A Gospel Worthy Life - Part 1 - Philippians 1:27-30

Introduction

In 1937, a German pastor and theologian by the name of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, wrote a book to address an issue that he had been seeing within the German church for the several previous years. The German church so closely alligned itself with the state government that when Hitler rose to power in 1933, the church could not see the issues that came with this new Fuhrer. The church preached grace, but lost the idea of discipleship and what it meant to live as citizens of the kingdom of heaven. They lived as good citizens of the state, following blindly the dangerous and destructive philosophies of their new king, but forgot what Christ demanded of His people.

So Bonhoeffer wrote the book, “The Cost of Discipleship,” to remind the church that while Grace is freely given, grace is not supposed to be cheap. Grace is costly and costs us our very lives.

Bonhoeffer writes, “Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.”

On the other hand, he writes about true costly grace, “Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will gladly go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out his eye which causes him to stumble, it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him…

Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life.”

Last week, we looked at Paul’s confident assurance to endure whatever trouble came his way because of the grace of Christ shown to him on the cross, that no matter what happened, he was assured that he would be delivered from his chains, whether he lived or died.

And Paul made that bold claim that for him to live is Christ and to die is gain. This is the grace of God shown to sinners to give them a hope that can never be taken away. However, this assurance that we have in Christ is not mean to be taken lightly and seen to be a ticket to live however we choose.

Like Paul, we must see that our lives belong to Jesus Christ and that because of His grace, we are called to live for Christ no matter the cost. This week, we will be examining what it means to live for Christ.

But we must remind ourselves that these are things that we do not in order to earn God’s favor and grace, these are things that we do and are developed within us because of God’s grace. Grace is free, but grace is also costly which demands obedience for those who love Christ.

Read Philippians 1:27-2:18

Philippians 1:27–2:18 ESV

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. So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.

I. Live as Worthy Citizens (v. 27)

First, because of the assurance that we have in Christ, we are called to live lives worthy of the Gospel.

While I actually prefer the ESV as a translation, the CSB actually does a better job at translating this verse

Philippians 1:27 (CSB)

Just one thing: As citizens of heaven, live your life worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or am absent, I will hear about you that you are standing firm in one spirit, in one accord, contending together for the faith of the gospel,

Paul is using the word for citizens. The Philippians knew what it meant to live as worthy citizens of Rome. We know what it means to be worthy citizens of our state and country. We pledge our allegiance to our nation. We seek to obey its laws and standards, not because that’s how we earn our citizenship, but because we are already citizens and we long to bring honor to our state and our nation. We want to live in such a way as to bring worth and honor to the community in which we live.

In the same way, if we are in Christ, as Paul talked about in last week’s passage, then we are citizens of heaven. Paul is telling the Philippians and us that as citizens of heaven, we must live lives worthy of the Gospel of Christ. We must live in such a way that will bring honor and glory to Christ and will draw others into this same relationship.

We do not do these things in order to earn our position as citizens of heaven, these things ought to flow out of us as we are transformed by the Gospel and live in Christ.

So how do we live as citizens of heaven?

II. Strive for the Spread of the Gospel Together

First, Paul tells us to stand together and strive or “fight” for the faith of the gospel.

As a church, our mission or job is to work for the spread of the Gospel.

This is first a reminder of the Great Commission that Christ has given to His disciples. As we go forth, we are called to take the Gospel to the nations, which begins by taking the gospel to those in our community.

Acts 1:8 ESV

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

This is not a job for the religious elite, for only the deacons, the Sunday school teachers and the pastor

This is a job for every single one of us. As citizens of heaven, we are all called to work together for the spread of the Gospel

But the good news is, this is not a job for us individually to do by ourselves. In our individualistic culture, we start getting nervous as we think about living the Christ life because we imagine that Im on my own in this calling. And yet, this is not how Christ has designed this to be carried out.

This is a job for us to carry out together. Christ created us for community so we live our lives within this community. And this applies to the sharing of the Gospel.

Who are one, two or three people right here in our congregation that you can work together with for the sake of the gospel?

If you are struggling with knowing who can come together to work with, the first step would be to start getting to know some other people within our church family that you can trust and work with for the sake of this mission.

This is the reason to meet within small groups outside of the Sunday morning worship gathering. While the corporate worship is an important time for us to gather as a church family, we need times where we can get to know other individuals on a more personal and individual level so we can begin to work with others to accomplish the mission that Christ has given to us.

III. Remain bold and courageous together

Next, Paul tells us not to be frightened in anything by your opponents.

We are living in a culture that is becoming increasingly hostile to the truth of the Gospel. However, our culture still is not nearly as hostile as the culture that Paul and the Philippians were living in.

