A worthy walk

Ephesians 4:1–6

The Calling of a worthy walk

(v.1) Here Paul is pleading with his readers to walk worthy of the their calling. I find it interesting that Paul begins this verse by stating that He is “the prisoner of the Lord”. You see even though Paul was in prison I believe he wasn’t referring to his circumstance of being in a physical prison. He was talking about being subservient. This means that Paul saw himself as a servant of Christ. Paul saw everything in the light of how it affected Christ. He saw things vertically before he saw them horizontally. Christ’s standards were his standards. Christ’s objectives were his objectives. Christ’s vision was his vision. Everything Paul thought, said, and did was in relation to Christ. In the fullest sense Paul was a captive of the Lord Jesus Christ whether he was in a physical prison or not.

Unfortunately some people tend to be so self-oriented that they see many things in relation only to themselves. However, the person who has the Word of Christ abiding in them and saturates their mind with divine wisdom and truth will desire to please the Lord in all they say, do, and think. The true Christian will ask, “ how will this affect God?” or “How will this reflect on Him?”. The person who truly is of the faith will always see things through God’s viewpoint. Such an attitude is the mark of spiritual maturity. The one that is of the faith will be able to say as David did, “I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved”. Psalm 16:8

In the last part of this verse Paul makes reference to the believer’s calling. This refers to the Lord’s sovereign, effectual call to salvation  (Rom. 11:29; 1 Cor. 1:26; Eph. 1:18; 4:1, 4; Phil. 3:14; 2 Thess. 1:11; 2 Tim. 1:9; cf. Heb. 3:1; 2 Pet. 1:10). Without God’s calling us, without His choosing us, our choosing Him would be futile. If God did not call men unto Himself no one would come to Him, because every natural man is at enmity with God (Romans 8:7). The wonderful truth of the gospel is that God not only sent His son to provide salvation but that God sent his Son to seek the lost in order to save them (Luke 19:10). This is why our calling is a “heavenly calling” ( Hebrews 3:1), and a “holy calling” (2 Timothy 1:9). This is why the faithful, responsive christian is determined to “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus”. (Philippians 3:14).

Characteristics of a worthy walk

Ephesians 4:2–3 AV

With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

In verses 2-3 There are five essential characteristics for Christian living They are humility, gentleness, patience, love, and unity. We’re going to look at each of these characteristics in some depth.

Humility

Humility is a personal christian quality of being free from pride and arrogance. God desires a humble Spirit (Psalm 51:17; Micah 6:8). When a christian has a humble spirit it will show in several ways. First, there will be a recognition of ones sinfulness before a Holy God (Isaiah 6:5), second, there will be obedience to God and His word (Deuteronomy 8:2), third, there will be a submission to God (2 Kings 22:19; 2 Chronicles 34:27).

It is very unfortunate and sad that many churches today reflect the world and it ways. I’ve seen many churches who have pastors with pride and arrogance. The church and the pulpit are no place for these sinful behavior’s. I’ve left churches for this very reason.

Gentleness

Humility will always produce gentleness, or meekness. Meekness is a sure sign of true humility. A Christian cannot posses meekness without humility, and someone cannot have meekness when pride is present in their life. Gentleness refers to someone who is mild-spirited and self controlled. It is the opposite of being vindictive and vengeful. Jesus spoke of gentleness as one of the beatitudes (Matthew 5:5). Jesus also use gentleness to describe His own character (“for I am meek and lowly in heart” Matthew 11:29). Gentleness is also one of the Fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:23). Every true child of God should characterize gentleness in their life (Colossians 3:12 cf Philippians 4:5).

We see many examples of gentleness in the bible. When the soldiers came to arrest Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane peter drew his sword to defend Jesus. Jesus said,”Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:53). Jesus had access to infinite divine power, which He could at any moment used in His own defense. Yet He chose not to use this power. This refusal to use divine resources for anything but obeying His Father’s will is a great picture of meekness which is power under control.

David also showed meekness when he refused to kill king Saul when he had the opportunity and justification from a human view point (1 Samuel 24:1–7). There are many other examples of gentleness in the bible.

Patience

The third attitude of a christian’s worthy walk is patience. Patience is an outgrowth of humility and gentleness. The word literally means long-tempered, and is sometimes translated “longsuffering”. A patience person will endure hard and negative circumstances and will never give into them. Some biblical examples of Patience are as follows:

.Psalm 37:7; Proverbs 15:18; Ecclesiastes 7:7–8; Lamentations 3:25.

Forbearing Love

The fourth characteristic of walking worthy is showing “tolerance to one another in love.” in first peter he tells us that love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8). Love throws a blanket over the sins of others. Love does not justify or excuse the sins but it keeps the sins from becoming any more known than necessary. “Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins”. (Proverbs 10:12). As christian’s we need to be patiently loving to those who may not agree with us or hate us.

As Christians we are to demonstrate agapē love to others. agapē love is love that gives to others whether it receives anything or not. This type of love also is demonstrated to our enemies and those who may persecute us (Matthew 5:43–44).

Unity

The final outcome of humility, gentleness, patience, and forbearance is “ Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3). In this verse Paul is speaking of an inner and universal unity of the spirit which every true believer is bound to every other true believer. This unity of the spirit works in the lives of believers. Unity does not come from the outside, but from the inside. It is manifested through the inner qualities of humility, gentleness, patience, and forbearing love. Spiritual unity cannot be created by the church. It is created by the Holy Spirit inside the believer. “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:13 cf. Romans 8:9).

A believer’s responsibility is to preserve unity by faithfully walking in a manner worthy of God’s calling (Ephesians 4:1). Believer’s are to manifest Christ to the world by oneness in Him (Romans 15:1–6; 1 Corinthians 1:10–13; 1 Corinthians 3:1–3; Philippians 1:27). Unfortunately, the world always seems to struggle to find unity. As long as there is selfishness in the human heart, all the laws, treaties. and agreements will never bring true unity and peace. The thing that preserves unity is peace. It is the Spiritual belt that binds God’s holy people together. This bond as Paul describes in Philippians is “Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind” (Philippians 2:2). The bond of peace is through love. Love is described in Colossians as, “And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness” (Colossians 3:14). Humility, gentleness, patience, and forbearing love are what, “Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3).

In closing, I want to challenge you to examine your heart to see if you are demonstrating these characteristics in your life. Ask the Lord to show you any area that the Holy Spirit needs to work on in your heart. If you should need any prayer or have questions, please feel free to contact me at our web address, savingfaithministy.org or through our faithlife ministry page. God Bless you all.