Godliness Is a Vital Attribute With Eternal Significance

For the child of God, the meaning of the fear of God is not centred upon the wrath of God but upon the majesty, holiness, and transcendent glory of God. It is veneration and honor, reverence and awe. This fear is truly the foundation for godliness. It is the attitude that comes from our hearts adoration and love, reverence and honor toward this great and mighty creator.

As Paul wrote in his first letter to Timothy, his Testament, the entire book exists to help train the coworker, he instructs him, Timothy, to believer to be “trained in godliness”. “…train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come”(1 Timothy 4:7,8). This instruction shows us the true value of Godliness for a follower of Christ. Paul reminds us that Godliness is a trait that has a value not only in this world but also in the life to come. If Godliness is such a valuable trait, having an impact on this world and in the world to come, it should be a defining character of the follower of Christ. The purpose of the training in Godliness is to put on the new self and to grow in our Christian character. Godliness is more than just Christian character. It covers the entirety of a Christian's life. It is the foundation upon which we build the Christian character. The Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words defines Godliness as a personal attitude toward God that results in actions that are pleasing to God. Though the words godly and godliness appear only a few times in the New Apostles Paul and Peter spoke extensively on Godliness in their epistles. In his letter to Titus, Paul starts the letter by addressing himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ, as one being called to further the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness (Titus 1:1). He reminds Titus in the letter that God's grace “teaches us to say 'No' to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives,” as we await the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:11-13). In his first letter to Timothy, Paul continues to emphasize the importance of godliness. He reminds Timothy that we are to pray for those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. We are to train ourselves to be godly. We are to pursue godliness. Godliness with contentment is held forth as great gain and finally, godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. Peter in his letters, looking forward to the day of the

Lord when the earth and everything in it will be clues that the Bible provides us about Enoch's life. He destroyed, asks us to live holy and godly lives (2 Peter walked with God, and He pleased God. It is evident 3:10-12). Here Peter uses the most significant event of from these two statements that Enoch's life was all history to encourage us to remain faithful to our centred in God. he enjoyed a relationship with God Christian duty; to live holy and godly lives. and he pleased God. We could clearly say that he was All these verses highlight to us the importance of Godliness in the life of a Christian. It is not something that is reserved only for the Christian Elites but is something that is expected from every follower of Christ. The Bible reminds us that God has given to devoted to God. This as per the Bible is the true meaning of godliness. The New Testament word for godliness, in its original meaning, conveys the idea of a personal attitude toward God that results in actions that are pleasing to God. each one of us “everything we need for life and Devotion to God is the only motivation for Christian godliness” (2 Peter 1:3). This is a promise that holds behaviour that is pleasing to God. This motivation is true for the least and the greatest of believers. We are the key demarcating factor between a godly person called to use those blessings provided to us in our from the moral person, or the good-hearted person, or practice of godliness. the zealous person. A God-centered lifestyle cannot be Devotion to God: Foundation of Godliness developed and maintained apart from having a strong devotion to God. Only a strong personal relationship Even though Godliness is an essential trait of a with the living God can keep such a commitment from Christian's life, many fail to be Godly as God intends becoming oppressive and legalistic. them to be. There are many reasons for the lack of emphasis and the practice of godliness but the primary reason for the failure can be attributed to the foundations of Godliness that they build their lives upon. For many Christians, the motivation for being godly can be attributed to pleasing their pastors, It is sad to note that many Christians do not have this atmosphere of godliness about them. They may be devoted to a vision or to a ministry, or to their own reputation as a Christian, but not to God. Only true devotion to God always results in godly character. making themselves look good in front of other Three elements of Devotion to God believers and even to make themselves feel that they Devotion is not an activity but is an attitude toward are better than other Christians. All these are God. This attitude is composed of three essential motivations of the flesh and are bound to fail. elements; namely the fear of God, the love of God, the As we look into the early pages of the Bible, we can find desire for God a person called Enoch who “walked with God.” We know very little about his life but that little information about him speaks volumes about his life. The author of Hebrews gives Enoch a place in his great “Faith's Hall of Fame” in chapter 11. He is described as the “one who pleased God.” Here are two important A. Fear of God The Christian professor John Murray said, “The fear of God is the soul of godliness.” Yet the fear of God is a concept that seems to be old-fashioned and outdated to many modern-day Christians. Although the

