Mineral Springs Church of Christ Podcast
Mineral Springs Church of Christ Podcast
Walk Worthy
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Grace changes the way we move through the world. We open Ephesians 4 and sit with Paul’s therefore, remembering that if God hadn’t acted, we’d still be stuck. That perspective reshapes our motivation: we don’t strive to earn heaven; we respond because God is good. From there, we explore what a “worthy walk” really means—axios, the marketplace word for a balanced scale—where our daily conduct aligns with the weight of God’s calling.
I share why Paul calls himself a prisoner rather than pulling rank as an apostle, and how that posture reframes spiritual leadership as a plea, not a command. Then we trace the theme of “walk” across Ephesians: from our former ways to good works prepared beforehand, to walking in love and wisdom that redeems the time. We get practical about what belongs on each side of the scale. God’s word sets the standard; our lives respond. Some days that means putting off lying, bitterness, and resentment. Other days it means putting on forgiveness, patience, and courage. The thread that ties it all together is love—first for God, which then empowers love for people when our feelings falter.
Unity isn’t a slogan; it’s a daily practice. Humility, gentleness, patience, and forbearance protect the Spirit’s unity in the bond of peace. We look at how to make this a real plan for a new year: not a short-lived “new year, new me,” but a steady, one-step-at-a-time resolve to walk worthy. And if you’re not yet in Christ, we point to the true starting line: becoming God’s workmanship through faith and baptism. Ready to take your next step toward an axios life that reflects Jesus? Listen, subscribe, and share this with someone who needs a fresh start today. Then tell us: what one step will you take this week?
Ephesians chapter number four Ephesians chapter number four Those of you who are in Bible class may say that's why he didn't do Ephesians four this morning. Ephesians chapter number four verse number one to verse number three scripture says Therefore I, the prison 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. If you saw that and read it with me, say amen. I've got a new way to walk. I've got a new way to walk. The book of Ephesians is written by the apostle Paul, and it's not just to the church in Ephesus, it's actually what we call a cyclical letter. That is to say, it is circular in nature. Paul wrote it to the church in Ephesus, and they were supposed to read it and pass it on to the churches in the area. For that reason, Ephesians is not just a letter for the church in Ephesus, it's a letter for all the churches. And one of the things that Paul wants the Ephesians community and the church at large, every Christian, to understand is that the church is special in the eyes of God. And because the church is special in the eyes of God, you should walk differently. Because God has changed your life, because God has saved you, because God has done what no one else could do for you, you should live differently. Chapter 4 is where he begins his appeal. He says, Therefore, but before I could tell you what the therefore is therefore, we need to go back to see what was before the therefore. So we could know what the therefore is there for. And in the three chapters, he really wanted you to know if God did not do it, we would be in trouble. That's it. That's what he wants us to know. But he took three chapters to say it. If God didn't do it, we would be in trouble. I could just say that for five minutes, and it's enough for me, but it may not be enough for everybody. So I'll say it one more time and then I'll explain it. If God didn't do it, we would be in trouble. And the way he explains this to us in chapter number two, verse number one, he says, We were dead in trespasses and sins. Here's the truth: you were not always thinking about church, you were not always thinking about God, you were not always trying to live the way God wanted you to live. I don't care how long you've been in church, I don't care how long you've been a Christian. I know the truth is you haven't always been this righteous. You haven't always been this holy. God has done something in you. God has changed you, God has transformed you, He has forgiven you, He has saved you, and He did this in spite of you. It wasn't that you give God a reason you were not cute enough, you were not handsome enough, you didn't have money enough. God did it in spite of you because he was God all by himself, and he found in himself enough love for us. This is where you need to be honest and say only God could love us the way God loves us. This is where you have to be honest and say that while I like myself, I'm not always likable. It's where you have to be honest and say, I'm not always lovable. I fool myself into thinking I'm lovable, but I'm not always lovable and likable. If you're honest enough like me, you're able to say there are some things about me that even I don't like. I can't celebrate that enough. That in spite of my flaws, God sees my potential. In spite of the times that I let him down, he still gives me grace so I can hold him up. And his love sent Christ to a cross, he didn't deserve his love, so his