The Church as a Means of Grace - Part 1
Good morning, Please open your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 4.
As many of you know, we’ve been walking together through a series on the glorious reality of personal change - what the Bible calls sanctification. We’ve seen that when God saves us by His grace, He doesn’t simply punch our ticket for heaven and leave us unchanged until glory. No - by His Holy Spirit, He begins a real, progressive work of making us more and more like His Son, Jesus Christ. He is making us increasingly holy. Less and less like our former selves. Less and less conformed to this passing world. More and more like Jesus - in our thoughts, desires, words, and actions.
In this way, every genuine believer not only possesses the hope of eternal life in the future, but begins to taste the blessings of salvation even now. The Christian life is not merely fire insurance; it is a life of real transformation.
We’ve also learned that God has chosen to carry out this sanctifying work through specific means of grace - ordinary tools and practices He has perfectly designed for our growth. These are not mechanical rituals, but Spirit-empowered channels through which Christ supplies the grace we need. We’ve seen how the Scriptures function as a powerful means of grace - renewing our minds, exposing sin, and shaping us into the image of Christ. In the last two sermons, we explored prayer as another vital means of grace - how God uses it to regulate our emotions, renew our perspective, reinforce our identity, cultivate emotional honesty, train us in submission, deepen relational intimacy with the Father, and cleanse our consciences through daily confession.
In each of these means, we’ve been reminded of an important truth: because God has chosen to work through means, our sanctification requires our active participation. We do not grow in holiness by passive waiting, but by diligently availing ourselves of the gracious provisions God has given us - depending on the Holy Spirit all the while.
Today we come to another essential means of grace that God has provided: the local church. Not as a mere gathering place or social club, but as the living community through which the ascended Christ supplies the grace that we need to persevere in the faith and abound in spiritual fruit.
We will learn that if we desire to see God’s work of sanctification carried out in our lives, the church is not optional. The church is the essential, God-designed arena in which the other means of grace (Word, prayer, ordinances, fellowship) are applied to the lives of believers. If we want to become more and more like Jesus, more holy, and less like our selves prior to salvation, we must lean into our relationship with the church.
Let’s begin by reading the fourth chapter of Paul’s letter to the believers in Ephesus:
EPHESIANS 4:1-32
I 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. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. 8 Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” 9 (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? 10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)
11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
17 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.
18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. 19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil. 28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. 29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
In this powerful chapter, Paul is urging the Ephesian believers - and us - to stop living as we once did. The apostle often uses the word “walk” to describe our everyday lifestyle and conduct. In verse 17 he commands, “You must no longer walk as the Gentiles do,” and then describes in sobering detail the futile thinking, darkened understanding, and corrupt affections that once characterized their lives.
This warning would have landed with special force in Ephesus. Before coming to Christ, many in this church had been deeply immersed in the pagan culture of a city dominated by the worship of Artemis (Diana). The massive temple to Artemis was one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world, and the city thrived on idolatry, superstition, magic, and sexual immorality tied to temple practices. Greed, sensuality, and spiritual darkness were the air people breathed. But, the gospel had powerfully disrupted that whole way of life (see Acts 19), yet the pull of the old culture, old habits, and old loyalties remained strong.
That is why Paul’s call to a worthy walk is so urgent. The Ephesian believers were to put off that former manner of life completely and put on the new self created after the likeness of God.
So, Ephesians 4 is a clear and urgent call to a worthy walk. It is a call to personal change. It is a call to practical holiness. In short, this chapter is all about sanctification - the ongoing, Spirit-empowered work of God to make us more and more like Jesus Christ in how we think, feel, speak, and live every day.
And notice - Paul does not merely describe what God will do in us. He commands us to actively participate. Though sanctification is God’s gracious work from beginning to end, it clearly requires our diligent effort and obedience. God works in us, but He does so as we walk worthy of the calling we have received.
THE LOCAL CHURCH
Notice also that as Paul encourages the Ephesian believers to pursue this personal change by the Holy Spirit, everything he says is deeply embedded in the context of the local church.
Paul does not call us to pursue a worthy walk in isolation or as isolated individuals. Instead, he calls us to live out our new life together as the one body of Christ. He urges us to walk “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (vv. 2-3). This kind of life can only be lived in meaningful, committed relationships with other believers.
