Memorize: Reasons for spiritual gifts
Key Verses: 1, 5, 7, 14, 22-24,
Living a life worthy of God’s calling is a tall order. The scene at the end of the movie “Saving Private Ryan” comes to mind. Ryan, now an old man, is standing at the grave of one of the men who gave their lives to save him, and he says to his wife, “Tell me I have led a good life.” “Tell me I’m a good man.” He wants to know if his life has been worth the sacrifice. He wants to know if he lived a worthy life. Paul calls his readers to do the same. He calls us to live a life worth Jesus’ sacrifice for us. An impossible task, but one to which we should aspire.
Notice how many times Paul says “one” in this section. We are unified in Jesus. There are no barriers, or at least there should be no barriers. All the old things that divided have been eliminated in Christ. And yet God gives His grace differently to different people to accomplish different things in the body. Not everyone has the grace to be a pastor and teacher. And those that do must remain humble recognizing that the grace given is for the building up of others. The differing grace given equips others to do ministry so that we all mature in our walk of faith.
We are called to speak the truth in love. Then maturity happens and the body is fully functioning, able to accomplish its purpose. Mature living requires mature thinking. And mature thinking drives mature living. We make the choice to put off the old self, be made new, and put on the new self. This is the process of sanctification, the process of becoming like Christ as His grace works in us, changing us from the inside out. I think I have the hardest time letting the Lord work on my attitude.
Paul spends the remainder of the chapter giving specific examples of the putting off, made new, and putting on process. It might be good to mark all the things we are to put off in the verses. Lies, sinful anger, stealing, unwholesome talk, and any number of bad attitudes. Each of these are things we must put off. And Paul gives us the antidote for each of these. We must put on truth-speaking, conflict resolution, gainful employment, generosity, encouraging speech, kindness and compassion, and forgiveness. If we followed this list, our lives and our world would be filled with grace and God would be greatly glorified.
Remember, this is not a new list of things to do to be accepted by God. We are accepted. Now live out that acceptance. Live a life worthy of the price paid.
Review: Galatians
The Arnold Journey 