We’ve come to the typical transition point between doctrine and practice. After praying that his readers might have a comprehension of the love of Christ, Paul exhorts them to “walk in a manner worthy” of their calling. As we grow in our understanding of what Christ has done for us, we renew our interest in obeying God’s will.
Pray and Read Ephesians 4:1-3.
You’ve heard of the curse of Sisyphus—After tattling on Zeus, he is condemned to chains in the underworld. However, he asks Thanatos (Greek for death) to demonstrate how the chains work. Sisyphus traps Thanatos in the chains and escapes. He must have been watching reruns of the Roadrunner and Wile E Coyote.
As long as Thanatos remained in chains, no humans died. Ares, the god of war, became frustrated that none of his military campaigns were successful because the opposing side never died. So Ares freed Thanatos and handed Sisyphus over to him.
Hades determined that the punishment for his crime would be to perpetually roll a huge boulder up a steep hill. As soon as he neared the top, the boulder would roll back down to the bottom of the hill. And he would have to start again. This would go on forever.
There have been a lot of various interpretations of this Greek myth. Is it an explanation of the sun’s perpetual rising and falling? Does it portray the ocean’s waves? The first century Epicurean philosopher, Lucretius, saw the punishment as a reflection of the rise and fall of politicians and the pointless pursuit of political power. More recently, Albert Camus, compares the curse of Sisyphus to the absurdity of life and concludes, “One must imagine Sisyphus happy.” Essentially, although life is indeed absurd…and then you die, we should try to make the most of it (i.e., Ecclesiastes).
In Knowing God, J.I. Packer says Christians are immune from “absurdist tapeworms” (life is a bad joke that eats away at everything you consume).
“What makes life worthwhile is having a big enough objective, something that catches our imagination and lays hold of our allegiance; and this the Christian has, in a way that no other man has. For what higher, more exalted, and more compelling goal can there be than to know God?”
That is what God has called us to. He desires “the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings” (Hos 6:6). However, the problem we are born with is much like the punishment Sisyphus was consigned to endure. Sin has corrupted our whole person so that we face the perpetual temptation of what Octavius Winslow called personal declension. We might make some level of moral progress, but eventually we hit the limits of our fallen humanity—and the boulder rolls back down to the bottom of the hill. The absurdity of this is especially apparent to sincere believers.
“If there is one consideration more humbling than another to a spiritually-minded believer, it is, that, after all God has done for him, – after all the rich displays of his grace, the patience and tenderness of his instructions, the repeated discipline of his covenant, the tokens of love received, and the lessons of experience learned, there should still exist in the heart a principle, the tendency of which is to secret, perpetual, and alarming departure from God. Truly, there is in this solemn fact, that which might well lead to the deepest self-abasement before Him.”
Octavius Winslow
In order to talk about unity, Paul calls us to reflect upon our own personal commitment. If we know God’s love, don’t we owe him our lives? Paul urges us to consider our calling and the impact it has had upon us.
Our primary problem is that we face the perpetual temptation toward personal declension. Even though that is true, God has called us to perpetual personal ascension.
Just as we are to pray with confidence that God has the power to do beyond what we ask or think, we trust that his Spirit can empower us to walk in a manner worthy of our calling.
I. The Sacrifice of a Worthy Walk
Why does Paul highlight his imprisonment? He mentioned this in the last chapter too (Eph 3:1). There he went on to explain his calling as from the Lord, involving the proclamation of the gospel mystery. It was as if he wanted them to know that his house arrest was not a hindrance to his ministry. Rather, his arrest was the necessary consequence of his calling.
It is a similar idea in Eph 4:1. He wants his readers to know that his calling entailed a willingness to suffer. He was arrest because he was unwilling to compromise his calling. Are the Ephesians prepared to suffer?
We prefer low maintenance commitments, but the calling we received from God requires our whole person. The key to understanding Paul’s intention has to do with why he reminds them of his imprisonment. The calling he received from God caused him to die to the comforts of this world. He was called to a life of suffering. Not suffering from typical health ailments (although he did have his fair share, including a thorn that remained in his flesh). Rather, the suffering Paul has in mind is suffering for Christ.
His calling had set him apart for apostolic ministry (writing, preaching, praying, evangelizing, church planting, etc.). Almost everywhere Paul went, his gospel ministry lead him into suffering. His willingness to walk in a manner worthy of his calling landed him on house arrest.
The Anonymous author of Embracing Obscurity makes a good point and follows it up with several searching questions.
“To “walk worthy” of [the calling] means that my life should make sense in light of it. Not in light of the world but in light of the gospel. Does it? If my life were weighed against the magnificent grace and power I claim to believe, would the scale balance, or am I disproportionately self-absorbed? Do the time, energy, and passion with which I pursue my own interests match the intensity of my faith, obedience, and love for God and others? Is my life mysterious? Or do I live, love, and lust like the rest of the world?”
