Gospel Living

This is Christianity 101. This isn't like some upper-level discipleship Ph.D. program.

This is pre-kindergarten. This is expected of every believer upon entrance into the kingdom of heaven that you will live now in a manner worthy of the gospel that you have claimed to believe. The gospel of Jesus Christ isn't just the gateway to eternal life. It also informs how we're to live our lives. In his letter to the Philippians, the Apostle Paul asserts that Christians are called to live in a manner worthy of the gospel. How do we do that? Let's find out what it looks like to live that way.

Here's Dr. Stephen Lawson. Please take your Bible and turn with me to Philippians chapter 1. And in this session, we want to look at verses 27 and 28 as we continue to walk through this wonderful epistle written by the Apostle Paul to the church in Philippi. And beginning in verse 27, I want to set the passage in front of you.

Only conduct yourself in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel, in a way alarmed by your opponents, which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too from God. The key word in these verses is in verse 27, it is the word gospel. It is found twice in verse 27, and it really is a golden thread that runs through the first chapter of the book of Philippians. I'll even go so far as to say it's the golden thread that runs through the entire Bible, from Genesis to Revelation.

It is all about the good news of salvation from God and His Son, Jesus Christ. But we've already seen this in verse 5, where He commends the Philippians for their participation with Him in the gospel, and we can say there is no fellowship with other believers except it be in the gospel. If someone does not believe in the gospel, we have no fellowship with them.

They can be friends, they can be family, but there's no joint participation. We're all anchored to the gospel. And then in verse 7, Paul affirms them for sharing with Him in His defense and confirmation of the gospel. That's what every soldier of the cross does.

That's what every believer does. We are here for the defense of the gospel and for the confirmation of the gospel with others. And in verse 12, you'll note, he talks about all of his circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel. In Paul's life, everything was about advancing the gospel, even his trials and tribulations. He attributed it to be the means by which God has chosen to advance the gospel. And then in verse 16, Paul identifies himself as one appointed for the defense of the gospel.

That's how we need to identify ourselves. We're here for the defense of the gospel and to spread the gospel. So as we come now to verse 27, two more times he talks about the gospel.

And so six times in this opening chapter, there are these mountain peaks of truth about the gospel. And so what's important for us to see here is that the gospel for Paul was not merely something to believe once at the beginning of his Christian journey and then forgotten. No, no, the gospel he understood was to be lived out every moment of every day of his Christian life. Gospel believing must lead to gospel living. In fact, if there's not gospel living, I can assure you there has not been gospel believing, no matter how much you may profess to believe. Paul's whole life revolved around the gospel. And I just walked us through just chapter one, and we saw how Paul's life is inseparably connected to the gospel. And so he now in verse 27 calls upon the Philippians to live in a manner worthy of the gospel. And that is Paul's message to you and me today.

It matters how you live your life. And you must live your life, you must live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel. So let's look at this in verse 27. I want you to note first the conduct required. Paul begins, only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of the gospel of Christ.

Let's just stop right there. You need to know that this verb conduct, only conduct yourselves. I want to parse this verb just for a moment. First of all, it's in the present tense, which is to say every moment of every day you are to conduct yourself in a manner worthy of the gospel. This isn't just a Sunday morning thing. This isn't just a Thursday morning thing at the men's or ladies' Bible study.

This is 24 hours a day, seven days a week, whether you're in town, out of town, no matter who you're with, you are to be conducting yourself in a manner worthy of the gospel. Second, it's in the middle voice, which means you must take action on this yourself. You cannot be passive and wait for God to simply do it for you. No, this is incumbent upon you.

This is your responsibility. Third, it's in the imperative mood. This is a command, an apostolic command coming from the head of the church, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. This is not a suggestion.

This is not an option or a wish. This is a divine command. And then fourth, it's second person plural, which means this is for every believer. This isn't just for elders and deacons. This isn't just for Bible teachers. This is for every Christian in the body of Christ. You must conduct yourself in a manner worthy of the gospel. That first word, only, is also important, which means exclusively conduct yourself this way.

You cannot and must not live any other way. This is the only way for a true Christian to live his or her life. So only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. That is to say, you must live consistent with the gospel. You must be living in submission to the lordship of Jesus Christ. You must be living in obedience to the Word of Christ.

You must be living a life of self-denial and cross-bearing. In reality, this is Christianity 101. This isn't like some upper-level discipleship Ph.D. program.

This is pre-kindergarten. This is expected of every believer upon entrance into the kingdom of heaven that you will live now in a manner worthy of the gospel that you have claimed to believe. In Ephesians 4, verse 1, Paul says that we are to walk in a manner worthy of our calling.

