Godliness
1 Timothy 6:11
But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
As a man of God, Timothy was told to follow after, or pursue,
godliness. The Greek word used for godliness in this verse is eusebeia.
Eusebeia is a real, true, vital spiritual relationship with God and is
the opposite of threskeia (religion) which relates to the acts of
religious observances or ceremonies. Religion is an outward act
performed by sense knowledge man in an attempt to show God or others his
piety. Godliness is a true spiritual relationship which comes from
having holy spirit within and walking with God.
The book of
Timothy was written to a young leader in the body of believers to whom
Paul was passing on much of the responsibility of keeping the Word alive
and moving. Eusebeia is used eight times in the book of 1 Timothy.
1 Timothy 2:1-4
I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;
For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
We want to live honest, quiet, peaceable lives walking in all of the
true, vital, spiritual relationship with God that is available.
Therefore, God exhorts that we talk with Him, we make requests of Him,
we ask Him to intercede, and we give Him thanks when it comes to living
in this world where men are ruled by their own selfish needs and desires
and where men have authority over us via governments. It is by
exercising our true, vital, spiritual relationship with God in prayer
for those who have influence around us in the world that we are able to
live a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. We want
to walk in the abundant spiritual relationship that God has made
available without interference from the laws and rules of men. That
does not mean we do not live within the confines of the laws of our
lands. It means looking to God to keep our lands free from laws and
decisions of men that would obstruct our freedom to live according to
God and His Word. It means praying for kings and those in authority.
It means going to God and trusting Him when it comes to living in this
world. The focus is not on the act of prayer to show men how religious
we are; the focus is on the true, vital, spiritual relationship we have
with God that allows Him to work in the situations in our life that are
influenced by the men around us.
It is God's will that ALL men
get born again, saved, and ALSO that all men come unto THE knowledge of
THE truth. To that end we pray for men to believe and we walk with God
in that true, vital, spiritual relationship. For this is good and
acceptable in the sight of God who sent His son to save us and to make
it available for us to live our lives in godliness.
1 Timothy 3:16
[We are speaking of "godliness" here - NOT the identity of God!What is godliness(?), a verb of believing conduct, yea, a lifestyle - by definition: a true and vital relationship with God.]
And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God [WHICH
- the Greek word "ho" - means: Which] was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles,
believed on in the world, received up into glory.
"The mystery
of godliness" is the Greek genitive of origin and can be understood in
English as "The Great Mystery which produces godliness." The Great
Mystery is that which God hid in Himself regarding the spiritual
relationship that would be available to us in this day and
administration of grace. We are able to walk in a true, vital,
spiritual relationship with God today because of the fullness of that
which God made available to us on the day of Pentecost. The richness of
that which we received was so big that God hid the knowledge of it in
Himself until He revealed it to the Apostle Paul. It is the knowledge
of that which we received that produces a true, vital, spiritual
relationship with God. Here in Timothy, the Great Mystery is outlined
in this verse:
It was manifest in the flesh: On the day of
Pentecost it became available for all - Jews and Gentiles - to get born
again and have holy spirit within. It became available to walk in a
true, vital, spiritual relationship with God. The Mystery of what God
prepared for us before the foundations of the world was manifest in the
flesh and seen for the first time as the 12 Apostles spoke in tongues on
that wonderful day. A knowledge of that which came on the day of
Pentecost and how to operate all nine manifestations of the spirit in
our life produces godliness in our walk.
It was justified in the
Spirit: In the new birth all - Jews and Gentiles - are spiritually
justified. Because of the walk of Jesus Christ and our acceptance of
his substitution for us we have received from God justification.
Spiritually it is "just as if we never sinned." The Great Mystery
includes our justification. A true, vital, spiritual relationship
includes walking with God in the knowledge of our standing before God
without any sense of sin, guilt, or condemnation. The knowledge of our
justification produces godliness in our walk.
It was seen of
angels: Ephesians 3:9-10 says And to make all men see what is the
fellowship [administration] of the mystery, which from the beginning of
the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ
[not in text]: To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers
in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of
God, A knowledge of the Great Mystery of our administration is made
known to all, including angels and spiritual powers, by us: by the
church. A true, vital, spiritual relationship with God includes making
known the administration of the mystery to all principalities and powers
in heavenly places. It means walking a spiritual walk in which we
recognize the existence of spiritual powers in the world and the true
spiritual nature of life. As we make known the mystery of that which
God has given to us, the knowledge of this mystery produces godliness in
our walk.
It was preached unto the Gentiles (nations): Ephesians
3:8 says Unto me [Paul] who am less than the least of all saints, is
this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the
unsearchable riches of Christ; Unsearchable is untrackable. The
knowledge of what was to become available and that all nations - Jews
and Gentiles - were to be included was not trackable in the Word of God
given in the Old Testament. This mystery was first made known to the
Apostle Paul after the day of Pentecost. The grace of God given to us
is available to every man! A true, vital, spiritual relationship with
God includes teaching the world about that which God has made known unto
us. As we make it known, by preaching, the knowledge of this mystery
produces godliness in our walk.
