Living Worthy of Our Calling (Part 2)

Ephesians 4:1-3 “Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.”

Let’s briefly review Part 1.

To live worthy of our call:

1. We need to recognize that we were created intentionally. 

2. We need to understand that God has a calling for each of us. 

3. Paul gives us specific things to do to “live worthy”. 

                a.    Be humble

                b.    Be gentle

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    c.      Be patient with each other

James S. Spiegel writes:

Jesus was very patient with his disciples. They were sometimes           thickheaded, lazy, selfish, and slow to believe. Even from a merely human standpoint, we can see how frustrating they must have been. How much more irritating it would be for God Incarnate to interact daily with these men. In spite of Jesus' miracles and words of wisdom, they were focused upon themselves and wavered in their belief about who he really was. To say that was uncomfortable for Jesus would be an understatement. Yet do we find him railing at his disciples over their foolishness and stupidity? Or making fun of them when they make mistakes?

James’ description of the disciples sounds a lot like me.  If Jesus could be patient with his followers (ourselves included), how much more should we be patient with others? 

d.      Make allowances for each other’s faults

Colossians 3:13 “Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.” Here Paul expounds a bit more on “making allowances”.  We see that this involves forgiving those who offend us. 

I believe it also involves understanding that every believer is at a different spiritual level, meaning, when we come to Christ he doesn't deal with all our faults and struggles at one time.  He treats us each as unique individuals, who learn at different rates and by different means.

When we belong to a body of believers we need to realize that we are each living at different levels of revelation.  God only holds us accountable for the level of revelation he has made known to us.  It is not our job to judge others but to make allowances for their levels of revelation.  This does not mean condoning sin; however, it does mean loving others into new levels of revelation, repentance, and forgiveness.   We must extend grace and forgiveness as Christ has done for us. We do not, however, have to subject ourselves to constant hurt or abuse at the hands of an unrepentant person. In these situations, we must remove ourselves from fellowship with them and pray, leaving them in the hands of the Savior who knows best how to minister to them. We must not, however, act in anger toward them!

e.       Make every effort to keep united in the Spirit and bind ourselves together with peace.

John Piper writes

Ephesians 4:3 calls this the unity of the Spirit. It's the Holy Spirit who frees our hearts from irrational, self-defensive prejudices so that we are willing to own up to true convictions about Christ (1 Corinthians 2:14–16). It's the Holy Spirit who enables us to have faith in Christ and to cry out to God with confidence, "Abba, Father" (Romans 8:15–16). And it is the Holy Spirit who bears the fruit of love in our lives and gives us a common care for each other (Galatians 5:22). So our common convictions and confidence and care are all from the Holy Spirit. Therefore Paul calls it the "unity of the Spirit" (v. 3).

Paul has issued a huge challenge in Ephesians 4:1-3.  Let us rise to the challenge by seeking God’s help and strength as we live worthy of our call!

All Scripture is NLT unless otherwise stated.