A high calling has come upon our life, and so we must live a life of lowly humility because of this high calling. And so this is the conduct required of every believer. And there is much, unfortunately, antinomianism that's out in the church today where they think you can just live however you want to live.

Well, nothing could be further from the truth. That is the voice of darkness that would say you could live however you want to live and that there are no commandments addressed to the believer in the New Testament. No, here's one imperative that we must conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel. And if you're a true believer in Jesus Christ, this resonates with you. This reverberates within your soul. This connects with you.

You know that this is true. Well, second, I want you to note the constancy demanded. So for how long are we to live in a manner worthy of the gospel?

Well, I've already said with the present tense, it's always. But we see a little bit more of this fleshed out, as Paul says, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm. Now, Paul understands that as an apostle when he walks into the room, that there is a tendency for people to act a certain way and to speak a certain way. I certainly would, and I know I'm living my life to the Lord, but if Paul walked in right now, I'd probably sit up a little straighter.

And he would have had that effect in Philippi. He was the spiritual father of that church, the founding pastor of that church. And Paul is saying to them, listen, whether I'm in the room or not in the room, whether I'm in town or out of town, and right now he's 800 miles removed from Philippi to Rome, whether I'm on site or out of sight, I want to hear a good report about how you're living your Christian life. I know as a young boy growing up, my father would give me lots of assignments to do around the house, mowing the yard and edging and weeding and trimming and unfortunately sometimes I'd put that off. And I can still hear my mother say, your father's going to be home very soon.

And I would hop off of the couch and attack the yard and do everything that's incumbent simply because my father is showing up. Well, Paul is saying, I don't want you to live your Christian life that way. I want you to be living in a manner worthy of the gospel, whether I'm there, whether I'm not there.

You need to be living quorum Deo as in the face of God, because every moment of every day you are living in the very presence of God. Now, he says, I want to hear certain things, certain reports. And he begins by saying, I want to hear that you are standing firm.

Do you see that? Standing firm? That is a Greek word that means to be stationary. It was really a military term that you'd hold your position, that you've been assigned a place on the front lines in battle and that when the enemy comes, that you do not retreat, but that you hold your position. The whole, the good of the whole soldiers and the cause is dependent upon you holding your position because the enemy will advance through the weakest point.

The chain will break with the weakest link, and you've got to be strong, and you've got to stand firm. I can hear Martin Luther, April the 18th, 1521, here I stand. I can do no other.

God help me. And so, this is what Paul is saying to the Philippians. Now, this obviously implies something that's not stated directly in the text, that someone is advancing, and someone is trying to move me out of my position, that someone is applying pressure so that I will be moved away from my convictions and be moved away from my beliefs and be moved away from my ministry and be moved away from where I am living my life. And we know one of those pressures that were being brought to bear upon the Philippians were the false teachers known as the Judaizers. In almost every letter Paul writes, he has to be correcting some heresy that is already fomenting in the early church. And in this case, the Judaizers were those who were trying to put people back under the ceremonial law to the extent that they were circumcising adult men, telling them you have to be circumcised in order to enter the kingdom of heaven.

And if you're already saved, then you need to be circumcised so that you can grow and mature as a believer. And there were also all kinds of worldly pressures as Philippi. It was known as Little Rome.

It was like an outpost of the Roman Empire that operated with a very Roman culture and a Roman lifestyle, which would have been a very godless lifestyle. And so Paul is saying to them, I want to hear that you've dropped anchor, that you've nailed your feet to the floor, that you have no reverse gear, that you will stand firm. And he says, in one spirit, with one mind. With one spirit, the idea is a unity of purpose. And with one mind, the idea is a unity of convictions, a unity of worldview, a unity of doctrinal beliefs, the same allegiance to the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, as though you are locking arms together and are indivisible in your common commitment to Jesus Christ. Paul says that's what he wants to hear. And this must be true in every church. This must be true in every ministry. Amos 3, verse 3, can two walk together except they be in agreement? To be equally yoked is the picture of pulling two oxen in the same cart and pulling in the same direction.

We can't be pulling in different directions in how incumbent it is that we know sound doctrine and that we are mutually committed to the same core truths of the faith. So he says, I want you to be standing together. And then he adds, striving together. And he adds that so that there's no thought that this standing is passivity.

No, this standing is dynamically active. And so he goes on to say, striving together for the faith of the gospel. Striving together is a compound word in the original Greek, and I'm going to pronounce the main root word because you're going to hear the English word athleo, athletics.

