The Worthy Life

The meaning of worthy

Philippians 1:27, “Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel” (NKJV).

What is implied in Paul's exhortation “only let your manner of life be worthy [axios] Of the gospel of Christ?  In English versions of the New Testament, the Greek word axios is usually translated “worthy”. But its flavour is expressed elsewhere when it is translated “in keeping with” (Matthew 3:8, Acts 26:20). Like many other words, there is a picture lying behind the origin of the Greek word axios. It means “properly, bringing up the other beam of the scales, bringing into equilibrium, and therefore equivalent.

The basic idea is that a life that is worthy of the gospel of Christ expresses in the form of a lifestyle what the gospel teaches in the form of a message. Such a life takes on a character that reflects the character of the lord Jesus Christ.

When I was a boy, my morning chore before school was to collect some of the provisions our family would need for the meals of the day. One of my tasks was to go to the local butcher. My mother charged me to ask for a specific cut of meat and a specific weight of it. In those now far off days our butcher would use old-fashioned scales with two pans. On one he placed weights to the amount I asked for. On the other he measured out to meet, adding to it or subtracting from it until the central pointer indicated a perfect balance between the two pans. It was fun to watch him add or subtract the meat in order to get just the right balance. Simple but ingenious!

That is the picture the word axios conveys. On the one hand, here is the gospel. And on the other hand, here is your life. And Paul's exhortation is this: live in such a way that your life weighs the same as the gospel! Live in a way that is in keeping with the gospel that matches the gospel. This is what the balanced Christian life looks like. The gospel is the message of the good news of Jesus Christ, and our lives are to be the embodiment of that good news. Put another way, the gospel is the power of God for salvation, (Romans 1:16) and we are to live in a powerfully saved way!

For Paul this was neither a trivial nor an optional matter. It was instead a one and only kind of thing, an essential.

A Kind of Citizenship

But worthy is not the only picture word Paul uses here. When he writes let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel, he uses the Greek word ‘politeuomai’. It is derived from the word for a city (polis, The source of our word politics). It literally means live as a citizen.

Paul could have used the verb meaning walk as he does in Ephesians 4:1, “walk worthy of the calling with which you were called” and Colossians 1:10, “walk worthy of the Lord”.  But you can probably guess why he uses citizenship language. Philippi was a Roman colony; Its civic life was structured according to Roman law and the Roman way of life. Citizens of philippi were Roman citizens. That was why the local magistrates there had been so alarmed when they discovered that the man whose garments they had torn off and whom they had beaten with rods without due process of the law and then  thrown into prison was in fact a Roman citizen. No wonder they came to Paul eating humble pie.  (Acts 16:22-23, 37-40)

Paul may simply have been saying in philippians 1: 27, as citizens in philippi live your life in a way that reflects the gospel. But there is almost certainly more. Was Lydia, who had first welcomed him still there? The jailer and his family whom Paul had pointed to Christ Shurely were. And perhaps to the young slave girl Paul had rescued from abusive men and abusive spirits was listening. Paul was reminding them our citizenship is in heaven. Philippians 3: 20.

Philip I was not in Italy but in Macedonia. But a Philippian lived there as a citizen of Rome, according to Roman law, following the patterns of life in the capital city. Paul's message then was that while his friends were living in Philippi, their real citizenship was heavenly. Their church family was a colony of heaven here on earth. And because that was true, they were to live not according to the pattern of life of any earthly city, but according to the pattern of life of the heavenly city, the new Jerusalem.

In short, the Christian life is to be a version of heaven on earth. This privilege could not be greater, and the standard could not be higher. For that reason, the summons could not be more demanding. Nothing less than all embracing. And yet, for all that, paul's exhortation is 1,000,000 miles from legalism because he understands how the gospel works.

The grace of God in Christ provides us with a new identity, a heavenly 1; it follows that this, and not our natural identity, determines everything we do. Our identity, our citizenship, is heavenly. As Paul says elsewhere, our lives are hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3) And when Christ appears, to bring about our final transformation into his likeness, then our true identity will become clear.(Philippians 3: 20-21; Colossians 3: 4; 1 John 3: 1-2). What then could be more logical or more compelling than to live in this world as those who are citizens of another world? Like Daniel in the Old Testament, we are called to live out the lifestyle of the Jerusalem (above) to which we belong, even when we live in the babylon (below) where we don't really belong.

So we are the seeing the Lord song in a foreign land. Salm 137: four. That's not a matter of legalism, for his commandments are not burdensome. One John 5: three period Jesus tells us that being yoked to him, the meek and the lowly one, brings ease, not disease, and rest, not restlessness, for our souls. Matthew 11: 28-30.

So what should it look like if we are living lives worthy of Our Calling?

Morning to Paul there are four qualities we should exhibit. Ephesians 4: 1-2

1.  Humble, lowly

2.  gentle, meek

3.  patient

4.  bearing with one another in love

  What is humility?

 Humility is not thinking lowly of yourself, but rather not thinking of yourself at all. True humility is not putting ourselves down but rather lifting up others. If we concentrate on lifting up others, putting down ourselves will take care of itself. Don't be selfish, don't try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don't look out only for your own interest, but take an interest in others too. Philippians 2: 3-4 (NLT).

 True humility is not in reality, a loss of stature. It is not a loss of honor. It is a lifting up of others it is not a weak man's surrender, but a strong man's rejection of selfishness and determination to be actively concerned with the needs and interests of others.

 Be Gentle

 1.  Enduring injury with patients and without resentment.

2.  Deficient in spirit and courage.

The first sense of the word is the biblical sense. Here's how a Greek linguist explains the word: make this denotes the humble and gentle attitude which expresses itself, in particular, in a patient submissiveness to offense, free from malice and desire for revenge. It is controlled strength, the ability to bear reproaches and slights without bitterness and resentment; The ability to provide a soothing influence on someone who is in a state of anger, bitterness and resentment against life. The obedient submissiveness to God and his will.

At the end of the day, he calls us to be gentle with everyone.

Titus 3: 1-2, “remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always be gentle toward everyone.”

Be Patient

The Greek word here is a compound word: makro-thumia, long temper.  To be patient is to have a long fuse.

As Albert Barnes observed, no virtue, perhaps, is more frequently demanded in our intercourse with others.

William Barclay wrote, as the Greeks used it, usually meant patients with people. It is the ability not to lose patience when people are foolish, not to grow irritable when they seem unteachable. It is the ability to accept the folly, the perversity, the blindness, the ingratitude of men and still to remain gracious, and still to toil on.

One commentator said that the word macro- tumia might also be translated as, large emotions, signifying wells of endurance that will not dry up, no matter how much is drawn from them.

How do you get that? Often through suffering. Romans 5: 3

so don't just call yourself a Christian, but live up to the name.

 

A Worthy Life

 

 

 

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