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Balanced by Grace: Walking Worthy of Our Corporate Calling (Ephesians 4:1) · Reformed Thinking

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  Welcome back to Reformed Thinking.
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  Today we're doing a deep dive into a verse that honestly acts
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  like a major hinge in Paul's letter to the Ephesians.
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  It's Ephesians 4 verse one. Yeah, this is really the spot
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  where Paul pivots. You know he moves from all that
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  incredible doctrine in the first 3 chapters.
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  Right. The indicatives, the facts of
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  what God's done. Exactly, Election, redemption,
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  adoption, just mind blowing stuff about who we are in
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  Christ, our identity. And then right here at 4.1, the
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  focus shifts, it turns towards duty, towards how we live out
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  that identity. And it's that one little word,
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  therefore, that does all the heavy lifting.
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  Paul writes, I therefore a prisoner for the Lord.
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  We'll get back to that part. Urge you to walk in a manner
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  worthy of the calling to which you have been called.
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  It connects the dots. It's the logic because God has
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  done all this chapters one to three, therefore you live like
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  this chapters 4 to 6. The theology isn't just head
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  knowledge, it's the foundation, the bedrock for how we actually
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  conduct ourselves data. Yeah, if chapters one to three
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  tell you who you are, chapters 4 to 6 tell you how that new
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  person lives. It's about aligning your walk
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  with your identity. OK, but let's be real, that's
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  where the tension hits for a lot of us, isn't it?
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  If salvation is all by grace, totally free, why the constant
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  urging? Why this pressure to walk
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  worthily? That's the $1,000,000 question.
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  And this verse is designed, I think, to keep us balanced on a
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  kind of tightrope. It guards against falling off
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  into two really dangerous ditches.
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  OK, what are they? Well, first there's moralism.
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  That's where you detach duty from grace.
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  You start thinking your actions somehow earn God's favor or, you
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  know, keep you in His good books.
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  Like a spiritual treadmill, always trying to perform.
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  Exactly. It becomes about your effort,
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  your performance. It forgets it's the finished
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  work of Christ, the acceptance we already have that Paul just
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  spent 3 chapters explaining. You end up basing your standing
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  with God on, well, how well you did today.
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  So performance anxiety instead of gospel peace.
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  Right. And the second ditch is the
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  opposite problem. Antinomianism.
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  Or maybe a kind of fuzzy mysticism, meaning, hey, it's
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  all grace, so it doesn't really matter how I live.
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  Or the idea that spiritual change is purely internal,
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  invisible, disconnected from the actual visible life of the
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  church and concrete obedience. So fusions. 4.1 cuts both ways.
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  It tells the moralist your work's flow from grace.
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  They don't earn it and it tells the Antinomian grace doesn't
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  mean do whatever you want. It actually demands a certain
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  kind of life. Precisely the standard for our
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  conduct is set by the sheer weight, the magnitude of the
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  grace we've received being reconciled to God, adopted as
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  sons and daughters. That's a high calling, and it
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  requires A fitting response. All right, so for this deep
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  dive, let's unpack the three key terms in that verse, the walk,
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  what worthy means here, and the calling itself.
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  But before we even get to the command itself, Paul's
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  introduction is striking. He doesn't pull rank as an
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  apostle in the usual way. He says, I therefore the
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  prisoner and the Lord urge you, why start there?
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  Why identify himself by his chains?
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  That's so crucial for setting the tone.
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  He's not writing this from some comfortable study.
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  Or, you know, like a detached theologian.
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  Or ACEO sending down memos. Not at all.
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  He's writing as someone who's suffering validates the message.
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  His chains aren't just incidental, they're part of his
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  credentials. They show the cost of the gospel
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  he's urging them to live out. It immediately gives his
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  authority. A different flavor doesn't.
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  It absolutely. It establishes what some call a
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  cruciform ethos. The word is desmios, prisoner.
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  His authority isn't based on worldly power or success, but on
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  his union with the suffering Christ.
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  It's, you could say, an authority that bleeds.
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  His scars give him credibility. He's not asking them to do
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  anything he isn't already doing. Enduring hardship for the sake
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  of the Gospel. It shows that this truth is
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  worth suffering for, worth more than personal comfort.
