The two main items dealt with in the writings of the apostle Paul are Christ as the life of the church and the church as the expression of Christ. The writings of Paul are in two sections. The first is from Romans through 2 Thessalonians. This section deals with the vision concerning the life and nature of the church, revealing what the church is, the content of the church, Christ as the life of the church, and the church as the expression of Christ. After this clear definition and revelation, the second section—from 1 Timothy through Philemon—deals with the practice of the Christian life and church life. The best way to present a message concerning a certain matter is first to give a definition, vision, and revelation of that matter and then to present the way to practice it. In the same way, Paul’s principle in his writings is first to give a definition of the Christian life and church life and then to tell us the way to practice this.
The way to practice the Christian life and church life is to exercise ourselves unto godliness. First Timothy 4:7 and 8 say, “The profane and old-womanish myths refuse, and exercise yourself unto godliness. For bodily exercise is profitable for a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the present life and of that which is to come.” The Greek word for exercise here is the root of the word gymnastics. Paul wrote this Epistle during the era of the Greek Olympics, which included gymnastics, bodily exercise which is good for physical health. Here the apostle Paul used this word to say that we need another kind of “gymnastics,” one that is related not to the physical body but to godliness. Bodily exercise is profitable only for a little, but the second kind of exercise is profitable both for today and forever, for the present life and for that which is to come. Therefore, we need to pay more attention to this kind of exercise.
What is the second kind of exercise in 1 Timothy 4? It is not the exercise of our mentality, for we have already received this from our schooling. From our youth we received learning for the exercise of our mind, through elementary, junior high, senior high, college, and even graduate school. Besides bodily and mental exercise, what other kind of exercise do we need? It must be that the second kind of exercise mentioned by the apostle Paul is the exercise of our human spirit.
In order to know what the exercise unto godliness is, we must first see what godliness is in the two Epistles to Timothy. The definition of godliness is in 1 Timothy 3:16, which says, “Confessedly, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was manifested in the flesh, / Justified in the Spirit, / Seen by angels, / Preached among the nations, / Believed on in the world, / Taken up in glory.” After the godliness there is a colon, indicating that what follows is the definition. Godliness is God-likeness, that is, God manifested in the flesh. According to the context, this verse refers not only to Christ Himself but also to the church. The previous verse says, “If I delay, I write that you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth” (v. 15). In principle, the church is both the house of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth, and the mystery of godliness—the manifestation of God in the flesh. While Christ was on the earth, He was God manifested in the flesh. Likewise, the church today is in the flesh, but God is manifested in it.
We need to keep in mind that godliness implies that God is manifested in us, the flesh. Godliness is more than simply having the likeness of God. After Adam was created, he had the likeness of God because he was made in the image of God (Gen. 1:26). However, without partaking of the tree of life, Adam was not able to manifest God. He could not express God in reality because he did not have God living within him. For God to be manifested in the flesh in a living way, for Him to express Himself through us, requires that He live in us. Often the newspapers print a picture of the President. We may say that the President is expressed in the newspapers, but he is not expressed in a living way, since there is no life in a photograph. Similarly, we do not express God in the way of a photograph. We are the manifestation of God and express Him in a living way because He lives in us. This expression and manifestation of God is godliness.
First Timothy 1:4 says, “Nor to give heed to myths and unending genealogies, which produce questionings rather than God’s economy, which is in faith.” God’s economy is His building economy, the economy for His building. Today God is building Himself into us. God’s intention as revealed in the entire Bible is to work Himself into man. In type, the forty-eight boards of the tabernacle were built into the overlaying gold (Exo. 26:15-23, 29). It is in the overlaying gold that the boards became part of God’s building. The boards were built up with the gold, and the gold was built up with the boards. Gold typifies the divine nature of God. Today we are being built up as one in God’s divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4). Similarly, the precious stones on the shoulder plates and breastplate of the high priest were enclosed in settings of gold (Exo. 28:9-12, 15-20). The stones were built into the gold, and the gold was built with them; they and the gold were built up together as one. This is the way that God’s building is constituted.
God’s work of building is to build Himself into us and with us so that we may be built together as one in Him. This is God’s building economy. The word economy in Greek is also the word for dispensation, or governmental arrangement. This dispensation and arrangement is for God’s building. God is dispensing Himself into His many children so that He may build Himself into us and with us so that He and we would be one. God’s building economy is the mystery of godliness. In the whole universe, this economy is a mystery, not only to the unbelievers but also to many Christians (Eph. 3:9). Many Christians say that God saved us simply because He loved us and wanted to deliver us from hell and bring us to heaven. Not many are clear concerning the mystery of godliness, that God’s intention is to dispense Himself into us and build Himself together with us as one. This is a true mystery, a mystery not only to the angels but also to man. However, through the revelation in the word of God, this mystery has been made known to us (Eph. 3:4-5). It is no longer only a mystery; it is a reality.