As a Christian, how you live your life is very important. The apostle Paul put it this way. 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.” Is the conduct of your life worthy of the gospel of Christ? The essence of the gospel is the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. Your baptism follows the pattern of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. Romans 6:3-4 “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” He gave you the forgiveness of your sins and eternal salvation, and He expects you to walk in newness of life. Let us look at several scriptures that describe how you should conduct your new life – how you should walk worthy of the gospel of Christ.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.” Being a fornicator, idolater, adulterer, homosexual, sodomite, thief, covetous, drunkard, reviler or extortioner is not conduct worthy of the gospel of Christ. Instead, you should seek purity in your life. 1 John 3:2-3 “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” You should keep yourself unspotted from the world. James 1:27 “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.”
People around you should see that the conduct of your life – your life which is worthy of the gospel – is different from the conduct of other people in the world. Your speech should be different; your clothes you wear should be modest and not immodest like the world; what you are interested in should be different; you should live in honesty and integrity; you should demonstrate love to your neighbor. So much of your life should be different from the conduct of the world. Philippians 2:14-15 “Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become 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.” Titus 2:6-8 “Likewise, exhort the young men to be sober-minded, in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you.” 1 Peter 2:13-15 “Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.”
The following scripture will serve as my closing encouragement to you. Ephesians 4:1-3 “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”