And there's a prefix to it that means with. And so the idea here is that Christianity is a team sport and that we need to be striving together, expending maximum effort together as a team for the Lord Jesus Christ. That as we are striving together that we are not competing against each other, but that we have one common foe and we are aligned and united together against this common foe, which is the forces of darkness. Striving together, notice he says for the faith of the gospel, and here faith is referring to objective faith. It's referring to the content of our theology. It's referring to the apostles' teaching, Acts 2-42. It is referring to the body of truth that we hold dear as taught in the Scripture. And our striving is always for the faith of the gospel. Faith of the gospel. And here he mentions gospel for the sixth time in this opening chapter. We too must strive together for the gospel, expending maximum effort in our witness for Christ and in our giving an account for the hope that lies within us, 1 Peter 3.15, to unbelievers.

And then he goes on to say, not only strive together, but he says, in no way alarmed by your opponents. Now, these opponents are the Judaizers, the false teachers who were putting believers back under the ceremonial law. In chapter 3 verse 2, he will refer to them as dogs, evil workers, evil workers and false circumcision. There is nothing good to be said about any false teacher who corrupts the gospel of Jesus Christ. The anathema of God must come down heavy on his head because you are deceiving people into hell.

There are hills worth dying on, and this is one of those hills. And so, Paul will refer to him later in chapter 3 verse 18 as enemies of the cross. And anyone who does not preach that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone is an enemy of the cross and is a dog and is an evil worker.

There is a zero tolerance policy for any capitulation with the purity and the integrity of the gospel of Jesus Christ because souls are at stake. He then says, in no way alarmed by your opponents. In other words, the mere fact that we have opponents should not shake your faith.

The devil is always an imitator of whatever is good. In a strange way, the fact that there are enemies tells us that we have the truth. He then says, which is a sign of destruction for them.

And we say, so what is this sign? Well, the sign is believers striving together for the gospel. It is a testimony to unbelievers of their eternal damnation. It is a testimony of their destruction. You can see it right there in your own Bible, which is a sign of destruction for them as they see us holding tightly to the gospel, that it is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, and there is no negotiating this. It is a powerful witness and testimony to them of their own destruction, whether they want to accept that or not. But if we say, it doesn't really matter what you believe, but if you say, hey, Catholics and we, we believe the same gospel, you have just neutered this sign, and you've said it doesn't really matter what you believe.

Well, it does matter what we believe, and it is to be so potent and so robust that it is to be a sign of their destruction. He says, but a salvation for you. Paul referred to it in 2 Corinthians 2 this way, that our life and our preaching is an aroma of life unto life of life unto life to those who believe and an aroma of death unto death to those who do not believe. And so many churches today just want to blur those distinctions and that, hey, we all believe the same thing, and as long as you're sincere, that's all that really matters.

No, you can be sincere and take poison and die. And so Paul says to the Philippians, he speaks very directly. He has the relationship with them. Hey, I was the one that, I was the founding pastor of your church. I was there in the birthing room when you were brought into the kingdom. I've invested so much in you to speak to you very directly here that you cannot give up the high ground as you stand together for the gospel in this godless culture where you find yourself in Philippi. It is a sign of destruction to unbelievers, but it is a sign of salvation to every other believer.

And it really builds up their confidence in the gospel as they see other believers anchored to the purity of the gospel. So, and he says at the end of verse 28, and that too from God. It's all from God, both the destruction and the salvation.

For vessels of wrath prepared for destruction and for vessels of mercy prepared for salvation. It's all from the Lord. So, Paul says here that there must be gospel living after we have believed in the gospel, that every moment of our Christian life must be lived in a manner that brings honor to the gospel and that we would defend the gospel at all costs. May God give us the strength to live this way. To live this way. Defending the gospel at all costs. The Apostle Paul certainly did that. Consider the trials and suffering he endured.

It eventually cost him his life. So, I echo Dr. Stephen Lawson's words, may God give us the strength to stand firm on the truth of God's word. We're glad you've joined us for the Wednesday edition of Renewing Your Mind. We're focusing on Dr. Lawson's newest teaching series this week, Rejoice in the Lord, Paul's Letter to the Philippians. This letter is known as Paul's Epistle of Joy. Even though he was in prison, Paul's outlook throughout this book is one of joy and praise.

Indeed, those who know Jesus can experience vibrant joy even in the darkest of days. This is the first time we've offered Dr. Lawson's series, and it is no cursory glance. At Philippians, there are 42 messages contained on six DVDs. We'll be happy to send them to you for your donation of any amount to Ligonier Ministries. As soon as your gift is processed, we'll also add the teaching series to your learning library, which will allow you to stream the series right away. Plus, you'll receive access to the digital study guide.

That includes message outlines and questions to help in-group discussion. You can find us online at renewingyourmind.org, or you can call us with your gift at 800-435-4343. We hope to hear from you soon, and thank you for your generous donation. Well, no one likes to suffer, but Philippians shows us how to suffer well, with the gospel pointing the way to joy and contentment in the midst of our trials. That's our focus tomorrow here on Renewing Your Mind. I hope you'll join us.