Therefore, I, the prisoner of the Lord, encourage you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called,
Truth to Learn
We are all called to serve in God’s church.
Behind the Words
“Prisoner” is from desmios, which is derived from the verb desmeō, meaning “to bind.” Thus, desmios means “someone in bonds” or “a prisoner.”
The word “encourage” is translated from the Greek verb parakaleō, which is made up of para, meaning “to the side of” or “near” and kaleō, meaning “to call.” Therefore, we can see that literally this word means “to call near.” In usage, the basic meaning is “to comfort,” “to encourage,” or “to challenge.”
“Walk” is from peripateō. This is made up of peri, meaning “around,” “through,” or “with respect to” and pateō, meaning “to walk.” This Greek word means “to walk around.” It is used as a metaphor of how a person lives his or her life.
The word “calling” is klēsis, which is derived from kaleō, “to call.” It refers to “an invitation.”
“You were called” is translated from the verb kaleō, “to call.” It is expressed in the aorist tense indicating past completed action which occurred at a point in time (not a process).
Meaning Explained
The Apostle Paul starts off this verse reminding his readers that he is a prisoner of the Lord. This is very similar to the way he started off the previous chapter. There, he did so to introduce his ministry to the Gentiles and the mystery regarding the church. Here, he reminds them that he is a prisoner, because he is about to challenge his readers to live a life that is characterized by service to others rather than serving self. As a prisoner, he is a supreme example of this.
Most of the first three chapters of this letter were focused on teaching doctrine. In the remainder of the letter, Paul focuses on duty. Another way to say this is, previously he taught us what to believe; now he will teach us how to behave.
As you can see from Behind the Words, in this verse Paul uses several forms of the word kaleō (to call). This is typical Pauline style. He likes to play on words like this as a device to drive home his message. He is in prison because God called him to preach the gospel to the Gentiles, thus angering religious Jews who thought he was perverting Judaism. He was more concerned with serving God than he was with protecting himself. In fact, before his final trip to Jerusalem, where he was arrested, he was told by a prophet that he would end up in chains:
And [the prophet Agabus] coming to us and taking Paul's belt and binding his hands and feet, said, "The Holy Spirit says this, In this way the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt, and will deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.' " (Acts 21:11)
Paul was totally dedicated to the ministry to which he had been called, in spite of the warning from other mature spiritual people. Now he will be challenging us to be just as dedicated to the ministry to which each of us has been called.
Application
Every Christian has been called by God to serve within the body of Christ. Each of us has a function to perform for which God has specifically gifted us. There is no excuse for any of us not to be serving. Are you performing the ministry to which you have been called by God?
In God's service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2015 Will Krause. All rights reserved