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Act out your faith because that’s what it means to walk in a manner worthy of your calling. Let’s not do church— be the church.
Ephesians 4:1-6 - 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, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
We train in godliness to live a missional life by teaching and practicing the truths of the gospel. As a parent of four young children, I don’t just tell them what the Bible says; I show them through missional living as I disciple and mentor them.
The problem is that, by and large, the Church is suffering today because it lacks believers who are willing to mentor others through teaching and practicing the truths of the gospel. People need to hear the gospel truths but also need to experience them through missional living.
In Ephesians 4:1-6, Paul was training a young church in practical Christianity for missional living. As their mentor, he taught the truths of the gospel and practiced them to set a good example of missional life.
Last time, we began to look at the big idea that Christianity is not merely a theoretical religion or a set of theological ideas, but rather a practical faith in Jesus with a calling for missional living. We practice faith through missional living by understanding three truths about missional calling: the revelation, realization, and results of calling. Last time, we explored the Revelation of Calling in verse 1; today, we continue with the Realization and Results of Calling in verses 2-6.
The Realization of Calling (Ephesians 4:2-3)
Imagine someone has a dream of becoming a doctor. Is it enough to just have the dream and the desire to become a doctor? No, it will take certain practical steps to realize a dream; it will take hard work and studying.
Similarly, knowing the revelation of our calling is not enough. We must take certain steps to realize our calling.
In Ephesians 4:1, we were instructed to walk in a manner worthy of our calling which we established is a calling to salvation and sanctification.
In Ephesians 4:2, we are given four steps to get it done. Verse. 2 reads, “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love.” The NIV translation, with a more assertive tone, reads, “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.”
In other words, it is something we do— it is our responsibility as Christians. The text doesn’t say a little humble and gentle or sometimes humble and gentle depending on how we feel about someone. Rather, it says “be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” The good news is that we don’t have to do it in our strength but in collaboration with the Holy Spirit.
Step #1 - Humility
Humility is the first step for missional living because, in the Greco-Roman cultural context, humility was a sign of weakness. But in Christianity, it became the basis for faith and life because of the source, symbol, and sign of our salvation.
The source of true humility is the knowledge that Christian faith is a gift of God. God the Father, before time, elected, chose, predestined, and called us to be saved, leaving no room for any works that we can perform. It takes away any reason to boast in our good works for salvation or sanctification.
The symbol of true humility is the knowledge that Christian faith is a gift of the cross. God the Son died on the cross for our salvation. Philippians 2:8 says, “And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” If the master of the universe humbled Himself for God’s mission to save humanity, why can’t we be completely humble to carry out God’s mission? Humility makes us good mentors, but it makes us exceptional mentees.
The sign of true humility is the knowledge that Christian faith is a gift for Christ. Philippians 2:3 says to count others as better than ourselves because only then do we value others as Christ values us. That’s humility.
The character principle we learn here is that if we are not completely humble, then the opposite of humility, which is pride, will take root in our lives. James 4:6 “…God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” True humility leads to gentleness.
Step #2 - Gentleness
A humble person is naturally gentle. You cannot be gentle without being humble. The two are like the right and left foot. Let’s not fool ourselves— we are not humble if our words and actions are cutting people deep.
The character principle we learn here is that we cannot be in harmony with Christ yet abrasive to those for whom Christ died. Also, the opposite of being gentle is anger and rage. Prideful people get angry fast when someone tries to correct them, but humble people receive correction with gentleness. By that token, humble people offer correction with gentleness, but prideful people are quick to criticize others for they think too highly of themselves and too little of others. Gentleness leads to patience.
Step #3 - Patience
What is patience? When driving, patience is what we don’t have for the person in front of us and what we wish the person behind us had.
The Greek word for “patience” in verse 2 is makrothymia. Makro means a long duration and theymia from thomas means anger or wrath. By its compassion, the Greek word for patience points to a quality of being long-tempered. In other words, for believers who walk worthy of their calling, it takes so long to burn in anger that it seldom happens. Another meaning of makrothymia is long-suffering because a patient person is willing to suffer patiently waiting on God, for He says, “Vengeance is mine.”
Growing up in Pakistan, I saw that mindset among Christians. They never retaliated. The persecuted church is a great example of long-suffering, the patience that Paul advises here.
The character principle we learn here is to be patient toward each other even if it costs you. And patience leads to love.
Step #4 - Love
If Christianity was a religion, which it is not, it would be identified as the religion of love. Christianity rests on the love of God that compelled Him to act to save humanity. Christ said that the greatest commandments are to love God and love His people. Paul writes, “bearing with one another in love." The phrase "bearing with" means to endure.
