A Worthy Walk

A Worthy Walk Series: The One Anothers - #5 Eph 4:1-6 Rev. L. Kent Blanton Introduction • True story of Alberta Provincial Court judge • Removed from the bench in 2017 by the Canadian Judicial Council. • In 2014, the judge had berated a female sexual assault complainant in his court with condescending, humiliating and disrespectful remarks. • Council concluded that the judge’s conduct was “so manifestly and profoundly destructive of the concept of the impartiality, integrity and independence of the judicial role that public confidence had been sufficiently undermined to render the judge incapable of executing the judicial office.” • the judge proved unworthy of his judgeship. He proved unworthy of the moral vigilance and high character that his office merited. • Our focus is on the worth of the office, not the worth of the man. The value of the office should have kept the judge from desecrating it. The greatness of his calling should have constrained him to lead a life worthy of his call. But it didn’t, and the public now has much less regard not only for the irresponsible, cavalier judge, but also for the office. Transition • In Ephesians 4:1, Paul tells us about another calling, a calling as sons and daughters of the living God and members of the Body of Christ. • Paul tell us that we’re to walk worthy of our spiritual calling. • Choosing to maintain unity with one another in Christ’s Body is an important aspect of our calling. • We are focusing today upon One Another verses in the NT that deal with unity. Approximately 1/3 of all the one another commands relate to the topic of unity in the church. Focal Passage: Eph 4:1-6 CSB - I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 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. • In these verses, Paul reveals three important truths about walking worthy of our calling: 1. The nature of our calling • How references the nature of our calling in one word. In v. 1, we find the word, therefore. Therefore is a word that always serves as a link. It points to what was previously communicated and links that information with what follows. We could just as easily insert the words “because of” or “since” in place of the word, therefore. • In this case, Paul is not referring to a verse or a few verses that precede verse 1. He’s referring to everything that he’s said up to this point in the letter. He’s referring to all the theological realties found in chapters 1-3. • Theological realities about our calling in Ephesians 1-3: • God chose us for himself before the world was even created (1:4) • God predestined us to be his children, heirs of the one who owns everything (1:7) • God sealed us with his Holy Spirit forever (1:13) • We have been called to hope, to a future that is wonderful and glorious (1:17) • God made us alive when we were spiritually dead (2:4) • God graciously gave us faith to believe (2:8-9) • God gave us a purpose to do good works (2:10) • Our calling: God, the Father has called us to belong to him, to be part of his holy people, and to join in his cosmic plan for restoring humanity to relationship with Himself and renewing all of creation. • Why? So that God and his Son might be glorified for the wonderful, all-powerful, all-knowing, exalted, beautiful, loving, perfectly good and gracious being that he is. • Paul is not saying try harder to walk worthy of your calling, try harder to please God, try harder to obey him, try harder to keep the peace and get along with one another. • He’s saying, in light of, because of, with regards to all that God has done for you, let your response be a response of love that causes you to live your life in a manner worthy of the calling God has given you. 2. Four attitudes necessary to engage in our calling • Humility • the Greek word translated humility means “lowliness of mind” as opposed to pride or haughtiness. • In the first-century Greco-Roman worldview, lowliness of mind was the attitude of slaves. It was considered crude, inappropriate, and undesirable. Humility wasn’t considered a virtue; it was something to be avoided. • The Greco-Roman concept of a full, meaningful life left no room for humility. • Conversely, the OT and Judaism viewed humility positively. The best example of true humility is found in Jesus himself. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Phil 2:5-8 CSB • Because humility was a virtue for Christ and because we’re called to follow in his steps, humility is an essential part of Christian character. • Humility is also a natural response when we perceive the greatness, glory, and holiness of God while also recognizing our own sinfulness and weakness. • Gentleness • Gentleness is one of the fruits of the Spirit. Gentleness, or meekness, is, for the most part, a forgotten virtue these days. • The Greek word for gentleness has nothing to do with being feminine or motherly. It was used to describe an animal of strength (such as a horse) that was completely disciplined and controlled. • The Greek word for gentleness relates to a spirit of submissiveness in one’s attitude toward others. Gentleness toward others is bred by cultivating a submissive heart toward God. • Patience • Means slowness in avenging wrong or choosing not to retaliate when hurt by another. • It’s used to describe God’s patience with humanity (Rom 2:4; 9:22; 1 Tim 1:16; 1 Pet 3:30; 2 Pet 3:15). Because God is patient with us, we should demonstrate patience toward others. • The fourth-century church father, John Chrysostom explained this Greek word as meaning “to have a wide and big soul.” Patience is the exercise of a largeness of soul that can endure annoyances and difficulties. • Bearing with one another in love • Means “putting up with each other.” The Christian life is a life of putting up with other people, and this tolerance finds its ability and motivation in love (Gal 6:2) • Bearing with one another doesn’t mean failing to speak the truth in love even when it hurts, it doesn’t mean failing to confront sin, and it doesn’t mean failing to hold holding one another accountable. • It does mean choosing to overlook petty irritations and avoiding majoring on the minors. • It can be well expressed by the motto: In essential, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, charity (love). • Such bearing with one another, as well as all four attitudes, are possible only in love. Love is the basic attitude of seeking the highest good of others. Love enables and empowers all four attitudes. • Agape, the Greek word used here for love, is not a feeling or an emotion, but an act of the will. Agape is always costly. Agape doesn’t have its origin in human motivation; it’s a choice made because of the love of God. • The one another in this verse . . . bearing with one another. • Christianity is a God-directed, Christ-defined, others-oriented religion. Only with such direction away from self do we find life and lasting fulfillment. 