Ephesians 4:1 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,

Paul is a literal prisoner, in bonds in Rome. The cause, he says, is "for you Gentiles." In other words at the time of Acts twenty-two Paul told the Jews in Jerusalem of the vision which he had previously had pertaining to his ministry. When Paul told them that the Lord was going to send him "far hence unto the Gentiles," they went ballistic. They tore their clothes, threw dust in the air and shouted, "It is not fit that this fellow should live." From that time, Paul's ministry took a different path than it had during the time period covered by the book of Acts. During that time he went and preached among the "commonwealth of Israel" but now the focus of his ministry is on aliens from Israel. That is, YOU Gentiles...Gentiles like you and I and people in the world today. People who were never aligned with Israel, never blessed Israel and were never involved in any of Israel's covenants and promises. People who in time past had been without God and without hope in the world. All of that is brought out in the previous chapters.

Now he "beseeches" these Gentiles to walk worthy. You couldn't very well walk in a worthy manner unless you knew something about the "vocation wherewith ye are called." Your walk, as a saved individual, a member of Christ's body, is the manner of life in which you should live. In other words, your "vocation" involves the endeavour we will get to in verse three. Notice what he says here:

2 Timothy 1:8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;

2 Timothy 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

Notice that believers ARE saved, not working on it, not working for it, and not working to keep it. Not according to OUR works because our salvation is according to HIS work. The work of Jesus Christ at the cross. In other words, like in Titus 3:5, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us. Christ died for our sins. The wages of sin is death. The payoff for sin is never accomplished by water baptism, by repentance, by confession or turning over a new leaf or cleaning up your act. Salvation is the result of the work of Jesus Christ and it is a gift. A gift is something that must be received....it is not something that you can work for. In Chapter two Paul says that "we are HIS workmanship."

Notice that the vocation wherewith we are called is a holy calling. A holy calling is an awesome calling, it is a sacred calling. It is a separate or separated calling. In contrast, there are some people in Matthew 25 who will inherit a Kingdom prepared for them FROM the foundation of the world. But this calling, according to God's own purpose and grace, was given us in Christ Jesus BEFORE the world began. Every individual in the world today who is saved because they have placed their confidence and their trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation is a part of this calling. Now we are told to walk worthy of it.

Ephesians 4:2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;

Lowliness is to have a humbleness of mind. Meekness is never weakness. It means gentleness. Humbleness of mind is the opposite of pride and arrogance. Back at Mount Sinai in the book of Exodus there were people with a proud and haughty spirit. They said, "whatsoever the Lord has said that we will do." But the Lord said that they were a stiffnecked people. They were a people in whom is no faith. The book of Hebrews says that that generation was not able to enter into the promised land because they had sinned.  And what was their sin? It was UNBELIEF, according to Hebrews chapter four. There was a 1500 year object lesson on the part of the nation of Israel. After 1500 years of keeping the law, not one single one of them were ever justified by keeping the law.

Paul says in Romans chapter three that "no flesh is justified by the works of the law for by the law is the knowledge of sin." So the only recourse for the old Israelite, when he saw that he was a sinner according to the law was to go to the priest and offer the blood sacrifice that the law dictated. In other words, the law was THEIR schoolmaster to bring them to Christ, for without the shedding of blood, there is no remission. But, you see, when they offered the blood of bulls and goats and that animal was killed, he stayed dead! When Jesus Christ offered himself, when he gave himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for OUR SINS, he didn't stay dead. God raised him FROM the dead and he walks in newness of life, never to die again! He was delivered for our offenses and was raised again for our justification.

So that's what the lowliness and meekness is referring to. We have not one thing to boast about or to be prideful of. Salvation is a gift. It is received as a gift. So to walk worthy is to walk with that attitude of mind, and he says "with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love." We are to walk in love, and the love that we walk in is the love of the Lord. The issue is God's love. It was God that loved us when were were unlovable. God commendeth HIS love to us in that when we were yet sinners, Christ died for us Christ died for ungodly people and even for his enemies. That's who these people were and that is who you and I were.

