I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says,
“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
and he gave gifts to men.”
(In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. (Ephesians 4:1-16)
Getting the Church Inside People: Balancing Our Call and Walk
Ephesians 4:1-16
At the beginning of Ephesians 4 Paul uses an interesting metaphor that brings balance to the letter and shows us what this whole message is about when he urges us to “walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which we have been called (4:1). This verse is right in the middle of Paul’s circular sermon to the believers in and around Ephesus and now us. The Greek word at the center of this verse is axios which means literally to balance the scales. Paul is saying in this pivotal phrase and throughout this whole book that our doctrine is to be balanced by our way of life. The first three chapters of this book deal with the item on one side of the scale of our life of faith, which is our calling. Throughout these lines, Paul has artfully described what God has done in and through us in Christ and how His intention is to redeem our fallen world and to use us in this reconciling mission. What will come in the rest of this book will deal with the item on the other side of the scale: our walk with the Lord. God intends for us to live into a balance between our understanding of the faith and our practice of the faith; as we develop that balance, we will find ourselves growing up in the Lord and being made worthy.
• What do you think of Paul’s axios / scale metaphor?
• Thinking about this balance between the doctrine and practice of our faith, are there areas in which you believe adjustments need to be made? If the answer is yes, what might those adjustments look like in your life?
• Take a few moments to pray that God might help us all find that worthy balance between growing in our understanding of and the practice of our faith.
If you missed Sunday’s service, it can be accessed at https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fX3vlxtQxAc . We hope you’ll join us this week in one of our Ephesians Bible studies and we look forward to worshiping together on Sunday as we continue this journey through this prison epistle. Remember, you can share your thoughts and responses to the questions above by sending to eramiresfirstbaptistweslaco@gmail.com.