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. Ephesians 4:1-3 ESV
Throughout the Bible, from Genesis 5:24 and Enoch, our relationship with God is described as a “walk.” This a very significant figure of speech. It tells us that our redemption is not a state, or a position, or even a possession. Rather, it is an on-going relationship in which we start at one place and progress onward until we arrive at someplace else. John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress captures the idea very well.
In his letter to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul makes the point in a forceful way, describing our walk in five different, but complementary ways. In the next several weeks I want to look at each of these. The first, as you see the text above, is to walk in unity, which Paul says, is uniquely “worthy of” our “calling.” He makes the same point in the first chapter of Philippians (v. 27), comparing Christians to the Greek army which was disciplined to stand shoulder to shoulder and not let the enemy break through.
Now why is living our Christian life together with one another in humility, gentleness (meekness), patience (namely, putting up with one another lovingly) particularly worthy of our calling?* Well, what are we called to? We are called to new life in Christ, a life that is empowered and shaped by the Holy Spirit, a life that mirrors that of the Father. How does the Trinity “walk”? In self-giving, self-denying love for one another. There may be a place for solitary saints, but that is abnormal. To be a Christian is to give yourself away for others. That will happen in as many different ways as there are personalities, but it will happen. Our God is love, and he calls us to self-forgetful, non-self-assertive, patient love, and gives us his Holy Spirit to make that truly possible.
*For a similar list, see Colossians 3:12-14, and notice that there, as here, the behaviors are all for others.
Called To Be Transformed 