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  Which is just the opposite of how the world often views
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  leadership, right? Project strength, Hide weakness,
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  manage the image. Yeah, Paul blows that up.
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  He leads with his vulnerability, his chains.
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  It's a direct challenge to any leadership model based on self
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  promotion or avoiding the cross. The Worthy Walk itself involves
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  embracing suffering, not dodging it.
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  And he specifies he's a prisoner in the Lord in Kirtay.
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  Was that ad? That phrase anchors his
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  authority. It's not self generated.
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  It's derivative. It comes from Christ.
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  He's speaking for Christ. So it's not Paul asserting his
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  personal opinion or trying to dominate them.
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  He's acting as a steward, a minister, delivering the Lord's
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  message. His authority is tied directly
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  to His faithfulness to Christ and His Word.
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  That keeps things in check for anyone in church leadership
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  today, too. Our authority is tied to the
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  Word, not our personality. Definitely.
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  And notice the verb he uses. I urge you, Pericolu.
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  It's not a harsh command, is it? No, it feels different.
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  More like a plea, almost. It's a pastoral entreaty.
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  It blends command with comfort, firmness with affection.
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  It's the language of someone who genuinely cares who's appealing
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  to them based on the grace they've already received.
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  Think of it as maybe holy persuasion.
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  It avoids that feeling of just being ordered around, which can
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  push people toward trying to earn favor back towards
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  moralism. Right.
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  The commands come wrapped in grace.
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  But, and this is important, it's still an Apostolic urging.
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  It carries the weight of Christ's authority.
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  To ignore Paul here isn't just dismissing Paul.
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  It's resisting Christ's own instruction mediated through his
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  Apostle. So, warm appeal, but serious
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  obligation. Got it.
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  In one the authority is cross shaped, derivative and
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  persuasive, but it's still demands obedience.
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  OK, let's drill down into the command itself to walk in a
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  manner worthy first this idea of the walkie parapetase.
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  Paul uses this word a lot in Ephesians.
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  What's the picture here? Walking, for Paul, isn't just
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  about taking steps. It's a metaphor for your entire
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  way of life, your conduct, your daily pattern.
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  It's about the overall direction and manner of your existence.
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  And he uses it to show a contrast.
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  Remember back in chapter 2 he said we used to walk according
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  to the ways of the world, following the spirit of
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  disobedience, dead and sin. But now, having been made alive
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  and recreated in Christ, Paul says God prepared good works in
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  advance, that we should walk in them.
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  So this command in 4.1 is calling us to consistently live
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  out that new reality. It's about a sustained pattern,
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  not just a flash in the pan. A sustained pattern.
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  Got it. Now the tricky part.
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  How can this pattern be worthy axes?
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  If we're saved purely by grace, doesn't worthy imply we have to
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  earn something? That's where I think people get
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  tripped up. Yeah, this is absolutely central
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  and we need to be careful here. The Greek word Axios just
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  doesn't primarily mean deserving in the sense of earning merit.
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  It's more about proportion, fitness, or correspondence.
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  Some of the sources used the image of scales.
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  Didn't they like balancing scales?
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  That's a great picture. Imagine a balance scale on one
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  side. Pile up the incredible weight of
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  your calling. God chose you.
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  He redeemed you. He adopted you.
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  He sealed you with the Spirit. He gave you this amazing hope of
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  glory. That's the massive weight of
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  God's grace. Now Axis means your walk, your
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  daily life, your conduct, your choices needs to go on the other
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  side of the scale and correspond to that weight.
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  It needs to be fitting, suitable, appropriate to the
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  magnitude of the grace you've received.
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  Your life should, in a sense, weigh what the gospel weighs.
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  It should reflect its holiness, it's love, it's seriousness,
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  it's truth. It's about alignment, not
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  payment. OK, so that really puts up a
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  guardrail against legalism. Paul isn't saying Pile up enough
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  good deeds on your side of the scale to make yourself worthy of
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  God's favor. No, definitely not.
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  He's saying live in a way that fits the worthy status you've
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  already been given by grace. It's walk worthily because you
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  are called, not walk worthily in order to become called or stay
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  called. The logic of Ephesians 2,
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  Salvation by grace through faith still stands firm.
