Trinity
17
Eph
4:1-6
9/22/24
“I
believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my
Lord, or come to him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel,
enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.” We confess this in the Small Catechism’s
explanation to the Third Article of the Apostles’ Creed.
Now
this confession begins with a very negative assessment of our spiritual
abilities. It says that our reason and
strength cannot bring us to faith in Jesus Christ. That is to say, as we are conceived and born
into this world, we don’t get God. We
can’t understand him and his saving action in Christ. As Paul told the Corinthians, “The natural
person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly
to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually
discerned.”
The
apostle has just expressed this negative evaluation of our spiritual condition
in his letter to the Ephesians. In
chapter two he wrote, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in
which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the
prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons
of disobedience.” He says that we were dead in our trespasses and sins. Worse
than that, we had another lord who ruled us as we followed the devil. Paul adds that as we lived in this sin we “were
by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”
These
words leave no room for us to “choose Jesus.” They say that we are not able to
“decide for Christ.” Instead, Paul tells
us that God chose us. He called
us. The apostle begins our text by saying, “I therefore, a prisoner for
the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which
you have been called.” And shortly
thereafter he adds that “you were called to the one hope that belongs to
your call.”
Paul
says that you have been called by God.
And at the beginning of the letter he has explained how God did
this. He writes, “Blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with
every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us
in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and
blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons
through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,
to the praise of his glorious grace, with which
he has blessed us in the Beloved.”
The
apostle says that God chose you in Christ before the foundation of the world.
He predestined you for adoption as sons and daughters through Jesus Christ. Now the topic of predestination is something
that often puzzles us as we think about it.
It raises questions that we can’t seem to answer. But the key thing we
need to recognize is that Scripture always uses it as a source of encouragement.
Your predestination is the ultimate
example of the fact that salvation is God’s doing. He chose you in Christ before you even
existed. It is his gift. It’s a matter of grace. Paul goes on to say in this letter, “For by
grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own
doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one
may boast.”
God predestined you in Christ, and
through his Spirit he has called you to faith. He has called you to believe in
the saving work that the Son of God carried out for you. Paul says of Christ, “In him we
have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our
trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.” Jesus’ death on the cross has provided
redemption – it has freed you from sin.
Because of Jesus we now have the forgiveness of our trespasses.
Yet the death of Christ for our sins
was not the end of God’s powerful work. Paul expresses the desire that God
would lead the Ephesians to recognize “the immeasurable greatness of his power
toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that
he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him
at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and
authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not
only in this age but also in the one to come.”
God raised Jesus from the dead, and
exalted Christ to his right hand. Christ once humiliated in the shame of
crucifixion now rules over all things.
And because you have been baptized into Christ, Paul says that we already
now share in his victory. He states, “But God, being rich in
mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we
were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace
you have been saved-- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in
the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”
This is the calling you have
received. Chosen by God from eternity in
Christ, God has called you by his Spirit to faith in Jesus. By his grace he has given you redemption –
the forgiveness of your sins. Through
the water and the Word of baptism you have been joined to Christ and already
share in his victory – a fact that will be demonstrated to all when he returns
in glory and raises you from the dead.
Because God has done this, Paul says
in our text, “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk
in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with
all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with
one another in love eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond
of peace.” The apostle says that we are
to walk in a manner worthy of our calling.
We are to live in a way that reflects what God has done for us.
Paul’s comments focus upon life in
the Church. He says that we are to live
with humility and gentleness. The
apostle told the Philippians, “Do nothing from rivalry or conceit,
but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of
you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of
others.” Christian humility puts others
before self. And Paul says that we act
in gentleness. We do not speak and act
in ways that will provoke strife. But instead we do so in ways that show care
and concern for others.
Next the apostle says that we are to
live “with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to
maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” We need to display patience as we put up with
one another in love. Now here’s the
thing about the Church – it’s comprised of a bunch of sinners. True, we are forgiven sinners in Christ. We are sinners in whom the Spirit is at work
as he leads us to live in Christ. But we
will always be people who stumble in sin.
And then also, the Church is
comprised of people with different personalities. We are not going to “click” with everyone in
the Church. There may be personalities that we find annoying. But Paul says
that because of our calling, we are to bear with one another in love. This means that we forgive others when they
sin against us. Paul says in this
letter, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as
God in Christ forgave you.” It also means that in love we choose to overlook
those personality quirks that we find annoying.
We do this because Paul says we need
to be “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” The Holy Spirit has called each one of us to
faith. He has created the unity that
binds us together in Christ.
We are united with one another as
Christians, and in our text Paul goes on to emphasize this fact. He states, “There is one body
and one Spirit--just as you were called to the one hope that belongs
to your call-- one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father
of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”
First, we have been united as the
body of Christ by the Spirit. Paul told
the Corinthians, “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one
body--Jews or Greeks, slaves or free--and all were made to drink of
one Spirit.” Then he adds that each of
us has been called by the Spirit, and so together we share in one hope that
belongs to our call. We share in the one hope of Jesus’ return on the Last Day
and the victory he will give us.
Paul says that we have one Lord, one
faith, one baptism. Together we confess
that Jesus is Lord. We each belong to the One who died on the cross and rose
from the dead. We have one faith. We share in believing and confessing the
faith that Jesus Christ has passed down through the apostles. We have received one baptism for the
forgiveness of sins, and by that baptism we are united together. And finally, Paul says that we share in the
one God and Father who has loved and saved us in his Son.
All of these things unite us with
one another in Christ. It is because of God’s calling that we now live in
Christ. And so Paul says in our text, “I
therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner
worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with
all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with
one another in love eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond
of peace.”
So do this at home, here at church,
and in the world as you interact with one another. Walk in a manner worthy of your calling by
being humble and gentle towards others.
Patiently bear with others in love, as you forgive and choose to
overlook those things you find unpleasant.
In this way, seek to maintain the unity worked by the Spirit in the bond
which is peace.
No comments:
Post a Comment