We see plenty of illustrations of hypocrisy under the Old Covenant. God accuses Israel of taking the gifts he gave them and offering them to other gods (Hos 2:1-10). Later on, God compares their love to the morning dew that quickly disappears (Hos 6:4-6).
Psalm 78:34–37 ESV
When he killed them, they sought him; they repented and sought God earnestly. They remembered that God was their rock, the Most High God their redeemer. But they flattered him with their mouths; they lied to him with their tongues. Their heart was not steadfast toward him; they were not faithful to his covenant.
How much more extravagant are the gifts that God has bestowed upon us? Israel was guilty of forsaking God’s gifts in order to gain the world. How much more responsible are we to forsake the world in order to save our souls?
The Ephesians were just as tempted as you and I to go with the flow and fit in with the surrounding culture. They had no desire to wind up imprisoned with Paul, but they must admit that his situation does not appear to have weakened his ministry. In fact, in many ways it appears to have strengthened and expanded it.
The radical, substitutionary sacrifice of Christ calls us to pick up our cross daily and follow him.
And in doing so, we learn that the affliction we endure is nothing in comparison to the “eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Cor 4:17). The comforts and relationships we lose are replaced a hundredfold in this life and the next (Mt 19:29)! When we sacrifice the comforts of this world we store up treasures in heaven (Mt 6:19-21).
You’re probably in no danger of going to prison for your faith. It’s unlikely that any of you would lose your job for being a Christian. But how many of us have compromised our values in order to fit in with worldly friends? How often have we traded our integrity for worldly ambitions?
The solution is the same, we must realize that what we gain in Christ is far greater than anything this world offers.
“All to Jesus I surrender, humbly at his feet I bow, worldly pleasures all forsaken, take me, Jesus, take me now.”
› Until we are willing to make the sacrifice, we will not take up…
II. The Challenge of a Worthy Walk
The first word in the Greek is “strongly urge” and it is combined with a personal pronoun for emphasis, “I personally”. Paul emphasizes his personal apostolic authority joined with his low station (house arrest) in order to exhort his readers to holiness.
What calling does Paul have in mind here? This is God’s effectual calling. God calls us out of darkness into his marvelous light. There is a general call that goes out to everyone, and there is an effectual call—in which God draws us to himself. The Greek for Church is ἐκκλησία, literally “the called out ones.” The same root is used here.
Therefore, Paul is suggesting that the Ephesian believers would walk in a manner that displays their spiritual reality. Their walk should be different than the rest of the culture. They should live differently. Their interests and language and conduct should reflect a person who is no longer living in darkness. They are characterized by choices that are radically opposed to the hedonistic, overly sexualized, and greedy choices that characterize the world.
Our lifestyle supports, rather than contradicts, our confession of faith. The expectation is that our calling has separated us from the world and joined us to a new community. To walk in an unworthy manner would mean that our lifestyle is indistinguishable from everyone else.
I remember my confusion when I first witnessed something like this. During my freshman year of high school I went to the same school where my brother and his friends attended. We saw each other at church, went to the Christian club together, and got together during lunch.
I transferred to a new campus my sophomore year and tried to hang out with friends I knew from church, but they acted completely different at school than they did at church. They spoke with the same foul language. They laughed at the same crude jokes. They talked about watching the same inappropriate movies and tv shows. They were generally indistinguishable from everyone else on campus—and they seemingly felt no shame in doing so.
The Lord used that season in my life to challenge me. I met new friends, we started a Christian club on campus, and tried to re-create the friendship and encouragement I had my freshman year. But it was disheartening to realize how many “Christians” were perfectly satisfied to live two diametrically opposed lifestyles.
“There is a gap between our love for the gospel and our love for godliness. This must change. It’s not pietism, legalism, or fundamentalism to take holiness seriously. It’s the way of all those who have been called to a holy calling by a holy God.”
Kevin DeYoung, The Hole in Your Holiness
The Ephesians were inclined to take Paul seriously. His challenge was not a correction, but it was rooted in genuine love. He wanted them to experience all that God intended for them.
God has called us to perpetual personal ascension. He calls us to rise above our circumstances and to overcome the temptations of this world in reliance upon a Savior who has shown us the way.
Not only did Jesus Christ offer his body as a substitutionary sacrifice on your behalf, but—as Paul urges the Romans—you are called to “present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” (Rom 12:1).
Maybe the first principle we must realize is that the call to holiness is not burdensome. It is an invitation to experience God’s power in your own life. To walk worthy is to recognize that the calling of a holy God—much like the worship of a holy God—demands correspondence between the subject and the object. The worship of a holy God demands holiness.
“Love so amazing so divine, demands my soul my life my all.”