When we walk in a manner worthy of our calling to live a missional life in humility, gentleness, patience, and love, we endure hostility from outside the church and hurt from inside the church. To this end, verse 3 says, “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
The bond of peace is the idea of chaining oneself like a prisoner. Paul makes use of his physical chains in prison to tell his readers that we all ought to spiritually chain ourselves to peace for the unity of the church of Christ. If we want to walk in a manner worthy of our calling, we need to handcuff ourselves with peace to other believers.
Application
If you walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you are called, God will give you your ministry context to teach Gospel truths and practice them to reach, train, and mentor people in godliness.
The Result of Calling (Ephesians 4:4-6)
In Ephesians 4:4-6, we learn that when we follow all the steps of humility, gentleness, patience, and love, to walk in the manner worthy of our calling to which we have been called, it results in unity and oneness of believers. Essentially, we become God’s one big family on earth.
It is possible that verses 4-6 were a part of an early church creed, which pointed to the identity of the church and the position of all Christians in Christ as one.
Notice seven elements that make us one, verses 4-6 reads:
1. “4 There is one body” that is the body of Christ, and all Christians belong to Him
2. “and one Spirit” the Greek word for “Spirit” is pneuma which means “breath.” The Church is a living organism and the Holy Spirit is the breath that makes us a living body
3. “just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—” the hope of salvation and glory of Christ
4. “5 one Lord”
5. “one faith”
6. “one baptism”
7. “6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”
The point is that there might be billions of believers, but they all belong to the same body, the body of Christ, because of their confession in one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God who eternally exists as three distinct Persons, God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Every one of those billions of believers is called to missional living to teach and practice the gospel truths daily.
I was reading an article where the author argued that no matter what religion we follow, we all will end up in heaven. I thought that if we all will end up in heaven anyway, then what is the point of religions and all the hard work people put into pleasing God?
There is only one way to heaven, and that is through the relationship with Jesus. All Christians are called to missional living to lead others to Jesus.
Application
If you are a Christian, demonstrate your fellowship with Christ in the fellowship of believers. The fellowship of believers is where you exercise humility, gentleness, patience, and love to keep the bond of unity. You cannot do these things by yourself.
As I close, imagine if you needed surgery, say a heart bypass. You meet with the surgeon. He goes over everything.
You are moved by his knowledge and then you ask, “How many heart bypass surgeries have you performed?”
The doctor says, “Well, none, but I know theoretically how it should work.”
Would you put yourself under his blade? To many Christians today know Christian faith theoretically but not practically. The moral, social, and spiritual dilemma that Christianity is facing today is not so much the lack of knowledge; it is the lack of believers who are willing to mentor and be mentored through teaching and practicing the truths of the gospel. People need to hear the gospel truths but also need to experience them through missional living.
Action Step
Pursue your missional calling by putting the knowledge of Christ that you have into practice and by exercising humility, gentleness, patience, and love to live in peace and unity with others, especially with believers.
Did you know that traditionally, a missional calling was to overseas cross-cultural missions? Only a handful of Christians entered foreign cultures to preach and practice the gospel truths.
Today, global missions has come to us all. The world is witnessing a migration of people that we have never seen before. To meet the global ever-increasing demand for evangelism, discipleship, and missions, the Church needs all hands on deck. We need people trained in godliness for missional living to mentor mentees who can mentor others. We need to break down the walls of the sacred and secular. We cannot rely only on the professional pastors and missionaries for this job. We need an army of men, women, and children who walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which they have been called. We need all of us to teach and practice the gospel truths at home, in our workplaces, at schools, public squares, streets, and parks.
Appeal
My appeal to you is this: Just as you act your age, act out your faith because that’s what it means to walk in a manner worthy of your calling. Love the unlovable and forgive the unforgivable because that’s what Jesus did on the cross for us. Let’s not do church— be the church. Let’s not do missions, embody missions to live a sacrificial, missional life.
If you are not a Christian and you are wondering what this all means for you, here are the steps for you:
A - accept the call of salvation by receiving Jesus as your Lord and Savior.
B - believe you are saved and begin to walk in a manner worthy of your calling of salvation.
C - celebrate your new birth in Christ by living a Missional life.
Study Questions
List all the Christian characteristics mentioned in Ephesians 4:2. What is the possible relationship between these characteristics?
What does Paul mean by “the Spirit” in Ephesians 4:3? How do you maintain the unity of the Spirit (v3)?
What might be the significance of the phrase, “the bond of peace (v3)?” Consider its connection with Paul’s imprisonment.
What is the point of Ephesians 4:4-6? Why did Paul include “one baptism?”
Deeper Study Questions
If you feel comfortable, share in which area you struggle the most: humility, gentleness, patience, or loving those who dislike you and those whom you dislike.
Encourage each other by identifying which character trait is most prevalent in each person’s life. For example, you may say something like: “Your love for others is so evident in your service,” “I am greatly moved by your humility,” or “When I think about you, patience stands out.”
Share an example in which you made every effort to maintain unity with other brothers or sisters in Christ.
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