Tuesday, October 25, 2022 Some material taken from The Church I Want to Belong To Part 5
Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:1-3
Preserving Unity In the Bond of Peace
In the first three chapters of Ephesians Paul has been telling of all that God has done for us because of His grace. He did all this for us because He loves us, not to get anything in return. In chapter 4 he begins to explain how we can live a life worthy of the calling - the high calling of doing His work. He lays the foundation by explaining just how much He has done for us – and who we are in Him. Who we are in Him leads to what our lives should look like as we walk in Him. In Him we have been called to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which we have been called.
We will want to walk in a worthy manner, not so God will love us because He already loves us and gave us eternal life when we were the most unworthy. We want to walk in a worthy manner because He does love us. Out of gratitude and love for Him, we walk the walk. Not for our glory but for His. Paul gives five characteristics that should be present in our walk to preserve unity in Him:
Five Characteristics That Should Be Present In Our Walk - humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Humility - We need to strive to be humble “Not get a big head” this done in light of not only God’s greatness but God’s great sacrifice, for our benefit
Gentleness - To be gentle implies that we bear with one another without irritation or resentment, the faults of others
Patience - “To have a long temper” this is probably the hardest of all, we want what we want, and we want it YESTERDAY!!! (Same quality God has towards us)
Tolerance - This is the greatest of all, this is the all-encompassing affection and characteristic for which we should strive.
We need this so that the inevitable wrongs that occur between people in God’s family will not work against God’s purpose of bringing all things together in Jesus – illustrated through His current work in the church. – David Guzik
Difference of opinions is inevitable. We will disagree and we will hurt each other’s feelings. Paul knew this so he wanted to give the church in Ephesus - and us - the tools we need to get through it without getting in the way of God’s work with our human nature.
Love - The four graces Paul recommends here are all aspects of love, exemplified to perfection in the person of Christ. We can show all these to one another in love when we are walking in Him.
These are all characteristics that should be present in our lives if we are walking in obedience to Him and showing all these in love for each other, which can only be done in His power, will preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. This ensures that we can do the work God has for us to do as His church.