This is necessary for us, as it was for the Ephesians. We face similar pressures to theirs. While we may not contend with temples to Artemis, we live in a culture saturated with competing idols - materialism, sexual autonomy, political tribalism, and secular individualism. Many believers still feel the pull of family expectations, social ostracism, or professional disadvantage for holding to biblical truth. Government policies, media narratives, and cultural elites often marginalize or mock classic Christian convictions. In such an environment, the temptation to compromise, to privatize our faith, or to retreat into isolation is very real.
This is precisely why the local church is so vital. We need one another to encourage our hearts, strengthen our resolve, and remind each other of the glorious calling we share in Christ. A united, loving church not only survives cultural pressure — it becomes a powerful witness to a watching world that Jesus really does create one new people out of divided humanity.
PAUL AND THE LOCAL CHURCH IN EPHESUS
If you are still not convinced that Paul has the local church in mind here, consider the background of his relationship with the believers in Ephesus. Paul didn’t write this letter to some vague, invisible “universal church.” He wrote it to a specific congregation he had personally planted and pastored. In Acts 19 we read that he spent more than two years in Ephesus - teaching publicly and from house to house, baptizing believers, and establishing a vibrant local church. Then, in Acts 20, as he was leaving the region, we read this:
Acts 20:17 Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him.
And listen to some of his words to the elders. He says:
Acts 20:28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.
Paul specifically called for “the elders (plural) of the church (singular)” in Ephesus. He spoke to these men with tears, reminding them of his personal investment in their flock and charging them to shepherd the local church by exercising faithful oversight. Paul’s use of the familiar biblical motif of shepherds and sheep drives home the point that these men were responsible for a particular gathering of believers and that these believers were organized under their oversight.
So, Paul is not writing abstract theology for detached individuals who claim to belong to the “universal church” while floating between congregations with no real commitment. He is writing to a concrete, visible, local body of believers who knew one another, gathered together, and were under the care of real elders.
Likewise, when we talk about the church as a means of grace - designed by God to aid our sanctification - we are not speaking primarily of some invisible, universal reality. We are talking about the local church. For us, that means this church - Calvary Baptist Church. It means the brothers and sisters seated around you right now. These are the baptized believers who have publicly confessed Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, with whom you gather each week, with whom you share the Lord’s Supper, and with whom you are called to walk worthy of the calling we have received.
This is the community God has placed you in so that you might experience real spiritual growth and change. This has serious and encouraging implications. Your spiritual progress will either be greatly aided or significantly hindered by how you choose to relate to this local body. If you drift in and out, keep yourself at arm’s length, or treat the church as a religious service provider rather than a covenant community, you will rob yourself of much of the grace Christ intends for you. But when you commit yourself wholeheartedly - when you engage, serve, bear with others in love, speak the truth in love, and submit yourself to the ministry of the Word and the oversight of the elders - you put yourself squarely in the path of the grace that builds up the body in love.
BACK TO EPHESIANS 4 – OUR CALLING
So, Paul is encouraging the local church, or local churches in Ephesus to live in a manner consistent with the salvation they’ve received. He says:
Ephesians 4:1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,
Before we can talk about what such a worthy lifestyle looks like, we have to consider the nature of the calling that demands it. Well, notice the “therefore” in verse 1. What we find is that Paul’s urging in chapter 4 necessarily follows three chapters in which he extols the blessings of our salvation. So, what are the blessings of our salvation that comprise our “calling” in chapters 1-3?
In these chapters Paul says:
· We are blessed in Christ with every spiritual blessing (Eph 1:3).
· We are chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world (Eph 1:4).
· We are adopted into God’s family (Eph 1:5).
· We are redeemed and forgiven (Eph 1:7).
· We’ve been lavished with his grace (Eph 1:7-8).
· We’ve been given wisdom and insight into divine mysteries (Eph 1:8-9).
· We’ve been guaranteed an eternal inheritance (Eph 1:11, 14).
· We’ve been sealed by the Holy Spirit (Eph 1:13-14).
· We’ve been added to the church, the body of Christ, over which Jesus is head (Eph 1:22-23).
· We are loved by God and have received his mercy (Eph 2:4-5).
· Although we were dead in our sins, we’ve been made alive in Christ, all by God’s grace (Eph 2:1-5).
