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What a wonderful thought this is. Let us just think of the balances. On the one scale
all the blessings, the riches, the glories of our calling as revealed in Eph. 1:-3:; on the
other scale the walk that shall balance these blessings, these riches, these glories, the
walk that shall bring the beam of the balance to the horizontal, the walk that is "worthy of
the calling". There is a sense of comparison in the word. In Rom. 8: 18 the apostle
says that:--
"the suffering of the present time are unworthy of comparison (oukaxia) with the glory
about to be revealed in us."
The first occurrence of the word axios in the LXX is suggestive of the idea of
something "equivalent". Abraham, when negotiating the purchase of the cave of
Machpelah said:--
"for as much money as it is worth shall he give it me" (Gen. 23: 9).
The Hebrew is given in the margin "full money", the Greek version being argurion
axion. This was weighed in the balances to the last shekel of the 400 as we see in
verse 16. This same sense is felt in Job 11: 6:--
"God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth."
Here again the LXX uses axios. The idea of comparison is seen in Prov. 3: 15, "not
to be compared with her". Such is the word that the apostle uses at the opening of his
exhortation, "Walk worthy". Walk so that there may be a comparison evidenced between
doctrine and practice.
The word axios is an adverb, and standing alone would be translated "worthily", but
the word does not stand alone in any of its occurrences in the N.T.; it is always followed
by such an expression as "of the Lord", "of the calling", "of the gospel". "Worthy of
the Lord" must be taken as an adverbial phrase. "As becometh saints" (Rom. 16: 2) is
literally "worthy of saints". "After a godly sort" (III John 6) is literally "worthy of God".
The word axios comes three times in the prison epistles, and in each case it is associated
either with the calling, the gospel, or the Lord. We are not allowed to think merely of the
walk, not merely of walking worthily, not simply to be studying our walk as such, but
ever to think of the walk as it is related to something higher and nobler than ourselves.
In Eph. 4: 1
we have "walk worthy of the calling".
In Phil. 1: 27
we have "manner of life worthy of the gospel".
In Col. 1: 10
we have "walk worthy of the Lord".
How it must influence us if we but remember that in the one scale of the balance is our
calling, the gospel, yea, even the Lord Himself. What a walk that must be therefore that
shall be "worthy".
It will be seen that the word "walk" occurs in the epistle seven times, and therefore
bears the hall-mark of Divine emphasis:--