"1I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."
Ephesians 4:1-3
There is a good example and illustration of what was said at the end of yesterday's Note in the experience of the early church. The story of the church at Antioch in Acts 11:19ff makes it evident that the Christian fellowship there was a deeply-taught one and that believers were well instructed in the things of God. And it was from this that so much emerged in terms of Christian grace in their testimony. For one thing, the beauty of the Lord their God was upon them. We are told that when Barnabas visited them, he 'saw the grace of God' among them and upon them and was glad. For another thing, it was from that church and fellowship in Antioch that the first great missionary outreach took place that spread the gospel throughout the ancient world. Their lives were lives that told for God, and they clearly lived in character with their calling.
We look then at the Christian's calling and vocation: call to be conformed to the image of God's Son and - in 2:22 and 3:17 - an habitation of God through the Spirit, and Christ dwelling in our hearts by faith - and now this: 'lowliness and meekness, longsuffering, forbearance'? Well, remember what Jesus once said, 'I am meek and lowly of heart'! 'All right', says Paul, 'Christ living in you? Let us see it. If Christ is living in you, then let Him live out His life in you'. This is challenging indeed, but surely it is realistic. In Galatians 2:20, Paul says, 'I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life that I now live ...'. This is the way forward, this is the path to realisation, to Christ 'getting out' of us to the world He wants to bless - through our being crucified with Christ with the 'I' that is filled with self-love being replaced by the 'I' that is the Christ-life in us; the 'no longer I ... but sin that dwelleth in me' of Romans 7:17, 20 becoming the 'no longer I, but Christ liveth in me' of Galatians 2:20. This is the 'death-life' pattern that allows the life of the risen Christ free expression in our experience. This is the pattern, which is demonstrated here in Ephesians 4.