Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.” (Ephesians 4:3)

One of the wonderful things about a healthy church is the diversity in it. That, in itself, is a witness to a divided world. It’s a powerful testimony when someone can come into an assembly of believers and see that we have set aside our differences and there is unity.

That doesn’t mean there is uniformity. It doesn’t mean that we all dress a certain way or wear the same hairstyle. That is not what the church is about. It is about unity, but it is also about a blessed diversity as each one of us discovers the gifts that God has put into our lives.

Christians are not supposed to be like assembly line products where each unit looks exactly like the others. God can take the same gift and place it into the lives of two people, yet it might manifest itself a little differently in each individual. They’ll have certain things in common, but they also will have unique traits as the Holy Spirit works through human personalities.

In chapter 4 of Ephesians, the apostle Paul wrote, among other things, about the various gifts God has placed in the church. This chapter shows us how important our individual place in the church is and the incredible gifts of the Holy Spirit that God has made available to us as believers today.

The gift that God gives to each believer is always the right one. We never should feel that we have to return it. It’s a perfect gift, and it’s always appropriate.

Sometimes, we may see the gift that another believer has received and feel envious. As a result, we’re not thankful for the gift that God has given to us. But we must realize that the gifts God has placed in our lives are always the best for us.

Sadly, many of us are not using these gifts. We don’t understand what our role in the church is, and we don’t even realize what we’re supposed to do when we come to church.

So, why does the church exist? The purpose of the church is threefold: the exaltation of God, the edification of the saints, and the evangelization of the world. We’re here to worship God, to build up one another, and to reach out to a lost world. We could sum it up in three words: upward, inward, and outward.

However, a lot of Christians drag their feet when it comes to going to church every week. The same excuses they make for skipping church don’t keep them from going to a movie or to the mall. Their excuses simply show their lack of desire to go.

The problem is that we think of church as something we attend merely as spectators. Yet Ephesians 4 shows us that God wants us to participate. He wants us to be involved in what He is doing, not just as observers but as laborers in the work that He has called us to do.

Ephesians 4:1 

Some Christians are lopsided. They may have one area in their life in which they’re spiritually strong, but they’re weak in other areas. For instance, I’ve met people who have an impressive knowledge of the Bible. Meanwhile, their personal life is in shambles. They’re always struggling with temptation and falling into sin.

The problem is they are imbalanced. They have an understanding of doctrine, but their life is out of balance.

The apostle Paul wrote to the Christians in Ephesus, “Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God” (Ephesians 4:1).

It’s worth noting that Paul wrote this from a prison in Rome. He was a prisoner because he was unwilling to compromise his beliefs, his life, and his message.

And the first thing Paul tells Christians to do in this section of Ephesians is to lead a life worthy of our calling. Maybe you’re thinking, “I’m in trouble. How could I ever be worthy? There is nothing I could ever do to deserve God’s grace.”

However, that is not what “worthy” means here. We also could translate the original word for “worthy” as “balance the scales.” It can be applied to anything that is expected to correspond to something else. It’s a word that speaks of the coordination of things.

Therefore, Paul was saying, “I want you to walk worthy. I want you to live a balanced life.”

We can have an understanding and belief in doctrine and prophecy as well as facts and figures, but if it isn’t affecting the way that we live as Christians, then we’re missing the point. The Bible says, “And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure” (1 John 3:3).

In other words, our doctrine and belief should affect the way that we live.

Yet there are also Christians who are lopsided in another way. They don’t know much doctrinally. They don’t really know what the Bible teaches on certain subjects, but they love the Lord. And they are passionate about their faith in Jesus Christ.

We might hear them say something like this: “Let’s not quibble over doctrine. I just love Jesus.”

That sounds nice, but we need to realize this is a dangerous statement. If we’re not careful, we might end up loving the wrong Jesus. We might end up believing the wrong gospel. This is where doctrine comes in.

The Bible clearly teaches that in the last days there will be false Christs, false gospels, and even false miracles. Paul warned, “For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear” (2 Timothy 4:3).

There needs to be a balance between our beliefs and our practice, between our doctrine and the way that we live. We need both areas working together. That is what it means to walk worthy of the Lord.

1 John 4:19 

Often, we hear preaching that only emphasizes what we’re supposed to do for God. So, when we go to church, we start feeling guilty because we don’t measure up. We’re not giving enough, or praying enough, or evangelizing enough.

We need to learn more about what God has done for us. In doing so, we’ll gain a greater appreciation for Him, and we’ll want to do more for Him. As 1 John 4:19 reminds us, “We love each other because he loved us first”.

As we read the Bible, we will find that the primary emphasis is not what we should do for God but what God has done for us. Now, that is not to say that the Bible doesn’t have plenty to tell us about how we are to live and behave as believers. But we need to pay closest attention to Scripture’s emphasis on what God has done for us.

