Ephesians 4:1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.
Our call to follow Christ is a high and holy calling and not simply a social relationship or obligation. It demands our all. It calls us to reorient our lives, to restructure our lives, to follow the principles of the Kingdom of God instead of being grounded to the things of this world. As we look through Ephesians 4 we begin to understand just to what we have been called.
- First of all, Paul establishes that We are called to develop a Kingdom mindset.
To follow Jesus in a worthy manner, it will involve a change in our mindset. When you become a Jesus-follower, when you accept the call to discipleship, when you embrace that you are called not only to salvation but to transformation and a new way of thinking, you’ll start to think about things in a new way. There will be new things to consider. You won’t continue to think the way you thought before you became united with Christ. There will be new things to consider, holy things, sacred things, Kingdom things. Pleasing God will become paramount.
17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19 Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.
Yikes! How does a person get to the place that they are indulging in every kind of impurity and are full of greed? Paul says it starts with futile thoughts. The word futile means, “Incapable of producing any useful result; pointless.” A worldly mindset will not produce any useful result. A worldly mindset will lead to a pointless life. People without a Kingdom mindset will live for the moment, but when the moment is over, it’s over. There is no fruit from it. There is nothing to show for it. There is nothing positive produced by it. There is no lasting effect. There is no satisfaction or fulfillment. I don’t want to live a pointless life!
Paul says, what we train our minds to think about will determine if our lives bear fruit or if they breed fleshly immorality. He goes on to say in verse 20:20 That, however, is not the way of life you learned 21 when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
If you are going walk worthy of the calling you have received, you’re gonna need to ask God to make you new in the attitude of your mind.
Second,
- You are called to have Kingdom Mouth. As you grow in your walk with Jesus, you will want to talk the way He did. You will have a desire to please Christ with the way you speak. Ephesians 4:2 and 3 tell us to be completely humble, gentle and patient. Aren’t those attitudes tied to the way we talk to people? He goes on to say in verse 3 that we should make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. If we are going to accomplish that tall order, there are times we are going to have to muzzle our mouths. We are going to have to discipline ourselves to stay quiet.
Paul says in verse 25 that we are only to speak the truth. Not our truth or a version of the truth, but the truth. We are all members of one body. We are in this together. Why would anyone want to become a Christian if they witness Christians talking poorly to each other or poorly about each other? In verse 26 Paul addresses anger that leads to sin. How many relationships could still be intact today if people would have learned to master their mouths? The verse that follows these verses about what we say is verse 27. It says, “Do not give the devil a foothold.” Paul says you can actually invite the devil into your life, into your relationships by the way you talk.
And that’s not all Paul had to say about what we say. Look at verse 29: 29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
Third, Paul says that when you seek to walk worthy of the calling as a disciple of Christ, you are called to a Kingdom ministry. You are here for purposes beyond making a living, beyond having meaningful relationships, beyond getting an education, beyond enjoying sports or other hobbies, beyond physical pleasures, and beyond getting to the beach a few times a year. You are here for a God-ordained purpose. Verse 7 and 8 say that God has given you grace gifts that are to be used in His service.
Look at Ephesians 4:11: 11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service.
Verse 12 goes on to say as we work together that the Body of Christ, here at TVCOG, is built up. Just by using your gifts and talents in service to the Lord, you are contributing to the health of this body. Paul says in verse 16 that every part of this body is supposed to do their part. What part are you playing?. Walking worthy of the calling mean being an active Kingdom witness.
Well, finally, Paul says that walking worthy of the calling means
- We are Called to Kingdom maturity.
Paul says you are to grow in Christ. You are to mature in Christ.
Look at verses 13-15: until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. 14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.
The fastest way to spiritual maturity is to become preoccupied with the Word of God. It has never been easier to be in the Word daily. There are 24 hours in the day. Surely you can find ten minutes every day to be in the Word. You can download the Bible app and literally listen to a devotion on your way to work. Listen to it while you put your makeup on or as you wind down for bed. You need to be in the Word somehow, every day. Do you have challenges every day? Do you have decisions to make every day? Do you face battles every day? Then you need the Word every day. It is food for every day and every facet of your life.
I want to walk with Jesus in a manner worthy of the calling. I want my mind and mouth to be governed by the Spirit of Christ. I want to assume responsibility for the Kingdom Ministry that God has for me so that I have a part in leading people to Jesus, and I want to grow up in Jesus. I want to know Him more fully and be like Him more and more with each passing day.
