Worthy

Read Philippians 1:27 “Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ’

Introduction

When you think of the word worthy, what comes to mind?

You might have thought of famous athletes, celebrities, our military.

Some of you may have even thought of kings and queens.

When we think in Bible terms, we always think of God, the Lord Jesus as worthy.

We often sings songs, ‘you are worthy, you are worthy’.

But we rarely sing, ‘my life is worthy, my life is worthy’.

One reason this is, is because the gospel teaches us that we are unworthy.

Just like the centurion in Luke 7:6

Luke 7:6 (NKJV)

Then Jesus went with them. And when He was already not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to Him, saying to Him, “Lord, do not trouble Yourself, for I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof.

So then why does Paul teach us to live lives that are worthy of the gospel if indeed, we are not worthy?

And that’s what we’re going to learn today:

What does it mean to live a life a life worthy of Christ?

1. Nonnegotiable (only)

Often times when we think of the word ‘only’, we use it to mean casually.

For example, if something is cheap and we should get it, we say, ‘it’s only $1!’

It’s no big deal, it’s just a dollar.

But that’s not what Paul is saying here.

He’s not saying, ‘it’s no big deal, just live a life worthy of Jesus.’

No, Paul is using 'only’ to say ‘one and only’.

Like Jesus is God’s ‘one and only’ Son.

In other words, what Paul is teaching us here, is that living worthy is nonnegotiable.

There is no other way.

If you have been saved by the gospel, there is no other way to live than to live worthy of Jesus.

But some people in church, think there are other options.

They think that if they are saved by the gospel that they can still live their old sinful way of life.

Why do you think some people believe that living a life worthy of Jesus is optional?

Sometimes it’s out of ignorance.

Sometimes, churches don’t do a great job of explaining this.

There are even some churches that actually teach that it is optional to live a life worthy after being saved.

But I think what’s more common is that there are people within church that have not been truly saved.

So if you’re hearing this, and you still think that a life worthy of Jesus is optional, then repent.

Because a life transformed by the gospel would never think like that.

But if you do know Jesus, then let your heart be ignited to live a life worthy of Christ because it is nonnegotiable.

2. Live as citizens of heaven (conduct)

Conduct refers to behavior.

We usually think in terms of good conduct or bad conduct.

But here, the Greek word translated as conduct is the word ‘poli-teusthe’.

To help understand what this word means, think where you heard the word ‘polis’ before.

Where have you heard ‘-polis’ in a word before?

You might have heard the word ‘metropolis’ or maybe you heard of the city ‘Annapolis’ which is in Maryland.

Whenever you see the ending ‘-polis’ it is from Greek referring to ‘city’.

And so the word translated from Greek as ‘conduct’ it literally means ‘live as a citizen.’

But why did Paul use this word?

He could have used the word ‘walk’ as in ‘walk in a manner worthy of the Gospel’ as you see in Colossians and other letters.

It’s because the city of Philippi was considered a colony of Rome, where its inhabitants were also considered citizens of Rome.

So Paul, knowing that the readers are familiar with the idea of being a ‘citizen’, uses it to teach the Philippians that living worthy of Jesus means to live as citizens of heaven.

Paul repeats this idea again two chapters later,

Philippians 3:20 (NKJV)

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,

Why does this matter?

Because being citizens of heaven, means we don’t belong here.

Whether a citizen of the US, or Jamaica, your true citizenship is in heaven.

Don’t live as if this is our final destination.

Live knowing that we are going to our true home.

We are waiting for a better home.

Don’t get too comfortable here.

When I was given my office at church.

I was told to not put up all my pictures of my wife, and books, and everything else.

Why?

Because I was told, eventually I was going to move into an even better and nicer office.

So there was no point in feeling too homey in my office when I was going to move anyway.

If you’re a believer, your passport is from heaven.

And heaven is our true home.

It also means our true authority is from Heaven: Jesus.

My family is Filipino, so there is an option to have dual citizenship in the US and the Philippines since they want to travel back and forth.

But if you got dual citizenship with the Philippines you also have to pay taxes to the Philippines.

As a citizen of the Philippines.

Because a citizen must submit to it’s governing authority.

So as citizens of heaven, it means we must also submit to our governing authority: Jesus.

Because we also represent Him as image bearers of God, which is something that we learned at MFuge.

So living a life worthy of Christ means that we understand that this is not our home, that we submit to Christ as our ultimate authority, and our that we represent Him, we are ambassadors of Christ.

So how does being a citizen of heaven help us to live lives worthy of Christ?

It helps us to prioritize correctly.

When we realize where we come from, we are able to truly prioritize God, truly put God first in our lives.

We see the failure of prioritizing God in this parable in Luke’s gospel.

Luke 12:18–21 NKJV

So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” ’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

If this man knew his true citizenship, then he would not been foolish and live life on this earth for himself rather than God.

But why should we live as citizens of heaven?

3. Your life matches up to grace (worthy of the gospel of Christ)

That’s what Paul says, that our ‘conduct’ or ‘living as citizens’ be worthy.

Worthy simply means matches up to.

For example, if you’ve ever went on a weighing scale that uses weights, not a digital scale, you will see that you have to keep adjusting the number you put there until the scale balances.

These scales are usually used at the doctor or gyms, because they are more accurate than digital scales.

If the scale tips over to one side or the other that means the weight you put is either too light or too heavy.

But if the scale is perfectly balanced, that means that the weight number you put matches your actual weight.

And that’s the same meaning here, that our lives must match up or weigh exactly the same as what’s on the other side of the scale.

And what’s the other side of the scale that our lives must match up to?

Paul says, ‘the gospel of Christ.’

The gospel of Christ, is the good news of grace that Jesus paid for the sins of those who believe in Him, taking their punishment, and thus saving believers.

Grace is underserved free favor from God.

Grace is not a deserved reward.

That is called wages.

Pauls says in Romans 6:23

Romans 6:23 (NKJV)

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

That is wages vs. grace.

You see, you can live a life that is worthy or matches up to either your wages or the grace of Christ.

If you live a life worthy of your wages it produces two kinds of responses: nothing or legalism.

Nothing because the weight of our wages which is death, is impossible to move.

Like putting a massive rock on one part of the scale and you on the other.

Or legalism which means someone tries to actually earn their way to heaven but again it’s impossible because that massive rock is impossibly heavy: no amount of good works can ever match up to the sins that we have.

But if you live a life that matches up to grace then it will even out because of Jesus.

So what that also means, that the more you understand the grace of Christ, the more your life will match up to grace.

That’s why Jesus said in Luke 7:41-43

Luke 7:41–43 NKJV

“There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?” Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.” And He said to him, “You have rightly judged.”

So teaching believers to do good works can only make sense when the weight is grace, but if you don’t truly understand grace then it is easy to live a life this is full of worry of whether I did enough good works today.

That is scary.

How does grace free us to live lives worthy of Jesus?

Grace frees us because we are free from the worry and fear of earning our salvation.

We are free from the impossible work of earning our salvation.

Instead we live lives out of joy out of what Jesus did for us, and can focus on worshipping Him and serving Him completely.