In the first three chapters of Ephesians, the apostle Paul lays out what God has done for us. He’s essentially saying, “Here’s what God has done for you. In light of this, it’s time for you to walk spiritually. It’s time for you to use what God has given to you.”

We could compare the first three chapters of Ephesians to being on a mountaintop. When Jesus was transfigured on a mountain, Peter, James, and John had the privilege of seeing it. And Peter, overwhelmed by what he saw, said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it’s wonderful for us to be here! Let’s make three shelters as memorials one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah” (Mark 9:5).

In essence Peter was saying, “Let’s never leave this spot. Forget about the troubles down the mountain. Let’s just set up camp and stay here.”

In the same way, we could read the first three chapters of Ephesians and say, “Forget about the next section. I like hearing about what God has done for me. Let’s not go any further.”

But we have to move on. And as we transition from chapter 3 to chapter 4, an important division takes place. Ephesians 4 begins, “Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God” (NLT).

Notice that Paul begins with the word “therefore.” As I’ve often said, whenever you see the word “therefore” in the Bible, find out what it’s there for. It is always drawing on what has been previously said.

While they were on the mountain with Jesus, Peter, James, and John didn’t know there was a man waiting with a very real need. He had a child who was possessed by demons and needed a touch from Jesus.

Sometimes, we wish that the Christian life could be a constant state of euphoria in which we’re always experiencing God in some wonderful way. But we cannot live on the mountaintop. We need to come back to the valleys, to the real world of practical living.

Hebrews 9:22 

The classic hymn by Robert Lowry says, “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. O precious is the flow that makes me white as snow; no other fount I know; nothing but the blood of Jesus.”

Sometimes, even people who are Christians say things like, “I think that other people may find their own path to God. Who am I to say they can’t know God if they haven’t come through Christ? I found my way to God through Christ. But maybe someone else has found their way through another path.”

That may sound sweet and touching, but it is not biblical thinking. The Bible clearly teaches that without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins (see Hebrews 9:22). This is God’s order. He set it up.

In the Old Testament, a priest sacrificed an animal for a person’s sin. In the New Testament, Jesus Christ fulfilled all that the Old Testament pointed to. He became the Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world (see John 1:29).

Now, the only way that we can know God is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. We can only come to God through Jesus Christ. And if we are not coming to Him through the blood of Christ, then we cannot know God.

We don’t come to God because we seek to follow the example of Jesus alone. No one can do that. If anything, if we were to take an honest look at Jesus’ life, it would show us how far we fall short. We don’t gain access to God because we try to live by the teachings of Jesus, as wonderful and profound as they are as the words of God to us.

It isn’t following His teaching alone that does it. If we honestly look at the teaching of Jesus, it will make us aware of our own sinful condition.

In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, among other things, “But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). He also said that God looks at our hearts as well as our actions.

His teaching drives us to Him. So, can we approach God because we’re worthy? No. It is built upon a relationship that stands, no matter what our state may be.

Jesus died on the cross and shed His blood for us so that we could be forgiven of our sins. We put our complete trust in Him because it is only through His blood that we can approach God.

It is one thing to know that God has done this for us and to say that we believe it’s true. But we need to ask ourselves these questions: Have we applied it in our lives? Are we applying it to the situations that we’re facing?

We have open access to God through the blood of Jesus Christ. There is no other way.

Matthew 18:1-6

If you’ve spent time around little children, you can attest to the innate human desire to be best, fastest, strongest. “Watch me run! I’m the fastest in the world!” sounds adorable coming from a little boy but those same words from a grown man would be unsettling. For better or worse, most of us learn to hide our hubris from the world.

Yet when Jesus’ disciples asked, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” (Matt.18:1), it seems they were trying to one-up each other, thinking as a child would. Am I the greatest? Or is he? Why is he better than me? How could I surpass him?

Jesus responded to the juvenile question with a necessary rebuke: None of them were greatest. Yes, as adult men, they held legal and social status that women and children couldn’t attain. Yet in God’s kingdom, this sort of privilege would not only fail to gain them power; it would also be a roadblock to true greatness. However, there is a childlike quality God values: To be “great” in His eyes and in the kingdom, we’re to divest ourselves of power and status and become low, as Jesus Himself did (Phil. 2:5-8). In this way, believers are meant to become like little children.

As followers of Jesus, we too are invited to set aside any earthly status we’ve achieved and become humble and childlike. In so doing, we just may find the kingdom of God in our midst.

Hebrews 10:19 

Sometimes, our consciences can condemn us. They go into hyperdrive and won’t let us alone, whispering, “You are unworthy. You have done wrong. You can’t approach God.”

