Are You Worthy??

Am I?

No, never, not by my own power.

Phillipians 1:27 says, "Conduct yourself in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ." Is there anyone worthy of the gospel of Christ?

Romans 3:23 says, "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God."

So, what are we to do? Is there any way to be "worthy" of the Gospel or are we hopeless and lost forevermore?

Here is the Good News - we are not worthy and we can never be worthy. But for the mercy of our all powerful God we would not draw our next breath. I know I said it was good news.

It is the best news of all, stay with me.

In all of His mercy and grace, Jesus, chose to die a criminal's death on the cross in order to cover my sin, and yours, with His precious blood.

"For without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin." Hebrews 9:22

Because of Jesus, I don't have to shed my blood in remission of my sin. I don't have to be afraid of death, it has no sting. I only have to do one thing.

Accept the offer of forgiveness. That's it. When Jesus drew His last breath on the cross and gave up His spirit into the hands of the Father, He said, "It is finished." John 19:30
-and it was.

There is only one verb required on our part for salvation. Only one thing we are actually required to do in order to be saved. Have you done it? Have you said "yes" to Jesus?

When Paul wrote to the Phillipian church about living in a manner worthy of the gospel, he was not speaking of salvation. He was speaking to the saved in the church at Phillipi. He was not telling them that their conduct would "earn" them a ticket out of hell. He was simply instructing them on how to live as believers in a world full of sin and corruption. Sound familiar? The sin and corruption part, I mean.

Likewise, can you hear the God of all speaking to you today? I can. He is telling me that my responsibility as a believer is to bear the name with honor. He is telling me that in order to shine the light of Jesus Christ into the dark places, that I must demonstrate the fruit of the spirit. I must look different.

In America today, the term Christian does not have the same connotation it had 50 years ago. Why is that? Why is Christian not a compliment anymore? I believe there are a lot of reasons for that, but statistics show that the main reason is that to the unbeliever we don't look any different. We look like the rest of the world, we talk and act like the rest of the world. They can not see that Jesus has made any real difference in our lives, therefore, they conclude that "religion" is not worth the trouble. I would totally agree that "religion" is not worth anything - and I think that Jesus said the same thing. Jesus, however, is worth everything! Do we show that to the lost and dying world around us? Do I live in such a way that others see me as Paul instructed the Phillipian church, in Chapter 2, verse 15 - "blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world." This is my charge. This is my calling. To shine light into dark places, to reveal God's truth, the only measure of absolute truth, to all the world. To look different.

To be worthy.

Again, I'll ask - are you worthy? Not perfect, not self-righteous.....worthy....


"Until He returns or calls me home, here in the power of Christ I'll stand."