A Worthy Walk Requires Faith, Hope, and Love

    As we continue our study of New Testament passages that mention the vital trio of faith, hope, and love we find ourselves this week in Ephesians 4:1-6.

"I, therefore, as a prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” (NKJV)  

    Paul urgently begs Christians to “walk worthy of the calling in which they were called” (4:1). What does that mean?  First, we are called by God through the gospel (2 Thessalonians2:13-14). When we hear the gospel we are hearing God’s words for us. In God’s word, the Bible, is all that we need to know to become His child (for example: Acts 2, 8:26-40, 9:10-19, 16:11-34; 22:1-16) and all we need to know to keep growing and developing properly as a Christian all the days of our lives (2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2 Peter 3:14-18).

    Why does God call us? He calls us because He created us to seek AND find Him (Acts 17:26-27), to proclaim His praises (1 Peter 2:9) and to do good works (Ephesians 2:10). He calls us because He desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:1-4), so much so, that He is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). God loves us, so He calls us, through His word. In that Word He tells us what we must do to walk worthy of His calling! So we have a real responsibility to read/study and faithfully obey His instructions (James 1:25).

    God is calling us to eternal life – obeying His commands/instructions will keep us on the narrow pathway that leads to life (Matthew 7:13-14), eternal life with Him, so you can see why ‘walking worthy of the calling’ is of paramount importance!

Love:

    Ephesians 4:2-3 makes mention of several ways in which we should walk/behave that befits a child of God: “with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (NKJV) Consider also the description of a Christian given in Colossians 3:12-17.

    Love (agape) seeks the best for another. When we ‘bear with one another’ it means we hold them up when they are weak, we endure the exertion of helping them while they are strengthening their faith and gaining understanding (young/new Christians, Christians during trials, etc.).

    Love will take the time needed to help others gain clear understanding on what we all as Christians must agree – this is the unity of the Spirit – that there is: one body (Christ’s, which is the church, Ephesians 1:22-23), one Spirit, one hope of your calling (eternal life with God), one Lord (Jesus Christ, the Son of God), one faith (God’s way is the only way), one baptism (for remission of sins), one God and Father of all (Ephesians 4:4-6).      

 Hope:

    We see mention of “one hope of your calling” in Ephesians 4:4 – we can have confident expectation of eternal salvation when we walk worthy of the calling! Paul wanted the Ephesians brethren, and us, to know the hope of God’s calling (Ephesians 1:15-23), to know of God’s promise of eternity and to anchor our soul’s to it (Hebrews 6:19), believe in it (1 Timothy 4:6-8), and strive toward it (Philippians 3:12-16)! That is why God told us of it in His Word! He wants us to be in eternity with Him!! He wants us to live in hope!! This hope keeps our mind focused on God (Colossians 3:1-3) and keeping our minds focused on Him will develop our hope as we in love and increase our faith through humble obedience to His Word!

 Faith:   

    There is one faith. The conviction that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and through Him we gain eternal salvation. We cannot be saved through any other name (Acts 4:10-12), Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:1-6).

    We must be careful that we are obeying God’s Word and not men’s words (books, doctrines, creeds, ideas/notions, philosophies, etc.). Read and consider Matthew 7:22-23; Acts 17:11-12, 1 Thessalonians 2:13, Mark 7:6-9, Colossians 2:6-10, and Hebrews 11:6 – we must seek HIM – GOD – no one else! He has provided all that is needed in His word. It can be understood, it can be obeyed! We do need a degree from a seminary school to understand it, we simply need God’s word, the Bible, and a heart ready and willing to receive the instructions found within it (Luke 8:11,15)!

    To walk worthy of our calling – to show God our absolute appreciation for His love and provision – we must bear with one another in love (help others to grow and strengthen), agree that there is one hope of our calling (eternal life with God), and one faith (Jesus Christ is the Son of God and only through Him can we have our hope of eternity)!

    Are you ready to walk in a worthy way? God’s calling is worth every effort and every sacrifice to do just that!!

You can do it! So can I!!