Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness; and hold such in honor:
Read Chapter 2
Ambrosiaster
AD 400
It is apparent that the people and Epaphroditus loved one another inseparably. He is commended by the apostle also, so as to make him all the more dear…. This is the reason for explicitly recalling the struggle of Epaphroditus: his unhesitating willingness to die for the sake of the gospel.
“Receive him in the Lord”—this means spiritually, that is, with great eagerness. It means receive him in the Lord because it is God’s will. “Give him, as saints ought to do, the reception due to a saint, with all joy.” Paul says this for the sake of the congregation rather than Epaphroditus. The profit of doing good is greater than that of receiving reward. .
In the Lord either means spiritually and with much zeal, or rather in the Lord means God willing. Receive him in a manner worthy of saints, as saints should be received with all joy.
All this he does for their sakes, not for that of his messengers, for greater gain has the doer than the receiver of a good deed. And such hold in honor, that is, receive him in a manner worthy of saints.