Longsuffering carries the idea of fortitude, of patience. Forebearing is to bear with, to endure or to put up with one another in love...in the love of God in Christ. Again, the issue is not my love or your love but God's love.

Ephesians 4:3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

So our walk is a vocation, it is a calling and there is endeavouring involved. It carries the idea of using speed, or to be prompt. To be diligent, to use diligence, to give or to be forward. Notice toward what: to KEEP the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. The unity is specifically about the church of which God gave Jesus Christ to be the head, the church which is his body. The capital "S" is a reference to the Holy Spirit. It is not talking about people getting together in a spirit of cooperation like, for instance, in some union you could be a member of or like "the school spirit." It's not to say "let's all get along." In other words it is not about a compromised union. A compromised union brings about compromise, not unity. This unity has been made in the BOND of peace. It was made by the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who are saved by trusting Christ as their Saviour have peace with God and can have the peace of God.  The bond is made, we are to keep it, and the unity is sevenfold:

Ephesians 4:4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;

The one body is the church, the body of Christ. It began with Paul. He is the first and the pattern of salvation for all that will believe the gospel Paul preached. It began with Paul on the road to Damascus, it will be filled up when the very last person God foreknew from before the foundation of the world would believe the gospel Paul preached and trusts Christ. The Romans in Romans chapter 12 are in the body of Christ. The twelve tribes in the book of James are not. The Corinthians of 1 Corinthians 12:13 and 27 are in the body of Christ but the overcomers of 1 John are not. The Galatians of Galatians 3:27 and 28 are members of the body of Christ but the holy nation of 1 Peter 2:9 are not. The Colossians of Colossians 3:11 are in the body of Christ but those in the seven churches of Asia in Revelation are not. When the church which is Christ's body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all is FULL, then it will be delivered from this present evil world according to Galatians 1:4. We will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, according to 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 and our vile body will be changed and made like unto the glorious body of the Lord Jesus Christ according to Philippians 3:21. God planned, he predestinated, that those who would trust Christ as their Saviour would be conformed to the image of His son. It is guaranteed.

The Spirit is the guarantee, according to Ephesians 1:13 and 14 and is the earnest, the surety and the sureness of our inheritance. We are sealed in Christ unto the day of redemption according to Ephesians 4:30. There is nothing, no power and no person in this world or in the world to come who can change that, according to Romans 8:28 and 29. In other words, the "hope" of our calling is not wishful thinking. It is our earnest expectation. In other words God said it and that settles it. We know where we are going, and it is not "Canaan's happy land." In Christ we have obtained an inheritance which is above all heavens where we have a place and a house not made with hands where we will dwell for all eternity, to ever be with the Lord. In verse five there is:

Ephesians 4:5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,

The one Lord is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our Lord. We belong to him. He purchased us with his own blood. We are bought with a price, therefore, Paul says glorify God in your body and your spirit which are the Lord's. The one faith is the faith OF Jesus Christ.  We are saved by God's grace and HIS faith. It was his faith which endured the shame and suffering of the cross in our behalf. Paul says that the "life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith OF the son of God who love me and gave himself for me." We have life by HIS faith and we have boldness and access to God our father by the faith of HIM.

The one baptism is not water. There was no water at the cross. Those of us who have been baptized into Christ were baptized INTO his death, not into water. This baptism needs to be realized, not symbolized, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Romans six and Colossians two is clear on that and so also is Galatians three. As many of you as have been baptized INTO Christ have put on Christ. It is a spiritual realm, and spiritual body. In the body of Christ there is neither Jew nor Gentile, male nor female, bond nor free. All are ONE in Christ Jesus and that is the unity. We are all partakers of Christ, being members of his body. Not like the Hebrew in Hebrews 3:6 and 14 who is enduring to the end to become a partaker. Although there were three baptisms during the time period of the book of Acts: there was water baptism, Acts 2:38, there was a baptism which was performed by the Lord Jesus Christ himself which was the baptism WITH the Holy Ghost as in Matthew 3:11.  The Lord FILLED 12 Jewish men with the Holy Ghost in Acts 2:4....but there was no fire. The fire is yet future. Then the third baptism and the only one which God honors today, the baptism BY the Spirit himself INTO the body of Christ.

