Ephesians 4 1-16
If everything Paul says is true, do your actions match your beliefs?
We are either moving or drifting. Striving toward something, or slipping down the slope of mediocrity and dysfunction.
Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God.
Ephesians 4:1 NLT
Paul wants the weight of our lives to be equal to the weight of the Truths he has told us.
But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.
1 John 2:5-6 NLT
Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.
Ephesians 4:2 NLT
- live in a community that does life together
Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
Philippians 2:3-8 NLT
For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, in all, and living through all.
Ephesians 4:4-6 NLT
- the unity of the church is based on the unity of the trinity
- if we're not working toward unity, we're drifting apart
- we may not agree on everything, but we can move forward in humility and unity
- keep the main thing as the main thing
- "bear with one another"
- persevere in unity despite differences
- unity is not uniformity
- unity is not optional
Unfriendly people care only about themselves; they lash out at common sense.
Proverbs 18:1 NLT
- there are no spare parts in the body of Christ
- our relationship with Jesus was never meant to be private
- we walk worthy together
Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.
Ephesians 4:11-12 NLT
- ministry is not the job of pastors
- It is the job of each one of us
- church was not meant to be a spectator sport
Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.
Ephesians 4:12-14 NLT
- it's possible to grow older without growing up
- jesus wants us to grow up and mature in our faith together
- we won't grow in our faith without getting into the water
- serving
- using the gifts God made us
- as we become mature, maturity leads to stability
Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.
Ephesians 4:15 NLT