its very nature.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 30

  • Rom 11:36For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things. To him be the glory for ever! Amen.
  • 1 Cor 8:6yet to us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we live through him.
  • Mal 2:10Don’t we all have one father? Hasn’t one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, profaning the covenant of our fathers?
  • Gal 3:26–28For you are all children of God, through faith in Christ Jesus.
  • Gal 4:3–7So we also, when we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental principles of the world.
  • Rev 4:8–11The four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within. They have no rest day and night, saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come!”
  • 1 Jn 3:24He who keeps his commandments remains in him, and he in him. By this we know that he remains in us, by the Spirit which he gave us.
  • John 20:17Jesus said to her, “Don’t hold me, for I haven’t yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brothers, and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
  • 1 Jn 4:12–15No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God remains in us, and his love has been perfected in us.
  • Matt 6:9Pray like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.
  • 1 Cor 12:6There are various kinds of workings, but the same God, who works all things in all.
  • 1 Jn 3:1–3See how great a love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God! For this cause the world doesn’t know us, because it didn’t know him.
  • 2 Cor 6:16What agreement has a temple of God with idols? For you are a temple of the living God. Even as God said, “I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
  • Num 16:22They fell on their faces, and said, “God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will you be angry with all the congregation?”
  • 1 Chr 29:11–12Yours, Yahweh, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty! For all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, Yahweh, and you are exalted as head above all.
  • Dan 4:34–35At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored him who lives forever; for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom from generation to generation.
  • Jer 10:10–13But Yahweh is the true God; he is the living God, and an everlasting King. At his wrath, the earth trembles, and the nations are not able to withstand his indignation.
  • Ps 95:3For Yahweh is a great God, a great King above all gods.
  • Eph 2:22in whom you also are built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit.
  • Isa 63:16For you are our Father, though Abraham doesn’t know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, Yahweh, are our Father. Our Redeemer from everlasting is your name.
  • Matt 6:13Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen.’
  • Eph 3:17that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; to the end that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
  • Dan 5:18–23You, king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father the kingdom, and greatness, and glory, and majesty:
  • John 14:23Jesus answered him, “If a man loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him.
  • Gen 14:19He blessed him, and said, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth:
  • Isa 40:21–23Haven’t you known? Haven’t you heard, yet? Haven’t you been told from the beginning? Haven’t you understood from the foundations of the earth?
  • Eph 6:23Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
  • Isa 40:11–17He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom. He will gently lead those who have their young.
  • John 17:26I made known to them your name, and will make it known; that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
  • Eph 1:21far above all rule, and authority, and power, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in that which is to come.

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Ephesians videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Ephesians 4:6YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on EphesiansMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Every spiritual blessing is 'in Christ,' the head over all things for the church, in whom Jew and Gentile are made one new man by his blood.

How Ephesians 4:6 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.