Suffering as Evidence of God’s Righteous Judgment: Being Counted Worthy of His Kingdom

Being counted worthy according to God’s judgement is as a result of God’s Mercy, walking by His Truth and living according to His Righteousness. Mercy, Truth, Righteousness and Justice. Judgement is Justice. In this context, God’s Grace is a product of His Mercy. To be found worthy is not Grace + works, yet if there’s no proof of works according to the Grace given, you’ll be disqualified. To be qualified means to be found worthy to receive a certain honour. God has already laid a judgement on how to be worthy in His Kingdom.

Christ’s finished works ensures God’s work in you. Your participation is to work out what has been worked in you. This is why judgement is according to works, not Grace. God is interested in fruits, not seeds. Thus, there’s the need to walk worthy of the Kingdom. It is not without suffering. Suffering only exists within the context of this age because of the contention between good and evil on the external, and the flesh and the Spirit in the internal. Let’s delve in!

Walking Worthy to be Counted Worthy

I know this teaching is not a popular but stay with me and endure this hard teaching. In Acts 5:41, the apostles rejoiced because God counted them worthy to suffer shame for His Name. We have called to glory but the qualification/the judgement of being counted worthy comes after faithfully suffering. This is clearly written in Scriptures in Romans 8:17: “Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in His Glory.” Christ qualifies us to be worthy as children but our participation in His suffering determines whether we become co-heirs with Him in order to share in His glory.

“For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, [10] so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God“, Colossians 1:9-10 says.

Ephesians 4:1-3 NKJV
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.

I Thessalonians 2:10-12 NKJV
You are witnesses, and God also, how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe; as you know how we exhorted, and comforted, and charged every one of you, as a father does his own children, that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.

Don’t get it twisted. You are called into the Kingdom alright but you ought to walk worthy of your calling, as Ephesians 4:1 says. The calling is by Mercy and Grace. God’s judgement of our worthiness is by His Righteousness and Justice. This is the Truth. Jesus made you accepted so you live a life that is acceptable. Without Jesus, you can never be worthy. However, if our lives do not reflect the life of God Christ gave us, then we did not walk worthy of the calling. There is a manner of life worthy of saints.

Romans 16:1-2 NKJV
I commend to you Phoebe our sister, who is a servant of the church in Cenchrea, that you may receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and assist her in whatever business she has need of you; for indeed she has been a helper of many and of myself also.

Philippians 1:27 NKJV
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

III John 1:5-8 NKJV
[5] Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do for the brethren and for strangers, [6] who have borne witness of your love before the church. If you send them forward manner worthy of God, you will do well, [7] because they went forth for His name’s sake, taking nothing from the Gentiles. [8] We therefore ought to receive such, that we may become fellow workers for the truth.

Suffering for Righteousness’ Sake

There is blessing in suffering for Christ. Not all suffering is a blessing, of course. Not every suffering is a curse either. There’s a blessing in enduring temptation and overcoming them. Temptation is the platform for the internal contention between the flesh and the Spirit. Our bodies are in a fallen state and more susceptible to the things of this world. The civilization of this self-government is what is called flesh. God did not create our bodies to govern itself by its dictates and appetites.

That notwithstanding, God’s way called Righteousness is inherent in our born-again spirit. Therefore, we will continually suffer the contention between our flesh (our bodies wanting to govern itself) and the Spirit (who is one with our spirit). Whenever we win this battle by walking in the Spirit, we are approved and counted worthy to receive a certain reward.

James 1:12 NKJV
Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

Apart from the internal suffering, there’s external suffering for Righteousness’ sake. “Others may, you cannot“. “We are allowed to do anything,” so they say. That is true, but not everything is good. “We are allowed to do anything”—but not everything is helpful. That is 1 Corinthians 10:23. There will certainly external persecution and pressure to conform to the dictates of this world. God’s way won’t be popular. It will be seen as radical and judged as insane. However, when you have been approved, that is, when you have been counted worthy and faithful, you will receive the crown of life.

I Corinthians 1:27-29 NKJV
[27] But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; [28] and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, [29] that no flesh should glory in His presence.

Be ready and willing to choose the way of the Lord, and utterly rejoice for being counted worthy to suffer for the sake of righteousness. It is a blessing. Matthew 5:11-12 says “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

The Fellowship of His Suffering

Jesus suffered too. Jesus is our Template and there are certain things He did that we must by all means do. One of them is suffering for Righteousness’ sake. Can we fulfill all our destiny without having to suffer? Well, that’s what Jesus’ suffering in the garden of Gethsemane was all about. God the Father confirmed that His Will includes the suffering and that there’s no other way around it. We are called partake of this same suffering, so that we can partake in the Glory. No Cross, no Throne.

“Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.” 1 Peter 4:1-2 said it beautifully. One of the reasons why Jesus lived a sinless life is because He suffered in the flesh. If we are willing to suffer in the flesh, we shall cease from sin. The squirming of the flesh whenever you say no to its lustful pleasures is suffering. But that’s not the only kind of suffering.

Hebrews 12:3-4 says “consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.” Jesus suffered unto death, and so has many saints of old. The suffering as a result of the contention between the flesh and the Spirit cannot be compared to choosing God over your own life. If He died for us, we ought to be willing to live for Him. If He lives for us, we ought to be willing to die for Him.

There’s a mindset and heart posture we ought to have in order to partake in the fellowship of His sufferings. 1 Peter 4:1 tells us about the mindset and 1 Peter 3:16 tells us about the heart posture. The heart posture is to reverse Christ in our hearts. That means fear God in your heart. The heart posture is also to keep the hope of Glory in your heart with meekness and fear. The fear of God will keep you from sin. It will also keep you from the pressure of evil men and all appearances of evil. That is what kept Joseph from committing such great wickedness against God and his master.

There’s Grace for His Disgrace

You may suffer slander, defamation, false accusations, character assassinations etc just like Daniel. Your life of holiness and integrity will keep your conscience clean. What I mean by that is, when you begin to suffer, you’ll not feel guilty and attribute it to God’s judgement on your wrongdoings. You’ll rather rejoice that God has counted you worthy to suffer so that you’ll be worthy to move from glory to glory. There’s some of sufferings that is God’s Will. You may not understand. You may not agree. Regardless, that is God’s righteous judgement in this age; that His saints suffer for Righteousness’ sake, just as Christ did. This is called the perseverance of the saints, the fellowship of His sufferings.


“It is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil”, 1 Peter 3:17 says. The Will of God includes suffering for doing good. It doesn’t always mean or include suffering but it always means doing what is good in God’s sight. Therefore, if doing this good will cause you to suffer, that suffering cannot be separated from God’s Will. God’s Will includes that suffering.

Jesus suffered in God’s Will. I Peter 3:18 says ” for Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit”. Christ’s suffering resulted in 3 major things mentioned here;

just for the unjust → divine exchange / substitution

bring us to God → reconciliation

put to death in flesh, made alive by the Spirit → death & resurrection

Thus, you clearly see that Christ could not have completed His mission if He didn’t suffer. The same goes for you. This is the heart posture and mindset I want you to have. If you don’t partake in Christ’s sufferings, your fellowship is incomplete. That means you don’t know Him. It is in suffering that we are conformed to His death that we may attain resurrection. If we don’t mortify the flesh, we cannot be made alive in the Spirit. If this suffering means dying for the sake of the Gospel, then so be it. Now, are you ready to suffer for His Name sake?