Live in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.

Philippians 1:27-2:18 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear about you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; ²⁸ and in no way alarmed by your opponents—which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and this too, from God. ²⁹ For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer on His behalf, ³⁰ experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me, and now hear to be in me.

2 Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, ² make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. ³ Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility consider one another as more important than yourselves; ⁴ do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. ⁵ Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, as He already existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied Himself by taking the form of a bond-servant and being born in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death on a cross. ⁹ For this reason also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, ¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

¹² So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; ¹³ for it is God who is at work in you, both to desire and to work for His good pleasure.

¹⁴ Do all things without complaining or arguments; ¹⁵ so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, ¹⁶ holding firmly the word of life, so that on the day of Christ I can take pride because I did not run in vain nor labor in vain. ¹⁷ But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all. ¹⁸ You too, I urge you, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me.

Today’s text begins saying: Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.  How do we do that? How do we conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ?  The text says:  Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility consider one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, as He already existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself by taking the form of a bond-servant and being born in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death on a cross. For this reason also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  To live in a manner worthy of the gospel begins with having a Christ like attitude. It also though begins with choosing now, to bow our knee and confess that Jesus is Lord. In Luke 9:26 Jesus says: “Whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory and the glory of the Father and the holy angels.” 

The text says that we are to consider one another as more important than ourselves; and not merely look out for our own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.  In Matthew 22:37-40, Jesus sums up how we are to live worthy of the gospel, saying: “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Upon these two commandments hang the whole Law and the Prophets.”  Jesus fulfilled the Law and the Prophets. To truly live a life worthy of the gospel of Christ begins with loving God. We can only truly love others, if we first love God with our whole heart, soul and mind. 1 John 4:19 says: We love, because He first loved us.  Our love; our ability to love and our capacity to love others is founded in our receiving the love of God for ourselves. Romans 5:8 says: God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  True love is demonstrated in the cross; that Jesus died, not to accept our sins, but so that we could be redeemed from sin and be acceptable to God through Him. That then is the attitude we should have, not that we embrace or tolerate sin, but that we seek that others would be redeemed through the cross. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 says: Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant. It does not act disgracefully, it does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, does not keep an account of a wrong suffered, it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; it keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.  To love like that is to live in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.

The text says: So then, my beloved, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to desire and to work for His good pleasure.  Do all things without complaining or arguments; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding firmly the word of life.  Amen. May my life be found to be worthy of the gospel of Christ. Amen.