It was believed on in the world:
Romans 10:9-12 says That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord
Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from
the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto
righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be
ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek
[Gentile]: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon
him. When we share with the nations what it takes to get born again and
receive the great benefits of the mystery some will respond by
believing. Making known the mystery includes taking action - believing -
that which you hear. A true, vital, spiritual relationship with God
includes believing the Word of God once we hear it. As we act on a
knowledge of the mystery of God, it produces godliness in our walk.
It
will be received up into glory: A knowledge of the Great Mystery of
the grace of God includes our hope for the return of Christ and our
gathering together unto him. As we walk in a knowledge of the mystery
of God we look toward our hope. The believers will be given new
spiritual bodies and meet the Lord in the air. It could be today! A
true, vital, spiritual relationship with God includes keeping our eyes
on the hope of Christ's return. Walking in a knowledge that we will be
received up into glory (as was the Lord Jesus Christ) produces godliness
in our walk.
This summary of the whole mystery was given by
Paul to Timothy to produce godliness in opposition to the religious acts
that all too often replace the true, vital, spiritual relationship with
God in many peoples lives.
1 Timothy 4:7
But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness.
In the context of this verse Timothy was told that some believers
would depart from the true, vital, spiritual relationship of godliness
and begin to teach others a variety of religious practices such as
forbidding to marry and don't eat meat. Religion is the OPPOSITE of
godliness. You cannot walk in a true, vital, spiritual relationship
with God if your worship consists of ceremonies and religious acts. The
Word of God calls these acts a departure from right believing,
doctrines of devils, hypocrisy, and profane old wives' fables. We are
to practice [exercise] godliness not religion. That does not mean that
we don't sometimes have a ceremony or stop eating meat for awhile. It
does mean that the things we do will be a reflection of what is right to
do at a particular time because our true, vital, spiritual relationship
with God is directing our paths. When the acts become more important
than our relationship with God then we are just being religious. What
we do outwardly should be a manifestation of our inward walk with God.
We do not practice religious acts to reach or please God. We have a
relationship with Him and we act because we already have access to Him
and we already are pleasing to Him.
1 Timothy 4:8
For
bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all
things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to
come.
We are to exercise [practice] godliness. In this verse
exercising godliness is compared to physical exercise of the physical
body. Physical exercise profiteth little (or for a little while), but
godliness is profitable for all eternity. It is OK to keep physically
fit - helps you have the energy to move the Word. But our physical
bodies are temporary. They wear out and eventually die. But our true,
vital, spiritual relationship with God is eternal. We have the great
promise of an abundant life now and all eternity to spend with our
heavenly Father. Which is more important: Our physical life or our
relationship with God? We ought to spend time exercising our true,
vital, spiritual relationship with God for that is profitable unto all
things and for all time.
1 Timothy 6:3
If any man teach
otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our
Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness;
Wholesome words - the words of the Lord Jesus Christ - doctrine - is
to be according to the standard of our real, true, vital, spiritual
relationship with God and not according to the commandments and
doctrines of men. Doctrine is how to believe rightly! What we teach
regarding how to believe rightly is to always be according to the
standard of godliness. The man who teaches otherwise follows this
downward path:
1 Timothy 6:4-5
He is proud, knowing
nothing, but doting [having a sick appetite] about questions and strifes
of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings,
Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the
truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.
It begins with pride. A man thinks he knows it all and has himself
as the standard for truth rather than God and His Word. The Word of God
says this man KNOWS NOTHING! Then he begins getting a sick appetite
for questions. He becomes hungry to question the Word of God and find
fault with it. He begins fighting over words. These actions produce
envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, and perverse disputings. This
man's mind has become corrupt and is destitute [without] a knowledge of
the truth. In the end this man comes to the conclusion that gain
[material abundance] is godliness. He thinks that a true, vital,
spiritual relationship with God is the same thing as having THINGS in
abundance. The Word of God says that when a man acts like this we are
to withdraw or excuse ourselves.
1 Timothy 6:6
But godliness with contentment is great gain.
In contrast to the man who thinks that gain is what godliness is all
about, a real, true, vital spiritual relationship with God and being
content with what God provides you is very great gain. No matter what
it is that you have or want in this life you can be content if your
focus is on your relationship with God. In Philippians 4:11 Paul said
that he had learned to be content in whatever situation he found
himself. He could live in abundance and he could live in need. The key
to contentment in your life is godliness. If your relationship with
God is such that He is the supplier of all your need then you can be
content with that which you have. Godliness with contentment is very
great gain.
1 Timothy 6:11
But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
In conclusion, pursue a real, true, vital, spiritual relationship
with God. All other things will fall in place when your walk with God
is right.
