Eph 4:1 — Walk Worthy of the Calling

Introduction

As we look this morning at Paul’s plea in Eph. 4:1 to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which we have been called we come to a subject that is a passion of mine That subject is ethics, that is, the question of how we as Christians should live. What is the NT Christian’s ethical standard?

Our text demonstrates that there has been a radical redemptive historical shift from the Law-based ethic of the old covenant to the gospel-based ethic of the new covenant In the old covenant God’s people were spiritual minors under the tutelage of the Law In the new covenant God’s people have been released from the Law that they might serve God not in the old way of the written code but in the new way of the Spirit in order that the righteous requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us. It is absolutely essential that the new covenant church come to a deeper appreciation for and understanding of the nature of the new covenant ethic. The church’s ethic is not grounded in the ten commandments, but in the demands of the gospel of Jesus Christ Paul speaks of these demands as “the Law of Christ” These demands that flow from the very nature of salvation itself. The Law of Christ is not contrary to the essential moral core of the Mosaic Law Like the moral law, the Law of Christ demands that we love God with our whole heart and that we love our neighbor as ourselves. But unlike the moral law, the imperative of the Law of Christ is grounded in the indicative of our identification with Christ as the inaugurator of a new creation. Now the traditional ethical paradigm goes something like this:

The Law, with its threats and curse, sends us to the Gospel that we may be justified by grace Once we are justified, the Gospel sends us back to the Law not as a covenant of works whereby we may be justified or condemned, but as a rule of life by which we are informed of the will of God for our sanctification. Therefore, the traditional order is Law -> Gospel -> Law. But this is not the Pauline pattern. The traditional Law-Gospel paradigm flies in the face of the Christ-centered, gospel-centered dynamic of the Pauline ethic Nowhere in Paul’s writings, or anywhere in the NT for that matter, is the justified believer sent back to the Law for sanctification As we saw in our study of Ephesians 2:15, Paul teaches that the Mosaic Law has been rendered inoperative for the new covenant people of God. The Law isn’t a Mr. Potato-Head with various appendages that can be added or subtracted at will, as if you could take away the curse from the covenant of works and be left with a denatured, defanged moral code. No, Jesus has rendered inoperative the whole ball of wax “In his flesh,” Paul adds - Christ took the curse of the law upon himself and thus brought the law to an end Col. 2:14 “He canceled out the certificate of debt consisting in decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and he has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross” The requirements of the moral law have NOT been abolished for the moral law is holy and just and good and cannot be changed any more than God’s own nature. But in Christ the believer sustains a whole new relationship to the moral law Romans 7:1-6. This issue is extremely important To be sure, the traditional Law-Gospel-Law pattern does safeguard the all-important truth that we are not justified by works, by doing what the Law requires, but by faith alone, by resting in the works of Jesus Christ in our place. But it is not enough to safeguard the precious truth that we are justified and made right with God by faith. We must also recognize that Paul teaches that we are sanctified by the same faith by which we are justified. The justifying faith that lays hold of the righteousness of Christ as our substitute, the Righteous for the unrighteous, is also a sanctifying faith that lays hold of Christ for our progressive sanctification and ethical renewal. And the faith that lays hold of Christ for divine enablement and empowerment for obedience also looks to the Law of Christ, not to the Law of Moses, for the standard of its obedience Isn’t this antinomianism?

Won’t people abuse this freedom and turn it into an occasion to indulge in all kinds of license?

No, my brothers, as Paul says, we have been released from the Law not that we might now be widows but that we might be married to Another.

Nowhere is this brought out more clearly than in our text

this morning, Ephesians 4:1

Section 1 - chapters 1-3 Section 2 - chapters 4-6. We have finished looking at section 1, where Paul revels in the glory of God’s eternal purpose in Christ Jesus.

In chapter 1, he states that it is a glorious plan of redemption, conceived in eternity, executed in time, and fulfilled in the eschaton. He places great emphasis on the exaltation of Christ as the central event in this great drama.

In chapter 2, Paul makes the incredible claim that the exaltation of Christ was an event in which we participated. For when we were dead in sins, God made us alive together with Christ and raised up together with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places Paul then goes on to explain that by the preaching of the gospel God is creating a new humanity composed of Jews and Gentiles God is building an organic, spiritual temple founded upon Jesus Christ to be his eternal dwelling place in the ages to come.

In chapter 3, Paul’s argument reaches a theologically stirring climax in his most incredible prayer that we might come to know with all the saints the infinite magnitude of Christ’s love.

Then in chapter 4 we come to the 2nd major section of the Epistle, where Paul now begins to unpack the ethical implications that that eternal purpose for every aspect of our lives. The gospel set forth in section 1 is seamlessly interwoven into the fabric of Paul’s ethical exhortations in section 2 4:1-6 deals with the unity of the Spirit - there is one body and one Spirit a theme that is merely an expansion on the theme of chapter 2 concerning the unity of Jews and Gentiles in the church.

But in section 2 this theme is being appealed to as the basis for Paul’s exhortation in vv. 2-3 4:7-16 expands on the theme of Christ’s headship over his body, the church, which is one of the major themes in section 1. But here in section 2 the theme is appealed to as the basis for Paul’s exhortation in vv. 12ff 4:17-24 returns to the “formerly … but now” theme that was central in chapter 2 “the new man” of 4:24 goes back to 2:15.