· We’ve been saved apart from works, but have been made new so that we might live new lives of good works that please God (Eph 2:8-10).
Further:
· We’ve been unified with one another, across any ethnic or cultural divides (Eph 2:14-16).
· Together, we’ve all been made fellow citizens of the kingdom of God, and members of the same household of God (Eph 2:19).
· We are joined together as one body, growing together, and being built together as a dwelling place for God by the Spirit (Eph 2:21-22).
In chapter 3 we learn:
· We have boldness and confidence to come to God by faith, since through Jesus we’ve been given access to him (Eph 3:12).
· We are all beneficiaries of the love of Christ - a love that surpasses knowledge (Eph 3:17-19).
· Finally, we all have the power of God at work in us, who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think (Eph 3:20).
These are many of the spiritual blessings that precede Pau’s words in chapter 4. So, when we read the “therefore” in 4:1, we should understand all that follows as what ought to be the natural response to all that God has done for us. The things in chapter 4 are carried out with a spirit of thankfulness, and indebtedness. Further, the instructions in chapter 4 should be followed with the confidence that God has provided everything we need to succeed at them.
THE WORTHY WALK
What follows in chapter 4 is an awesome vision, from the Apostle Paul, of what every church ought to be. Verses 1-16 speak to the unity of the church, the giftedness of the church, the leadership of the church, the ministry carried out by the members of a church, a profile of a mature church, and what happens when every member of a church is growing, working, and loving as they ought.
In other words, he paints a picture of sanctification being lived out in community. This is the church functioning as God’s means of grace, just as God designed it to be.
So, let’s begin to consider what this lifestyle, worthy of our calling should look like in the context of the local church. In the context of our church.
Look again at verses 1-3:
Ephesians 4:1-3 I 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.
Here Paul returns to a theme from the first 3 chapters – spiritual unity. He says that the church should be “eager to maintain” unity. But not just any unity – the unity of the Spirit. That is, just as the Spirit has united us together in Christ, we should be eager to live in a way consistent with that spiritual reality. This isn’t a manmade unity. This isn’t a unity at the cost of truth. This isn’t a lowest-common-denominator sort of unity that strips away anything of importance is settles to unify on the most generic or diluted of beliefs. No, this is a unity already forged by, and continually sustained by, the Holy Spirit.
If we really are one body in Christ; one household of God; fellow citizens of the kingdom; co-heirs with one another; one holy temple and dwelling place for God, then we should live like it. If God has joined us together, tearing down every divide by the gospel, then our relationships with one another should display it. We should be eager to maintain practically, the unity that the Spirit has forged spiritually.
In this eagerness to maintain the Spirit’s unity, what are some of the first attitudes we must adopt? Paul says in verses 2-3, humility, and gentleness, patience, forbearance, and love.
These are not abstract virtues to be cultivated in private. They are relational attitudes to be exercised in the local church - right here among the brothers and sisters God has placed around you. Humility means refusing to think of yourself more highly than you ought and gladly considering others more significant than yourself. Gentleness means speaking and acting with kindness rather than harshness, even when you have been wronged. Patience and forbearance mean bearing with one another’s weaknesses, sins, and quirks without quickly giving up or growing bitter. And love - the crowning virtue - binds all these together in concrete, sacrificial action.
Paul’s emphasis on these attitudes powerfully reinforces that his vision for the church is not a loose collection of individuals who occasionally attend the same gatherings. It is a body of believers who are committed to dwelling together in real, close, covenantal relationships. You can’t practice genuine humility, patience, and forbearance in love with people you barely know or only see from a distance. These virtues require proximity, honesty, conflict, forgiveness, and long-term investment. They require the kind of committed life together that only happens in the local church.
In other words, the very character Paul calls us to display proves that the church is meant to be a close-knit spiritual family - not a crowd of anonymous attendees, but a community where we know one another, bear one another’s burdens, speak the truth in love, and grow up together into Christ.
THE UNITY OF THE SPIRIT
Paul then goes on to further prove that the local church is a spiritual body, joined together by God himself. Therefore, he’s not calling them to a try-your-best to get along sort of unity, but to a grand vision that understands the church as God’s miraculous community of believers, joined together by his Spirit. Look at verses 4-6:
Ephesians 4:4-6 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
These truths were especially necessary for the church in Ephesus.
