The apostle Paul wrote a letter to the church in Philippi giving them some words of encouragement as well as exhortation. And he shared with them some of his experiences of being persecuted for the sake of the name of Jesus and for the sake of the gospel of our salvation. And he shared with them his attitude about what he was going through, too. He rejoiced. And he knew that he could die in prison, yet he said that for him to live was Christ and to die was gain. And then he gave them more words of exhortation:

“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 of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; in no way alarmed by your opponents—which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God. For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me, and now hear to be in me.” (Philippians 1:27-30 NASB1995)

So, if we who claim Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior are, indeed, conducting ourselves (in practice) in a manner worthy (suitable, proper, fitting) of the gospel of Christ, what should that look like? Well…

Jesus Christ taught that to come to him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in his power, then we have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).

For by God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our own doing, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as slaves to righteousness in walks of obedience to God’s commands. We are no longer to permit sin to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires. For if sin is what we obey, it results in death. But if obedience to God is what we obey, it results in sanctification, and its end is eternal life with God (see Romans 6:1-23).

This is what our lives should look like. And this does not make us perfect in every way. Yet lack of perfection is never to be used as an excuse for deliberate and habitual sin and for not obeying God’s commands.

And we are to be striving, alongside other believers in Christ, for the faith of the gospel, which is described for us in the Scripture summaries above. We are to be those who have denied self, died to sin, and who are obeying our Lord’s commands in life practice. We are to be living holy lives, pleasing to God, and no longer as slaves to sin. And we should be teaching others the same gospel as Jesus and his New Testament apostles taught, but in the correct biblical context, comparing Scripture with Scripture to get it right.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

And if what we are sharing with others is the biblical gospel, as taught by Jesus and his apostles, we will be persecuted. We will be rejected. We will be cast aside as unwanted and as unnecessary. But our persecutors may not be those who make no professions of faith in Jesus Christ, but they may be the religious, those who profess to believe in Jesus, and even pastors, elders, and deacons of said “churches” who are teaching people the lies and not the truth. For those were Jesus’ persecutors, i.e. those who claimed faith in God.

Songs in the Night

An Original Work / December 18, 2013
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” Acts 16:25 NIV ‘84

Lord, I praise You forevermore.
You, my Savior, I now adore.
Hope in heaven awaiting me,
Because You died at Calvary.

I have been forgiven,
And I’m bound for heaven.
Jesus set me free from
All my sin, I say.
I will praise Him always!

Lord, I love You for all You’ve done:
Overcame death, my vict’ry won!
Jesus saved me, and now I’m free!
I rejoice in His love for me.

I will walk in vict’ry!
My sin is but hist’ry!
I am free to please Him
With my life today.
I will love Him always!

Lord, I thank You for giving me
A new life bought at Calvary.
Loving Jesus, I meet with Him.
Tender mercies now flow within.

Lord, I am so thankful;
Through my Lord, I’m able
To sit at His table;
Fellowship with Him.
I will thank Him always!

A Manner Worthy of The Gospel
An Original Work / March 26, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love