3. An action necessary to live out our calling . . . eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Eph 4:3) • To walk worthy of our calling as sons and daughters of God and members of Christ’s Body, we must make every effort to keep, to maintain, to preserve the unity of the Spirit. • The Greek word translated eager isn’t a passive term. It signifies significant effort, to be zealous for. • What is the unity of the Spirit? Is Paul talking about uniformity? Is he advocating making nice, never voicing a different opinion? The answer to these questions is no. • The Unity of the Spirit is the connectedness, community, and common purpose that the Holy Spirit gives and brings among those in whom he dwells. • Unity of the Spirit is not something we create. It’s based on the oneness of God and oneness of the gospel. • As Christians, we must maintain (preserve) the unity of the Spirit because everything that we hold of any significance, we hold together with others. • Notice in v. 3 that our unity as believers is held together through the bond of peace. In Col 3:14 we learn that love is the bond of perfection that keeps the body of Christ together. • The Basis for our Unity (4:4-6) • One Body. • There are not several bodies of Christ in different locales, but one body of Christ. • Each local congregation is representative of Christ’s body. • If you’ve submitted to Christ’s Lordship, then you’re a member of one and the same body, the Body of Christ. • It doesn’t matter whether you’re a Jew or Gentile, a man or a woman, it doesn’t matter the colour of your skin, your social, economic, or educational status. If you’ve made Jesus your lord, you’re a member of the Body of Christ. And there’s only one Body. • One Spirit • When a person chooses to believe in Jesus as the Son of God, the Bible says the Holy Spirit comes to live inside that individual. • Spiritually, he or she is born again and made spiritually alive. He or she now has access to, and communion with, God. • One hope • The sure hope of being with God in his presence forever. • Paul prayed that the Ephesian believers might know the hope to which they had been called (Eph 1:18). • One Lord • In the world there are many lords. • In the first century, Caesar was proclaimed Lord. In medieval times, the king of the Land was lord. • Today, self is Lord. Sentiments like, I am the master of my fate. No one has the right to tell me what to believe, belie this worship of self. • In Christianity, there’s one Lord, the Godman, Jesus Christ. Each one of us in the Body has only one head, Jesus. To confess him as Lord assumes that I’ve surrendered total control of my life to him. • One faith • Can refer to the act of believing the gospel • But more likely, it refers to the content of what we believe, the good news that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried and then raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter than to the twelve. • One baptism • Two possible meanings 1. Paul likely referring to our being baptized by the Spirit into Christ. Throughout his letters, Paul teaches that it’s the Holy Spirit who baptizes all Christians into the Body of Christ (cf. 1 Cor 1:13; 12:13; Gal 3:27). 2. Cn also refer to water baptism. Water baptism is the outward sign that we’ve been joined to Christ. It’s a symbol that our old man has died, that we are a new creation in Christ. Jesus commanded all who believe in him to be baptized as a public confession of their faith in him. • One God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. • This is a clear reference to the Shema - the OT confession that Yahweh is one (Deut 6:4). • A reminder that our oneness is anchored in the oneness of God, himself. • These seven realities provide a theological foundation for the unity that God tells us to diligently and eagerly preserve. Two Possible Errors 1. To believe that we can be made right with God through our own effort • We become like the Christians at Galatia. They started their journey by faith, but someone told them they must work hard to keep the law, so they started focusing upon not what Christ had done for them, but how they could earn God’s favour. They went back to trying to keep the Law’s demands. • Paul said to them, If you try to be made right with God through the law, your life with Christ is over—you have left God’s grace (Gal 5:4 NCV). • Paul said earlier in Ephesians, I mean that you have been saved by grace through believing. You did not save yourselves; it was a gift from God. 9 It was not the result of your own efforts, so you cannot brag about it. You will never be made right with God through your own efforts (Eph 2:8-9 NCV). • If this error is evident in your life, the Spirit is saying, Stop. Give up. Yield. Go back to the first three chapters of Ephesians and allow the Spirit to reveal to you your identity in Christ, your calling from God. • If you’ve made Jesus Christ your Lord, you’re God’s son or daughter. He chose you. He loves you. \He hasHe has transferred you from the kingdom of darkness to his kingdom of light. You’re a new creation. As you focus on your new identity and thank God for what he’s done, you’ll find freedom and empowerment to respond to his love by walking worthy of your calling. 2. To treat God’s calling lightly • Those guilty of this error protest that no one can actually live worthy of God’s calling and we must be on guard for the trap of legalism and perfectionism. • But we go too far. We fool ourselves that we can follow Christ without taking up our cross, that we can be a disciple without discipline, that religious activity will suffice for obedience. • In this case, our problem is that we are don’t care that we’ve been given a billion-dollar salvation. We muster only a five-cent response. The truth is that we’re unimpressed with what God has done for us. • The wonder of God’s provision has either never dawned in your heart or it’s lost its edge. God’s calling has become commonplace, even ho-hum to you. • You may know the right answers, but those answers haven’t travelled the 12 inches from your head to our heart. You’re like the judge we spoke of earlier who disregarded the greatness and significance of his calling. • If this is you today, the Spirit calls to you to repent, to turn, to remember what Christ has done for you, to embrace humility, gentleness, patience, and bearing with others in love, to eagerly maintain, to preserve, the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace Challenge • God, the Father, has called you to belong to him, to be part of his holy people, and to join in his cosmic plan for restoring humanity to relationship with Himself and renewing all of creation. Let us walk worthy of our calling.