Sold Out Christians (Part 1 of 2)

Introduction to Ephesians 4: Walking Worthy of Our Calling

We're picking up our study in Ephesians chapter 4. This message is especially relevant during this time of year when there's more recognition of Jesus Christ, even in secular places. Christmas isn't just about Jesus coming as a baby; it's about the hope of salvation and living a higher quality of life than the sinful life we lived before Christ.

Ephesians shows the origin of salvation planned by God before time began, executed through Christ, and resulting in specific lifestyles. Chapters 1 through 3 lay out the theology and doctrine—like a class. Now, chapter 4 calls us to live it out.

Many youth ministries focus on fun rather than doctrine, producing Christians unconcerned with holy living. Studies show 95% of youth group kids stop living as Christians by college. Without a solid gospel foundation, they drift into lower satisfaction and quality of life.

Our responsibility in Ephesians 4:1-3 is to match our lifestyle with our profession of faith. If we claim to be Christians but don't live like it, we're sinning—and sin brings ruin and misery. Christ came to relieve us from that, which is why Christmas is glorious.

Yet Christians can still live inconsistently, hiding their faith around secular friends or in dating non-Christians. Jesus was hated for His holiness, and we'll face animosity too. But Christ's lifestyle brings divine joy and satisfaction.

Living as a Christian is positive—a higher quality of life with greater satisfaction and joy in every area.

Three Key Benefits of This Passage

This passage assures us we've already been called. If you're a Christian, you've heard the gospel and the Holy Spirit's call. Make it personal, like Ephesians 1.

Second, it equips us to live in harmony with our faith—public and private life matching. Scripture provides the ability; through Christ, we can fulfill God's commands and be considered as having done them.

Third, the goal is unity—not excluding friends, but considering others in the group better than yourself, loving them as more important, putting their needs first. This extends to the whole church and all believers.

The Text: Ephesians 4:1-3

Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Paul uses strong language to grab attention. He doesn't command but implores—intense encouragement, like helping someone with a broken leg walk. Ignoring it leads to sinful, compromised living, blending in with the world.

We're desperate for this encouragement. Temptation always lurks to not live as Christians. How often do you focus on aligning your lifestyle with your profession of faith?

The first three chapters gave the doctrine of the gospel. Now live it: What does it look like to be a Christian at school, home, work, dating, marriage, shopping in Christmas chaos, obeying parents, cleaning your room, in sports, alone? When no one watches—especially in your mind—where only God sees.

Judge situations by: What should a Christian do? Prioritize Christ's reputation and pleasure over yours. That's true allegiance—excited when God is pleased.

Paul's Motivation: Prisoner of the Lord

Paul writes as a prisoner, suffering for the gospel—not for shallow Christians, but to produce sold-out ones, obsessed with gospel living, outdoing even his commitment.

Are you shallow, nonchalant about the lifestyle salvation demands? Or sold out?

What Does "Worthy" Mean?

To walk worthy means living to deserve attention, showing qualities that earn recognition as Christian—not earning salvation (that's by grace), not meriting more grace.

It's responsibility to display salvation's qualities, recognizable as Christ's lifestyle. Jesus modeled perfect obedience as a man, imputing His active righteousness to us.

Like Galatians 2:20: "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me."

Measure worthiness: How much do you look like Christ? Philippians 2:5-7 says Jesus emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant—through humility.

Thus says the Lord, "Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. Where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest?"

— Isaiah 66:1

If verse 1 doesn't make you feel utter creatureliness before God's majesty, reread it until it sinks in. This humility is how we live worthy.

God's Immeasurable Greatness

God's throne is heaven itself. This is a big God, an immense God whose limits cannot be found. When He puts His feet up, it is the earth itself. Imagine that picture of a God so majestic that His feet rest on something the size of the earth. These are mere expressions—God is even bigger, more immense. No finite creature, no matter how many you recruit, could build a house adequate for Him to dwell in.

Yet He declares in verse 2:

My hand made all these things; thus all these things came into being, declares the Lord.

God looks to the humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles at His word. "Contrite" means like dust or dirt on the side of the road—low and trampled. This is the person who catches God's attention.

The Pursuit of Humility

In a world obsessed with attraction—perfect hair, selfies, poses—consider the context of dating or social media. People present their best to draw attention. But God seeks the humble, not the self-promoting.

The Christian who dwells on passages like Isaiah 66, seeing God grow bigger and more majestic, cannot help but feel creaturely humility. Increase your understanding of God's magnificence, and humility follows naturally.

Imagine a grizzly bear attacking in the wilderness—that's when fear and humility hit. We might intellectually acknowledge danger, but true awe comes from encountering the real thing. The same with God: you won't fear, love, or desire to be like Him without standing in His presence through His Word and seeing His spectacle.

Much of life's problems stem from lack of knowledge of God. One prophet said, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." Sit in God's presence, like Job in chapter 38, where God asks:

Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.

Job, already suffering and lowly, had any pride decimated by God's whirlwind revelation of His insignificance. Even the psalmist asks, "What is man that You are mindful of him?" True humility quakes at God's Word, trembling at its extremity.

Pride and sin suppress this knowledge, convincing you that you are godlike. This is how you avoid a quality lifestyle.

Gentleness and Patience: Biblical Tolerance

Walk with all humility and gentleness, with patience. Combine gentleness and patience into one attitude—uber-tolerant toward others.

Biblical tolerance means enduring someone, even if annoying, bothersome, or inconvenient—like the homeless person who stinks and asks for money, or the uncool youth group member outside your stereotype. Endure them with love, humility, and gentleness, no matter how much they prick you.

That's walking worthy of your calling—what a Christian looks like. It's not compromising on sin. Modern tolerance demands accepting unbiblical lifestyles, like agreeing with homosexuality or drunkenness. But Christians endure without hate or cruelty—loving, humble, holy, preaching the gospel.

Endure until sin is dealt with: they become Christian, grow like Christ, or face church discipline. Maintain your principles, walking worthy, waiting for sin's resolution.