And then the last of the sevenfold unity:

Ephesians 4:6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

In every epistle Paul refers to God OUR Father, but you never see that expression anywhere outside Paul's epistles. You see references to God in all the books of Hebrews through Revelation but never to God OUR Father. You see God the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, but not OUR father. Does it make you wonder WHY that is? It is because every single person in Peter's ministry in Acts two, three, four, five and so on, and every single person in the books of Hebrews through Revelation MUST endure to the end in order to be saved AT THE END. The end in their case would be the end of their life or the end of the tribulation, whichever came first. They must be OVERCOMERS in order to have the privilege of Revelation 21:7

Revelation 21:7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

Did you notice the future tense? The shall and the will? That's not the case for the body of Christ. We have the Spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba, Father. We have been adopted, we have been placed...heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. And that is the ONLY way that in the ages to come God would be able to show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. That could not be so if God had left any of it up to us to do.

Ephesians 4:7 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.

In Genesis six Noah FOUND grace in the eyes of the Lord. In Hebrews chapter four the Hebrew comes boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy and FIND grace to help. In 1 Peter they hope to the end for the grace to be BROUGHT to them at the second coming. But the Apostle Paul obtained mercy in 1 Timothy 1:16, the FIRST and the PATTERN of salvation today. Paul was GIVEN GRACE, and according to that grace LAID the foundation upon which the church, the body of Christ is built, according to 1 Corinthians 3:10. In other words, the message of grace came down to Saul on the road to Damascus in Acts chapter nine, his name was changed to Paul and he became the first and the pattern of salvation by grace alone through faith alone without any works of any kind. In Philippians 1:7 Paul wrote that "ye all are partakers of my grace," and here we see that unto every one of us is given grace. Paul's epistles all begin with "grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."

Ephesians 4:8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.

Ephesians 4:9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?

Ephesians 4:10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)

Now here let's compare something.  Notice where Christ ascended to? He ascended up FAR ABOVE all heavens. Paul says in 1 Timothy:

1 Timothy 6:16 Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.

But notice the contrast in the case of Stephen. In Acts chapter seven, after preaching a murder indictment against the leaders of the nation of Israel, they are literally stoning him to death:

Acts 7:55 But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,

Notice that he is looking INTO HEAVEN.

Acts 7:56 And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.

Notice the title of the Lord: The Son of man. It is a specific title of the Lord used only in relation to the earth and in relation to his second coming. You only see it used in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John by the Lord himself, by Stephen here in Acts seven, and by John in the book of Revelation. Stephen in Acts seven saw the Son of Man STANDING IN the heavens, but when he appeared to Paul he was ABOVE ALL heavens. In other words the indication is that when the Lord LEFT the position where Stephen saw him and then two chapters later when he appeared to Saul, who became Paul, there was a CHANGE in purpose. Remember the Lord told Paul, "I have appeared unto thee for THIS purpose." At the same time he told Paul "I WILL APPEAR unto thee," indicating an abundance of visions and revelations from the Lord that had never before been known. So, understanding the rightly divided word of truth is essential if we are going to be established in the faith.

Ephesians 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

Notice that he gave gifts unto men. The gifts are named here in the verse. Paul's office is that of THE apostle to the Gentiles, Romans 11:13, and in the last chapter Paul said that his "cause" was the dispensation of the grace of God given to him for YOU Gentiles. So some of the body of Christ had apostles, some prophets. There were prophets in the church in Corinth, and Silas and Timothy are called Apostles in 1 Thessalonians. So is Barnabas in Acts 14.

