Ephesians 4:1-6 Walk like a Christian
Christians often encounter people that don’t want to hear about their beliefs because they are convinced that God doesn’t want them to have any fun. They don’t look at what a Christian is or what they stand for, they only see what they can’t do. To those non-believers Christianity consists of nothing more than a long list of things they are not allowed to do. Obviously that is not true as we are given freedom in Christ (read Galatians 5:1), however as Christians we have changed, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17, ESV) Who and what we were before accepting Jesus no longer influences our lives. We belong to Jesus and our lives should reflect that change.
Instead of a list of things we should not be doing, Paul will now provides a list of things we should be, descriptors of our way of life. As Christians we should be humble, gentle, patient, freely demonstrating our love for others and be eager to maintain unity in peace. If we are acting contrary to these attributes, then the problem must be in us since there is only one body and one Spirit. There aren’t multiple spirits with many variations or multiple churches that have different ideas of what is right and what is wrong, there is only ONE!
Unity is a key theme in the Bible as we have already discussed (see Chapters 10 and 11). Here Paul extends the issue of unity to include the need for unity in Christian beliefs and doctrine. The lack of unity has plagued churches throughout their history and as a result, created a number of varied opinions, interpretations and points of view, unfortunately often watering down the gospel message. Simply put not all denominations or religions can be true and correct. Even the idea or concept of one thing being right has been hijacked by the popular concept of relativism (the belief that there are no absolute truths). Paul is reaching out from the past to make an important point for us today; there is only one real truth and that is the truth that God has provided for us.
Okay, now for the bad news, if there is only one truth and there are multiple groups, churches, denominations, religions, faiths and organizations each teaching their own variation of what they believe to be true, then some, perhaps many of them, are wrong! Its no wonder non-believers are confused, which one is right? If we can’t figure it out amongst ourselves, then how can a non-Christian figure it out? Plus, don’t think that others don’t notice our lack of unity or our constant pointing of fingers at each other. Besides the potential of a public relations nightmare, we need unity to be effective evangelists. We could and would be far more effective if we prayed together, praised together and worked together in helping communities in need. We truly do need 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, 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.
At the beginning of Ephesians chapter three, Paul used the ‘title’ of being, “a prisoner for Christ Jesus,” and now he states he is, “a prisoner for the Lord.” Paul begins to focus on how Christians should respond to the gospel message, he returns to the title ‘prisoner’ to validate his authority. Paul wants believers to not only listen to his words, he is urging them to live them.
The Bible often refers to someone’s walk, (see 2 Corinthians 5:7; Colossians 1:10; Philippians 1:27 and 1 Thessalonians 2:12), the term ‘walk’ can be understood as both a metaphor and a synecdoche (a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole). Our walk relates to our lives, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. A Christian’s walk should reflect Jesus in everything we say and everything we do, regardless of where we are and who is around us. It is easy to “walk the walk” when we are surrounded by like-minded people, however as Christians we are to walk worthy of our calling in Christ at all times, even among non-Christians.
Paul says we should, “walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,” the word ‘worthy’ is often connected to some inherit value or worth. In society we understand that people should act according to their importance or worth. For example a country’s royalty or a company’s executive officer would be expected to act with a certain decorum. We might not think we are anything special or have any worth, but we are and we do! We are children of God! Paul is saying as Christians there are some things we need to change in our lives. Let the world see Jesus through you!
Humility is an interesting subject, we certainly don’t have humility contests or take humility improvement classes to become more humble. The Bible often refers to the need for God’s people to be humble (read Philippians 2:3; Colossians 2:23 and 1 Peter 5:5). In simple terms, humility is when we consider others first. We cannot be humble if we only think about ourselves or think of others as a way to improve our own life. Humility is the absence of pride and the opposite of narcissistic behavior (thinking only of oneself) so it is not something we can apply effort to do, it is essentially something we do not do. If we try to be humble we would undoubtedly be perceived as being a fake. If we say we’re humble everyone around us would have a good laugh as that is self-defeating statement. True or real humility will be seen by others, our actions should do all of the talking. As Christians we serve Jesus and as a follower of Jesus we know that every Christian’s priority is to help bring the gospel to those that do not know the gospel message, life is about God. If we live for God then humility will be seen in our lives.
