Ephesians 4:1

“As a prisoner of the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.” [ literally, the calling to which you have been called.]

Paul is a prisoner of the Lord ( or for the Lord), as was discussed previously. This was his calling at the time. He had gone from being an Empire traveller to being locked down to one location for the sake of Christ. The Ephesians were not called to the same calling of imprisonment, but they were called to live in a particular way .

the rest of Ephesians is devoted to the particular principles of following our calling in Christ.

the church is the ekklesia, the “called out ones”. So this idea of being called is central to the faith.

we are called by God, chosen by Him to be His representatives in the world. In Roman Society, the ekklesia were the called out ones, the assembly of people who represented the community and had authority to make decisions for the community.

as christians, our responsibility is to represent Christ to the world - that is our calling. This means that we are to live lives that are holy and honourable and which demonstrate at every level the love of Christ for the world.

Whether we are, like Paul, suffering for our faith or living in freedom, we are to live a life worthy of this calling to represent Christ.

we are to be holy first of all. This means that we must conquer the power of sin in our lives. In Romans 6, Paul tells us that in Christ we have died to sin. We must no longer allow ourselves to be slaves to sin, but rather be slaves to righteousness. The choice is ours, depending on what we choose to obey.

holiness is not legalism. It does not mean learning a long list of what is and is not allowed. It means allowing the Holy Spirit to change our affections and priorities .

to be holy means to be set apart for God’s purposes. In the same way that sacred vessels in the temple we're not put to ordinary purposes, we should make sure that our lives are dedicated to glorifying the Lord alone.

a life that is worthy of the calling we have been called to is one that is marked by love for other people. In simple terms, this means that we place the needs of others above our own desires. We look to serve them rather than ourselves .

Paul writes in later chapters how this principle of love should work out in normal relationships.

we should note here that love is a primary calling for all who follow Jesus. The Old Testament principle was to love your neighbour as you love yourself. Jesus gives us a new commandment - that we love one another as He loved us. This is sacrificial love .

love is laying down our lives for the sake of others. Love is caring for people who can offer nothing in return. Love is standing up for those who are the victims of injustice .

throughout history, Christians have had the reputation for going beyond the normal sense of duty to a neighbour. In ancient times, when people fled a town on the arrival of plague, christians stayed to minister to the sick and dying at the risk of their own lives. When unwanted babies were abandoned in Roman times, it was christians who recued and adopted them.

these two characteristics of holiness and love guide us in living a life that is worthy of the calling to which we have been called .

key points in this verse:

• Each Believer has a calling that is both unique and which is shared with other believers

• we are called to a life of holiness that goes beyond legalism

  we are called to a life of love for our neighbours which goes beyond society's norms.

• love means laying down my life and my personal desires for the sake of other people.