son hanging, suspended between heaven and earth. His love saw Jesus in the tomb in the grave for days, but his love also saw him race again. And Paul says, therefore, because all of this is true, therefore, I the prisoner of the Lord. We may not get to verse 3 this morning. I want to get to verse 3, but but but I just explained why the therefore was there, and then the next thing Paul says is I the prisoner of the Lord. It's interesting to me that Paul is many things, but he always describes himself or often describes himself as a prisoner. Paul could say, I the apostle of the Lord Christ Jesus. Paul could say I the Jew. Paul could say I the Pharisee. Paul could say many things about himself, but he chooses to describe himself as a prisoner, even though I'm an apostle, even though I'm a Jew, even though I'm a Pharisee, even though I have the authority to command you, I'm going to beg you. That's interesting. Paul could have said, because I'm apostle, I'm an apostle, I'm going to command you to do this. But he says, because I have been shackled, because I've been chained, because I've become imprisoned to Jesus, I'm indebted to him, I owe everything to him. Because I am now serving him, as a servant, I'm begging you. As someone shackled to Christ, as a prisoner, enjoying my captivity. I'm begging you to walk worthy of the calling with which you've been called. Walk worthy. This word walk shows up several times in the Ephesians letter. The first time it shows up is in chapter 2, verse number 2, where he says, You were dead in trespasses and sins in which you formerly walked. The second time it shows up is actually in chapter 2, verse number 10, where he says that God prepared good works beforehand so that you could walk therein. The next time we see it is in our text, chapter 4, verse number 1. I beseech you therefore, I, the present of the Lord, beseech you therefore that you walk worthy. Then in chapter 5, verse number 2, he says, Walk in love as beloved children of God. In five, verse number 15, he says, See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil. I want you to realize that throughout this letter, Paul says, Be careful how you walk. In chapter 2, he says, You used to walk this way, but now that you're in Christ, I need you to walk with thee. And just in case you misunderstand, walk here does not necessarily mean how you put one foot in front of the other. Paul does not care if you walk straight, crooked, or with a limp. When he says walk here, he's talking about your conduct and how you live. See then that your lifestyle, see then that your mannerisms, see then that your conduct, your walk is worthy of the calling. And I believe this is a good way to start off the year. The first Sunday of the year is a call for us to walk worthy. God has blessed you to see a new year. God has blessed you to be here on today. He has been blessing you the last 365 days. He has already blessed you to see the fourth day of January, and you should be resolved as much as you may make resolutions for everything else. Be resolved to walk worthy as a Christian. Oh, that was a good amen moment right there, church. Come on, let's practice. As much as I have plans for my family, as much as I have plans for my career, as much as I have plans for my finances, I'm also planning to walk with thee this year. Oh, y'all sound good. Amen. That should be on your list. That I want to not just lose some pongs, I want to walk worthy. I don't just want to eat healthier, I want to walk worthy. I don't want to just do this, that, and the other. I want to make sure in everything that I'm doing, I'm walking worthy. And I want to make sure I'm walking worthy in God's eyes, not in mine. He says, walk worthy of the calling to which you've been called. We'll explain that, but I want you to see here that when Paul says walk worthy, he's not saying merit your salvation. He is not saying, I need you to walk better so you become closer to heaven. That's the last thing I want you to hear on this morning. I'm not telling you you need to be better so you could get into heaven. I want you to understand I am resolved to be better because God has been good. That's it. That you don't need any other reason. Why are you walking this way, Christian? I'm walking this way because God has been good to me. Why are you walking this way, mineral springs? Why do you choose to walk worthy? I'm choosing to walk worthy because God has been good. I'm choosing to walk worthy because he forgave me of my sins today, yesterday, last year, and if I see tomorrow, he'll forgive me of those as well. I'm walking worthy because he not only forgave me, he graced me. I have Jesus, I have his spirit, I have his word, I have hope of eternity, I have a mansion, robe, and crown waiting in heaven for me. I'm walking worthy because God did good. And he is good. And so the reason that I'm going to act differently is not because it's a new year, but because I have a newfound appreciation for my God. I'm not mad at you if you're saying new year new me, I ain't mad at you. However, let's be honest. For those of you who have ever said new year new me, that's done by March. By the time that new year waves on, you no longer have the same drive to be the new you you resolved to be. I ain't mad at you, but