Walking Lessons for Christians

Ephesians 4:1-6

Let’s meet Jarrod and Pierre.

Jarrod lives in a posh, uptown condo that overlooks Grand Central Park. He wears designer threads, drives a Porsche Turbo, attends all the Broadway shows when they debut, and eats at 5-star restaurants.

Pierre lives on Staten Island in a small, one-bedroom house. He keeps a small garden in his backyard, drives a 2000 Dodge Neon, never eats out, and rarely appears in public, except to run errands.

From these descriptions, can you tell who’s most wealthy and prestigious? You might be wrong. You see, despite his lavish lifestyle, Jarrod is unemployed, has no college degree, and is burning through an inheritance from his father. In fact, his accounts have been depleted and he’s nearly maxed out his credit limit on four separate credit cards.

On the other hand, despite his modest lifestyle, Pierre is a self-made multimillionaire with a private college education, no debt, an excellent credit score, and plenty of resources to spare. In fact, he owns the uptown high-rise where Jarrod lives – not the condo, but the entire building – and he plans to purchase another high-rise soon.

Both these men have something in common, besides a shared connection to the uptown high rise of course. It’s this – that their lifestyles don’t match their means. One lives far beyond his means while the other lives far below it.

Let’s meet David and Daniel.

David is a polite and generous man, loved by all who know him. He mows his neighbor’s yard, volunteers at a Brooklyn soup kitchen, and donates to many charities. He attends church on holidays and enjoys mixing with the people afterwards.

Daniel is a miserable and irritable man who makes people feel uncomfortable. He ignores his neighbors, never volunteers for anything, and hordes his money. He attends church sometimes, but when he does, he sits in the back with a critical spirit.

Once again, you may be surprised to know which man claims to be a Christian. David’s a professing atheist who rejects the existence of God but aims to be the nicest person he can be through willpower alone. Daniel, on the other hand, claims to believe, but has little interest in building relationships with other believers or reaching others with the gospel.

Despite their differences, both these men have something in common. Their lifestyles don’t match their professed beliefs. But what about you?

Does your lifestyle match your faith file?

If you’re like me, you have a file – or set of files –at home that holds your personal, critical information. Your birth certificate, social security card, passport, and marriage license is there along with your tax forms, investment papers, vehicle titles, will, and the title deed of your house, if you have one. These records reveal your family and ethnic identity along with your financial net worth and so on. Does your public life resemble what’s in your file?

When I refer to your faith file, I’m referring to what you say you believe in your heart. Have you believed on Christ as your God and Savior? If so, does your public life reflect your private profession? If your spiritual birth certificate says that you’re a born-again child of God, is there a growing family resemblance between you and your heavenly Father? That’s what Paul is speaking about when he says, “Walking worthy of the calling with which you were called” (Eph 4:1)?

Let’s hear out Paul’s appeal to live out what’s real.

In the opening line of this chapter, Paul gives two words that summarize the entire letter. These two words are “walk worthy.” Worthy represents the first three chapters (Eph 1-3) and walk represents the second three chapters (Eph 4-6).

Walk is a common way for the Bible to refer to how we go about our daily lives. Just as we walk to a destination one step at a time, so we go about our daily lives one decision at a time, one small choice after another. Yet how are believers to walk? That’s the question of the second half of Ephesians, as “walk” occurs twice in first half (Eph 2:2, 10), but five times in second half (Eph 4:1, 17; 5:2, 8, 15).

How should we go about our daily lives? What kind of attitudes, words, and actions should characterize the steps we take in life each day? We should walk in a worthy way. Worthy means to “balance the scales.” Whatever’s on one side should match what’s on the other side. This raises another question. What’s on the other side of our behavior and lifestyle?

We should live up to our heavenly calling.

Another way of saying this is that we should live like our heavenly Father. That’s “the calling by which we have been called” (Eph 4:1). This refers to everything that Paul has taught in the first three chapters of this book, which serves as the theological foundation for the practical application of the last three chapters.

