Ephesians 4:1-6

A family in a previous church started preparing for one of their kid’s graduation parties. It was spring and the yard needed attention, like most yards do in the spring. The husband ordered a load of mulch that was to be dropped at the end of the driveway. There was a problem when the delivery came earlier than expected and all of the family’s vehicles were in front of the driveway, now behind the load of mulch.

The husband called the company for help. Since it was a busy season, there was no immediate help available. The best they could offer was the beginning of the following week. The conversation wasn’t going well and finally the company said, “Sir, you asked for the mulch. We provided the mulch for you. It’s now up to you do something with the mulch.”

As believers, we confessed that Jesus Christ is Lord and, by grace, he provided the free gift of salvation. It is up to us to do something with what has been provided.

These last three chapters of Ephesians instruct our Christians practices. Paul has already given us much to consider about our position in Christ.

We are called. We are chosen. We are adopted. We have been redeemed and transformed by the grace of God. We are unified as believers. We experience a oneness in Christ unlike anything else around. We have the Holy Spirit who is continually working in us and through us. We have everything we need to live victoriously for Jesus.

When we live that life with other believers, the glory of God is experienced in the church for generations to come. TALK ABOUT THE CHURCH LOGO

Let’s read Ephesians 4:1-6. Here are three core truths for the fruitfulness of every believer.

God’s calling is found when our position and our practice intersect

Ephesians 4:1–2 NIV

1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

I call this “the sweet spot of ministry” ~ a person knows who they are in Christ, they thrive in the church because of it, and people want to be where they are.

Paul appropriately reminds the Ephesian church that he is a prisoner. In chapter 3, he wrote that he was a prisoner due to his unwavering pursuit of faithfulness, so they would know Jesus Christ. In other words, if Paul had not done what he is about to instruct, it is likely he would not be writing this letter from jail.

This reminder also tells me that Paul wants the Ephesian Christians to think about what they consider to be inconveniences of God’s calling for their life. We should be able to agree that most people Paul was writing to had a different set of inconveniences than Paul had. The Ephesian Christians were like us. They went to work. They went to the market to buy groceries. They went to doctor appointments. They went to volleyball practice. They learned the football playbook. They ran lots of miles. They made cheesesteaks. They spent time in the boat. They went golfing. They sat by the pool. They sipped on their cold-brew. They enjoyed their grandchildren.

Paul would like us to think about what we consider to be inconveniences of God’s calling for our life. We certainly have a different set of inconveniences than Paul had as a prisoner.

I urge you to walk in the manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called. This can be as simple as Paul inviting the Ephesians to remain faithful in their walk with Christ, but urge is a plea. Worthy is a balanced scale. We don’t earn our salvation and we don’t work to keep our salvation. Paul is begging them to go deeper, to conduct their life as though their position in Christ mattered. If we put our position in Christ on one side of the scale and our practices for Christ on the other side of the scale, Paul is telling us the scales should be balanced. An excellent position calls us to live with excellent practices. In order words, am I giving my best out of gratitude because King Jesus gave his best?

I urge you to walk in the manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called. Church, Paul is begging us to conduct our life so that our position in Christ invades every part of our life, resulting in excellent practices.

Here’s a poor example. I have 3 free scoops of custard from Culver’s in my wallet right now. On Wednesday, they were in my car. After Bible study, Bridget asked how many free scoops that I had so we could stop on the way home. I told her that I had plenty but they were not in the vehicle we were driving. Because my wallet invades most parts of my life, free scoop coupons have the greatest opportunity of being utilized when they are in my wallet.

Our position in Christ has the greatest opportunity of intersecting the practices of our life when our position invades every part of our life. REPEAT THIS

Ephesians 1:4 says, “he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.”

John 15:16 says, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide,”

1 John 2:6 says, “whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.”

Philippians 3:14 says, “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

Verse 2 provides the rubric to measure how well our position and our practices balance the scales of our life. Be humble. Be gentle. Be patient. Love other people well.

We are participants in maintaining the unity of the Spirit

Ephesians 4:3 NIV

3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

Take note the text does not say maintain a spirit of unity. There is a difference. Human unity indicates one person or one group made decisions that other people agree to follow. Human unity is fragile. Human unity could mean people don’t argue, feelings never get hurt, relational tension doesn’t exist, preferences and opinions always align, a group looks and thinks the same way, etc. However, we are emotional, sinful people and human unity cracks and it becomes broken. We need to be careful that a pursuit of unity isn’t a utopian pursuit that may never exist.

Paul tells us to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. The unity of the Spirit is not fragile and can be highly trusted. Inside unity of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit is the decision-maker and the body of Christ agrees to follow. Inside unity of the Spirit, believers agree to make an effort toward maintaining. The NIV says to make every effort. The ESV says eagerly maintain. Which ever version of the Bible is on your lap, the point is this. There is anticipation~there is expectation~there is participation.

The unity of the Spirit is planted inside each of us at the moment of salvation. It’s our commonality in Jesus Christ. It’s discovered and maintained through the bond of peace. Peace is not the utopian pursuit that I described a few moments ago. Peace is experienced in the body of Christ when people are going in same direction and believe that God is doing what is best.

At the end of Finding Nemo, they’re in the fishing grounds and the net begins to pull up. Nemo urgently convinces every fish to swim together. Dori is singing, “just keep swimming, just keep swimming” and the entire net of fish accomplishes more together than they could ever accomplish individually.

As the unity of the Spirit cultivates the body of Christ through the ministry and guidance of the Holy Spirit, the glory of God is experienced in the church for generations to come.

There is anticipation. There is expectation. There is participation. WORSHIP~WALK~WORK~WITNESS. The unity of the Spirit is cultivated when groups of people study God’s Word and digest it. The unity of the Spirit is cultivated when we worship together on Sunday morning. The unity of the Spirit is cultivated with preaching verse-by-verse through books of Bible without apologizing for what God wrote. The unity of the Spirit is cultivated when we pray together. The unity of the Spirit is cultivated when we serve in ministry together. The unity of the Spirit is cultivated when we advance the gospel every opportunity we have.

The unity of the Spirit is a group activity that requires participation with other believers. It’s one of the reasons why our church service is not live. We are set up with the ability to livestream. Our service is recording to youtube right now. I don’t want any of us to miss out on the cultivation that happens when we are together.

Our greatest security is found in the ONE’s

Ephesians 4:4–6 ESV

4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

It is not a coincidence there are 7 ONEs mentioned.

If unity comes from one decision-maker and its the unity of the Spirit, then one Spirit is the only possibility.

If the body of Christ agrees to follow the one Spirit, there can only be one body. A person is in the body of Christ or not. You’re on your way to eternity with Christ or you’re not. There isn’t a third option.

There is one gospel. There is only one redeemer. John 14:6 says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

There is one God who is sovereign over all things. He is the God who called us, adopted us, redeemed us and thought it best for you and me to abide with him and bear much fruit.

If our hope is in something other than Jesus Christ, how does a person decide what to place hope in? How do we know that form of hope is working for us?

What can we take away this morning?

I can’t take my mind off worthy and the balancing of the scales. How well does your position in Christ invade your life? If your position in Christ is on one side and your practices for Christ are on the other side, how balanced would the scale be in your life?