To live a “worthy” life, then, does not mean to live so perfectly that we deserve God’s welcome. If we could earn our way to heaven, then Christ did not need to die for us.4 The truth is that
…Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners…(1 Timothy 1:15).
As Ephesians 2:5 shows, we were sinners when God called us and saved us. Even now, as we live the Christian life, we all stumble and sin at times.5 God knows how weak and unworthy we are. That is why Galatians 1:6 says, He “called you in the grace of Christ.”
To live worthily, then, means that your life shows the worth of God’s call. Show how highly you value God’s call by conducting yourself in a manner that honors Him. In the context of Ephesians, God gathers His family together and calls them all to one glorious future: “You were called to one hope” (Ephesians 4:4).6 Can you say, as Paul does, “God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus”? 7 If you reply “Yes!” then honor that call! Turn your life in the heavenward direction with such single-minded devotion that you can say with Paul,
Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:13-14). M
Live on earth as a stranger intent on reaching your real home in heaven!8 You are not alone on this journey. Ephesians emphasizes that we travel together as the family of God, which is Christ’s “body” or “church.”9 Hence worthy living strengthens the unity of the spiritual family.
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. 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 (Ephesians 4:1-6). M
God is your Father! He calls His whole family – including you – home to heaven! “Therefore,” says Paul, “live up to that call!” Reflect who you really are!10 Show your new identity! Behave as members of the royal family should in this, the greatest of all kingdoms!11
…we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory (1 Thessalonians 2:12). M
…so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God (Colossians 1:10). M
4. Galatians 2:21; 3:21 cf. Romans 4:4; 6:23
5. 1 John 1:7-9; James 3:10 cf. Philippians 3:12-13
6. Research Subject – Called to hope for the future: Ephesians 1:18; 4:1,4 cf. Ephesians 1:11-14; 2:7; Romans 8:28-30; 1 Thessalonians 2:12; 2 Thessalonians 2:14; 1 Timothy 6:12; Hebrews 3:1; 9:15; 1 Peter 3:9; 5:10; 2 Peter 1:10-11; Revelation 17:14 cf. Colossians 1:23,27; Titus 3:7; Hebrews 10:23; 1 Peter 1:3,13
7. Philippians 3:14 You can confidently say, “God has called me!” If you doubt your call, or election, or predestination, please study Ephesians. You may wish to review also the WBS course, The Family of God.
8. Research Subject – Heaven as home: Philippians 3:14,20; Colossians 1:5; 2 Corinthians 5:1-10; 2 Timothy 4:18; Hebrews 3:1; 11:13-16; Revelation 21:1-7 cf. Titus 2:12-13
9. Ephesians 1:22-23; 2:16; 3:21; 5:23 For notes on ekklesia, the Greek word for church, see the WBS course, The Family of God.
10. Notice the theme of reflecting or becoming what you really are, in 1 Corinthians 5:7, “Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.”
11. In the greatest kingdom: Colossians 1:12-13; Hebrews 12:28; Revelation 1:6,9 cf. Matthew 28:18; Acts 2:33-36; Ephesians 1:20-23; Psalm 2:4-12; Isaiah 2:2; Daniel 2:35,44; 7:13-14,18, 27