• We’re “blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Eph 1:3).
• We’ve been chosen to “be holy and without blame before him in love” (Eph 1:4).
• We’re to be “to the praise of his glory” (Eph 1:5, 14).
• We have a rich and glorious inheritance as saints (Eph 1:18; 2:7; 3:16).
• We have the great power and strength of God available to us (Eph 1:19; 3:16, 20).
• We are seated together with Christ in heavenly places (Eph 2:6).
• We’ve been saved entirely by God’s grace (Eph 2:8-9).
• We are “created in Christ Jesus for good works” (Eph 2:10).
• We have access to the Father through the Spirit (Eph 2:18).
• We are members of God’s family and citizens of his kingdom (Eph 2:19).
• We are the dwelling place of God in the world today (Eph 2:21-22).
• We are the beneficiaries of Paul’s ministry and suffering (Eph 3:1-13).
• We have deep roots and a solid foundation in Christ’s love (Eph 3:17-19).
• We are supposed to reveal the glory of God to the world through Christ (Eph 3:21)

All this teaching makes it clear that there’s a lot on the other side of the scale, isn’t there? God’s invested a lot in us, given a lot to us, and intends to do a lot through us.

No wonder Paul says, “I beseech you” (Eph 4:1). He doesn’t want us to miss the importance of what he says here, which is the heart of his letter. It’s not just a handy tip or helpful guideline, and it’s not just a simple command either. It’s an urgent appeal. He’s not just instructing or even commanding – he’s urging, urging us to take seriously the task of living as believers and as a church in a way that’s equivalent or equal to our calling.

Consider how Paul repeatedly compares his instructions for our lives to our calling, example, blessings, and resources from God as his children.

• “according to the measure of Christ’s gift” (Eph 4:7)
• “as the truth is in Jesus” (Eph 4:20)
• “created according to God, in true righteousness” (Eph 4:24)
• “forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you” (Eph 4:32)
• “be imitators of God as dear children” (Eph 5:1)
• “walk in love, as Christ also has loved us” (Eph 5:2)
• “walk as children of light” (Eph 5:8)
• “walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise” (Eph 5:15)
• “wives submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord” (Eph 5:22)
• “just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands” (Eph 5:23)
• “husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church” (Eph 5:25)
• “children, obey your parents in the Lord” (Eph 6:1)
• “fathers, bring up [your children] in the training and admonition of the Lord” (Eph 6:4)
• “be obedient to those who are your masters…as to Christ” (Eph 6:5)
• “doing service, as to the Lord” (Eph 6:7)
• “be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might” (Eph 6:10)

God didn’t call us only so that he would forgive our sins (past) or secure our eternity (future), but so that he would transform our lives to become like him (present).

As we study the rest of this letter to the Ephesians, we’re going to unwrap what it means to live a life that’s equal to our calling, our example, and our resources that are in Christ.

But to get started, Paul introduces two important sets of ideas. The attitude (one) and doctrine (two) that ties us together all in one loving, Christian family.

As God’s children, we should follow heavenly house rules.

In some families, especially ones with young children, the parents hang a picture on the wall or place a poster onto the refrigerator with magnets that displays the “house rules.” I do this every year for VBS, too, don’t I? Those five rules are:

1. Keep your hands to yourself
2. No cell phones
3. Listen when someone speaks to you
4. Be happy
5. When you go places, walk there

Now we talk about a lot of things at VBS, but these five guidelines help everything to work out, don’t they? They’re the “ground rules” so to speak.

Very shortly, Paul will be giving us detailed instructions for how to live out our calling as Christians as church members, family members, and laborers in the workforce. But these four “ground rules” describe the Christlike attitude that forms the backbone of all the rest that Paul’s about to say.

