Lead a life worthy of the Lord

(Colossians 1:9-10)

Here is an interesting point. What is a life worthy of the Lord? How do we lead a life worthy of the Lord?

The truth of this matter is that the Lord does not want a lot from His people. There are only a few things that both God and Jesus Christ have made particularly important.

So in this post today, we will look at some of the things that God the Father and Jesus Christ have stated as being things for us to lead a life worthy of the Lord.

Lead a life worthy of the Lord – Love one another

There are a few things mentioned in this scripture today, but the point I want to bring out is what is noted in the heading for this post.

9 And so, from the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 to lead a life worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. (Colossians 1:9-10)

There are very few commandments that the Lord gave His people that they should follow. And I’m not talking about the Ten Commandments or the law of Moses.

Jesus set us free from our sins and the law when He died. To be set free from the law means ALL of the law. That includes the law of Moses and the Ten Commandments.

Now, that does NOT mean you can go out and do whatever you like. The purpose of being set free from the law (and sin) was to give us the free gift of righteousness by faith. You can’t be righteous and a sinner at the same time, and sin is the breaking of the law. That is why Jesus took away our sins AND set us free from the law so that we could no longer sin.

Sin is the one thing that stands between and separates man from God. God will not help sinners while they are sinners because He gave up on man due to man’s sinning. So if God was to help mankind, He had to deal with sin and get rid of it, which He did in the death of Christ. But I’ll speak more of that in another post (as I have done in the past), because it is well covered later in Colossians.

But there was one commandment Jesus gave that embodies the fullness of the laws of Moses and the Ten Commandments. It was this:

This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. (John 15:12)

This is the one commandment that Jesus asked of His people: that they love one another.

So if we are to lead a life worthy of the Lord then we must learn to love one another. Love is the fulfilling of the law, as we are told in Romans.

Love does no wrong to a neighbour; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. (Romans 13:10)

So this is the first and most important thing we must remember. Love one another as Christ loved us.

Believe in Jesus Christ

The second thing that is an absolute requirement to lead a life worthy of the Lord is to believe in Him.

I know that seems obvious, but it is essential to have faith. Everything to do with being a Christian rests on a foundation of faith, and without faith you cannot please God. Note these two scriptures as evidence of the need to believe.

…without faith it is impossible to please him. For whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)

If a person does not believe in God, how can they receive His gifts and promises?

Faith is the key to everything in Jesus Christ because it is by faith that we receive life. It is by faith that we are set free from sin and from the law. And it is by faith that we receive righteousness by faith and are pronounced perfect in God’s sight by faith.

The second scripture we ought to consider is this:

Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” (John 6:29)

If you want to be doing the works of God, it is not about building cathedrals. It is not about how much money you can offer to the church, nor is it about how often you go to church.

No. If you really want to do the works of God…then just believe in Jesus Christ. THAT is the works of God that were given to all mankind. It was never intended to be hard to come to Christ, nor to lead a life worthy of the Lord.

But that brings us to the next point which is not always easy to do.

Repentance

It is required of everyone who comes to Christ that they repent. But what does that mean?

The Greek word translated as “repent” in English means to “change your thinking” or “change your mind.”

Repentance is all about change.

When John the Baptist, Jesus Christ, and the twelve Apostles began their respective ministries they all started the same way. They all preached the need to repent.

This is how important repentance is to the Lord and why it is one of the very few things required of every person.

Repentance means to reject the sinful lifestyle you have been living and to be transformed into the image of Jesus Christ. And sometimes that will be hard to do.

People are beset with temptations to sin where the passions of the flesh rise up leading them astray. It is in overcoming the passions of the flesh that the work of Jesus and the Holy Spirit give us victory.

Jesus showed compassion to sinners. He healed them and forgave them when they came to Him.

But He also placed a condition on them. There were many times after He healed or dealt with sinners where He made the statement, “Sin no more lest something worse befall you!”

Jesus was telling them to repent in these words. He was telling them that they had to change their lives, and that starts with changing how you think.

You mind and your thoughts drive your actions and behaviours. So if you can control your thoughts, then you can control your actions and behaviours. And when we come to Christ for His support and help to make those changes because we want to do what is right in His sight, then we are repenting.

There is more also to this repentance. We are aware that God shows His grace to those who come to Christ. It is because of the kindness in His grace that we have this opportunity for salvation in the first place.

But the scriptures also tell us that God’s grace and his kindness are meant to lead us to repentance. He does not give us His grace by setting us free from sin and the law so that we can do wrong. He wants us to change and to do what is right, as the scripture says:

Or do you presume upon the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not know that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? (Romans 2:4)

It is in God’s grace that He shows us His kindness, forbearance and patience. And He shows us these things in order that we repent, not turn back to sin or continue living lives of sinfulness.

Which now brings me to the last of the necessary things we must do if we are to lead a life worthy of the Lord

Listen to Him

There were very few times when God the Father spoke to people on earth. One of those times was when Jesus went up on the mountain with Peter, James and John. Jesus was transfigured before them and spoke with Moses and Elijah concerning His impending death.

Peter offered to build booths for the three of them but was stopped by the words of the Father from above. These are words we ought to take note of today as well. He said:

He was still speaking, when lo, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” (Matthew 17:5)

Listen to Him. If we are to learn the ways of God and come into His presence, we need to listen to Christ. That is the commandment of the Father.

Jesus has the words of life and He taught them to His disciples. They in turn spread the gospel through the world and wrote down His teachings so that we could learn what the Lord had to say.

When Jesus gave the disciples the Great Commission to spread the gospel, He told them to do two things.

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

As you can see in these words, Jesus told the disciples to do three things.

1. Make disciples
2. Baptise them
3. Teach them to observe all that the Lord taught the disciples

It is the third point that aligns with the words of God the Father during the transfiguration.

If we are to lead a life worthy of the Lord, then we must listen to Jesus. It is in His words that we will find salvation and life.

These are the most basic requirements to lead a life worthy of the Lord. If we do these things, we will do well. I encourage everyone to listen to Christ and focus on His words and so be saved.

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