Good theology should have an impact on how a person lives so as to please God. We often use the figure of walking to speak of how we live. For example, we might refer to the Christian life as one’s Christian walk. First Thessalonians 4:1 speaks of how we “ought to walk and to please God.” The imagery of walking is used multiple times in Ephesians to set forth aspects of Christian living. For a few weeks we will follow this imagery through chapters 4 and 5 of Ephesians to focus on a theology of Christian living.
We begin with Ephesians 4:1, “I therefore the prisoner of the Lord beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called.” “Worthy” (axios) is an interesting word that had a picturesque use. Merchants in Bible times often used a balance scale to weigh out a customer’s purchase. A standard weight placed in the pan on one side of the scale would be matched by a quantity of the item being purchased in the opposite pan. The term for worthy was used to say the purchased goods weighed the same as the standard weight. Using that idea we might say that a worthy walk is Christian living that weighs the same as the Christian calling. Walking worthily as Christians requires that our practice weigh the same as our profession, our behavior weigh the same as our beliefs, our conduct weigh the same as our confession and our work weigh the same as our worship.
Called into God’s kingdom
Back to Ephesians 4:1, which calls us to walk worthy of our Christian calling. We often think of calling in terms of a specialized or vocational calling. We say that a person has been called to be a preacher or a missionary. In this specialized sense, only certain individuals have received such a calling from God. However, in a general sense all Christians have been called. According to 1 Thessalonians 2:12, all of us are called into God’s kingdom. In 1 Peter 5:10, we read that all of us are called unto eternal glory. In this general sense of every Christian being called, Ephesians 4:1 gives us the idea of being called to live in a manner commensurate with our Christian calling into God’s kingdom and unto His glory.
The following verses in Ephesians 4:2–3 suggest that a worthy Christian walk is one that is committed to cultivating Christlike attitudes. Five such attitudes are set forth. Worthy Christian living involves walking “with all humility” after the pattern of the One who humbled Himself (Phil. 2:8). A worthy walk also involves the Christlike quality of gentleness, a quality Jesus frequently showed undeserving people, but not religious hypocrites.
Steadfastness of Jesus
Patience and forbearance are yet other aspects of Christlikeness. We might think of patience as inner endurance when life’s circumstances seem against us. Such was the steadfastness of Jesus when He set His face toward Jerusalem and its cross. If patience speaks of remaining steadfast amid unfavorable circumstances, forbearance speaks of being tolerant of exasperating people. Putting up with negative circumstances and provoking people is the Christlike way to live each day.
Walking worthily of our Christian calling also calls for love. Being more than sentiment or feeling, Christlike love is a choice to see the highest good in others and to value them for what we see. When we cannot do so His Spirit can enable us since “God’s love has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us (Rom. 5:5).
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