Worthy of the Calling II

Ephesians 4:1–6 “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

How can we maintain unity?

1. Have faith in God’s grace.

Answers to questions about how to walk the Christian walk should always include a reminder of what got us into Christ to begin with, and that is grace obtained through faith. With all of this talk about unity as we speak truth into one another’s lives, we might start to get scared. “Do I really want to live in that kind of community? Do I really want to confront others? Do I really want to be confronted?” [One thought: Who cares what we want? Is Jesus our Lord or our consultant? Jesus didn’t come to establish a democracy; it’s a kingdom.] This is where a leap of faith is required. We see this type of community described in the Bible (here and elsewhere). Has God earned our trust? Has He proven Himself to you well enough for you to believe that He made you for this kind of community? Do you see the wisdom in the safeguards He has established here in His word for us (humility, longsuffering, & love)? Do you have faith in His grace to make His plan work for our good?

So the first step in walking worthily is to trust God, to have faith in His grace. We work out our salvation precisely because He is at work in us. We walk in a manner worthy of our calling precisely because He has called us. Some people try to live the Christian life apart from God’s grace, relying on their own will power and effort. They don’t know the ease of Jesus’ yoke or the lightness of His burden. Others just coast through life, leaving their transformation entirely up to God without applying any effort on their own. They don’t want to take Jesus’ yoke upon themselves, no matter how light the burden is. But the biblical way to live the Christian life is to recognize God’s work in our lives and to join Him in that work.

Now, you might wonder where I found this idea. It sounds biblical. What could be more biblical that words like grace and faith? And I could point out that this is mentioned in Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,” but I want you to see it in one other place in Ephesians, because if you see it there, it will help you shape your thinking about all that you do for God.

2. Renew your mind.

And the second thing to recognize about walking worthily is that your mind controls your walk. Just as your brain controls your legs, your way of thinking controls your manner of life. When Paul wants to help people live for Christ, he addresses their thinking. Just look down at Ephesians 4:23 “...be renewed in the spirit of your minds.” This is just what he wrote to the Christians in Rome. Romans 12:2 “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind...”

So if we want to walk correctly, we must first place our faith in God, and secondly, we must have our minds renewed. And that is why Paul started this letter with doctrine, and it’s why he returned to doctrine in vv.4-6. Just look at it: He is teaching the church to live in unity, and after only 3 verses he turns right back to doctrine. Our question this morning is this: How does the doctrine of vv.4-6 renew our minds in such a way that we can live together in greater unity? Consider that as we read.

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

We are out of time to examine this glorious passage thoroughly, so I will just point out and comment on one observation: Paul wants us to renew our minds about our church community by meditating on the Trinity. Look at it: Spirit, Lord, and Father. And every unifying element in this list other than Spirit, Lord, and Father (body, hope, faith, and baptism), each one is closely connected to the Trinity. For example, we are united in one baptism. In whose name are we baptized? ...in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

The relations of the Spirit, the Son, and the Father are our power to live as a unified community. Have you ever noticed that in the Bible you will find passages that show God being God-centered, but you never find the Father being Father-centered or the Son being Son-centered or the Spirit being Spirit-centered. The Persons of the Godhead are not curved in on themselves; they are outward-focused, which is one thing we mean when we say that God is love. The Father glorifies the Son and sends the Spirit. The Son glorifies the Father and celebrates the work of the Spirit. The Spirit reveals the Son and cause us to cry out to the Father. This kind of outward focus is our model of unity in the church.

In John 17 Jesus prayed for us, for everyone who would ever believe in Him through the gospel. Don’t you want to know what He prayed? Even if you remember it, don’t you want to revel in it again? Here were His words: John 17:21–23 “that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” Here we see the same emphasis on unity and the same Trinitarian relations as the foundation of our unity.

God’s original plan was to fill the earth with those who would carry His image; He made us image bearers. All humans bear His image to some degree. But some of us have the privilege of bearing the divine image more clearly. Jesus has given His followers the glory that the Father has given Him, so that we may—in our unity with Him—become perfectly one with one another, and the world will see God’s love displayed. To the extent that we help one another to be more Christ-like and to walk in a manner worthy of our calling, the world will know that the Father sent the Son and loved us even as He loved Him.