Walking in a Manner Worthy

Ephesians 4:1-3 ESV

“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.”

Paul was writing to the Christians in Ephesus, and he was urging (exhorting) them to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which they had been called. And to exhort someone is to give a strong encouragement or a holy urging to do something or to move in a particular direction toward some specific action. So, this wasn’t a suggestion. It was critical to their walks of faith in Christ Jesus that they did what Paul urged them to do.

And this was not just for them at that time, but this is for us, too. So, what are we being urged to do here? We need to walk, and this is not talking about a physical walk, but it is talking about how we live, such as our behaviors, attitudes, words, and lifestyles. So this has to do with our conduct and with our practices. It is how we live day in and day out, whether other people can see us or not.

And we are to walk in a manner worthy of.. in a manner suitable and fitting to that matches in value the calling to which we have been called. And what is that? We are called to be saints, and a saint is one who is holy, and to be holy is to be separate (unlike, different) from the world because we are being made by God into the likeness of character of Jesus Christ. And we are called according to God’s purpose, and his purpose for us is that we die with him to sin and that we live to his righteousness, in his power and strength.

And we are called into fellowship with Jesus Christ, and we can’t be in fellowship with him if we are still walking in sin. So, we must be walking in the light as God is in the light, and this means that we are walking in the truth of God’s Word and in walks of righteousness, holiness, and godliness, in walks of obedience to our Lord, and not in sin. For we are called to freedom from slavery to sin and to living godly lives, pleasing to God.

We are not called to impurity, but in holiness, so we are called to live morally pure, honest, upright, godly, and faithful lives exercising biblical self-control under the control and guidance of the Holy Spirit. And we are called out of darkness into his light, so we are called out of our lives of sin to now living for the Lord to do his will for our lives.

[Psalms 139:13-16; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:6-7; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:28-29; 1 Corinthians 1:9; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; Galatians 5:13; Ephesians 1:3-4; 1 Thessalonians 4:7; 2 Timothy 1:8-9; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Peter 1:14-16; 1 Peter 2:9,24; 2 Peter 1:3; 1 John 1:5-7]

And we are to do this with all humility, with a fair and honest evaluation of oneself, and not with a puffed up opinion of oneself, and not with self-abasement, either. It is to see ourselves as God sees us, and not through the lens of a list of “who I am in Christ,” which can be false and puffed up and falsely applied where it does not fit. For who we are in Christ must first of all be determined by us meeting the biblical criteria to be “in Christ,” and then it must be true to who we are which is shown by how we live.

And with gentleness, which is gentle or controlled strength, which expresses power with reserve, but not with biblical compromise, and not with the compromise of truth and righteousness. For it also means meekness, and Jesus Christ was meek, but he was not weak, especially when it came to speaking the truth of the gospel and to refuting the lies of the enemy. So, this is not about backing down from the truth so we don’t offend people, but it is about speaking the truth, but in love.

And with patience or longsuffering and forbearance, which is self-control, but not tolerance of willful, deliberate, habitual and premeditated sin in the lives of those professing faith in Jesus Christ. We don’t coddle others in their sin but we exhort them to cease from sin and we warn them of the consequences if they decide to continue in deliberate sin and to not turn from their sin to follow the Lord in obedience.

Bearing with one another in love, which means to persist and to suffer with and to endure with other believers in Jesus Christ. But, again, if they are professing faith in Jesus Christ but they are deliberately and habitually sinning against the Lord, we are to speak the truth in love to them and exhort them and urge them strongly to leave their lives of sin behind them and to obey the Lord, for if they don’t, the consequences are dire. But we shouldn’t give up on them but keep praying for them.

For we are to bear with one another in love, and this word “love” centers in moral preference and it means to prefer what God prefers because he is love. And what God prefers is what is holy, righteous, godly, upright, morally pure, honest, and faithful, etc. So, this is why I say that this does not mean that we tolerate or placate sinful practices in the lives of those professing faith in Jesus Christ, but we are to speak the truth to them in love in hopes they will come to repentance and to obedient walks of faith in Christ.

For, unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace has first of all to do with being united with the Spirit of God in thought, word, and in deed, i.e. in practice. And this has to do with Christians being joined together in wholeness, which also means soundness, which has to do with integrity and with God’s will for our lives, and with holy and godly living and not living in sin, so spiritually healthy according to the teachings under the New Covenant. So we never compromise truth and righteousness to make peace with other humans.

Songs in the Night  

An Original Work / December 18, 2013

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” Acts 16:25 NIV ‘84

Lord, I praise You forevermore.

You, my Savior, I now adore.

Hope in heaven awaiting me,

Because You died at Calvary.

I have been forgiven,

And I’m bound for heaven.

Jesus set me free from

All my sin, I say.

I will praise Him always!

Lord, I love You for all You’ve done:

Overcame death, my vict’ry won!

Jesus saved me, and now I’m free!

I rejoice in His love for me.

I will walk in vict’ry!

My sin is but hist’ry!

I am free to please Him

With my life today.

I will love Him always!

Lord, I thank You for giving me

A new life bought at Calvary.

Loving Jesus, I meet with Him.

Tender mercies now flow within.

Lord, I am so thankful;

Through my Lord, I’m able

To sit at His table;

Fellowship with Him.

I will thank Him always!

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