So I, the prisoner for the Lord, appeal to you to live a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called [that is, to live a life that exhibits godly character, moral courage, personal integrity, and mature behavior—a life that expresses gratitude to God for your salvation], Ephesians 4:1 AMP

Paul begins by using the word so here.  Some versions use the word therefore, both are the same in the original.  When we see either of these words, it means that Paul just finished laying out a thought or more to us and reflecting on what he just said we now need to move forward with what he’s telling us next.

If you don’t know or forgot what the first three chapters of Ephesians are about, I encourage you to read them to understand the so/therefore comment.  Paul often begins his epistles with some good doctrine of who The Lord is, including what He’s done for us and who we are in Christ. 

Paul says that he is a prisoner for The Lord.  He was in Rome and though he was in prison, he wasn’t upset about it.  He knew that The Lord was using him right where he was.  Keep in mind that if Paul had just denounced Christ and quit preaching Him, then he could just go back to living his old way of life.  He chose to press on.  (Philippians 3:14)  He voluntarily chose to be a prisoner not of The Lord, not because of The Lord, but rather for The Lord. 

Being a prisoner for The Lord meant giving up EVERYTHING that he wanted for the sake of pressing on to spread The Gospel and to disciple those around him.  He also used this time to send letters to Christians all over the world at the time.  Some of those letters have been preserved in The Bible to help us understand all that The Lord did for us and therefore all we should be doing because of all He did for us!

Paul is making an appeal to us in this passage.  Other translations use the words, beseech, implore, urge, etc.  He’s almost begging us to do what he tells us next, again based solely on what Jesus has done for us.  Paul also urges us in Romans 12:1, that we’re to live our lives all out for The Lord, basically forsaking our flesh and its desires.  He then tells us that this is the only logical/intelligent response to what The Lord has done for us!  Jesus also told us what it means to follow Him in Luke 9:23, death our self and its desires!

The appeal, to live a life worthy of what we’ve been called to do.  The word for live is also translated walk.  When Paul uses this phrase, he’s referring to what all we live for, how we live, what determines our steps, how we make decisions, etc.  It’s what someone would deduce about us from watching how we continually live our lives, it’s our way of life, what we’re known as/for!

Notice that he doesn’t say to live a perfect life, nor will you find us told that anywhere else in The Bible.  God only calls us to be what He knows we can be on this earth.  If God is urging us to live a worthy life, then He knows we can do it.  Not on our own strength, knowledge, will, etc., but by allowing The Holy Spirit to indwell and overfill us daily as we get into God’s Word, spend time in prayer, being discipled, in fellowship, etc.  This is how a true follower/believer in Christ can walk worthy of His calling.

And what’s God’s calling for me, for you?  There are many verses that explicitly talk about God’s will, His calling for each of us.  Most of them are universal for Christians.  Before we’re a Christian, God desires that ALL come to know Him regardless of anyone’s past, present, or future sins.  We’re told in 1 John 2:2 that Jesus took the penalty or our sins and also for the rest of the world.

Once we have decided to repent and turn from our way of walking/living/thinking, and begin our walk with Jesus, we look no further than His example in The Word of God and all that’s found there for us to do.  In a nutshell, love God and love others and we show that we love Him when we do what He says.  (Matthew 22:37-40, John 14:15)  And we then have the great commission given to ALL believers, go into ALL the world, making disciples by teaching others everything Jesus has taught us!  (Matthew 28:19-20)

If we want to live a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, we will, live a life that exhibits godly character, moral courage, personal integrity, and mature behavior—a life that expresses gratitude to God for our salvation. 

Please don't hesitate to reach out to us with any questions, prayer requests, etc.  We'd love to pray with and for you and to the best of our ability answer any questions you may have soley using God's Word!

Here to serve and disciple until He calls us home,

Curt & Mary Jo

Note-all Scripture references in parenthesis are direct links God's Word so that you can easily click and read what The LORD has to say about the section before the reference.  I encourage you to click, read, study and even memorize these passages for yourself and NOT to just not just take my word for it.  (Psalm 119)