The four ground rules for walking worthy of our calling together as Christians are these:

1. Be lowly
2. Be gentle
3. Be longsuffering
4. Bear with one another in love

Lowliness

Lowliness may also be translated as humility. It’s a uniquely Christian word that doesn’t in occur outside the Bible in the first century (except to mock Christians for promoting it). That’s because the world rejects this idea as a good approach to life. It means to think or make judgments from a lower position than someone else. This word describes an attitude that strives to think the best of other professing believers, placing their reputation and interests above your own in how you think about them, speak about them, and interact with them. It’s not “groveling” or believing that you are trash. You do need to recognize your incredible value to God, made in his image and redeemed by Christ. Yet this doesn’t mean you’re better than anyone else. Christ exemplified this when he became a human being, lived a difficult, unappreciated life, and died on the cross for our sins.

Gentleness

Gentleness refers to a mild, self-controlled spirit. Christ said, “Blessed are the gentle” (Matt 5:5) and was himself gentle (Matt 11:29). This doesn’t mean being weak. Instead, it refers to power that is under control and used for proper, helpful purposes. Think of a powerful horse that’s broken and trained for work or racing, or a lion that’s tamed for the circus. Both remain powerful but their power is under control. We must submit our attitudes, emotions, mouths, and actions not only to our own control, but to God’s control.

Longsuffering

Longsuffering literally means “long-tempered.” It refers to someone who endures – over a long period of time – the negative treatment and circumstances, misunderstanding by others, and the spiritual needs, weaknesses, and immaturities of other believers, refusing to bail out or blow up. Moses is a good OT example of this quality (Heb 11:25-27; Num 12:3). He endured 40 yrs. in the wilderness alone, then 40 more years in the wilderness with mostly rebellious Israelites (though he did lose his temper once at the end). The ancient philosopher Aristotle claimed the highest Greek virtue was to not tolerate any insult and to be ready to strike back. But our heavenly Father’s nature and family rules are opposite. As his children, we should accept what other people do to us, even other Christians who push our patience to the limit.[1]

Bearing with One Another in Love

Bearing with one another expands “longsuffering” further (if that’s even possible!) and means enduring or putting up with difficult people, just as Jesus did with the unbelief of his own disciples and followers that he was trying to teach (Matt 17:17; Mk 9:19; Lk 9:41) The emphasis here is not on enduring misunderstanding and mistreatment by unbelievers in the world (as “longsuffering” may imply), but focuses on “one another,” meaning that we need to be patient with one another, which may be the hardest thing to do. We can understand why unbelievers would mistreat us, right? Yet when fellow believers continue to drop the ball, let us down, or give us a hard time, it can be especially hard to bear. But if we believe that God is at work in our lives, we can be patient in waiting for the change he is bringing about to be worked out over time.

In love modifies “bearing with one another” and means we should do more than just “tolerate” or “wait out” the maturing process of other believers who are demonstrating immaturities and misunderstanding. Instead, we should give to meet their needs in different ways, even sacrificially – we should be active and involved, not passive onlookers. What’s more, we should wait with a tear in our eye, a prayer on our lips, and true affection in our hearts, not with irritation and frustration.

The kind of humble, patient attitude is simply being like Christ. Study the four gospels and you will see that this is the way that he lived us life for you and me. This is also a life that resembles our heavenly Father, the way he is with us.

This attitude makes it much easier to be a unified family that isn’t fighting all the time and turning people off to God for unnecessary reasons. We want to be a family that works, serves, grows, and plays together in harmony and friendship, not fighting like a pack of dogs or bickering children.

Endeavoring expresses urgency and determination.

Then “preserving the unity of the Spirit” speaks of maintaining or keep up something that already previously exists rather than bringing something into being. That’s what we’re supposed to be urgent and determined to do.

We must be determined to preserve the unity of the Spirit. This is the perfect harmony and unity that has existed in the Godhead from eternity past. Yet now God is drawing in many people to this same fellowship, which opens the door for infighting, bickering, and family feuds (something the Godhead never experiences). When we believe on Christ, the Spirit draws us into this same spiritual and relational unity with God and with one another from the start, but we must work hard to preserve it.

