The Identity of Godliness
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26 Jun 22
The Identity of Godliness
Turn to 1 Tim. 4. Last week we kind of examined what it means to reach our potential physically, spiritually, and emotionally. A big part of reaching our potential is managing or stewarding our lives. To manage our lives well, the Christian must come to terms with this truth –
We cannot manage well what we do not surrender well.
Until we surrender everything to Jesus, there will be parts of our lives that we hold onto and thus do not manage well. It’s a spiritual Biblical truth, because whatever we’re holding onto will not be under the guidance and blessing of God our Father.
The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;
To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
In the first verse, David admitted that everything belongs to God – every good thing comes from above. In the second verse, David acknowledged, in an indirect way that we can be stingy, that we hold onto things that don’t belong to us. And so he says, “To you, O Yahweh, I lift up – I offer – my soul to you. The Hebrew word here for soul has a very broad meaning. It can mean breath, throat, or life. So, what is David offering? He’s offering, surrendering His life – all of it. Again, we cannot manage well what we don’t surrender well.
Remember, we’re talking about reaching our potential in Christ, and specifically right now we’re talking about our identity. What does all this have to do with identity? It might be helpful to
Think of potential as being synonymous with Godliness.
or Christlikeness. That’s an identity issue.
So,
What is godliness?
Here’s the textbook answer -
Godliness refers to a person who is devout in practice and belief. It means to live according to religious standards and values.
As Christians we have God-given standards and values. There are things that we don't do and there are things that we do do because we follow Jesus. We do not have the authority or right to lower God’s standards. Too many Christians attempt to lower biblical standards, and that my friends is not godliness, that is of the flesh and the devil. We have standards - not legalism, not just rules to follow but standards for a better way of living and to glorify Christ and to show people they way.
Godliness refers to a person who is devout – devoted - not just in theory or in lip service, or a few hours a week, or when with certain people - but devoted in practice and belief. Devoted to God in every area of life – the physical, spiritual, and emotional – devoted in word and deed.
To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul, my life, my everything …. That’s surrender.
So where are you at this morning?
If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed.
Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness;
for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.
Understand, belief and practice, word and deed, faith and doctrine go hand in hand.
For example,
Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him,
but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him:
Belief, faith, relationship, practice, doctrine, obedience - all connected.
As we talk about potential and godliness and practice and belief, and our identity,
Keep potential within the context of a covenantal relationship with God.
Where am I going with this? We have the tendency to lean one way or the other. We can be devoted to practices and standards without being devoted to belief (relationship). Or we can devote ourselves to belief (all about relationship) without being devoted to practices. Both of those are on the far outer edges of a healthy covenantal relationship with our Heavenly Father. Avoid the extremes. The goal of godliness is right there in the middle – and that’s where we find our best identity. Jesus was fully God and fully human – grace and truth - the perfect balance. He’s the goal. So, really
Truly, the pursuit of godliness is the pursuit of Jesus.
What are you pursuing?
A covenant is a mutual agreement to do what is best for the relationship.
God is a covenantal God, but it’s not a one way covenant. It’s not all about what God does and it’s not all about what we do – it’s about God and us working in tandem, together, in relationship, in partnership, where both parties are in this together (practice and belief). We have a two-way reciprocal covenantal relationship with God, and there are Divine promises and personal practices that permeate the covenant that we must be mindful of as we pursue potential. Pursuing godliness is a joint effort.
Some may still think that Godliness or reaching our potential is about our performance, but it’s so much more than that. A big part of godliness is living by faith, by trust, by believing, practicing, by surrender. As I live by faith, and practice, and surrender God then plays a significant part in the development of my godliness or my potential through covenant. This New Covenant that Jesus made through His blood (John 15:15) means that 1) He gave His entire life for you and for me on the cross. He held nothing back. 2) He’s involved in my journey, He’s involved in my progress, He’s involved in my sanctification. Or perhaps I should say, He wants to be involved.
To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul, my life, my everything …. Maybe you’ve invited Jesus into your heart, but have you invited Jesus into your everything - every area of your life?
Listen,
There is a big difference between asking God to do something and inviting God into something.
I think
Godliness is learning when to say, “Jesus, walk with me in this ________.”
What do you need to invite Jesus into?
Lastly, and similar, another way of looking at potential or
Godliness is learning to respond to God and life as God would have us respond to God and life.
That sounds simplistic, but really that is a mark of a godly life.
A godly life is not about getting God to do whatever we want, but God getting us to do whatever He wants.
If you really think about it, that’s not so bad. How did Jesus live?
So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.
For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel.
whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
The more we learn to walk as Jesus, the more we invite Him into every area of life, the more we surrender, the more we manage our lives – the more our identity will resemble the identity God designed for us.
Again, the pursuit of godliness is the pursuit of Jesus.
Going back to
for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.