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  This walk is the fruit of grace, not the root of acceptance.
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  That lifts the burden of trying to earn it.
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  But what about the other ditch? What stops someone from saying,
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  well, Christ's work already tipped the scales infinitely in
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  my favor, so my side can be empty, my walk doesn't matter.
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  The antinomian slide. The answer is that true grace
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  never leads to apathy about sin. Grace doesn't cancel obligation,
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  it actually establishes it on a new footing and provides the
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  power to fulfill it. The command walk worthily is
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  still an imperative. It's not a suggestion.
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  This is where, you know, the Reformed tradition speaks of the
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  moral law, the 10 commandments, for example, as a guide for the
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  believer, not as a way to earn salvation, but as the pattern of
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  life that pleases God and reflects his character.
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  The Westminster Confession. Paul's at a rule of life,
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  informing us of God's will. So it's a guide for gratitude,
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  not a ladder for earning. Precisely the same Spirit who
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  applies Christ's redemption to us also begins the work of
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  sanctification, conforming us to price image.
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  So this worthy walk is the natural, expected, even
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  necessary evidence that God's calling has genuinely taken root
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  in someone's life. All right, so the walk needs to
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  be worthy of the calling Ecclesius.
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  Now, when we hear calling today, we often think, what's my
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  career? Find your niche, your vocation.
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  But Paul seems to mean something much bigger here.
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  Oh, much, much bigger. While how we work is certainly
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  part of our walk, the calling in Ephesians is primarily salvific,
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  corporate, and eschatological. It's about God's whole saving
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  plan for his people. Let's break that down first.
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  Salvific, Paul says the calling to which you have been called.
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  What's significant about that phrasing?
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  The grammar there is passive. You have been called.
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  God is the one doing the calling.
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  You didn't invite yourself, you were summoned by Him.
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  This points directly to the theological concept of effectual
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  calling, which is it's the sovereign work of the Holy
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  Spirit, drawing a person to Christ, overcoming their natural
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  resistance to the gospel, and uniting them to Him.
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  It's what initiates the whole Christian life justification,
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  adoption, and the ongoing process of sanctification.
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  It's God's powerful summons out of darkness into light.
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  So the power for the Worthy walk doesn't originate with us, but
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  with God's initial powerful call.
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  Exactly. The very ability to even begin
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  walking this way is a result of his effectual call.
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  OK. Second, you said the calling is
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  corporate or ecclesial. How does that come through?
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  Well, look at what immediately follows.
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  In Ephesians 4, Paul talks about one body 1 Spirit 1 Hope God
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  doesn't just call isolated individuals into a private
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  relationship with them. He calls them into a people, the
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  church. One new humanity, as he put it
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  earlier. Right.
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  So this worthy walk isn't something you do solo.
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  It's lived out in the context of the church community.
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  It's worthiness is measured in large part by how you contribute
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  to the unity, health, and holiness of that body.
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  You can't really walk worthily while ignoring your brothers and
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  sisters in Christ. That definitely shifts the focus
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  from just my personal holiness checklist to how I'm actually
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  relating to other believers in my local church.
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  It has to. And 3rd, the calling has an
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  eschatological dimension. It's tied to the future.
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  Back in chapter 1, Paul prayed they'd know the hope to which he
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  has called you. What's that hope?
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  That hope is the absolute certainty of future glory,
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  resurrection, the new creation, the day the church will be
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  presented to Christ. Perfect without spot or wrinkle,
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  as Paul says later. So our future destiny shapes our
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  present conduct. Sets the standard.
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  We're called to live now. In light of that guaranteed
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  future. Our present walk should
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  anticipate that future perfection.
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  It's like we're practicing for the wedding feast.
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  Learning to live in the key signature of heaven.
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  You might say that future hope fuels the present effort to walk
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  worthily. OK, so if the calling is
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  fundamentally corporate, lived out together, then it makes
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  sense that the very first things Paul mentions as part of this
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  worthy walk have to do with our life together in the church.
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  He immediately goes into unity, purity, and maturity.
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  Let's start with unity in verses 2 and 3.
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  Yeah, unity is the absolute first evidence that our walk is
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  lining up with Our Calling and notice, Paul says.
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  We need to be eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit.
