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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