Day 150: How Should We Live In Our Calling?
Ephesians 3:10
The purpose of this enlightenment (the proclaiming of the Gospel) is that through the church the multifaceted wisdom of God should now be disclosed to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly realms.
This week, we will begin to bring together all that we have been learning together to focus on our mission here on Earth. Simply stated, we have been called up into The Story that is much larger than us. We are here to reveal both the “multifaceted wisdom” (Ephesians 3:10) and the “multifaceted grace” (1 Peter 4:10) of Father God in the ways that we work together in the Church, the Body of Christ.
WORDwork:
Ephesians 4:1–7
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 4:2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 4:3 eager to maintain the unity/oneness of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4:4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 4:5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 4:6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
4:7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.…
In verse 1, what are exhorted to do?
What is our “calling with which we have been called”?
How does 4:2 describe the way we should “walk”?
What should be the outcome of this “walk” according to 4:3?
Do you see any pattern in 4:4 – 4:5?
How is God represented in this verse?
We Should Live in a Way Worthy of our Calling.
It is important for you to realize that you have been called by Father God to be set apart for His purposes. Many people think that only those going to be preachers or missionaries are called by God. As we have already heard, most all of the passages that relate to calling in the New Testament are addressing Father God calling us all to relationship and fellowship with Him through the saving work of Christ. We are called by the grace of Christ (Galatians 1:6), we are called to salvation (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14), we are called with a holy calling based in God’s purposes for us (2 Timothy 1:9-10), we have been called to belong to Jesus (Romans 1:6), we are called for Father God’s purposes (Romans 8:28-30), we are partners in a heavenly calling (Hebrews 3:1-2), and we were called to follow the example of Jesus (1 Peter 2:20-23). We are called by Father God into His plans and purposes for us.
In Ephesians 4:1, Paul exhorts us to “walk”—live—in a way that is worthy of this calling. Paul often uses the term “walk” to refer to “the way we live our lives.” This comes out of his Jewish background. The Rabbis (teachers) would refer to two aspects of their instruction: the haggadah—what is taught or spoken, and the halakah—what is “walked.” We often say things like, “Your walk needs to be in line with your talk.” This basic principle goes back for thousands of years. In this passage, Paul is saying, “Since we are the beloved children of God, our lives need to reflect this reality in all that we say and do.”
He then goes on to describe what this “walk” would look like: it is characterized by humility, gentleness, patience, bearing with one another in love. You should have a pretty good idea what each of those qualities are and what they look like when they are “walked out.” Let’s focus on that last phrase just a minute: “bearing with one another in love.”
Although we have discussed love many times in this study (do you remember the three types of love from the first workbook???) we have waited to focus on this central virtue until this now. Take a look at this definition:
KEY Definition:
Love is a core quality of God Himself and is displayed in care and concern for another person to the point of sacrificing yourself for welfare of the one loved. Love involves the whole person – thoughts, desires, emotions, body.
Love is the supreme virtue of our faith. Take a look at these passages:
Romans 5:8
But God demonstrates his own love for us,
in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 13:8
Owe no one anything, except to love one another,
for the one who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
1 Corinthians 13:1–3
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing…
13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three;
but the greatest of these is love.
1 Timothy 1:5
But the aim of our instruction is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith.
2 Peter 1:5–7
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith excellence, to excellence, knowledge; 6 to knowledge, self-control; to self-control, perseverance; to perseverance, godliness; 7 to godliness, brotherly affection; to brotherly affection, unselfish love.
1 John 3:11
For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. (ESV)
1 John 4:7–8
Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been fathered by God and knows God. 8 The person who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
As you can see, love is foundational to all we believe and do. It is rooted in the very nature of God as John tells us, “God is love” – it defines a central aspect of His nature. Because He is love, He sent Jesus for us. In the list of virtues in the 2 Peter passage, “unselfish love” is the crowning quality. And as Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians, love is the greatest of the virtues; without it we are nothing.
Now take note: the goal of living in all these virtues, especially love, is to “maintain the Oneness of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” At this point, you should know why oneness is so crucial to our life together as followers of Christ. The Spirit of the Living God is now working within us, in Christ, to produce peace and Oneness with one another. This basic idea is central and foundational to our living together as brothers and sisters in Christ, in His Body—the Church—and our witness to the world.
We Need to Keep the “Ones” in Mind.
Paul lists seven “ones” in 4:4-6. If you notice he lists them around the Trinity: Body > Spirit > Hope > Lord > Faith > Baptism > Father. The Body here is the Church. The Spirit is the Holy Spirit who connects us spiritually with the Lord God and with one another. The Hope is the confident expectation of the Lord Jesus saving us completely. The Lord is one of Paul’s shorthand ways of referring to Jesus. Faith is our trust in Christ that unites us all together in a common set of beliefs. Baptism is most likely referring to our baptism by and in the Spirit which is symbolized and re-enacted in water baptism. Finally, the Father is Father God. Each of these are unique in the worldview of Scripture based, Christ focused Christianity. This passage functions like a creed, reminding us of the foundational truths that we all believe and affirm together.
Notice what Paul says about the Father: He is over all, through all, and in all. The reality of the Lord God is the context in which all things get their meaning. Especially for the Church, our relationship to Him defines and gives purpose to all we do.
We have all received grace (a gift or gifts) with which to serve.
In order to enable us to accomplish all of this, Christ given us His grace. Do you remember our definition of Grace?
KEY Definition:
Grace is Father God’s unearned love, favor and faithfulness given to us in Christ which gives us access to the unlimited power of the Holy Spirit.
After talking about all the “Ones” – the things that bind us together, Paul gives us the contrast, “BUT to each one of you…” As we will see, each and every one of us is unique. You have a life-story that is like no one else. And you have been gifted to the Church, the Body of Christ, to play a significant part in Father God’s eternal work. Each one of us has been given a measure of Christ’s grace—His gift to us—so that we can serve one another in the purposes He has set for us.
In this one brief passage we see both the Unity—the Ones—and the Diversity—to each, grace is given—that creates the dynamic life of the Church. We will pick up right here tomorrow.
What caught your attention today? Can you see why love is the foundational virtue of Christianity? If you had to define love for someone, how would you do it?
*You can find a complete list of all the MilktoMeat readings here.
