Ephesians Explained | Grace SwaggerSample

Day 5 | Ephesians 4 | Walk Worthy

Welcome back to Ephesians. We arrive at the pivot point - right here at the first verse of chapter 4:

“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received” (Ephesians 4:1).

This is the hinge on which the door swings. We are passing through a doorway. The first three chapters were about who you are in Christ. The next three are about how you live. Paul says, “Live worthy.” A more literal translation is walk worthy. Walk as in your steps, your actions, your footprint on this world.

Back in the kingdom scene. The knight picked you up, brought you to the castle. The King has adopted you and made you his own child - an heir. You know what it cost Him. You know His grace poured out. And you know how high and how wide and how deep and how long is the love of Christ for you. 

And now, in chapter 4, you step back into the world where you came from. It is the same but you are changed. So, what now? In the immortal words of Heavy D, "Now that we found love, what are we gonna do with it?" Verse 1 says: 

“Walk worthy...” (Ephesians 4:1).

Your steps should show the worth; the value of the calling you received. Not the price you paid. But you know what Jesus paid, so walk accordingly.

So how should the man walk who spent his whole life a bum, now the adopted heir of the King, as he returns to the world he knew? How should the woman walk who lived just as bad and as wrong as anyone who is now a daughter, but who did not earn a stitch of it? Is there a swagger now? A lift of self-confidence or arrogance? More like hypocrisy. You didn’t earn that. 

Oh, there should be a spring in your step alright, but that lift is all grace. You don’t deserve it, but you are loved. I call it grace swagger. The walk of a blessed soul who deserves nothing but has everything, who freely received and freely gives. 

What does it look like? Verse 2:

“Be completely humble and gentle...” (Ephesians 4:2).

So the first step is humility. Of all the virtues, I think humility is the most lovely. Humble people are so great. No pretense, no arrogance, just real. When you know how God sees you, you don’t need to prove yourself. You can put others first because God already put you first. 

And grace swagger is patient. You bear with others because God bore with you. Verse 3:

“Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3).

And there it is again, God’s purpose. He saved us for unity. So he tells us to keep it. “Make every effort.” Put work into it. Value unity the way God does. And the key to unity is humility. Pride divides, humility unites. 

Now remember, you can’t fake this stuff. Fake humility is ugly. Forced patience doesn’t work. That’s watering the fruit. But when your roots are digging deep into the love of Jesus, your walk will reveal your roots. 

And he doesn’t say create unity, he says keep it. God already made us one. Verse 4:

“There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:4-6).

There is only one. So live in oneness.

But then Paul takes a turn. We are one, but we are not the same. Thanks for the reminder Bono. Verse 7:

“But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it” (Ephesians 4:7). 

He’s talking about our individual gifting. Jesus has a calling for each of us, and he gives us gifts for that calling: talents, opportunities, authority. But it’s still grace. All of it. 

See, the grace of salvation unifies us. It levels the field and humbles us. And the grace of God’s calling diversifies us. Unity with diversity is a beautiful sight. 

But notice you have a gift and calling, but you still don’t deserve it. None of us do. God sets one in authority, but that never makes one more valuable. An arrogant Christian leader is an oxymoron. God’s gift is through you, not to you. Lead humbly. 

So we each have gifts, many parts, one body. And among the body, there are leaders. Verse 11 tells us:

“So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers” (Ephesians 4:11).

Those five roles of Christian leadership are essential to every church. This verse is huge for anyone in leadership so I’ll dig in more on side B. But every Christian needs to understand the role of those leaders. See, God doesn't give us leaders to do all the work. Read carefully. Jesus gave us those leaders, verse 12:

“...to equip his people for works of service” (Ephesians 4:12).

Too many Christians treat church like a spectator sport, like Sunday football. They sit in the stands and watch the leaders play the game. But church service is not the game, it’s the huddle. And you’re in it because you’re in the game. When the huddle breaks, you leave the building and take the field. So the role of the leader is to equip us, all of us, to train and guide and organize so that we all get to work effectively. Back in verse 12:

“...so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12-13).

And there is that unity again. When diverse gifts work together in humility to build up the body, when we all serve together, that’s unity. That’s what Jesus died for. That’s maturity. It’s growing up. 

And God wants us to grow up. Paul explains that spiritual infants get tossed about by waves and winds of teaching that blow through. In a church without mature leadership, teachers come through with one new teaching after another - the latest God gimmick. They say things like, “God wants you rich, just give us your money.” Don’t fall for it. Grow up and mature. 

Verse 15 gives a picture of maturity in Christ:

“Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work” (Ephesians 4:15-16).

And what a picture! Unity. Serving each other, doing our part. Some people are ligaments: peacemakers who hold us together. And all of us build each other up in love.

That is the walk of humility and harmony. Then verse 17 turns to remind us of how not to walk:

“You must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking” (Ephesians 4:17).

You are changed. You cannot walk the old walk like your old friends. Notice it does not say go tell your old friends to stop, it tells you to stop living like them. 

Why? Because their thinking is futile. It’s empty. It doesn’t go anywhere. And it’s darkness. In verse 18:

“They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts” (Ephesians 4:18).

He says they’ve lost all sensitivity. They’ve gone nose-blind to their own stink. They give themselves totally to sensuality. If it feels good, do it. But you know better. You know that your senses make fine servants but terrible masters. So Paul reminds you...

“...to put off your old self” (Ephesians 4:22).

Don’t miss how big that is. Your self. Not just stuff you did. You. Your identity. We defined ourselves in sin. It was “corrupted” - torn apart from inside - “by its deceitful desires.” Lust and lies. But no more. You are...

“...made new in the attitude of your minds” (Ephesians 4:23). 

So in verse 24:

“…put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24).

The new you doesn’t walk in darkness, you walk in light. And Paul hits four big changes in the new you. 

Stop lying and speak truth. Get angry but don’t sin. Stop stealing and work - and share!  And change your words: stop tearing people down, use words to build them up - like God does. 

Walk in His steps. Walk worthy - in humility and harmony and light. Walk with a grace swagger. 

Join us next time as we continue the journey one chapter at a time. And remember, faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the Word.