Ephesians 4:1-6

          It helps to know that Paul writes as the prisoner of the Lord.  The call to believers to walk worthy of the calling is coming from one who is walking the walk in a most difficult situation.  Remember: the worthy walk depends on the worthiness of the One who called us and not on the ease of our circumstances.

          The calling with which you were called surely refers to God’s choice of us to be holy and without blame (1:4).  But in Ephesians this calling is in the context of the one body of Christ consisting of Jew and Gentile.  Thus, as Paul moves to the practical insights based in the doctrine of Eph. 1-3, his first concern is that these believers walk in unity.  Three things contribute to this worthy walk: attitudes, 4:1-3; doctrine, 4:4-6; and church ministry, 4:7-16.

¨     The right attitudes for unity, 4:1-3.

·        Lowliness is the attitude of submission or humility.  It is the mind of Christ (Phil. 2:5-11).  It is the means of receiving God’s grace (1 Pet. 5:5).

·        Gentleness is the meekness whereby we yield our rights and expectations to God.  Vine’s word study says it is equanimity of spirit that is neither elated nor cast down, simply because it is not occupied with self at all.

·        Longsuffering is patience in difficult situations.  Again, from Vine, it is that quality of self-restraint in the face of provocation which does not hastily retaliate or promptly punish.

·        Forbearance is putting up with the ill-treatment of others.  It is united with love because forbearance must include a positive attitude toward the one who mistreats us.

·        Peace is the context believers live in as they deal with each other.  Thus they keep the unity they already have as fellow citizens with the saints.

¨     The right doctrine for unity, 4:4-6.

          This is a recognition of the unity or singleness of certain truths.  As there is no division in these, there is no room for believers to be divided over them.

·        One body, not one for Jews and one for Gentiles.

·        One Spirit who is the seal of God’s work in all believers.

·        One hope in our calling.  God will bring all His sons to glory, so there is no room for division between the haves and have-nots in Christ.

·        One Lord.  It’s not Jesus and Moses or Jesus and anyone else.  He is Lord.

·        One faith that saves, the faith which appropriates God’s grace.

·        One baptism in my view refers to the baptism by the Spirit into the one body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13) that is pictured by water baptism. 

·        One God and Father of all.  The word all is used 4 times in v6.  In worship we worship one God.  In prayer we pray to one Father.  

          Are you experiencing divisions in your relationships in the body of Christ?  Some division is necessary (1 Cor. 11:19) but we must ask if our disunity is the result of bad attitudes or failure to maintain the unity of the Spirit.