Ephesus was a major pagan city dominated by the worship of Artemis, with powerful cultural, religious, economic, and even governmental pressures pressing in on the young church. Many believers had come out of deep idolatry, and others were Jewish Christians facing family and social ostracism for following Christ. In that environment, division would have been disastrous.
Paul knew that without a strong, visible unity forged by the one Spirit under the one Lord, the church would easily fracture under pressure. They desperately needed to encourage and strengthen one another as they faced opposition from false religion, hostile family members, and a culture that viewed their exclusive loyalty to Christ as a threat. This supernatural unity was also essential if they were to be emboldened and equipped to evangelize such a culture. A divided, quarreling church could never effectively display the gospel to a watching city. But a united, loving, Spirit-empowered body would stand out as a powerful witness to the reconciling power of Christ (John 13:35).
The same is true for us today. In our own cultural moment, with its many pressures and temptations toward division, we too need these truths. The local church is where this unity is lived out, tested, and strengthened - so that we might encourage one another and shine as lights in a crooked generation.
So, Paul takes the time to establish the theology of church unity, helping the Ephesians, and us, understand what this local gathering actually is – who we actually are. He teaches them, there is only one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God, how is the Father of all.
· There is one body. The church is the body of Christ, there are not two bodies. There are not three bodies. There is one. Although there may be many local churches, they are each a regional manifestation of the one body of Christ.
· There is one Spirit. The Spirit of Christ, sent by Jesus himself after his ascension. The Spirit of truth, the Spirit who testifies of Jesus, the Spirit who convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and who now indwells every genuine believer. One Spirit who seals, gifts, equips, and transforms us. Because there is only one Spirit, there cannot be competing spirits producing contradictory doctrine or character among God’s people.
· There is one hope. All believers live in confident expectation of Christ’s return, and our ultimate glorification.
· There is one Lord. Jesus Christ alone is the sovereign Head of the church. He is the exalted Lord who rules over all things for the sake of His body (Ephesians 1:22-23). Every local church, though many in number, submits to this one Lord. He is the Chief Shepherd, the Bridegroom, the Head of the body, and the King of His kingdom. Because there is only one Lord, the church cannot be divided by loyalty to human leaders, personal preferences, cultural idols, or private agendas. Our unity flows from our common confession that “Jesus Christ is Lord.”
· There is one faith. There is one body of belief that has been once and for all delivered to the saints, as Jude says. Together we make the same confession – Jesus was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, and taken up in glory (1 Tim 3:16). There is one faith, which means we contend for that faith and wholeheartedly reject any competing gospel.
· There is one baptism. There is only one entrance into the visible church of Jesus Christ: the public confession of faith in Christ as Lord through believer’s baptism in His name. Every genuine believer enters the same way - making the same profession and identifying publicly with the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. This shared baptism visibly unites us as members of His one body.
· There is one God and Father of all. Every believer shares the same loving Heavenly Father who has adopted us all into His one household. The church is not divided into separate households, but lives together counting one another as full-fledged brother and sisters.
These are the spiritual realities that Paul wants us to consider when we think about the local church and our place within it. Genuine believers do not separate from the church. They don’t justify living their Christian lives as isolated believers. They don’t float between local churches, nor do they keep themselves only on the periphery of the church.
Instead, they recognize the church as a local expression of the body of Christ. They recognize that the church is God’s design, and the chief way in which he displays the truthfulness of the gospel. It’s in the church that the world can see a diverse group of men and women, once hopelessly lost, and living in opposition to one another, now wondrously saved and being transformed into the same image, living together in supernatural unity, despite faults, failures, sins, and shortcomings.
John 13:35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
THE CHURCH IS NOT PERFECT
And make no mistake, the gospel isn’t displayed through the church because the church is perfect, but the exact opposite. The gospel is put on display because community of imperfect people continue loving one another despite shortcomings, and even personal offenses, because we are eager to maintain and practically live out the unity that the Spirit has forged among us when we were all saved by Jesus Christ.
So, surprise! Calvary Baptist Church is not a perfect church – no church is. How could a church be perfect? By definition, a church is a gathering of believers who all still have a sin nature, and are in need of the commands, encouragements, admonitions, and corrections, that we see all throughout the New Testament epistles.
