Day 338 - Worthy: Living Out the Calling of Christ

Welcome to Day 338 of The Glory Team Bible Reading Plan.

Ephesians 4–6 presents Paul’s practical instructions for how believers should live in response to the spiritual truths revealed in the first half of the letter. After establishing that Christians are united with Christ and sealed by the Spirit, Paul shows what this new identity looks like in daily life—calling believers to unity, holiness, love, submission, and spiritual warfare. These chapters outline how the church grows together in maturity, how Christians are to walk differently from the world, how households should reflect Christ, and how believers must stand firm against spiritual attack. Together, these chapters show that the gospel not only saves us but transforms every relationship, every action, and every part of our walk with God.

Ephesians 4

Ephesians 4 begins with Paul urging believers to “walk worthy” of the calling they have received by cultivating humility, gentleness, patience, and love that preserve unity in the Spirit. He teaches that although believers have different gifts—apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers—these gifts exist to build up the body of Christ until it reaches maturity and stability in truth. Paul then contrasts the old way of life with the new, explaining that Christians must put off their former corrupt behaviors and be renewed in the spirit of their minds. He describes what this transformation looks like in practical terms: speaking truth, resisting sinful anger, rejecting theft, using words to build others up, and living with kindness and forgiveness. Through this chapter, Paul emphasizes that unity and holiness are not optional, but essential expressions of the believer’s new identity in Christ.

Ephesians 5

In Ephesians 5, Paul calls believers to imitate God by walking in love, just as Christ sacrificially loved us, and to reject all forms of impurity, greed, and darkness. He instructs Christians to live wisely, making the most of every opportunity and being filled with the Spirit, which produces worship, gratitude, and mutual submission. Paul then shifts to describe how Christ-centered relationships function within the home, beginning with the instruction for wives to submit to their husbands “as to the Lord,” not as inferiors but as partners modeling Christ and the church. Husbands are commanded to love their wives with the same self-giving, sanctifying love Christ shows His people, making marriage a living picture of the gospel. The chapter reveals that Christian households are meant to display God’s character, with every member walking in love, purity, and Spirit-led devotion.

Ephesians 6

Ephesians 6 continues the household instructions, teaching children to obey their parents and parents to nurture their children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Paul also addresses servants and masters, calling for obedience, sincerity, justice, and fairness rooted in the fear of God and the awareness that all believers share one heavenly Master. He then shifts to the famous teaching on spiritual warfare, reminding believers that their real battle is not against people but against demonic forces of darkness. For this reason, Christians must put on the full armor of God—truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, God’s Word, and persistent prayer—to stand firm against attack. Paul ends by urging believers to pray continually for boldness and faithfulness, showing that victory in the Christian life depends on spiritual alertness, divine strength, and unwavering dependence on God.