Sun, Aug 16, 2009
Walking Worthy of Your Calling
Ephesians 4:1 - I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
If you were to outline Ephesians 4, then Ephesians 4 verse one would be at the top of the outline. The entire chapter of Ephesians 4 revolves around this verse. There are some powerful truths in this verse, that Paul takes all of chapter 4 to unpack.
"I therefore, " - One of my pastors used to say - Found out what the therefore is there for! In this case, the therefore refers to Ephesians chapter three where Paul expounds on the salvation in Jesus Christ, which is now given to the Gentiles as well as the Jews: Eph 3:6 - "That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: " Any discussion of the call to discipleship without first understanding the magnitude of the salvation of Jesus Christ to those who believe is frivolous.
"the prisoner of the Lord," - Paul rightly identifies himself as the prisoner of the Lord, since that is where he is writing the letter from! He does entirely and only what Jesus wants him to do, and is willing to go to prison or death if need be. So, we should ask ourselves, are we a prisoner of the Lord? Are we his Servants? Jesus calls us to a level of commitment which causes many to turn back from following him. He want 100% of us. It is good to be reminded of what we are called to do.
"beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called," - This is a great scripture to meditate on. In high school they used to have programs called "vocational education" You could chose a vocation, a career, and learn what you needed for that career. Some of those vocations were haircutting, mechanic, office automation, etc. Nowadays we hear the word “calling” pretty frequently when discussing Jesus. But in the analogy of vocational education, calling would be choosing which vocation you were going to devote yourself to . The reality of being a Christian is that we were called to a career in Jesus Christ. I don’t believe that any two of us are called to exactly the same career, but we are all called to a career (vocation) that is of the utmost importance in the eternity of Jesus Christ. Ephesians 4:11 lists some careers in Jesus Christ: "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; " We are all called Kings and Queens in Jesus Christ, as Ephesians 3:6 says "fellow heirs" Jesus described himself as the Son of God, which implies full inheritance of God's estate. God's estate is EVERYTHING in this universe, and Ephesians 3:6 says we are joint heirs with Jesus Christ. That is really amazing. And Jesus has called us to a vocation in this eternal kingdom, which begins here and now. Eternity is not something in the future, we are in eternity now. Our calling is here and now, as well as in the ages to come. So the admonition of Paul is to walk worthy of that calling. That is very humbling. Are you living like a King or Queen for eternity of this world and every world to come? Are you serving your Lord with everything you have? Are you doing the career that you are called to? That is exactly what Paul is beseeching us to do.
Wow! The key to fulfilling this calling is found in the "therefore" Ephesians 3:16-17 says: "That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man. That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, " We can only walk worthy of our calling through the strength of the Holy Spirit that lives inside us by the power of his love that is given to us in faith. We must decrease, that he may increase.
If you were to outline Ephesians 4, then Ephesians 4 verse one would be at the top of the outline. The entire chapter of Ephesians 4 revolves around this verse. There are some powerful truths in this verse, that Paul takes all of chapter 4 to unpack.
"I therefore, " - One of my pastors used to say - Found out what the therefore is there for! In this case, the therefore refers to Ephesians chapter three where Paul expounds on the salvation in Jesus Christ, which is now given to the Gentiles as well as the Jews: Eph 3:6 - "That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: " Any discussion of the call to discipleship without first understanding the magnitude of the salvation of Jesus Christ to those who believe is frivolous.
"the prisoner of the Lord," - Paul rightly identifies himself as the prisoner of the Lord, since that is where he is writing the letter from! He does entirely and only what Jesus wants him to do, and is willing to go to prison or death if need be. So, we should ask ourselves, are we a prisoner of the Lord? Are we his Servants? Jesus calls us to a level of commitment which causes many to turn back from following him. He want 100% of us. It is good to be reminded of what we are called to do.
"beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called," - This is a great scripture to meditate on. In high school they used to have programs called "vocational education" You could chose a vocation, a career, and learn what you needed for that career. Some of those vocations were haircutting, mechanic, office automation, etc. Nowadays we hear the word “calling” pretty frequently when discussing Jesus. But in the analogy of vocational education, calling would be choosing which vocation you were going to devote yourself to . The reality of being a Christian is that we were called to a career in Jesus Christ. I don’t believe that any two of us are called to exactly the same career, but we are all called to a career (vocation) that is of the utmost importance in the eternity of Jesus Christ. Ephesians 4:11 lists some careers in Jesus Christ: "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; " We are all called Kings and Queens in Jesus Christ, as Ephesians 3:6 says "fellow heirs" Jesus described himself as the Son of God, which implies full inheritance of God's estate. God's estate is EVERYTHING in this universe, and Ephesians 3:6 says we are joint heirs with Jesus Christ. That is really amazing. And Jesus has called us to a vocation in this eternal kingdom, which begins here and now. Eternity is not something in the future, we are in eternity now. Our calling is here and now, as well as in the ages to come. So the admonition of Paul is to walk worthy of that calling. That is very humbling. Are you living like a King or Queen for eternity of this world and every world to come? Are you serving your Lord with everything you have? Are you doing the career that you are called to? That is exactly what Paul is beseeching us to do.
Wow! The key to fulfilling this calling is found in the "therefore" Ephesians 3:16-17 says: "That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man. That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, " We can only walk worthy of our calling through the strength of the Holy Spirit that lives inside us by the power of his love that is given to us in faith. We must decrease, that he may increase.
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