Paul told Timothy to do the work of an evangelist in 2 Timothy 4:5. In 2 Timothy 2:2 he said, "the things that thou hast heard of me....commit to faithful men that THEY may be able to TEACH others also. So the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers are for a specific purpose:

Ephesians 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

The "perfecting" there is the same word as in Matthew 4:21 when the Lord found James and John with their father Zebedee and they were "mending their nets." The nets the fishermen used needed to be used to catch fish. They needed to be perfected, or mended. The saints also need to be perfected for a work...the work of the ministry. So all the saints have a ministry. A good minister of Jesus Christ in 1 Timothy 4:6 is not somebody with "Clergy" plates on their car and robes to wear every Sunday. A minister is someone who will wait tables and run errands and do service. In other words he serves the Lord. Paul is the example in Acts 20:19, "serving the Lord with all humility of mind," sometimes with tears and sometimes with trouble. But the work of the ministry is for the edifying, the building up, of the body of Christ:

Ephesians 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

The perfect man there doesn't speak of "sinless perfection" but rather it speaks of completeness and maturity. That is grounded and settled in the faith, nourished up by sound doctrine of the rightly divided word of truth.

Ephesians 4:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

Children can be easily swayed by the wind of doctrine but a person who is mature and grounded and settled and knows and understands sound doctrine won't be so easily tossed to and fro.

Ephesians 4:15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

Ephesians 4:16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

Up to here Paul has been talking about walking worthy as a member of the body of Christ. But now he says to walk NOT:

Ephesians 4:17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,

The therefore is in the light of all that has gone before, and because of that he says to walk not as other Gentiles walk. The other Gentiles are religious Gentiles and the world is full of them. It was then, as Paul wrote the letter, and it is today. Religious but lost because their religion is the vanity of their mind. In 2 Peter men speaking "great swelling words of vanity" allure people, that is draw people away from the truth through the lusts of the flesh. In the book of Romans we see religious Gentiles who were circumcised in the flesh, resting in the law, making their boast of God. They called themselves Jews. But the law couldn't save them, not because the law is weak but because the flesh is weak. Paul says that those in the flesh cannot please God. But the flesh is pleased with philosophy, with the traditions of men, with the rudiments of the world, setting up ordinances and traditions to keep and on and on.

Ephesians 4:18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:

The religious Gentiles at Ephesus were interested in keeping their religion. From the account in Acts 19 we see that these "other Gentiles" were wrapped up in it. The very things Paul warns believers about in the next chapter: fornication, uncleanness and covetousness which is idolatry.

Ephesians 4:19 Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

Ephesians 4:20 But ye have not so learned Christ;

Ephesians 4:21 If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:

Ephesians 4:22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;

Ephesians 4:23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;

Ephesians 4:24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

The new man is that new creature in Christ which every believer is. The new man is created and he is holy and righteous with the righteousness of God himself. That is his standing before God for now and for all eternity. It never changes and will never change. But these verse are about the practical application of that truth. This is walking worthy.

Ephesians 4:25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.

Ephesians 4:26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:

Ephesians 4:27 Neither give place to the devil.

The devil is always there and his ministers are always there, lying in wait to deceive, to bring you some wind of doctrine or the latest new thing or anything that takes your focus from giving glory to the Lord to minding earthly things. Let no man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit...after the traditions of men, after the rudiments of the world.

Ephesians 4:28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.

Ephesians 4:29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

The word of God's grace is edifying. It builds you up. Anything else tears down. What he is saying here is that if what you are about to say with words out of your mouth is not good to the use of building up, of ministering grace to those that hear it...then don't say it.

Ephesians 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

In Chapter one we HAVE redemption through Christ's blood, the forgiveness of sins and there is also a future day of redemption. Saved people who have trusted Christ and his work at the cross are sealed in Christ unto that day. That's the day we will be BODILY redeemed from even the presence of sin and from this present evil world.

Ephesians 4:31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:

Ephesians 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

That's the worthy walk of a grace believer and that concludes Ephesians chapter four.