The next word Paul uses to describe our walk with Jesus is ‘gentleness’, which he tells us in his letter to the church at Galatia that it is one of the fruits of the Spirit (see Galatians 5:22-24). Its hard to define ‘gentleness’ in words since on their own seem arbitrary, such as being tender, docile and less intense. Gentleness usually implies a considerate and kindly way of doing things. Paul lists gentleness on his list of Spiritual fruit, meaning that it is something that should be seen in all Christians (very different than Spiritual gifts). One would hope that everyone practices some form of gentleness, but that is not reality. Gentleness means no yelling, no road rage, no outrage and certainly one is to treat others with respect and courtesy. Christians, as they consider others, need to treat others with gentleness.
In this day and age having patience is possibly one of the hardest traits to master, Paul tells us that patience is also another fruit of the Spirit. Patience in today’s world seems to be an extremely limited commodity. Perhaps its due to everybody wanting instant results or instant gratification. To be an effective witness for Jesus patience is definitely important and needed, especially when talking to or working with difficult people. Patience is another attribute that Christians should demonstrate at all times, even when you think no one is watching! That includes being patient when driving, when standing in line or even when your food order is wrong!
To bear with one another in love doesn’t sound like a big issue, but once again Paul lists the application of love as being a fruit of the Spirit (see also Matthew 5:43-46). Love is the first fruit listed and without a doubt, the most important of the Spiritual fruits. As Paul stated in his first letter to the church at Corinth, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 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. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3, ESV) In other words without love nothing else matters. Love cannot be faked, we need the love of God (as Paul further defines in verses 4-13) to be effective Christians and evangelists. Jesus said we are to love everyone (including our enemies), not just those that love us back.
Paul tells us that we should be, “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” In church history we see that keeping any unity, not alone keeping unity in peace has not always worked, in fact there is strong evidence it has rarely worked. As discussed earlier, the unity of the Spirit means essentially that we keep the message of the gospel (God’s love and His offer of salvation through His Son) as our number one priority. Even though that sounds simple enough we see early accounts of churches mixing God’s love with other motivations and the Word interpreted from man’s perspective (just look at the letters Paul wrote to the other churches or the short letters Jesus had John write to the churches at Ephesus, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis and Laodicea in the Book of Revelation, each experiencing some form of corruption). Church history points to a harsh reality, and that is that we seem to only be interested in keeping the unity if it is something we can agree to (and often that is from our past, something we were brought up with). God’s Word and prophecy is not subject to someone’s interpretation (read 2 Peter 1:20) only God’s truth counts, we should be eager to learn the Word of God the way He intended it to be interpreted. That begins by following Him.
Paul emphasizes that there is only one body and one Spirit. Even though there may be many churches and denominations, we need to remember that there is only one Body of Christ, the church (the term church refers to people, the believers, not a building). There is only one that is the correct church, God’s (all true believers, regardless of local church affiliation). There is only one Spirit regardless of how the Word of God is interpreted or understood, there is only one true Holy Spirit.
We have been called to the hope of Jesus who saved us by living a sinless life, suffering, dying and rising to life again in to offer each of us salvation. Our hope is in Him and Him alone! If someone believes differently or has their hope in someone or something else, they will not be able to enter heaven, even if they think they are a Christian. Some of the harshest words in the Bible were spoken by Jesus, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” (Matthew 5:21-23, ESV)
Understanding that there is only one truth, Paul clarifies that there is only one source for that truth. There is only one Lord, one faith, one baptism and only one God. One Lord (the one we are willingly follow and prioritize our life around), one faith (knowing that we will be saved by Jesus when we die), one baptism (acknowledging and recognizing what Jesus did for us) and one God (the Bible teaches three members of the Godhead, but only one God).
God is over all (no greater authority), through all (God works through our lives, we are His ambassadors) and He is in all (we are His ‘walking’ temples). Paul shares with us in Colossians that Jesus is holding all people and all things together (read Colossians 1:17) He is everything.