The Architect's Plan
"God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good...." (Genesis 1:31a)
Before we begin our exploration of the attribute of godliness, take a few moments to stop and consider what the word means to you. It might be helpful to even write out your definition of godliness.
One of the biggest challenges we bring to our study of the Bible is the assumption that we know the meaning of the words we read. The problem is that English is a living language and definitions do change over time: sometimes very quickly. If you don't have a good Bible dictionary (at least one), I urge you to add one to your library and use it!
As you come to a passage you are usually looking for answers. You may not think of it in those terms, but that is what you are seeking. What questions are you asking of the text?
A good place to start is to be sure you understand the meanings of the words as they would have been understood when and where they were written. If we begin with unclear meanings we can end up with erroneous conclusions. Now, have you really thought about what godliness means?
It may surprise you that the word "godliness" does not appear in the Old Testament (at least any of the many translations I have). "Godly" appears two or three times and there are references to those who are "of God." Nevertheless, we are aware that there were godly people. What do we mean by that?
The Hebrew word for godly has the root idea of bowing the neck. It is translated as pious, kind, holy, and godly (among other variations). That brings us to the passage with which we began.
Here, we find what is at the core of godliness. God is good and He declared His creation good. Indeed, He declared it "very good." The best Old Testament examples of godliness we have, before the Fall, are Adam and Eve.
They were part of what God deemed "very good." He had a plan for them. Under His dominion, they were given dominion and their obedience to His will was godliness.
That was a condition that Satan determined to undermine by treachery and deceit. How clever he is. He didn't tempt them to reject God and choose him. He enticed them with the lie that they could be like God.
They abandoned their godly purity for a counterfeit and they were immediately confronted with a reality they wished they had not seen. We each know the nature of their horror as we, in our own way, seek to be like God, rather than living in the true godliness that is ours in Christ.
The Old Testament tells us of many godly people, but even in their godliness, they were flawed. It would be thousands of years before God, in grace, sent Jesus as the ultimate example of godliness.
God's plan is about ruling and reigning in righteousness. Even in eternity that ruling is part of the plan. If we would understand godliness, we must understand that God is good and that His dominion of righteousness demands our obedience.
Godliness is more than simply refraining from that which is unfitting, it is the diligent pursuit of what God requires of us. May He look upon the "new creation" that we are in Christ and proclaim it "very good."
The Carpenter's Corner
"'This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me. But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men." (Matthew 15:8-9)
This may seem like an unusual place to consider godliness in the life and teaching of Christ. I'll admit it is something of a backdoor approach to the subject but I trust you will be able to follow what I am attempting to call to our attention.
First, we need to understand the word "godliness" more fully. The life of Christ exemplifies godliness but how do we translate His life into a few words? The Hebrew idea of "godly" is certainly consistent with the Greek word "eusebia" but it lacks the connotation that should enrich the meaning to us.
Literally, the Greek might be translated as "good worship." It denotes a diligence, devotion, or piety toward that which is good. In short, it is not about what you say or how you appear; it is what you are! Notice the word worship in the text above. It is one of the roots that make up the word we translate "godliness."
This event is the only use of this word in the gospels (it is also recorded in Mark). The only time Christ uses the word that speaks to what underlies godliness, He approaches it from the negative viewpoint. Worship based on the teaching of men is vain or empty. It is of no benefit to God or to the soul that practices it.
In 2 Timothy 3:1-5, Paul warns his son in the faith of those who practice such vanity. He concludes with these words, "Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away." We will shortly be turning to a closer look at Paul's teaching on this matter.
We need to understand that Christ has warned us to avoid defining our own faith. We are to let His words hold sway over our lives. The words He has spoken are God's own instruction for us and we are foolish if we think we can substitute our own understanding for His truth.
Christ kept those words faithfully and, as our example, He calls us to do the same.
The Foreman's Forum
Rather than reproduce passages here, take a moment and read 1 Timothy 2:1-10; 3:14-16; 4:6-8; 6:3-12 for a brief look at what Paul has to say on the subject of godliness. Obviously, we can only take a brief look at the teaching here, but use that as a starting point for further study.
Notice first, that Paul says we are to pray for those in authority so that we might live quiet and peaceful lives in all godliness to the end that souls might be saved. When was the last time you prayed that prayer?
I frequently hear Christians admonish us to pray for our rulers. The scripture clearly teaches that but there is an important distinction we need to make: In this country, we are the rulers!
Not only should we pray for our diligence in preserving a civil government which creates an environment conducive to the proclamation of the gospel, we have a duty before God to faithfully exercise that stewardship of citizenship. I could easily carry this study much further. For the moment, just understand that godliness includes this important aspect of our lives.
1 Timothy 2 goes on to address godliness in the context of the role of women. This is an area that often produces more heat than light and I don't intend to attempt to address it in this small space. Suffice it to say that I believe what Paul has written is consistent with scripture as a whole.
Relevant to this discussion is that godliness is not about calling attention to oneself by personal appearance, but rather by good works. The Pharisees were known for their outward show and Christ condemned them for it.
The rise of preachers who put on this kind of show in our time is clear evidence that Phariseeism is not dead.
In 1 Timothy 3, Paul suggests that godliness has been a mystery, but it is now revealed six ways in Christ: 1) it was made manifest in the flesh in Jesus Christ, 2) it is evidenced by the mighty deeds of our Lord through the Spirit, 3) it was witnessed by angels [could mean both celestial as well as earthly messengers], 4) it was preached to the Gentiles [the promise to Abraham was for all nations], 5) it was believed by the world [in spite of being a convicted "criminal"], and 6) even the human nature that He received through Mary was taken into glory as the firstfruits of God.