“In the bond of peace,” this describes a belt that holds or ties us together. What is peace? It’s harmony (a pleasing, working together of the many parts or people in a body, assembly, or group), and it’s also the absence of worry and strife.

Does that describe Faith Baptist Church? A group of people who are pulling together and working together with real determination to preserve the kind of harmony that God himself enjoys? Are we a church that enjoys the peace and harmony of the Father, Son, and Spirit? We should think of this whenever we sing “blessed be the tie that binds.”

As God’s children, we should care for the faith we share.

Paul emphasizes the harmony that God desires for his children to have with one another by using the word one seven times. These “ones” may come from some early hymns, catechisms, or lines that the early church would repeat frequently to remind themselves of the things they held in common.

One Body

This refers to the church, not just individual congregations, but the global church. “Body” is an illustration for the church that Paul introduced in the NT, and he will refer to it later in this letter. It describes the church as one body (not many) with one head (which is Christ), in which we all have a key role to play. We’re different, yes, just as different as your toes are from your nose, and your eyes are from your fingers – but we should work together to accomplish whatever our head wants to do. Many ethnicities, many backgrounds, many preferences, many cultures, many sets of strengths and weaknesses, yes – but one body. Remember? The “wall of separation” has been broken down.

One Spirit

This refers to the Holy Spirit who indwells us – not just some of us, a few privileged ones, but all of us fully, completely, and equally. It sends very bad signals to the nonbelievers who see us when children of God in whom the one same Spirit of God dwells are fighting with each other. Is God divided? No, he is not.

One Calling and Hope

This refers to what we’re all looking forward to as God’s children. That is “to be holy and blameless” in this life (Eph 1:4) and to share the same inheritance in the next (Eph 5:5).

One Lord

We all serve the same master, God, and king. Let’s not forget that fact. This means we’ve all abandoned whatever other gods we previously served, which isn’t easy to do, is it? Especially when those gods are such a central part of many of our cultures. Let’s respect this tremendous shared struggle and support one another as we follow the same Lord rather than fight with one another. When Christ said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life,” he made an exclusive claim (John 14:6), so yes, Christianity is exclusive. But those who’ve taken the difficult step of following him and turning away from all other gods need to unite on the road. After all, we’re all headed to the same heavenly home.

One Faith

We all believe the same gospel message. We believe that there is one God and one Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He died on the cross in our place for our sins and resurrected three days later. So, we believe that we are saved by grace alone, in Christ alone, through faith alone and not by works. We’re believing the same thing.

One Baptism

We’ve all declared our faith the same way, by baptism through immersion. There is a real sense in which baptism was and is a strong statement of solidarity and unity as a church. In fact, for many believers throughout the centuries have taken this step of obedience to Christ at the risk of their life and to the ruin of their former relationships. Some have even been disowned by their blood families and ethnic communities. Let’s respect this fact and stand united together.

One God and Father of All

We all serve the same God and share the same heavenly Father. Though this is what the Jews of faith believed for centuries before (Deut 6:4), it’s also what we believe today, no matter what our ethnic background may be. We have one God who is the Father of us all equally. This God is over all (sovereign), “through all” (omnipresent, but also global through the church), and “in you all” (indwells every believer personally). He has no favorite children. We’re all equally loved in his sight, so we should treat one another as he treats us and as he has called us.

Does your lifestyle match your faith file?

Have we heard out Paul’s appeal to live out what’s real, to balance the scales so to speak and live in way that’s equal to our calling in Christ?

As a church moving forward in 2020 and beyond, let’s remember God’s four simple house rules. Let’s be lowly, gentle, longsuffering, and bearing with one another in love … and with other Christians, too.

Jesus prayed for this kind of unity among believers (John 17:20-23) the night before he died, which shows it was a very important priority to him. Is that that important to us today?

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[1] John F. MacArthur Jr., Ephesians, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago: Moody, 1986), 127.