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concept of the fear of God is spoken about a lot in the How much we appreciate God's love is determined by Old Testament, it would be a mistake to assume that it how deeply we fear Him. The more we see God in His is not important in the New Testament. One of the infinite majesty, holiness, and transcendent glory, the blessings of the new covenant is the implanting in more we will gaze with wonder and amazement upon believers hearts the fear of the Lord (Jeremiah 32:40). His love poured out at Calvary. The deeper our perception of God's love to us in Christ, the more Paul and Peter both use the fear of the Lord as a motive profound our reverence and awe of Him and more the to holy and righteous living (2 Corinthians 7:1, commitment we would have in our life to be godly.Ephesians 5:21, Colossians 3:22, and 1 Peter 1:17). It Only if we have the right motivation for Godliness, can we engage in the practice of Godliness daily in our lives. The devotion to God is the foundation for all Godliness. It is characterised by having the fear of God, the love of God and the desire for God. “ was prophesied of Jesus in Isaiah “…he will delight in C. Desire for God the fear of the Lord” (11:3). All these example stand to show us the importance of the Fear of God is for our godliness. True godliness produces a longing for God himself and creates a longing to enjoy God's presence and fellowship. In the Bible, David yearned intensely for For the child of God, the meaning of the fear of God is God Himself that he might enjoy his presence and His not centred upon the wrath of God but upon the beauty (Psalm 27:4). He David enjoyed dwelling upon majesty, holiness, and transcendent glory of God. It is the majesty and greatness, the holiness and goodness veneration and honor, reverence and awe. This fear is of God. truly the foundation for godliness. It is the attitude that comes from our hearts adoration and love, reverence and honor toward this great and mighty creator. It is impossible to be devoted to God if one's heart is not filled with the fear of God. There exist a We are all created to be satisfied by God alone. Only he can satisfy the true longing of our hearts. A Godly person recognized that and yearns for more and more of his presence and fellowship. He is never satisfied healthy tension in the godly person's heart between with his present experience of God. He always yearns the reverential awe of God in His glory and the for more. As he contemplates the awesomeness of childlike confidence in God as heavenly Father. God's infinite majesty, power, and holiness, and then Without this tension, a Christian's confidence can as he dwells upon the riches of His mercy and grace easily degenerate into familiarity and contempt. poured out at Calvary, his heart is captivated by this The Reverend Albert N. Martin has said that the One who could love him so. essential ingredients of the fear of God are (1) correct This longing for God is the one that produces a desire concepts of the character of God, (2) a pervasive sense to glorify God and to please Him. The apostle Paul also of the presence of God, and (3) a constant awareness experienced this longing for God: “I want to know of our obligation to God. If we have some Christ ...” (Philippians 3:10).In the same breath, Paul comprehension of God's infinite holiness and His expresses the desire to know Christ as well as to be like hatred of sin, coupled with this pervasive sense of Him. This is God's ultimate objective for us and is the God's presence in all of our actions, yes, even our fruit of the Spirit's work in us. thoughts, then such a fear of God must influence and Only if we have the right motivation for Godliness, can regulate our conduct to be godly. we engage in the practice of Godliness daily in our B. Love of God lives. The devotion to God is the foundation for all Only the God-fearing Christian can truly appreciate the love of God. As we are awakened to the big gap in our holiness compared to the Almighty God and the love of God that help bridge that gap through the death Godliness. It is characterised by having the fear of God, the love of God and the desire for God. The fear of God, which is an attitude of reverence and awe, veneration and honour toward God, coupled with a of the Lord Jesus Christ, our hearts are filled with love revelation of God's deep love for us through the for God. Only a godly person will never forget that they atoning death of Christ can only produce within our were at one time the object of God's holy and just souls an intense desire for this One who is so awesome wrath; the wrath which he, a sinner, should have in His glory and majesty and yet so abounding in His borne but was displayed totally upon the Son of God. love and mercy. Kingdom Perspectives | Sep-Oct 2020