One of the requirements the citizens of Rome were to fulfill was to bow before Caesar and claim, “Caesar is Lord.”

Of course, this was something that citizens of heaven cannot fulfill because only Christ is Lord.

Paul is reminding the Philippians and us of the assurance that we have in Christ and we have nothing to fear from those who can only physically hurt us. No matter what, we are being reminded, that we will be delivered from our enemies, whether physically or spiritually.

We want to be sure that as we share the gospel that we are loving and gracious in our approach. If we find hostility because of our own offensiveness, then we are not representing Christ, who came in the fullness of both grace and truth.

However, even in our loving and gracious tones, we should not be surprised when people reject the message of the Gospel because of the blindness of sin.

As citizens of heaven, we do not need to fear the response of others, but can stand boldly on the truth of the Gospel.

Joyfully suffer together

Next, Paul says that part of the grace of Christ is not just our faith and belief in Him, but that we get to suffer for His sake.

This seems to defy our typical ideas of grace and blessing, but Paul wants us to see that suffering with Christ is part of the blessings of the Gospel.

To our physical life

For standing firm on the Gospel, there will likely be physical consequences.

Paul has already reported on what he has had to endure. He has been imprisoned and hated by others because of his commitment to Christ.

Again, we might not yet face those kinds of consequences yet, but we could potentially still face hostility for our commitment to Christ.

We might lose relationships with family and friends because of what we confess in Christ.

We might face consequences with our job.

There are places where one can lose their personal safety and even their life for standing for Christ, and one day that might become a reality here too.

Now is the time to change our view of suffering in this life

Paul is not talking about suffering because of any wrongdoing that we have done

But suffering for Christ’s sake, for righteousness’ sake, there is a blessing because we are being identified with Christ in that suffering

To our self and our desires

But part of our suffering also includes denying ourselves

Matthew 16:24 ESV

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Part of our suffering comes from not gratifying the desires of our flesh and fighting the battle against our sin.

John Owen - “Be Killing Sin or it will be killing you.”

It is for our spiritual benefit that we work at fighting against and killing our sin, not just our sinful acts, but also our sinful hearts and desires that lead to those acts, such as

lust

pride

anger

hatred

idolatry

To deny our physical desires can be a type of suffering as we do not give in to the pleasures that our hearts crave, realizing that our sinful hearts do not properly desire what is truly good for us.

Instead of choosing to deny himself, Cain gave full vent to what his heart was feeling, killing his brother in his rage thinking that would give him the pleasure and joy of eliminating someone who was standing in his way of glory and recognition. However, his attempt to seek his own pleasure actually brought about his demise.

Living lives worthy of the gospel is being willing to deny ourselves, knowing that something greater is coming to those who are not willing to be too easily satisfied with lesser pleasures than what Christ has for us in Himself.

To live as citizens worthy of the Gospel is to be willing to deny ourselves, whether that’s to deny our own sinful desires or to deny remaining physically comfortable because we are unwilling to remain bold and courageous for the sake of the gospel.

Conclusion

Again, I want to make clear that if you think you can simply try to do these things in order to earn salvation, you will fail miserably. Even as believers, none of us are perfect in any of this and the good news is that Christ accepts us in spite of our failure to live up to these standards.

Even Peter thought he would die along with Christ at the time of the crucifixion, but then because of his own fear ended up denying the One whom he promised he would follow to the very end.

However, Christ restored him and demonstrated His amazing grace to Peter who did eventually go to his death for the sake of the Gospel after a life spent in service to the church and to the spreading of the gospel to God’s people.

We can never earn God’s grace that is freely given to us in Christ. However, if we have received God’s grace through Christ, He will be transforming us into a bold and courageous people who long to stand together for the sake of the Gospel. If there is no desire to fight for the spread of the Gospel and to stand in the midst of opposition then we have cause to re-examine our relationship with Christ, because the Christ who freely saves us also said John 14:15

John 14:15 ESV

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

While none of us perfectly keep His commandments, there should be a desire to do so and we should be growing in our obedience to His commands.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who wrote about this costly grace, experienced firsthand the cost of God’s grace to him.

Because he saw the evils of the third reich and the Nazi regime within Germany, he was compelled for the sake of the gospel to rescue the Jewish people from the hands of Hitler’s regime. He not only put his life in danger in doing so, but was eventually arrested because of his actions to fight against this evil and was executed right before the Allied forces brought an end to Hitler and the Second World War. Bonhoeffer experienced the free yet costly grace of Christ because of his willingness to stand firm for the sake of the gospel and he was willing to do so because of the assurance of his salvation in Christ alone apart from any works of his own.

May the same be said of us as we seek to trust in the grace of God in Christ and follow Christ in self denying obedience to Him alone!