I Thessalonians 2:11 “As ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father doth his children, 12 That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory.”
What does it mean to “walk worthy of God”? The word “worthy” literally means commensurate or equal to; so, we must confine ourselves to the context, for no human is, of themselves, equal to God! First, we must consider that it pertains to those that “God” “hath called … unto his kingdom and glory”; others are simply not interested in such a holy “walk”, and will not be and cannot be until such time that they are “called” by “God”! Second, we must consider that it is an Apostle/Pastor that is doing the assessment; they are not being evaluated for their fitness for Eternal Heaven, but for their response to the Pastoral Labors, the Preached Word, (I Thessalonians 2:13-14). In this case, Paul, and the ministers with him had preached the Gospel to them, they had heard and received the Gospel, and now they lived their lives according to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He told them that they had “became followers of the churches of God which in Judaea are in Christ Jesus” (I Thessalonians 2:14); that is, they believed and practiced the same Doctrine and Practice as the “churches of God which” were “in Judaea”. Furthermore, they were so established in their faith and love for the Lord that they “suffered” persecutions of their “own countrymen, even as” “the churches of God which in Judaea” suffered “of the Jews” (I Thessalonians 2:14). Thus, in this context, to “walk worthy of God”: is to have been “called … unto his kingdom and glory”, hear the Blessed Gospel, receive the Gospel, live in obedience to the Gospel, and have a willingness to suffer for the cause of Christ and His Gospel and His Church. Here is a vital exhortation for Christianity in our day, “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” (Jude 1:3)! This blessed “common salvation” teaches that every Child of God was saved to Eternal Heaven exactly the same way, by exactly the same event, at exactly the same time, by exactly the same Savior; and none are lost! Furthermore, we are charged to “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints”; that is, cling to and bind ourselves to the same Doctrine and Practice that was “once delivered unto the saints”, “unto” “the churches of God which” were “in Judaea … in Christ Jesus”! That is, don’t change it!!! If you have changed it, return to it!!!