Worthy?

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Scripture: Philippians 1:27 (NLT)

27 Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ.

Devotion:

            What can Paul mean when he says, “conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News.” First, we are likely to see a problem of our own worthiness to live in a manner that is in any way worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ. If we are honest with ourselves, we know that our sins are many and occur with uncomfortable regularity. We do not feel we could ever act in a way that would be worthy of the kingdom of heaven.

            Second, even if we try to live as citizens of heaven, won’t we be legalists? Seeking to earn God’s favor by doing works. It seems as though we are on the horns of quite a dilemma. Well unfortunately for us Paul makes quite the point of living worthy of the kingdom. In 1 Thessalonians 2:12 (ESV) Paul writes, “we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.” We seemingly cannot escape this walking worthy idea of Paul’s.

            What can Paul mean when he says, “walk in a manner worthy of God.” Just to make Paul’s point clearer that we are called to live in a manner worthy of Christ Paul writes in Colossians 1:10 (NIV), “so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,” and again in Ephesians 4:1 (NRSV), “I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called.”

                Paul is clearly making his point clear to us. We are to somehow walk worthy of God’s kingdom. There is no doubt about what we are to do. The only question is how we can do it avoiding the traps that lay on both sides of the narrow road to heaven. We can neither be paralyzed with fear of our own unworthiness nor attempt in our flesh somehow to live in the manner Paul has described in these four passages.

            Going to the original language provides us only with further confirmation of what Paul intended. The Greek adverb axios is used in all four passages. So, Paul is not referring to something different in each of the passages but intends for us to get the same message in all four passages. The only way we can walk in this to walk not in the flesh but in the fulness of the Holy Spirit. Our flesh would surely fail us in any attempt to walk worthy. Therefore, we must ask for God’s help to walk in this way.

Prayer:

            Lord, we are unworthy servants, yet you call us to live lives that are worthy of your kingdom. We must ask of you the filling of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Forgive us our reluctance to attempt to live in this manner, forgive our attempts to walk this way in our own flesh. Train us to be people empowered by your Holy Spirit to walk in manner worthy of your name. Amen.

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