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  Maintain it, not create it right?
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  The Spirit already created this unity through Christ's work on
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  the cross, uniting Jew and Gentile into one body.
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  Our job isn't to build it from scratch, but to preserve, guard,
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  and cherish the unity that's already ours in Christ.
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  We maintain it in the bond of peace.
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  And how do we do that practically?
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  Paul has four specific virtues right there in verse 2.
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  They sound simple, but they're tough.
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  They really are countercultural, even counterintuitive.
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  First, humility. Typhinofrosinus, This is about
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  having a right estimation of ourselves, not thinking we're
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  more important than others. It's actively looking out for
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  the interests of others. The opposite of arrogance or
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  self promotion. Totally Second, gentleness or
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  meekness prowtos. This isn't weakness, it's power
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  under control. It's choosing not to use your
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  strength, your rights, or your correctness to crush someone
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  else. Someone described it as fasting
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  from self justifying speech that hit home.
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  It's hard not to defend yourself immediately when criticized.
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  Oh, it's incredibly hard. Gentleness means sometimes
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  absorbing the hit, prioritizing the relationship or the peace of
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  the body over winning the argument or clearing your name
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  instantly. There is patience, microthymia.
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  This is long-suffering. It's the ability to endure
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  inconvenience, delay, or provocation from others without
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  losing your temper or retaliating.
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  It's bearing with people's weaknesses and slowness to
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  change. In our instant everything world,
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  patience feels like a superpower.
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  How do we cultivate? That I think it starts by
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  accepting that people, including ourselves, are messy works in
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  progress. It means choosing to be slow to
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  anger, giving people the benefit of the doubt, and remembering
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  how patient God is with us. It's trained in the small
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  everyday irritations and 4th forbearance in love, literally
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  bearing with one another in love.
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  This is actively choosing to overlook offenses where
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  possible, not keeping a record of wrongs but carrying each
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  other's burdens. It might mean taking an issue to
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  God in prayer before you even think about confronting the
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  person. Wow.
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  Humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance.
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  These are the nuts and bolts of maintaining unity.
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  They are, and Paul grounds this effort in the objective reality
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  of the seven unities he lists right after one body 1.
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  Spirit 1. Hope, 1.
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  Lord 1 Faith, one baptism, one God and Father.
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  Our unity isn't based on liking each other or agreeing on
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  everything politically. Not at all.
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  It's based on these massive theological realities rooted in
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  the Triune God himself. So to neglect horizontal unity
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  is actually to disregard the vertical truth of who God is and
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  what He's done. Hashtag tag Tag VB Purity
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  against doctrinal winds. OK, beyond unity, the worthy
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  walk also demands purity. This involves resisting sin.
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  But Paul also highlights resisting doctrinal error.
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  He warns against being tossed to and fro by the waves and carried
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  about by every wind of doctrine. How does the Worthy Walk guard
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  against that instability? Good question.
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  Paul connects doctrinal stability directly to God's
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  provision for the church. Purity is protected in part by
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  paying attention to the equipping gifts Christ gave,
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  particularly pastors and teachers who build on the
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  foundation laid by the apostles and prophets.
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  So submitting to sound teaching is key.
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  Absolutely. The apostles and prophet, if
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  it's provided the foundational, authoritative revelation which
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  we now have in Scripture, that's settled.
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  The ongoing role of pastors and teachers is to faithfully
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  explain and apply that word, equipping the Saints, building
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  them up so they aren't susceptible to every new
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  theological fad or clever deception that comes along.
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  It's like developing theological antibodies through steady
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  exposure to the truth. That's a good way to put it.
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  Fidelity to Scripture, caught faithfully within the church,
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  anchors us. And this purity also involves
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  personal transformation, the putting off and putting on
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  dynamic Paul describes later in the chapter.
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  Right, putting off the old self with its futile thinking and
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  corrupt desires. And putting on the new self,
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  which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image
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  of its Creator, characterized by true righteousness and holiness.
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  It's an active, ongoing process of rejecting sinful patterns and
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  embracing godly ones. Purity requires effort enabled
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  by the spirit. Hashtag tag, shag, VC, maturity,
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  speaking the truth and love. Unity and purity seem to work
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  together towards the overall goal, which Paul identifies as
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  maturity. The standard is incredibly high,
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  the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
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  How do we grow towards that? Paul highlights one specific
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  practice, speaking the truth and love.