the truth is that hasn't worked. New Year, new you only lasts a few days. On the other hand, if I could find within myself a better appreciation of who God is, that becomes my motivation to walk every day. One day at a time, one step at a time, each step I take, I know that He is with me, guiding me. Walk worthy is not walk better to make it into heaven. In fact, the word worthy in English comes from the Greek word axios, and the Greek word axios was what they used in the marketplace. Axios is the word that the marketplace vendor would say when selling you produce, because he would put the produce on one end of a scale, and he would put weights on the other end of the scale. And if you asked for two pounds of produce, and he put a two-pound weight here, and he put a produce that was two pounds equal in weight, he would say it was axios. If it was more, if it was less, he would not say it was axios. Axios here then says that I'm walking equal to something else. A worthy walk is a walk that's equal to, in this case, the calling that you've been called. God has called you to live a special life, a different life, a set-apart life. And what he's hoping for is that when he puts you next to his standard, he could say, You're Axios. When he puts you next to his standard, he could say that it's worthy, it's commensurate, it's equal. This is what I expected of Anderson. This is what I expected of every Christian, and I'm weighing them and realizing that they're exactly what I call them to be. They are axios. To walk worthy, then means that there may be, if we're talking about weights, there may be some things that you need to put on, and there are some things you need to take off. Come here, come here, come here. I I know we don't use scales as much. So this may be lost some of the younger ones, but let's let's just pretend. We have a scale, and the first thing you would put on that scale is weight. If we're talking about the scale, Paul is talking about, then what goes on the weights here is the word of God. God's word that says, This is how you walk, this is how you live. And what he's hoping is that as he measures us in 2026, that how we live measures up to his word. Because it's a scale, sometimes his word is weightier than my life. So there are some things that I need to add to measure up, and sometimes my life is burdened and heavier than what he's calling me to, therefore, there are some things I need to let go. Does that make sense, Church? I can't tell you today what you need to put on and what you need to take off. My job is to tell you you need to check the scale, and as you check the scale, you may realize I need. To put off lying. Or I need to put on a more forgiving spirit. I need to take off bitterness and resentment. And I need to put on more charity and love, benevolence. I don't know what you need to add and what you need to take away. All I'm doing is telling you that God expects you to walk worthy every day that He graces you to see in this year. I also want to be honest with the text. I dislike taking a text out of his context. So as much as I said that, Paul does have a few things on his mind when he says, walk worthy. When he says, uh, I therefore, the prison of the Lord, beseech you that you walk axios, worthy of the calling with which you have been called. It's in the text, verse number three. Walk worthy with humility, verse two, sorry, and gentleness, patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. For Paul, walking worthy fear is defined by living a life of humility, gentleness, patience, and showing tolerance for one another in love. Being diligent to maintain, to guard, to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. I want to take my time remaining to say this. The worthy walk, worthy walk is characterized by love. It's in the text. Walk worthy, how? With humility and gentleness and patience and forbearing. And how am I to do all of those things in love? See, let me be honest about me. I don't have a problem with humility, gentleness, patience, and forbearing. I could do all of those things conveniently and with the wrong motive. Paul here says, if you're going to do it, do it motivated by love. See, I could forbear with anybody for a time. I could put up with anything. But my motivation for putting up with it is not always love. Come here. Sometimes I put up with stuff I don't like because it's only for a few minutes. I put up with stuff I don't like because I want to make it look like I'm humble and patient and forbearing to everybody else who's watching. But a worthy walk here is one that says, if you're doing it, you're doing it in love. Well, let me help you. Let me help you. The love here is firstly love for God. See, I may struggle in this moment to have love for Jimmy. Jimmy sang this old song that I didn't know. Moses probably sang it when he was a boy. And I had to scramble to read the notes to sing the song. And it just felt off to me. So I don't like Jimmy right now. For everybody, this is an example. So I don't like Jimmy right now. I was trying to enjoy my song service. We were going good. Count your blessings, name them one by one. And then he brings this old song what? Out of nowhere. So I don't like him right now. I may not find a reason from him to like him. The reason