Walking Worthy of our Calling in Christ

This is the sixth post in my mini-series on discovering our identity in Christ based on the first chapter of the book of Ephesians.

For my discussion on the meaning of the phrase ‘in Christ,’ click here.

I recommend catching up on the older posts before reading this one. To do so, click here.

My last post ended on this confession of faith:

 

“I am a blessed, chosen, loved, adopted, redeemed, forgiven and accepted saint in Christ Jesus. I am marked and sealed with The Holy Spirit. That is how God sees me. That is who I am.”

 

Today’s post will focus on walking worthy of our call and living our lives in a manner that reflects our identity in Christ. My prayer is that you will be blessed by the Word.

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I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called. Ephesians 4:1 (NKJV)

 

We receive God’s Kingdom benefits by grace through faith not by our works or by our merit (Ephesians 2:8). We do not receive salvation and become followers of Christ based on how good we are and we do not maintain our relationship with God on account of how much work we do for him.

Again, it is all by His grace; His unmerited favor.

However, having received all these eternal benefits, what next? Should we just fold our arms and do nothing? Or worse than that, should we go on sinning so that God’s grace towards us will increase? By no means! (Romans 6:1-2)

God is God and we are His children. We must maintain our fear and reverence for Him by obeying His Word. The Scriptures are full of blessings as well as commands. We cannot pick and choose what to accept and what to ignore. Jesus himself said “If you love me, keep my commands” (John 14:15) and in the words of Apostle John, “this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome.” (1 John 5:3 NIV)

The more we meditate on God’s love for us, the more we should be motivated to obey Him. This flows out of our relationship with Him and not out of compulsion.

Therefore, as recipients of God’s grace and mercy and in response to His love and His extravagant blessings to us, we should walk in a manner worthy of our call in Christ.

He made us blessed, chosen, loved, adopted, redeemed, forgiven and accepted saints in Christ Jesus and He marked and sealed us with The Holy Spirit so that we will glorify and honor Him with our lives.

 

Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Philippians 1:27 (NIV)

We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work. Colossians 1:9–10 (NIV)

For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory. 1 Thessalonians 2:11–12 (NIV)

 

 Conclusion

 In conclusion,  although we do not get saved by works; having received Christ, we are expected to walk worthy of his call. This we do by living holy lives that honor him and by doing good works that glorify him.

Good works that result from our salvation through faith in Christ NOT works that attempt to bring about salvation or maintain a relationship with God. For as Apostle Paul wrote:

 

“It is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:8-10 (NIV)

For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. Philippians 2:13 (NLT)

 

In my next post we will expound on living our lives in the light of each of the blessings discussed in this series.

My prayer for you is that as you read and meditate on these Scriptures, God will ignite in you a wholehearted love for Him. And I pray that this love will overflow into a willingness to do life His way; thinking, speaking and responding to life’s situations according to His Word and truly walking worthy of your calling.

AMEN!!

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