A Worthy Walk Series

Eph 4:1-6NKJV

1. I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called,

2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love,

3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling;

5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism;

6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

Every believer owes God more than they could ever repay.

God took His one and only Son and provided several things for you and me.

1. He provided a substitute to die in my place.

Jesus took the punishment that I deserved for rejecting, rebelling against and literally cursing God.

2. He provided deliverance from death through the shed blood of Jesus.

Through Jesus Christ I can be reconciled to God.

Reconcile means: bring together, reunite. Sin separated us from God and Jesus was the only way to break down the wall that sin had built.

3.He provided absolute assurance of eternal life, with God in heaven.

IF Jesus reigns in me, I have God’s promise that I ‚might ‚could ‚WILL walk through the gates of heaven when I die.

In these six verses I want us to look at three things

1. The Way to Walk Worthy. [1-2]

2. The Purpose of Walking Worthy. [3]

3. Seven basic reasons. [4-6]

Let’s list some places the believer should walk in a worthy manner.

1. We walk worthy of our calling at work.

2. We should walk worthy at home.

3. We should walk worthy at church.

4. We should walk worthy when we are with our neighbors.

5. We should walk worthy when we are with our friends.

6. We should walk worthy when we are with our family.

We could list a dozen more places but I think you get the message.

How do we walk worthy of our calling in these situations? Let’s look at verse 2 for the answer.

1. the believer is to walk with all lowliness.

Here are some words that define the [lowliness] humbleness, meekness, submissiveness, inferiority, commonness, modesty

Philippians 2: 3NIV 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.

2. The believer is walk in gentleness. KJV uses the word [meekness] In Biblical terms the word means to be tender to be considerate BUT strongly so. Meekness is strength in control.

It is a humble state of mind but it does not mean that a person is o be weak, cowardly or grovel.

3. The believer is to walk with longsuffering.

Long suffering means that a person is to suffer tremendously for a long time. „Yes „No „Could

The idea behind this word, as used here, means to be able to out up with something for a long time; better known as patience. It the idea of Staying power…endurance…stamina…persistence… or perseverance.

It’s that bulldog tenacity that says “No matter what I will not let go or give in!!

4. The believer is to walk bearing one another in love.

The word bearing is the idea of taking into account or allowing for something.

You might even say to put up with something or someone.

We need to look at every angle before we pass judgment on a situation.

Paul tells us how we are to bear one another. We are to bear one another in LOVE.

Love is defined in many different ways but we will look at just two.

1. Phileo: (fil-eh'-o); To be a friend to be fond of [an individual or an object]), i.e. have affection for. To have a personal attachment, as a matter of sentiment or feeling.

This kind of love says “I love you If.” If you do what makes me happy then I will love you.

Too many marriages and relationship are based on Phileo kind of love…

Most of the time when there is trouble in a relationship we find the couple operating on Phileo love.

“Well she did this or he did that and I can’t love her/him any more.”

It’s love that is based strictly on how I feel at the moment.

When we see fellow believers struggling in their faith and we operate in Phileo love we will

always condemn rather than commend.

2. Agape: is a selfless love. It’s the kind of love that God has for you and me.

It’s a love that says “No matter what, I still love you.”

It’s the kind of love that nailed Jesus to the cross, even though He didn’t deserve the cross.

Rom 5:6-10NKJV 6 For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.