A Life Worthy of the Gospel

PHILIPPIANS 1:27-30

Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

COMMENT:

What does it mean to "let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ"? The first thing I think we tend to do with statements like these is pour our own meanings into them: "Oh it must mean not eating really delicious food." "It means driving poor quality cars." "It means not enjoying anything in this world too much...." and on and on it goes with what we think is "good, religious behavior." But folks, we don't have to go there because the text actually goes on to tell us what living a life worthy of the gospel of Christ looks like:

1. Standing firm in one spirit/one mind- The Bible emphasizes the importance of unity throughout it's pages. Jesus asked the Father before He died on the cross that His Church would be "One as we are One." Paul over and over refers to us as the Family of God, the Temple of God, the Body of Christ, all singular units, but with many parts. A life worthy of the gospel stands firm together for the gospel. That said, biblically speaking, unity must be united around the essentials of our faith. We can disagree about worship style, dress, politics, etc, etc, but we must be united about the Gospel. Augustine put it this way: In Essentials Unity, In Non-Essentials Liberty, IN ALL THINGS CHARITY."

2. Striving side by side for the faith of the gospel- A life worthy of the gospel is passionate about that Gospel. The good news is worth debating about and defending to those around us. Too often the things we find ourselves united around are various political causes (which can be good), but the Bible explicitly teaches that first and foremost, the Gospel is our cause worth fighting for (of course when I say fighting I do not mean physically speaking).

3. Not frightened by your opponents- Living a life worthy of the Gospel is living without fear of what anyone on the outside of the Church will do in response to your faith in Jesus. Luther said it this way,“Faith is a living and unshakable confidence, a belief in the grace of God so assured that a man would die a thousand deaths for its sake." So Paul writes, ""For it has been granted to you that for the sake fo Chrityou should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake..." Why suffering? Romans 5:2-5 answers that question:

[2] Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. [3] More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, [4] and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, [5] and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

(Romans 5:2-5 ESV)

Soli Deo Gloria,

Pastor Erick

RECEIVING...GROWING...GOING....