I, therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received. (Ephesians 4:1)
There it is—the first of our series of practical applications of how we are to walk in Christ. We are to walk worthy. Before we can fully comprehend what this admonition means, there’s one word we need to explore and that is the word therefore. To understand that word we need to go all the way back to Ephesians 1:9-10.
He [God] made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure that He planned in Him for the administration of the days of fulfillment—to bring everything together in the Messiah, both things in heaven and things on earth in Him. [HCSB]
What we know from this Scripture is this:
- God’s will is in line with His plan that not only pleases Him, but that will one day be fulfilled.
- God’s will was a mystery, but has now been made known to man.
- God’s will is to bring all things in heaven and on earth together in Christ, the Messiah.
From the start God’s plan was to bring everything together in the Messiah. Uh, oh…does anybody else see a problem here? How could that plan be accomplished in light of man’s choice in the Garden to disobey? Not to worry, because before the foundation of the world God made the choice that all who were “in Christ” would be holy and blameless before Him. (Eph. 1:4) He set the boundary to which He would go to enfold mankind “in Christ” and redeem us from the power and penalty of sin, and that boundary was love. It was love that took the only begotten Son of God all the way to the cross where He paid the price for our rebellion against the Father and opened the way for mankind to be adopted as sons and daughters for God Himself. You see, the cross of Christ is the ultimate expression of God’s love for mankind (John 3:16), and the Gospel is the revelation of that which was once a mystery—God’s plan for bringing all things together in the Messiah. The way “in” is the way of faith, the way of believing and trusting.
But to all who did receive Him [Jesus], He gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in His name. (John 1:12)
For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—not from works, so that no one can boast. (Eph. 2:8-9)
That’s why there’s no place in heaven for those who reject Christ. Because everything will be under the rule and reign of the Messiah, those who refuse to be under His authority must be banished. And because God is the source of life and light and hope and peace and everything that is good, the unrepentant will be banished to a place of eternal darkness and torment apart from everything that is good. The only way to live in God’s presence is to be holy and blameless, and because of man’s sinful condition, the only way to be holy and blameless before God is to be “in Christ.”
With this great plan in mind, God chose Abraham through his son, Isaac, and grandson, Jacob, to create a people through whom the Messiah would appear. During the days of Moses the Law was given to them as a guardian to restrain their evil behavior and preserve them for God’s purpose (Gal. 3:24). But hostility existed between those who lived under the Law (Jews) and those who didn’t (Gentiles).
When Jesus came to earth, conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, He made peace by the blood of His cross—peace within, peace with God, peace with man.
For He is our peace, who made both groups one and tore down the dividing wall of hostility. In His flesh, He did away with the law of the commandments in regulations, so that He might create in Himself one new man from the two, resulting in peace. [He did this so] that He might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross and put the hostility to death by it. (Eph. 2:14-16)
That “one new man” which Christ created IS His body—the Church, whose purpose Paul states in the verses immediately preceding our text is to bring glory to God. In fact, earlier in Eph. 1:22 Paul described the Body of Christ as the fullness of the One who fills all things in every way. Wait…push pause…think about that a minute. Can there be any greater source of glory to God than the completion and fulfillment of His plan to bring everything together in the Messiah? Can there be any other fulfillment of that plan than the Body of Christ, that “one new man” under the rule and reign of Christ?
To Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Eph. 3:21)
And that’s what the “therefore” is “there for”. Because of all Paul taught in Eph. 1-3 about God’s purpose and our position as believers “in Christ”, he’s now going to turn His attention to the practical matter of how that life in Christ is lived out during our remaining time on earth. And he begins by saying walk worthy of the calling you have received. That word “calling” means “invitation.” Now the invitation to be “in Christ” is open to every man.
The Lord does not delay His promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)
But Paul’s admonition to the church here is that ever believer’s walk should be appropriate or fitting for one who’s been invited to be “in Christ”. In other words, as a believer in Christ your manner of life should reflect the fact that you’ve accepted the invitation. He goes on in vv.2-3 to describe what that walk looks like.
With all humility and gentleness, with patience, accepting one another in love, diligently keeping the unity of the Spirit with the peace that binds [us]. (Eph. 4:2-3)
Next time we’ll look at each of these qualities in more detail to discover what a worthy walk looks like. Until then, may your heart be encouraged and overflow with thanksgiving as day by day you live in the knowledge of God’s plan and purpose for your life—to be under the rule and reign of the Messiah.