Yet the Bible tells us that God’s Spirit can cleanse us of a guilty conscience because of the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross. Hebrews 10:19 says, “And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus”.

And in 1 John 3:20, we read, “Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything”

This means that we can approach God no matter what we have done.

However, the devil doesn’t want us to know this. He wants us to think that we can only approach God when we have done well. He wants us to believe that if we have been walking closely with the Lord, then we can pray. But if we’ve fouled up, we can’t.

For example, maybe you’ve had a disagreement with your husband or wife. You think, “Maybe we should pray before we go to bed. But that would be hypocritical because we just had a fight. How can we pray after we’ve had a fight?”

Or maybe you’ve thought, “I can’t pray because I lost my temper in this situation,” or “I can’t pray because I just had an impure thought.”

That kind of thinking is from the devil himself. The Bible calls him “the accuser of our brothers and sisters” (Revelation 12:10). And as you prepare to go into God’s presence in prayer, he’ll say, “Do you think you are worthy to approach God? You call yourself a Christian! What a hypocrite you are! What a failure and disappointment to God you are!”

But he is a liar. And when Satan talks to you about God, he lies. He lies to you because he wants to keep you away from God. He also wants to keep you out of the Word of God because he knows that is where the power is. That is how changes will take place in your life.

When the Spirit of God convicts us, He will use the Word of God, in love, to seek to bring us back into fellowship with the Father. In contrast, when Satan accuses us, he will use our own sins in a hateful way to drive us away from fellowship with the Father.

God’s Spirit will make us aware of what we’ve done wrong, but He always will bring us back to the cross. When we have messed up, we need to go to the cross. When we have done something wrong, we need to go to the cross. We always need to go to the cross and to God in prayer.

The devil wants to keep us away from God, and his accusations always will drive us away from the cross. God’s Spirit, however, always will bring us to the cross.

Ephesians 2:13 

Ancient Ephesus was known for its cultural learning, its incredible edifices, and its spirituality. The people of Ephesus were very religious. They worshipped many gods and erected idols of every conceivable deity.

These were religious people, but they did not know God. Their religion was their vain attempt to reach God through their own human efforts. Although there were numerous gods in Ephesus, the people of that city did not have a relationship with the one true God.

Historians tell us that a great cloud of hopelessness covered the ancient world. Their philosophies were empty, and their traditions were disappearing. In addition, their religions were powerless to impact them in this life or to prepare them for the life to come.

Yet, is that not a picture, in many ways, of our culture today? We have made incredible advances in technology, but people are searching spiritually. They’re asking the big questions: Why am I here? What is the meaning of life?

Sadly, so many are looking for truth in all the wrong places. They want the benefits of faith but not the restrictions of it. They have a form of godliness but deny the power thereof. The Bible tells us that will be a sign of the last days. According to 2 Timothy 3:5, people “will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly”.

There is only one way of reconciliation that God has made available to us. If we want reconciliation with God, it will come only through Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2:13 tells us, “But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ”

Notice the words “but now.” We were on our way to a certain judgment, but God interrupted that when He sent Jesus. It was a blessed interruption. Because of the death and resurrection of Jesus and His shed blood, we now have been reconciled to God.

Sin is the great separator in the world. Ever since it entered in, it has been dividing people throughout human history.

When Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, sin immediately began its work of separation. It separated Adam and Eve from God. And ultimately, it separated their sons Cain and Abel.

But at the cross of Calvary, Jesus eliminated the wall that separates us from God. He brought about reconciliation.

We can come to God right now, but not because of our worthiness or because of the good deeds we’ve done. We come to Him because of a relationship with Him and that relationship was purchased through the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 2:14 

One of the most memorable events in contemporary human history was the fall of the Berlin Wall. Built in 1961, it was a symbol of the tyranny of Communism and its repression of the people under its control.

After World War II, Germany was divided, and the Soviets took Eastern Germany and East Berlin. Ultimately, they built a wall around it, which divided the nation. A number of people tried to escape, and many lost their lives in the process.

In 1987, President Reagan made his now-famous speech there, saying, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” Gorbachev, the leader of the Soviet Union at the time, did not do it, but the people of East Germany ultimately did. It was a great moment for freedom when that wall came down.

Going much further back in history, another wall came down that also was a symbol of tyranny and bondage. It was the wall of sin that Jesus Christ tore down because of what He did for us on the cross.

We read about it in Ephesians 2:14: “For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us”.

It has been said that you can tell the depth of a well by how much rope must be lowered. As we look at how much rope God lowered from Heaven when He sent His own Son to die for our sins, we realize how deep the well really was.

It’s amazing to me how many people so casually consider the claims of Jesus Christ, acting as though they have all the time in the world to sort through various religious ideas and come to their own conclusions. They peruse religious ideologies like they’re looking at a menu and deciding what to have for dinner.