Now, that's a lot of food for thought packed into one verse! But we can sum it up simply by noting that Christ is godliness. To the extent that our lives are caught up in His we know that godliness.
Paul goes on in Chapter 4 to point out that this kind of godliness requires discipline. Many will follow what sounds good, or feels good, or meets the need of the moment. Godliness demands sound doctrine and, ultimately, it is all that really has any lasting value.
In his concluding remarks Paul makes it clear that those who are godly will agree with sound doctrine. When you find yourself (or others) attempting to massage the scripture to make it fit the mold you want, red flags should go up immediately!
Having said that godliness is not about worldly gain, Paul concedes that there is great gain in godliness with contentment. Reading between the lines, it is easy to see that discontent with our station in life is the instrument the enemy will use to pollute true godliness and thereby undermine our faith.
For that reason, we are to pursue godliness not gain! Columnist Herb Caen of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote: "Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn't matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle; when the sun comes up, you'd better be running."
In the same vein, Charles Spurgeon wrote: "If you are not seeking the Lord, the Devil is seeking you. If you are not seeking the Lord, judgment is at your heels."
When we seek God, He finds us. Let us be pursuers, lest we become the pursued!
The Carpenter's Toolbox
As we turn our attention back to 2 Peter 1:5-8, let us put the "book ends" in place:
"Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence." 2 Peter (1:1-3)
"Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells." (2 Peter 3:11-13)
The consistent theme of the book is godliness!
You may remember from our first discussion of this text that five of the faith supplements are internal and two are external. Godliness, is the fifth supplement which addresses internal issues. Only when these have been addressed are we prepared to move forward in God's purposes. This is no place to balk!
Let's review. Our faith needs to be supplemented to better conform us to the image of Christ (our ultimate goal). Faith needs commitment to act (virtue); virtue requires knowledge of what is right; knowledge demands self-control to be obedient; self-control will fail without perseverance; and perseverance is meaningless unless it is godly perseverance.
One of the greatest temptations we face is to persevere on the basis of our own will. The real challenge for each of us is to let God lead us moment by moment with no illusion that what He placed before us yesterday will be repeated today.
We must constantly seek His will. Whether as individuals or as the church, one of the most difficult things for us to deal with is what Watchman Nee calls, "the thing in hand." While I don't subscribe to all of Nee's theology he addresses an important need here.
We are so prone to worship our work! God may well have called us to some good work. It may be blessing to us and others . It may bring the Lord glory and honor. But if we are not careful, it can be a snare for us. One of the problems of all the temple building we see in our time is the tendency to build bigger barns! Before we do, we had better be absolutely certain that is God's plan and not our own. There is, perhaps, a place for "mega" churches, but do we really believe that God's will for every fellowship is to spend millions of dollars padding our own pews?
Praise God for churches that have the faith to lay down "the thing in hand" to pursue what God puts before them today. All too often church growth is about feathering our own nest or building our image. If we are not sensitive to the things of God, the "spiritual" empires we build can become an Albatross. Our personal investment in them tends to hold us back from moving with God today.
How easy it would have been for Jesus or His disciples to find a community that accepted them, set up shop, and just wait for the world to come to their door. They didn't do that, and neither should we.
Remember Paul's first instruction about godliness? It had to do with the spreading of the gospel. It wasn't about all the ancillary things that so dominate church programs today, it was about spreading the Good News.
When we rediscover the heart of godliness, we will know what motivated the heart of God to send Christ into this world and we will be compelled to proclaim that message from the housetops!
The Chronicles of Christian Skywatcher
Skywatcher majors in verses like 2 Peter 3:11-13. The problem is, he stops reading there! Let's look further: "Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; ...." (2 Peter 3:14-15a)
That word "diligent" bounces off him like water on a duck's back! He likes the other aspects of the verse, but the idea of him actually taking responsibility for his faith sends him looking for more comfortable passages like, "For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus." (Philipians 1:6)
What a wonderful proof text that Skywatcher doesn't have to do anything! God began the work in Him and it is up to God to do the rest. He easily overlooks the fact that this prayer of Paul for the Philippians was based on their faithful "participation in the gospel...."
The Greek word for participation is koinonia and has the idea of a partnership or fellowship. It is a mutual involvement in a common enterprise. Such confidence was not expressed to all those Christians Paul addressed!
Some were like Skywatcher. They were looking out for Number One: Corinth comes to mind. The Skywatchers of the world get involved because they believe following Christ is a free ride. They've listened to one too many tele-evangelist and bought the bill of goods. Exchanging the fruits of godliness for a temporary sense of well-being, they have charted a course for disaster. Godliness demands diligence. Careless workmanship will never do!
The Apprentice's Journal
As an appraiser, I sometimes think I've seen everything stupid that people can do with real estate. But there seems to be a steady supply of folks committed to greater ineptness!
Last year, I appraised a home that was to be built. Recently, I was called to inspect the finished product to verify that it had been finished according to the plans and specifications I received. I was appalled at what I found! Part of the workmanship was good, but much of the finish work was substandard.
Discussing the deficiencies with the builder, I learned that the buyer had decided to do much of the finish work himself. That explained a lot! The builder wanted to assure me that he would never approve such work and, had he not refused, the buyer would have done even more. It will cost thousands of dollars to make this home comparable to other homes in the area and the value is diminished accordingly.
Fortunately, I don't have to face that homeowner and tell him what poor work he did. Truly, it would grieve me to tell him. There would, I'm sure, be "gnashing of teeth!" He meant well, but he is not the judge of his work.
Godliness demands that we see ourselves as tools in the Carpenter's hands. We should never take credit for the beautiful work that is accomplished. Without the Master's hands, we are capable of nothing good. We may feel good about our work, but we will not be its final judge.
"Good worship" is well described by Paul in Romans 12:1-2: "Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."