The Book of Ephesians Pt. 26 Introducing the Worthy Walk!

 We are half way through the book of Ephesians and have studied the beautiful doctrines as taught by the apostle Paul. Now we enter the "application" section in Chapters 4 through 6. The doctrinal section tells us truths about God, salvation, the Lord Jesus Christ and the ministry of God's Spirit. We now need to know what this means for how we live. God gives doctrine followed by duty and beliefs for impacting our behavior.

Ephesians 4:1  I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, 

Paul begins Ephesians 4 with the same reminder that starts at the beginning of Ephesians 3. He wanted the church to remember that he was in prison for the sake of the gospel so if they were to come under persecution or political pressures that they would be encouraged to stand firmly on the apostolic truth. 

With the mindset of being willing to serve Christ no matter the personal sacrifice that might be involved, God through Paul gives us a broad imperative. No one can say "Well, I just do not know what the will of God is for me!" as an excuse to live for self instead of for God's glory. 

What is the will of God for every born again child of God? "Walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called." Paul is going to fill in the details of what this kind of life looks like so each of us, as believers, can understand God's expectation for each one of us.

The word "walk" means how the truth of God (doctrine) regulates our lives and the choices that we make. The word "walk" refers to our life pattern of either living obediently for God's glory or disobeying and living for self. 

The word "worthy" means in a manner that reflects the worthiness of our God. We learn about the worthiness and excellence of God in all things as we study the word of God and the idea of a "worthy walk" is living in a way that extolls the glory of God rather than detracts from it.

Philippians 3:14  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. 

The word "vocation" is a word that means wholeheartedly embracing God's invitation of salvation. Paul reminds us that we are called in Christ, predestined and elected according to God's infinite foreknowledge. In writing to the Philippians Paul called our salvation the singularly high calling of God upon each believer's life.

Ephesians 4:2  With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; 

Paul is thorough and describes the worthy walk in this chapter in great detail. He begins with saying that the worthy walk included "lowliness." The word "lowliness" means to have a humble opinion of one's self. You can see that the high calling of God runs counter to the direction of our culture which demands that we be self centered, self conceited, and self absorbed. 

The "worthy walk" exhibits a spirit of "meekness" which is a word that means that we accept God's dealings with us without disputing or resisting His will. This word also means patiently enduring the wrongs done to us by other men knowing that God will judge our enemies. 

The "worthy walk" is characterized by a longsuffering disposition in the believers heart. The word "longsuffering" means having a spirit of patient endurance and being slow to respond to someone with anger. 

The "worthy walk" shows a life transformed by learning to be forbearing in love toward others. The word "forbearing" means maintaining integrity and an upright spirit while bearing the insults or lies spoken by others, and not responding in kind. It is the love of God for us and in us that strengthens the believer to be forbearing toward others. 

Ephesians 4:3  Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 

The word "endeavoring" means to use haste and make a strong effort to "keep" the unity of the Spirit. The word "keep" means to carefully guard something so that it is protected and preserved. 

The word "unity" means having the same mind, being united in the same cause by this unity of the Spirit. Therefore it includes being believers being united together in the body of Christ. 

The unity of the Spirit also suggests unity within the local church of Jesus Christ and this has been a struggle for many churches over the last year and a half.  Some refused to obey the clear teaching of scripture and unity in the local church was disrupted (Romans 13:1-7, Titus 3:1-2; 1 Timothy 2:1-4).

Finally, Paul tells us that the "worthy walk" keeps the unity believers have in the Spirit and with the bond of peace. 

The word "bond" means that which binds us together in the common cause of the gospel of Christ. It refers to the ministry of the Spirit of God with the Word of God in the heart of man. 

The word "peace" reminds us that we have peace with God through faith in Jesus Christ and believers should have "peace" with each other because we are united together in the Spirit of God in Christ. 

Thoughts to Ponder...

How are we doing with regard to the "worthy walk?" If you are like me you probably know that there are areas in our lives where we need to ask God to change us, so that we can be lowly, meek, forbearing in love, keeping the unity of the Spirit with the peace of God in our hearts.  

The traits of the worthy walk are changes to the way that we think and to our heart. Theses are changes that God must work into us as we yield to His Spirit leading us in our lives. 

I pray that we will digest these truths and ask our Great God to keep transforming us each day, making us more like Jesus, our Lord, Savior and King.

Bob