Here, Paul fleshes out the ethical implications of this for our life in Christ. Notice v. 20 - Paul does not say that these things are contrary to the Law but that they are contrary to the Gospel. And of course we can’t ignore the great section in 5:22-33 in which Paul instructs husbands and wives to model in their own marriage the union and communion between Christ and his church. The consideration of Christian marriage affords Paul an opportunity to penetrate still further into the depths of the mystery of Christ’s love for his bride a love that was manifested in the already of his sacrificial death for her by which he washes and cleanses her from sin and a love that will be consummated in the not-yet of his wedding day when he presents the church to himself in all her glory, holy and blameless before him in love. And all of this is explained for the purpose of grounding the nature of Christian marriage in a new covenant ethic Paul does not appeal to the 7th commandment to exhort Christian husbands to be faithful and exclusively devoted to their wives Nor does he appeal to the 5th commandment to exhort Christian wives to submit to their husbands. The only place Paul quotes the Law is in 6:2 But notice that he does not exhort children to obey their parents on the basis of the 5th commandment, but on the basis of their union with Christ (“in the Lord”). He quotes the 5th commandment because the ethical demands of the gospel are in harmony with the Law. The obedience to parents that the Law of Moses required has been taken over by the Law of Christ and subsumed within it. The Law of Christ has left out nothing that the eternal moral law required. The obedience required by Christ does not contradict or abolish the core ethic established at creation. But that core ethic has been re-established in Christ on a totally new basis, the basis of our heavenly calling which we are to walk worthy of.

So you see Ephesians cannot be divided neatly into two sections labeled Gospel and Law Ephesians moves effortlessly from exposition of the gospel to exhortations concerning how we should live in view of that gospel. We can say that section 1 is the exposition of the gospel and section 2 is the exhortation to live in accord with the gospel. Thus, the entirety of the 2nd section must be read in light of the 1st Every single command, every imperative, every exhortation to godly living in chapters 4-6, flows from the exposition of the gospel in chapters 1-3 To prevent any misunderstanding, Paul makes this very clear in the opening statement at the very outset of section 2.

“Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord, implore you”

Paul does not appeal to his apostolic authority. He does not command as if he were issuing a new law. He implores, beseeches, urges, argues. Notice how frequently Paul lays aside his authority and addresses the church as his beloved children 1 Thessalonians 2:11-12. You know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children, so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.

True, Paul does sometimes “lay down the law” yet even then, he strives to convince his audience that the gospel itself demands that they live holy lives. How often he reasons, argues, wrestles when he could have simply repeated the 7th commandment and been done with it E.g., in 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 Paul’s “failure” to appeal to the 7th commandment is intensely significant as a window into his Christ-centered ethic. Notice Paul’s appeal to his authority as “prisoner” His authority is grounded in his union with Christ a union that involves him in the fellowship of the sufferings of Christ. It’s as if Paul were so joined and conformed to Christ that he addresses the church as it were from the cross. The Law never could implore us to obey with such pathos, in view of the sufferings of Christ Consider the all-important word “Therefore” The whole of the NT ethic is nothing but an explication of this grand “therefore” Romans 12:1-2. The Christian’s “logical worship” It is rational, intelligent, conscientious, reasoned Mind renewal. This “therefore” is the revolutionary, antithetical difference between the law and the gospel. The Law is clothed with the divine authority of God the Creator and it demands that you obey on threat of the curse. The Law says, “Do this and live” The gospel is clothed with the divine authority of Christ the Redeemer and it insists that you obey because the curse is removed. The gospel says, “You have been made alive, therefore this is the kind of life you are constrained to live”

“To walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called”

You may not have realized it at the time, but when you first heard the gospel of Jesus Christ and when in response to that message you believed in Christ crucified for your sins and risen for your justification, you were called by Jesus Christ to be a partaker of a holy and glorious calling Paul frequently uses the terms called and calling to describe the sinner’s conversion from sin to grace. It is significant that he uses this term because it shows that conversion or salvation is not an end in itself, but merely the beginning of our life in Christ. We are called out of the world of sin and rebellion against God into a new sphere of existence in Christ 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth, unto which He called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Timothy 1:9 God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity.

Now, Paul, says, we are to walk “in a manner worthy of the calling” The new creation is the criterion or norm to which my conduct must conform “Worthy” is Greek means “fitting, appropriate, in accord with” E.g., partaking of sacrament in a “worthy manner” Our lifestyle, behavior, conduct must accord with our heavenly calling and destiny. The new creation, not the Law, is the ultimate standard or rule of the Christian’s obedience. And notice how it functions as a standard. It does so quite differently from the Law. The Law demands that we obey and threatens us with death if we fail. The gospel does not demand obedience in this way. It says, rather, live in a manner that accords with your heavenly calling to be the new creation in Christ.

Conclusion

This is the logic of the gospel mystery of sanctification. Not “The Law drives you to the Gospel and the Gospel sends you back to the Law” We cannot be sent back to the Law for Paul has specifically stated that Christ abolished the Law or rendered it inoperative (2:15) Romans 6:15 “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under Law but under grace? God forbid!”

The gospel method of sanctification, apart from the Law, transcends even the best the Law has to offer. The Law is holy, just, and good. But it is not able to rise to the eschatological dynamic of the life-changing ethic of the gospel Paradoxically, those who live in accordance with this non-Law-based ethic fulfill the righteous demands of the Law Rom. 8:1-4.