THE MYSTERY OF GODLINESS
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What is godliness?
What is godliness?
If you ask some people they will tell you that godliness is about.
Godliness is the state of being and behaving like God.
It is a word that we
The Secret to Godliness
Here Paul admonishes Timothy to practice or exercise himself unto godliness rather than being preoccupied with “bodily exercise.” The phrase “bodily exercise” is a reference, not to Timothy’s attempt to stay fit, but to those outward activities that people often associate with the practice of religion or godliness ().
Everything people do in the name of religion isn’t from God. There are some who would have us to believe that an essential part to being holy or godly is learning to abstain from things.
Godliness is NOT about abstaining from things.
Godliness is NOT about abstaining from things.
Being strict isn’t the same as being spiritual, just like being cheap isn’t the same as being responsible ().
Just like there are those who will tell us that godliness is about abstaining from things, there are others who will tell us that godliness is about gaining things.
Godliness is NOT about gaining things.
Godliness is NOT about gaining things.
Godliness is not measured by your ability to have success or gain things. Godliness is measured by your ability to be content (). True Christianity is not about gaining things. It’s about gaining Christ ()!
Rather than seeking God to find out the true practice of godliness, we spend our time imitating others (, ).
It was a common practice among children in Jesus’ day to imitate and mimic others. They would imitate people in the happiest or in the saddest moments in life. Surprisingly, many have taken this same approach with religion. They are found imitating either happy Christians (gain = godliness) or sad Christians (abstinence = godliness).
The fact is, it’s possible to imitate religion and lack true godliness ().
Godliness is not an appearance or “form.” Godliness is an existence or state of being.
Godliness is about being and behaving like God.
Godliness is about being and behaving like God.
However, it takes God to be and behave like God (, )!
They mystery or secret to godliness is not about doing this or doing that. Nor is it about gaining this or gaining that. The mystery of godliness is God manifested in you just like He was manifested in Christ Jesus! The reason Jesus could say, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father” was because God was working in/through Him (, ).
Godliness requires the right power.
Godliness requires the right power.
Therefore, it takes power from God to achieve godliness ().
God’s power not only quickens us to life. It also quickens us to godliness!
Moreover, godliness not only requires power...
Godliness requires the right knowledge.
Godliness requires the right knowledge.
There’s a lot of knowledge out there, but not all of it will bring you to godliness (). The word “knowledge” here is not the acquisition of facts. This word means the full knowledge of truth, the kind of knowledge that can only obtained by acting on word. The reason men are unable to come into the full knowledge of truth, the kind of knowledge that helps bring men to godliness, is because they won’t continue in the word (, ). Unlike the false teachers, Timothy had fully known the truth because he continued in it ()!