I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,  Ephesians 4:1

Ephesians 4:1–16 – Learning to Live Under the Reign of Christ
Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time: Life in the Spirit  – August 4, 2024 (am)    

Despite its solemn tone, I’ve often referred to Eph.4:1 as one of the most humorous verses in the Bible. And there are some pretty funny ones elsewhere. I think of Jesus asking the crowds about their interest in John the Baptist that sent them out to the desert to hear him. Mat.11:7 … “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? No, it wasn’t the desert scenery!

There’s also the the angel of the Lord’s greeting to Gideon who was trying to [thresh] wheat in a winepress. He needed the wind to blow away the chaff, but he was down in a hole because he was afraid of the Midianites. Jud.6:12 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said… (esv), “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior” (niv).

These two can bring the laugh of humor if you hear them well. Today’s text brings the laugh of disbelief, the wry chuckle that’s often followed by: Yeah, right….

For context, if you recall, Paul has raised the bar so high regarding the believer’s standing and power in Christ that we have to believe God is able to do [immeasurably] more than all we can even [imagine] to believe that He’s capable of granting what Paul just prayed for us to experience.

Then what does 4:1 say? 1 I… urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called. Live up to that standard that surpasses your [imagination]! Live out that blessing that’s beyond being known—walk worthy of [it]!

There’s a lot that goes into this walk, as we’ll see over the next three chapters. But Paul gets started in earnest listing some essential components right out of the blocks here. And chief among them is unity. Let’s see what he says. It comes in two parts.

Understanding What a Worthy Unity Involves – 1-10

Just listen to the different contributors that come together to form a worthy unity. 1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called. At very least Paul is implying right off the bat that a walking worthy of [the gospel] may bring opposition. But you still purse it 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, which all flow together to suggest that you should actually be 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, to deny yourself and enter into the unity that we’ve been reading about from the start of this letter, that displays the glorious salvation God has provided in Christ. Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, … partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel (3:6), the dividing wall of hostility broken down, so making peace (2:14-15), the purpose and plan of God set forth in Christ (1:9-10) realized through the church (3:10).

And Paul continues giving basis for this unity in the verses that follow. 4 There is one body, this united church we’ve just mentioned, and one Spirit Who unites, indwells, that one church (2:22)—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one eternal future together in heaven—5 one Lord, Jesus Christ, one faith, in Him alone, that saves us, one baptism into that one Savior and one faith, meaning we’re united with Christ by the regenerating, indwelling work of His Spirit which we receive by faith alone in Christ alone (1Co.12:13). That’s what it means to be in Christ. And there’s also 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all, completing a trinitarian reference which reminds us that all three take part in our salvation.

7 But there’s more, the grace that was needed to enable us to live into this self-denying, God-glorifying unity was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Even though we’re all unified in Christ, we’re each gifted by Him differently (1Co.12:11; Rom.12:3). In a sweet statement that draws on the rich imagery of Psa.68, Paul uses the God’s victory on Israel’s behalf, leading them through the wilderness (Psa.68:17), as a backdrop for Christ’s victory from His descending to earth, likely His incarnation, to His ascending back to the Father, having defeated sin and death and all who oppose His reign, and also, then, sharing the spoils of that victory with all who believe.

Pursuing What a Worthy Unity Requires – 11-16

I believe the most evident paragraph break in Paul’s original writing here is between vv.6 and 7. But I believe the best break for discussing what he’s teaching is between vv.10 and 11. An v.11 acts like the hinge as he turns from laying out all that God has provided for His people to experience the unity under Christ’s reign that displays the manifold wisdom (3:10) of God in His salvation. From among the gifts He’s given, certain ones (11) are intended 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, to equip them to exercise their gifts in unity (3, 13) and harmony (cf. Rom.12:16) with one another, for building up the body of Christ (1Co.12:7, for the common good). But now look at the aim, the purpose, the end toward which we’re making every effort to maintain the unity (nrsv) we receive from God by faith in Christ. We press on in that pursuit 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, that is, the unity described in c.2 (cf. O’Brien 306), until we [realize] the unity [we inherit as God’s planned outcome] of the faith (1:9-10), and also [the unity] of the knowledge of the Son of God, all that we learn about Jesus in this letter and in our calling in Him (1), which, taken together, adds up to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 [with the result] that we may no longer be children, lacking this mature faith and knowledge of Christ which would leave us vulnerable to being tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

The behavior that marks mature believers is just the opposite of this. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love—love must be truthful, and truth must be expressed lovingly—and as that happens, we… grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, we mature in Him 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Did you catch that middle clause, when each part is working properly? It’s when the body of Christ is working and serving together, exercising their gifts in harmony with one another, that the whole body together grows up, matures, both in doctrinal stability and in knowledge of and experience with Christ. It happens together! We don’t mature in Christ off on our own! Maturing spiritually is a community, body-together project!