They may start with a small order of Christianity, but they want to hold the guilt on that. Maybe they’ll have a side of Hinduism with a little bit of mysticism thrown in. They think they can pick and choose what they like—or even order à la carte. But they don’t see how radical their situation really is.

What they don’t realize is they’re in the middle of a desert. They’re dehydrated and starving to death, without any resources to purchase food or water. They’re in trouble. But suddenly, God appears and sets before them a beautiful banquet table filled with the finest gourmet offerings. And He bids them to come and dine.

Basically, they have a choice: they can eat and partake of what God offers them, or they can refuse to eat and then die because of their decision. But the price already has been paid for the feast. There’s nothing they can do to earn it.

This is the situation of humanity. God has laid out for us a clear path on which to walk and to know Him. And it’s the only way to come into a relationship with Him.

Ephesians 2:9 

No one has ever achieved salvation through human effort. But if you really have found salvation, then people should be able to see visible results of that in your life.

A lot of people today claim to be Christians, yet there is absolutely no evidence in their lives to confirm it.

Paul clearly devastated any argument that works can produce salvation when he wrote, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it” (Ephesians 2:8–9).

But he also was saying that salvation must produce works when he said, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago” (verse 10).

Works don’t save a person, but they are good evidence that a person is saved.

However, someone might say, “Hey, don’t judge me! It is not by works that we are saved; it’s by faith.”

While it is true that we are saved by faith, it is also true that if we are really saved, then there will be good works.

God has His plan for your life. He has a purpose for you to fulfill. Are you finding it? Are you moving in that direction, saying, “I have salvation, and because of that, Lord, what do You want me to do? What is Your plan for me?”

Or, are you wandering through life, saying, “I have salvation, so that takes care of that. Now, let’s move on to what I want to do.”

God has created you as His masterwork, His poem, His work of art so that you can do the good things that He planned for you long ago. He has a plan and a purpose for your life. He has work for you to do. And He is going ahead of you, preparing the way. God is manipulating all the resources of the universe so that the work you do will fulfill the plan He has for you.

And even when you face setbacks or crises in life, remember that God is working through, in, and around you.

Years after his brothers sold him into slavery, Joseph came face to face with them again and said, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people” (Genesis 50:20).

Did it just dawn on Joseph at that very moment, or did he see this earlier? Whatever the case, it was an amazing statement. Think of Joseph’s exile, his betrayal, and the false accusations against him. Still, he could say, “God sent me here. God was in this.”

Maybe you’re facing a setback today. Maybe there’s a crisis going on in your life. Remember, you are a work in progress. You are under construction.

Ephesians 2:10 

History tells us that the artist and sculptor Michelangelo, commenting on one of his works, said, “I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.”

In the same way, God sees what we can become. Ephesians 2:10 tells us, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago”. Or, as the New King James Version translates this verse, “For we are His workmanship . . .”

This word, translated as “masterpiece” or “workmanship,” comes from the Greek word poiema, which is the basis for our English term poem or work of art. It’s a word that speaks of something that is perfect. It carries the idea of rhythm, orderliness, and beauty.

Now, when I look at my life, I don’t necessarily see rhythm, orderliness, and beauty. And I guarantee that I don’t see perfection. Maybe you feel the same way.

However, God is saying, “You are My work of art. You’re My masterwork.” Understand that God isn’t a doting father who cannot see his child’s faults. No, He is our all-knowing yet all-powerful Father in Heaven who can envision what we will be. We are wonderfully complex. And we’ve been made in His image.

Before I started preaching, I used to do graphic arts. I often sat at my drawing board just thinking, and then I began to sketch. Sometimes, people walked up and asked what I was drawing, and typically, I said that I wasn’t sure. I was still envisioning it. It’s simply the way artists work.

In the same way, we might look at ourselves and see a blank canvas, but God sees the finished work of art. God can look at us and see what we will become, even before we actually become it. We tend to see our flaws and our imperfections, but God sees us for what we will be.

For example, Jesus gave Simon a new name, Peter, which means “rock.” Now, all those who knew Simon probably thought it was kind of funny that Jesus named him that. A rock, after all, speaks of solidity. It speaks of something stable, strong, and dependable. And Simon wasn’t those things.

But essentially, Jesus was saying, “It’s all right. You’re going to grow into that name. It will take some time.” And later, when Peter was a leader in the church, no one questioned whether he was a rock.

We may look at ourselves right now and say, “I don’t get it. This doesn’t look like a work of beauty.”

But God is saying, “Hang on. I can see what I can make you into. You need to be patient because you’re a work in progress.”

It doesn’t happen overnight. It will take your entire life on this earth. In fact, it won’t be finished until you get to Heaven. But then you will see that you indeed are a perfect work of art, that you are God’s masterpiece.