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  Yes, a la Thiantes Anagappa. This phrase really captures the
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  balance needed for growth. It brings unity and purity
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  together. Truth without love becomes
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  harsh, critical and damaging. It can tear the body apart.
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  Like using truth as a weapon. Exactly.
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  But on the other hand, love without truth is just
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  sentimentality, It avoids necessary correction, it papers
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  over sin, and it ultimately hinders real growth because it
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  doesn't confront reality. So it's about finding that
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  difficult balance, being honest and faithful to God's Word, but
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  always doing it with genuine care, gentleness, and a desire
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  for the other person's good. That's the heart of.
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  It and notice this maturity isn't achieved in isolation.
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  Paul immediately talks about the corporate nature of this growth.
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  Verse 16 the. Body grows when each part is
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  working properly, right? It's about mutual.
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  Edification. Every single member of the body
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  has gifts given by the Spirit that are meant to be used to
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  build up others. There are, as someone said, no
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  spectator Saints in a healthy church, everyone contributes.
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  Everyone receives yes. Maturity isn't just about my
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  personal spiritual development, it's about the whole body
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  growing up together into Christ. The worthy walk is seen when
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  we're actively involved in this process, serving, teaching,
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  encouraging, correcting, forgiving, contributing our part
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  so the whole body becomes healthier and more Christ like.
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  It gets worked out in the nitty gritty of church life.
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  So. Paul lays out these big
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  principles, unity, purity, maturity, grounded in Our
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  Calling. But then he gets incredibly
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  practical, doesn't he? He shows how this worthy walk
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  touches every part of life. It's not just for Sundays, not
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  at all. He immediately.
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  Applies it to very concrete areas.
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  First up, speech and temper. Verses 25 through 32 are just
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  packed with specific instructions about how we talk
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  and manage our emotions. Things like.
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  Putting away falsehood. Speaking truth, not letting
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  anger fester, not using. Corrupting talk, but words that
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  build up and give grace. It's a radical call to control
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  the tongue, which James tells us is incredibly difficult.
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  You mentioned earlier. The idea of a 4.29 speech audit.
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  Can you unpack that again? Verse 29 says let no corrupting
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  talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for
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  building up as fits the occasion that it may give grace to those
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  who hear How does that work in say, a moment of frustration?
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  OK, so you're. Frustrated.
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  Maybe Angry. Before you speak, you run your
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  intended words through those filters.
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  Is what I'm about to say truthful?
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  OK, maybe it's factually true, but is it timely?
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  Does it fit the occasion? Speaking harsh truth in the heat
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  of anger rarely fits the occasion well.
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  Is it tender? Will it give grace to the
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  hearer? Or just wound them?
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  And finally, is it targeted to build up or just to tear down or
• 18:58
  vent my own feelings? Wow.
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  Most angry venting probably fails on three out of four of
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  those counts. Often, yes.
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  The audit forces a pause. It forces you to consider the
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  impact of your words, not just your intent or your feelings.
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  It pushes you towards speaking truth and love.
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  Maybe later, maybe more gently, but always with the goal of
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  restoration that requires. Serious self-control over our
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  temper too. It does.
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  And Paul. Explicitly connects speech to
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  temper. He says be angry and do not sin.
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  Do not let the sun go down on your anger.
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  And then he commands kindness, tender heartedness, and
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  forgiveness, grounding it all in God's forgiveness of us in
• 19:32
  Christ. We need to keep short accounts,
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  deal with conflict biblically, and cultivate A forgiving
• 19:37
  spirit. OK, speech.
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  And temper what else? Paul moves on to ethical
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  boundaries and work right he insists on.
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  Clear lines regarding sexual immorality, impurity,
• 19:45
  covetousness, and filthy talk. Moving into chapter 5.
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  These things have no place among Saints.
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  The worthy walk requires moral clarity and separation from the
• 19:55
  deeds of darkness. And regarding work in 4.28, he
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  gives that fascinating command. Let the thief no longer steal,
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  but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands.
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  And why? So that he may have something to
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  share with anyone. That's amazing.