why Paul says in love is because, firstly, even when I cannot find love for Jimmy, I should always be able to find love for God. And my love for God is rooted in what God did for me. And that never changes. And so because God did this for me and I love him, part of my love is understanding he wants me to walk worthy. So even when I can't find a reason to treat Jimmy better, my love for God says there's a reason. So now I treat him better and I like him, even though he sang a song I didn't know. Because God called me to. So even if you can't find a reason in them, you should always be able to find a reason in you. And your reason is God is. So he used to tell his church, when you can't say amen, say ouch. If you can't say amen, say ouch. See, because here's the truth. I may be holding on to bitterness or resentment or anger that God is calling me to let go. But it's not because they turned around, it's not because they changed, but it's because he is. And so the reason for this worthy walk, because God has saved, because God has healed and redeemed and forgiven, because you are blessed to see a new year, because God has done all of these things for you. Paul says, as a prisoner, I'm begging you that you try every day that you're blessed to see to walk better. You have a new way to walk. For those of you who are old enough when Sesame Street was good, not this crap that we see now. La la la la Elmo's world. The good Sesame Street. Talk to me, I'll send you a link to it so you could see it. But it was this idea in Sesame Street that they had a permission to walk and a privilege to walk. And so they were exercising both the permission and the privilege, and they were proud. So they were singing it while they were crossing the street. I've got a new way to walk. Walk, walk, walk. And they sang that for three minutes. Didn't feel like three minutes. But now I'm telling you, you too have permission and privilege to walk differently in Christ. And so you should walk, walk. This year, let it be a year that concludes with God saying you walked withe. You too had a new way to walk. And when I measured your walk at the end of the year, you walked with the let me stretch it beyond the year because you could walk worthy this year and fail to the next year. So it's not just this year, but you want to try to ensure that your walk is worthy all the days of your life. So that not just at the end of the year, when we see Jesus coming in glory, when he comes from his home in the sky, then we shall meet him. And when we meet him, he says, You could be with me forever in the buy and by because your walk was worthy. If you're not yet a Christian, you haven't started your worthy walk. Your worthy walk starts when you become a new creation in Christ Jesus. Ephesians chapter number two, verse number 10 says that God created us a new workmanship in Christ Jesus and prepared good works so that we could walk in them. You're not yet his workmanship, you're not yet his new creation until you're in Christ. And the way you get in Christ is through baptism. So if you haven't yet been baptized, if you haven't yet accepted Christ as Lord and Savior, as Son of God, you haven't begun a worthy walk. There's no time like now to start walking worthy. If you're already a Christian, there's no time like the present to continue walking worthy and to walk better. The new year is a time where many of us re-evaluate what we've done in the past year and we seek to start off the new year better. So some persons have resolved I'm going to hit the gym this year, I'm going to eat more salad this year. I'm going to lose some weight this year. And I'm not saying don't have goals, those are all good and noble goals. But I'm saying add a spiritual and eternal goal to whatever you plan to do this year. And just add one, a simple one. You don't need to get complicated and say, okay, cool. I'm going to pray 15 minutes longer and study half. No, no. One simple step. Be resolved. Decide to walk better. And the way people walk is the same everywhere. Everyone walks one step at a time. So you don't have to think about down the road. You just need to think about your next step. And it starts with you today saying, I'm going to be a better disciple. I'm going to be a better Christian. I am resolved to walk with thee. And I'm sorry. This is to Jimmy. Jimmy was going to ask us to sing 940. And I was just going to tell us, let's sing 940. But the thing about me, hopefully by now you realize, is I enjoy singing. And I've sung for almost all of my life. So for half of my life, that's what I did. And so it's natural as I am, even in this moment of preaching, to have a song given to me by the spirit. And the song that just entered my spirit was I Am Resolved. And so I'm going to trouble Judy. To find I am resolved. 948. 948. If you have a songbook, 948, let's all stand. Hopefully, you know the oh, Judy is awesome. Judy is getting fastest. Almost as if she knows this wayward short preacher is going to throw some curveball, and I need to be ready. So she was ready. Here's a moment. We're going to sing this. And I'm just asking as we do that the words are meaningful and that you couple it with the message that this year, this Sunday, this moment, you become resolved to walk with thee, as we sing.