Humans love to make excuses. It’s easier to let things in life “slide by” than to change. Change is feared by most due to the potential suffering involved, so research has shown (Shore & Kupferberg, 2014). Thoughts and feelings of change are hard to alter (García‐Cabrera & García‐Cabrera Hernandez, 2014), and thus, a focus on the consequences of the change and the ability one has to change is essential in removing ambivalence and fear associated with such change.

If the Church is to change the deepest deceptions within our current culture—accepting sin as adequate and common by followers of Jesus—then leaders in our communities must remove the cognitive dissonance between the potential for repentance away from sin and the life of sin people live in now.

Living Worthy of the Lord

In his letter to the Colossians, Paul writes that, because of the hope laid up for them in heaven, a fruit is being brought forth since the day they heard and knew the grace of God in truth (Col 1:3-7).

This new fruit is what Paul says comes by being “filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding…” (v 9) that they “may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God” (v 10). That they are “strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy…” (Col 1:9-11).

Read carefully what Paul says following this insight on walking worthy of the Lord:

It is by our faith, that we receive God’s grace (Romans 5:2; Romans 4:16; Eph 2:8) and are transformed, by the renewing of our mind, testing and proving His good will (Romans 12:1-2). It is this continuing in God’s grace, by our faith, that we are able to become grounded in His truth and Spirit, being patient in joy, that we increase in His glory and identity and are seen as “walking worthy” before Him, IF we continue in the faith and continued knowledge of Him.

It isn’t just in his letter to the Colossians that Paul speaks of walking worthy of the Lord, read his message to the church in Ephesus:

Have You Not Heard?

Many believe they are not or could never be worthy of God being proud of them, as being worthy in front of Him. But how can this be, if He is the one sustaining them, renewing their strength, giving them wings to soar, legs to run, a faith to walk in. Is it not Jesus who allows us to walk worthy of God, by receiving God’s grace through faith in Him and thus receiving His Spirit and power to walk in?

The Spirit Gives Power Over the Flesh

Gal 5:16

Gal 5:24-25

2 Tim 3:16-17

2 Tim 2:19-21

1 Cor 6:12

Romans 6: 2-4

Presenting Ourselves Complete in this Life

Col 1:27-28

“Now this I say lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words. For though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.

Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power” (Col 2:4-10).

Col 2:11

Confused on How to Walk Worthy of the Lord?

Paul reveals the secret which so many miss in their walk with the Lord.

Ever Wonder What this Passage (Romans 8:1) Means?

Christ’s life was one in which He encountered darkness at every turn, as if His presence brought darkness out of hiding, He drew sin and darkness to the cross. By His death, Jesus released the power and grip of sin in our lives, the condemnation which comes from sin being the grip of it.

The entire scriptural narrative is God revealing His work saving mankind.

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh,  in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:3-4).

Jesus allowed us to meet the Mosaic Law’s righteous requirement by condemning sin in the flesh so that we could live in the Spirit. One cannot live in the Spirit of God without first having His Spirit given to them. One cannot receive His Spirit without first being righteous (from the requirement of the law). Jesus came so that we could have this requirement met and then receive His Spirit and then walk worthy of the Lord in this newness of life. His Spirit gives us the ability to walk worthy, His grace is this whole process. See the letter to Titus below:

Obedience is Crucial for Holiness

Walking Worthy of the Lord is about Loving Others

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1).

Matthew 15:18

Matthew 15:11

Romans 13:10

Gal 5:14

Luke 10:27, Mark 12:30, Matt 22:37, Deut 6:5, Lev 19:18

Do you notice a constant in these passages? Righteousness is about others, it is about loving God and others, it is not about what your body is doing in this physical state.

Now the list of sins that Paul continues to write about in his letters, these are sinful, but are so because they are symptoms of a person not right with God and others. Therefore, walking worthy of the Lord is founded in loving God and neighbor. If you can do that, you will walk with Him rightly.

Col 3:14

Enduring is the Key

Could it be that you never felt you could walk worthy of the Lord because you gave up, because you were told you were weak, that you felt you were sinful from birth? The original sin doctrine has compelled billions of people to lay aside their birthright of righteous living and trade in the image of the invisible God for a creature visible within them, their own desires. Learn about the original sin heresy in the church.

What are we dying to? SIN! What are we enduring…? Temptation! Does this say, you can sin and live with God and continue to sin and reign with Him? Or does it say that if we die to sin that we can live, and if we resist sin, that we can reign with Him?

Beware of the Lies

“But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!” (2 Tim 3:1-5).

Matt 16:23

“The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thes 2:9-12).

2 Tim 4:2-4

“Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death,  and of faith in God, instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.  And God permitting, we will do so. It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit,  who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace” (Hebrews 6:1-6).

2 Tim 4:18

“And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will” (2 Tim 2:24-26).

Be Holy for I Am Holy

1 Peter 1:14-16

1 Peter 1:17-18

1 Peter 1:22-23

Conclusion

Paul’s letters are so beautiful because they tie every detail together from the beginning to the end of the writing. Remember in Col 1:3-7 he mentions (in verse 7) that they learned this hope of heaven and fruit of righteousness from Epapharus. Paul mentions his name again at the end of his letter.

In concluding the epistle, Paul states that Epapharus, who is of their church, labors fervently in prayer that they “may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God” (Col 4:12). What a powerful illustration of Christlikeness in one seeking Jesus. Epapharus’s great zeal (v 13) stretches to other churches and he ministers God’s truth and power to them, speaking on the hope of heaven, the new fruit in their bodies, and knowing the grace of God in truth (Col 1:3-10).

Those ministering the Lord to the lost, to the broken, to those seeking right standing with God, must proclaim the new fruit of Christ-follower bodies, the ability to walk worthy in the Lord through knowledge of His power and grace…IN TRUTH! Without knowledge of all things founded in truth, people are merely still deceived by the darkness which so easy entraps us.

For this escape of sin comes by God’s grace, a grace that is received in faith (Romans 5:2; Romans 4:16; Eph 2:8) and brings about worthiness through repentance and hope, a hope founded on God’s goodness, in this world and the next.

Free yourself from bondage, free your families from oppression, destroy the darkness in your communities, make straight the way of life, for narrow is the road and few will find it, but if we together as ministers of Christ preach a transformed way of living, a holy, pure, and giving way of life and living, what walking worthy in the Lord exemplifies, then what we have known will not define us anymore. Instead, we will be identified by what we and God are doing together, this will be our reality.

Learn more about the Work of Faith.
 
References

García‐Cabrera, A. M., & García‐Barba Hernández, F. (2014). Differentiating the three components of resistance to change: The moderating effect of organization-based self-esteem on the employee involvement-resistance relation. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 25(4), 441-469. doi:10.1002/hrdq.21193

Shore, D. A., & Kupferberg, E. D. (2014). Preparing people and organizations for the challenge of change. Journal of Health Communication, 19(3), 275-281, DOI:10.1080/10810730.2014.888903