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  It's not. Just stop stealing it, start
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  working honestly so you can be generous it completely.
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  Reframes the purpose of work. It's not just for personal gain.
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  It's a means of participating in God's generosity and caring for
• 20:21
  the community. Honest, generous labor is a key
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  part of the Worthy Walk. Then Paul touches.
• 20:27
  On time, wisdom and worship in chapter 5.
• 20:29
  Yeah, look carefully then, how you walk.
• 20:32
  Not as unwise, but as wise. Making the best use of the time.
• 20:36
  Yeah, redeeming. The time Exaggerazomenoy ton
• 20:39
  Chiron Because the days are evil, we need to be intentional
• 20:43
  about how we use the time God gives us.
• 20:45
  This includes prioritizing gathered worship, being filled
• 20:48
  with the Spirit rather than drunk with wine.
• 20:50
  And the result is. This joyful overflow speaking to
• 20:53
  one another in psalms, hymns, spiritual songs, giving thanks
• 20:56
  exactly a. Spirit filled life isn't weird
• 20:59
  or chaotic. It's characterized by wisdom,
• 21:01
  thankfulness, joyful worship expressed corporately, and
• 21:04
  crucially, mutual submission out of reverence for Christ that
• 21:08
  governs how we relate to each other, which leads straight.
• 21:11
  Into the final application the household codes, marriage,
• 21:14
  parenting, work, relationships. These are often the toughest
• 21:17
  places to live out that really walk.
• 21:18
  They are the proving. Grounds, aren't they?
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  Paul applies the same principles of Christ, Lordship and self
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  giving love to these core relationships.
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  Husbands love like Christ, wives respect as the church respects
• 21:29
  Christ. Children obey, parents instruct
• 21:32
  gently, slaves obey masters, masters treat slaves justly, all
• 21:37
  as unto the Lord. The pattern is consistently
• 21:40
  cruciform. Self giving, loving, respectful,
• 21:43
  done out of reverence for Christ.
• 21:45
  The worthy walk has to show up here in the nitty gritty of
• 21:48
  daily family life and work or it's not really happening at
• 21:51
  all. So wrapping this up, Ephesians
• 21:53
  4.1 really does set the Christian life on its proper
• 21:56
  axis. The calling God's massive grace
• 21:58
  empowers and shapes the walk are fitting response.
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  It's not about heroic, flashy acts, but about a steady,
• 22:04
  consistent pattern of obedience. Things like humility.
• 22:07
  Patience, truthfulness, forgiveness, faithful work,
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  loving our families Exactly. Submitting to scripture,
• 22:13
  confessing sin quickly, loving imperfect people, patiently
• 22:16
  using your gifts. It's sturdy, it's durable and
• 22:18
  the standard. Is high the stature of Christ
• 22:20
  himself? But the motivation isn't fear,
• 22:22
  it's the hope we have. Right?
• 22:23
  Yeah. That certain future.
• 22:24
  Precisely. We walk this way because of of
• 22:27
  the massive grace behind us and the certain glory ahead of us.
• 22:30
  And the Holy Spirit preserves us, ensuring that even though we
• 22:33
  stumble daily, the overall direction of our walk is secure
• 22:37
  and hopeful. It's a walk that displays grace
• 22:39
  with, you might say, doctrinal, invisible substance.
• 22:43
  OK. So Paul's first evidence of a
• 22:44
  worthy walk is unity, shown practically through virtues like
• 22:48
  patience and forbearance. If those 7 great unities Paul
• 22:52
  lists 1 Lord, 1 Spirit, one God, are really true, then how we
• 22:57
  treat each other in the church has to reflect that.
• 22:59
  So here's something for you to chew on this week.
• 23:01
  How could you intentionally practice patience?
• 23:04
  Maybe it's by consciously embracing a moment of ordinary
• 23:07
  slowness when someone is taking longer than you'd like.
• 23:09
  Or maybe it's absorbing a small irritation or provocation from a
• 23:13
  fellow believer without reacting defensively.
• 23:15
  That specific conscious choice to be patient right there in the
• 23:18
  friction of everyday life. Maybe that's one small way the
• 23:22
  weight of your walk begins to match the weight of your
• 23:23
  calling.