Worthy Of Christ
The word "worthy" means to be acceptable. Considering that Christ
is divine, and we are human, an initial response would be "no". However
the Bible does teach us how we can become acceptable to Christ. It is done by
faithful obedience to His words. By doing what Christ said was necessary, we
can be considered righteous. Obviously, on our own, we could never become acceptable
to Him, but by following His word, we can.
Several passages to consider:
Romans 8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy
to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
In other words, what we have to put up with in this life does not hold a candle
towards the sun. We go through a lot of heartaches and sorrows, but the glory
we will enjoy will snuff out every memory of any traumatic event in our life.
Ephesians 4:1 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk
worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
What is our vocation? That means: what is our job? Our job is to get to heaven,
and help others along the way to get to heaven. This means that if we are going
to be effective in doing our job, we need to live a lifestyle that promotes
Christianity. Anyone who tries to teach someone, but does not live as they are
teaching is a hypocrite. And most people will not pay attention to a hypocrite.
Colossians 1:10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being
fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
This is what we have bee n taught. We need to be busy doing the works of God.
Bearing fruit means seeing results. We don't always see our results, but we
are responsible to make the effort to do the good works. God commanded us to
let our light shine by doing good works, and the results will be that people
will turn and glorify God. We are responsible for the effort, not the outcome.
We also need to continue in our knowledge and growth in Christ. Once again,
living right in the sight of God will help us accomplish this task.
1Thessalonians 2:12 That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto
his kingdom and glory.
Here is why we need to live a Christian life. Because we worship the God of
heaven, and God has invited us to partake of His goodness and has promised us
a glory that is equivalent to His. But more than that, we should want to worship
God whether there was a reward or not. Our duty is to fear God and keep His
commandments. This should be our duty regardless of any compensation. Because
God is God and we are not, we should be worshipping God in such a way that we
become acceptable to Him.
2Thessalonians 1:5 Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God,
that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer:
Can we be counted worthy of the kingdom? In other words, can we live in such
a way that God will invite us into the spiritual kingdom prepared for the righteous
of God? Yes, we can serve God in such a way that He will approve of us.
2Thessalonians 1:11 Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would
count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of his goodness,
and the work of faith with power:
We should pray that others could meet this great goal of being acceptable to
God. So our lives must reflect His goodness, and we should show our appreciation,
and joy of doing what God has willed for us to do. Then we can demonstrate our
faith that it shows the power of the gospel living in us and coming out of our
mouths.
By Carey Scott 04-29-2011
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