Conclusion

It happens as we serve God together using the gifts Jesus has given (8, 11), the Spirit has given (1Co.12:7-8), the Father has given (Rom.12:3), to fulfill the purpose for which they were given. And it shows up as humble, gentle, patient, forbearing, loving (2), peaceful (3), doctrinally stable, unity, that reflects the very heart and mind of Jesus. All of this forms as we serve together in maturing unity using the gifts that Jesus went to the cross both to secure and to provide.

That can sometimes seem to us to put unity in the church at too high a priority. What if the purity of our doctrine is threatened? Must we not lay aside unity in defense of truth? That’s surely the response the church has become used to over the centuries. But what if the answer all along is just to continue serving God together under the authority of His Word and the headship (15) of Jesus to see if that’s not the best way both to realize and then to protect this unity?

That surely seems to be Jesus’ preferred way, His priority. Do you remember how He prayed just before leaving the upper room to go to the cross? First, He prayed for Himself, then for His disciples, but then Joh.17:20 … also for those who will believe in me through their [witness], 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me, their unity being a distinct witness to who they are.

This is what Jesus prayed toward then provided for through the cross: a walk among His people that’s worthy of their calling in Him, and that’s marked by a unity which displays the full grandeur and glory of His salvation.

How about us, GCD? Are we ready to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which [we] 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? As for each of us personally, are we ready, willing, to pursue this?

 __________________

Resources

Arnold, Clinton E. 1992. Ephesians: Power and Magic. Grand Rapids: Baker.

                  , gen. ed. 2002. Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary. Vol. 3, Romans-Philemon. Ephesians, by Clinton E. Arnold, 300-340. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Beale, G. K., & D. A. Carson, eds. 2007. Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament. Ephesians, by Frank S. Thielman, 813-833. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic.

Bruce, F. F., Gordon D. Fee, & Ned B. Stonehouse., gen. eds. 1984. The New International Commentary on the New Testament. The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians, by F. F. Bruce. Ephesians, 227-442. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

Calvin, John. 1854. Commentary on the Epistle of Paul to the Galatians and Ephesians, trans, by William Pringle. Ephesians, 189-344. Logos.

Carson, D. A., ed. 1999. Pillar New Testament Commentary. The Letter to the Ephesians, by Peter T. O’Brien. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

                  , R. T. France, J. A. Motyer, & G. J. Wenham, eds. 1994. New Bible Commentary 21st Century Edition. Ephesians, by Max Turner, 1222-1244. Leicester, Eng.: InterVarsity.

Dever, Mark. 2005. The Message of the New Testament. Ch. 6, The Message of Ephesians: Grace, 235-257. Wheaton: Crossway.

Dockery, David S, ed. 2024. New American Commentary. Vol. 31, Ephesians, by Terry Wilder. Nashville: Broadman & Holman.

Gasque, W. Ward, NT ed. 1993, second printing. New International Biblical Commentary. Vol. 10. Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon, by Arthur G. Patzia. Ephesians, 121-294. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson.

Grudem, Wayne, ed. 2008. ESV Study Bible. Study notes on Ephesians, 2257-2274, by S. M. Baugh. Wheaton: Crossway.

Hodge, Charles. 1991. Geneva Series of Commentaries. Ephesians. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth.

Hubbard, David A., & Glenn W. Barker. 1990. Word Biblical Commentary. Vol. 42, Ephesians, by Andrew T. Lincoln. Dallas: Word.

Hughes, R. Kent. 1990. Preaching the Word. Ephesians: The Mystery of the Body of Christ, by R. Kent Hughes. Wheaton: Crossway.

Lloyd-Jones, D. Martyn. 2003, third printing. Ephesians, eight volumes. Grand Rapids: Baker.

Longman III, Tremper, & David E. Garland, eds. 2006. Expositor’s Bible Commentary. Vol. 12, Ephesians-Philemon. Ephesians, by William W. Klein, 19-173. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Morris, Leon, ed. 1989. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries. Vol. 10, Ephesians, by Francis Foulkes. Downers Grove: InterVarsity.

Keskin, Nancy. 2004. Ephesus, trans. by Anita Gillett. Istanbul: Keskin Color Kartpostalcilik.

Moule, H. C. G. 1977. Studies in Ephesians. Grand Rapids: Kregel.

Osborne, Grant R. 2017. Osborne New Testament Commentaries. Ephesians: Verse by Verse. Bellingham, WA: Lexham.

Sproul. R. C. 1994. The Purpose of God: An Exposition of Ephesians. Fearn, Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus.

Stott, John, NT ed. 1979. The Bible Speaks Today. The Message of Ephesians, by John Stott. Downers Grove: InterVarsity.   

NEXT SUNDAY: We Are Members One of Another, Ephesians 4:17–32