A church is a community of genuine disciples who have committed themselves to live-out their discipleship together. It’s a group of believers who are all still “under construction.” We work out our sanctification together, and seek to help one another persevere in the faith, the whole while knowing that we will see each other stumble and fail at times. When that happens, we don’t give up on the church as if something strange has happened. Instead, we lean in and practice - what does Paul say, humility, gentleness, and patience. What else? We continue bearing with one another, in love.
CONCLUSION (for Part 1)
So, what have we learned thus far?
We have learned that the local church is not an optional add-on to the Christian life - it is one of God’s primary means of grace for our sanctification. Paul is not writing abstract theology for detached individuals who claim to belong to the “universal church” while floating through life with no real commitment. He is writing to a concrete, visible congregation of baptized believers in Ephesus - people who knew one another, gathered regularly, submitted to real elders, and were called to walk worthy together.
He is calling that kind of church - and our church, Calvary Baptist - to live out the glorious realities of Ephesians 1–3 in the everyday relationships of the local body. Because we share one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father of all, we must be eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love.
This is where real spiritual growth happens. This is where we are equipped, challenged, encouraged, corrected, and built up into Christ. Your sanctification is not meant to be a solo project. God has designed it to take place right here - among this people, in this local church.
But the church has a lot of problems! Yes, of course it does - because it’s made up of people with lots of problems. It’s exactly these difficulties that test and try our faith, ultimately strengthening it. This is why we read so many practical admonitions in the epistles that assume sin, conflict, frustration, and weakness will be regular realities in the local church. Consider just a few:
· Bear one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2) - because believers will be weighed down by sin, sorrow, and weakness.
· Bear with one another in love and be patient (Ephesians 4:2; Colossians 3:13) - because we will irritate, disappoint, and fail each other.
· Forgive one another as God in Christ forgave you (Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 3:13) - because offenses and hurts will happen regularly.
· Speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15) - because we will need to confront sin and error in one another.
· Do not let the sun go down on your anger (Ephesians 4:26) - because conflicts will arise and must be resolved quickly.
· Restore one another gently when someone is caught in sin (Galatians 6:1) - because believers will fall into temptation.
· Admonish, encourage, and help one another (1 Thessalonians 5:14) - because some will be idle, fainthearted, or weak.
· Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another (James 5:16) - because we will continue to sin against God and each other.
· Outdo one another in showing honor and live in harmony (Romans 12:10, 16) - because pride and selfishness will naturally divide us.
These commands are not written to perfect people living in a perfect church. They are written to real churches full of real sinners who are being progressively sanctified. The very existence of these instructions proves that God expects the local church to be messy - and that He has graciously equipped us to deal with that messiness by the Spirit, through love, patience, forgiveness, and mutual ministry.
SOME SELF-EXAMINATION
Before we close, let’s take a few moments for honest personal reflection based on what we’ve seen in Ephesians 4:1-6.
· Am I walking in a manner worthy of the calling I have received in this local church, or am I living as if my relationship with Christ is mostly private and individual?
· Am I relating to my brothers and sisters with all humility and gentleness, or do I tend to be proud, harsh, or easily offended?
· Am I exercising patience and bearing with others in love, or do I quickly grow impatient, critical, or distant when fellow members disappoint or irritate me?
· Am I eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, or am I allowing indifference, resentment, gossip, or withdrawal to weaken the body?
· Do I treat this local church as optional or secondary, or have I committed myself to it as the primary community where I walk worthy of my calling?
· Am I actively participating in the life of this church - gathering regularly, knowing others, and investing in real relationships - or am I drifting in and out, keeping people at arm’s length?
· In this season of growth at Calvary, with many new families and young believers, am I intentionally seeking to strengthen the unity of the Spirit, or am I focused primarily on my own comfort and preferences?
If you have been drifting, keeping one foot in and one foot out, or treating the church as something you attend rather than a covenant community you belong to, hear this loving challenge today: the grace Christ intends for your sanctification is found in committed, whole-hearted life together in the local church. Don’t rob yourself - or the rest of us - of that grace.
Next week we’ll consider the remainder of Ephesians 4:1-16 and the ways in which God has designed the local church to be a means of grace, helping each of us grow in our sanctification, as we grow together.
