“Godliness!”

For much too long godliness has been defined, emotionally, by style and appearance. What comes to mind on this issue is Samuel’s interviews with Jesse’s sons. In 1 Samuel 16 after the prophet met Elias; God spoke at verse 7 “ . . . Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for [the LORD seeth] not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.”

Granted, we cannot look on the heart, so we must make some judgments based upon appearance. But to make a judgment of a person's relationship with the Lord, is to judge his heart without being able to see it! That is a very dangerous method of evaluation. Keep in mind what James wrote in chapter 2 of his epistle. 2:1 My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, [the Lord] of glory, with respect of persons. 2 For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; 3 And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: 4 Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? Those are very serious words in verse 4, “. . . ye . . . are become judges of evil thoughts.”

I have often used this illustration. Suppose a man comes to church wearing scrubby old work clothes and another comes in a fine suit. We welcome the man in a fine suit and ignore the man in the old scrubby clothes. The problem is the man in the suit grew up going to church, he knows the language and the dress, but there is a problem; he has never trusted the Savior. The other man however was saved the night before and is a believer. If we are not careful of our evaluations, we essentially can welcome an unbeliever to become part of our assembly, and ignore a believer in Christ.

In the teaching of Paul and Peter on godliness, you will find a progression from it's concept to it's application for our lives. Godliness is a relationship of the heart of the believer with His Lord, which is demonstrated in His daily walk and talk. 2 Peter 1:2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, 3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: 4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

We have a wonderful blessing of not only our salvation, but the fact that as a child of God we have been given all that is necessary to live a godly life. Our Lord has not left us to struggle with how we should live. Living for Christ is not a matter of trying to please someone‘s taste or style. Living a godly life is a matter of obedience to our Lord. He has equipped the believer to live godly. We only need to follow Him and His Word.

Certainly there is much more to say about godliness and we will continue to work on this word. Consider this, for now, godliness is not a matter of appearance, it is a matter of the heart. But keep this in mind, what is in our hearts is reflected in our words and our walk. Make sure you heart is right before God, and then live as He would have you live.

Have a wonderful day serving our Wonderful Lord, by Grace Alone!