Walking in God’s Calling

(Ephesians 4:1-3) “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
(Romans 12:9-10) “Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another.”

1. God asked us to “walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called”. He also asked us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is our reasonable service. We are also asked to renew our minds so that our minds can be transformed so that we can know and do the will of God.
2. I want you to see and understand just what “the vocation wherewith ye are called” is.
3. I want you to understand how we “walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called” and that by doing so you are doing the will of God.

What is “the vocation” you are called to?

(Ephesians 4:11-12) “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:”

1. God gave these gifted men “for the immediate equipment of God’s people for the work of service, for the ultimate building up of the body of Christ”. (Williams)
   God has gifted these men, that is apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, which are to communicate to men the gospel. All of these men are to preach the gospel. When they preach the gospel, they do two things:
2. They are asking men to call on the name of the Lord so they can be saved;
3. They are training the saints in the work of ministry. When the saints are trained the body of Christ is being built up.

If the preacher is doing what God has called them to do, he will do the same as Paul did in Ephesians 4:1-2: “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love.” The preacher is to entreat, to implore, to ask or pray with urgency, this is what “beseech” means.

A saint needs to walk worthy and the only way that anyone can walk worthy:

1. Is to be saved by the grace of God to have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
2. Then to walk in the Spirit; (Galatians 5:16) “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” If any believer will walk in the Spirit he will have the fruit of the Spirit which is love. (Galatians 5:22-23) “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”
3. If one is walking in the Spirit and has the fruit of the Spirit then he will “walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love.” (Eph 4:1)

God gave these gifted men “for the immediate equipment of God’s people for the work of service, for the ultimate building up of the body of Christ”. (Williams)

When we walk worthy we are walking in the Spirit. There is no other way to have the right way of thinking and acting. Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers (Eph 4:11) are all communicators of the gospel. They have been called by God and been given to the Church so that God’s people can be equipped for the work of service. So that God’s people can walk worthy of the calling that He has called them to be.

*Devotional written by Ralph Williams, retired pastor and member of One Hope Mobile.