Ephesians
THE WALK, PART 2 | Ephesians 4:7 – 32
Walking the Christian walk and living the Christian life are both difficult and challenging. It is not a fuzzy feeling that you will have all over. You will instead experience many tribulations of prejudice for your conviction, as Christ warned:
“If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:20). In Acts 14: 22, Paul is exhorting the disciples to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. The Christian life is about bearing a cross and enduring to the end of our redemption. While there is time, there must be an urgent call for repentance, and to share the hope that God has given each of us.
In Ephesians 4:7, we learn that to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. Grace was given: We all have grace given to us according to the measure of Jesus’ gift. This is the basis for God’s distribution of spiritual gifts through His church — grace, the free, unmerited giving of God. No one deserves or has earned spiritual gifts.1
In Ephesians 4:11 – 13, We see that Christ himself established the offices that have been listed (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers). These offices are of Divine calling and not of human invention. The purpose of these gifts of leadership is so that God’s people might be equipped for the work of ministry, so that the body of Christ would be built up (expanded and strengthened).2
In Ephesians 4:14 – 16, we see Paul stating that as mature Christians we are no longer to be infants, tossed about by the teachings of this world. We are not to give in to cunning and deceitful teachings, but are to cling to the truth as spoken about in the Word of God. We are to speak the truth in love, and we will grow as the body of Christ. We will be joined together as one body of Christ, growing and building itself up in love as each one does its work.
Ephesians 4:17 – 29 tells us that in our walk as God’s children, we are to conduct ourselves according to what is pleasing to God. Christians are part of the body of Christ, spiritually gifted by the Holy Spirit, and we are edified through other believers. We are not to walk as the ungodly, whose lives are empty, vain, and without meaning. We are to walk as godly people whose lives show that we are different from other people in how we react to situations, and how we defend the way we believe in God. We are to always speak the truth to all people, and not indulge in spreading lies or gossip, speaking of things we do not fully know or understand.
In verse 26a of Ephesians 4, I like where it states that in our anger we are not to sin. We are not to let the sun go down while we are still angry, so we do not give the devil a foothold. Anger can serve many purposes in life — there is even righteous anger. But when anger starts to take over our life and move us from our purpose, then it is of no great reward. My wife and I, in almost 40 years of marriage, have strived to not go to bed at night while one is angry with the other. We have had our struggles, but have always managed with God’s help to not let the anger win out. My parents were the same way and were a great example to me.
In Ephesians 4:30, Paul states, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” God is grieved when we revert back to our old sinful ways instead of clinging to the righteous ways of our new life in Him. We as human beings are not perfect, and we do make many mistakes, and Satan is always trying to get us to go back to our old ways. But with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and by being faithful in our reading of the Bible, and taking time to pray, we get help with living our lives for God.
When we read Ephesians 4:32 – 32, we see these verses express how we are to live our lives as examples of God’s children. We are to get rid of bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. We are to be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ Jesus forgave each of us.
No one is perfect in how we act and live our life. But as the children of God, we are to be an example. We are to walk and talk as people whose lives have been changed and are different. People should always see us as people who are different — special — and having something that they are always looking forward to. My hope is that all of us as God’s children can be examples unto everyone we come in contact with — to be a shining light in the darkness of today’s world.
God’s blessing,
Timothy B. Howells Sr.
1 ChristianWalk.org
2 Enduringword.com/BibleCommentary