Those who truly know God will express God. This is the life of godliness. Godliness itself is a great mystery. From the time God was manifested in the flesh (1 Tim. 3:16), this great mystery has been revealed. Oh, Jesus the Nazarene was God being manifested in the flesh! This glorious One who is both God and man has manifested God’s holy and glorious life. Today, this life is in us and it will also be manifested through us. The purpose of the law of God’s life moving in us is to fulfill this requirement. We know that godliness is not some kind of mortification but rather a sense of life. Godliness is the nature of God’s life. Therefore, when the Apostle Paul said that those who belong to the Lord should pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and meekness, he included godliness (1 Tim. 6:11).
When we were regenerated, God, according to His divine power, gave to us all things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Pet. 1:3). Also, this godliness has the promise of the present life and of the life which is coming (1 Tim. 4:8). We know that what the Lord promises us is eternal life (1 John 2:25; Titus 1:2). When we believe in the Son of God, we receive this eternal life (1 John 5:13). However, to live out this eternal life today, to express this eternal life in our thoughts, words, attitude, and actions, depends upon the power of the moving of this life within us. Therefore, the Apostle Paul said: “We have set our hope on the living God, Who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe” (1 Tim. 4:10).
Within us we already have the godly life of God, but to manifest the nature of this life, we need to exercise ourselves unto godliness (1 Tim. 4:7). We know that fear of God is a matter of attitude. This means that we are afraid of having our self in anything we do. We are afraid to sin against God. On the other hand, godliness means that we let God come forth in everything we do. To exercise ourselves unto godliness, on the negative side, means to deny all ungodliness (Titus 2:12), things which do not conform to God. On the positive side, we need to let God come forth in everything. This kind of godliness is not some kind of mortification. It is not a matter of closing the doors and ignoring everything, but it is a matter of abiding in the Lord according to the teaching of the anointing, and learning to let the law of life manifest the nature of God’s life in our daily life (1 Tim. 2:2). This kind of exercising unto godliness is more profitable than bodily exercise.
Although today we cannot experience this eternal life completely, if we experience it day by day, one day we will be completely like Him when our body has been redeemed, and we will fully enjoy this eternal life. This is God’s eternal purpose. This is the glory of the new covenant. We need to praise the Lord with a heart full of expectation.
We also need to realize that there is one thing which is unavoidable to all that would live godly in Christ Jesus. Paul told Timothy, “But you have closely followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, endurance, persecutions, sufferings, which happened to me in Antioch, in Iconium, in Lystra; what persecutions I bore...” (2 Tim. 3:10-11). Someone might think that it was because Paul was an apostle that he could not avoid such persecutions, but Paul continued, “And indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (v. 12).
Not only can an apostle not avoid persecution, but, without exception, any one who is determined to live godly in Christ Jesus will also be persecuted. If in our daily life we will be just a little accommodating, a little complacent, a little clever and tactful, wise to protect ourselves, go along with the worldly customs, mingle with others, give in concerning the truths, and compromise with those who are not willing to pay the price; if we would just please others at the cost of truth, not seeking the inner voice, and not obeying the inner sense, then we may be a Christian, but we will be a Christian without persecution. For who would persecute us if we are the same as everyone else?
We should not think that those Christians who have suffered much persecutions are those who have the ill fortune to be born at the wrong time and who have been destined to encounter oppositions. On the contrary, the fact is that those Christians who do not suffer persecution are the ones who would not live godly in Christ Jesus; otherwise, persecution would be unavoidable. For this reason a believer once said, “The most spiritual believers are seamed with scars; martyrs have put on their crown glittering with fire.” But we need not be fearful, for either the Lord will empower us, making us able to endure, or He will deliver us from all the sufferings (1 Cor. 10:13; 2 Cor. 1:8-10; 2 Tim. 3:11).
Here also we need to mention that exercising unto godliness, or living godly in Christ Jesus, is a spiritual pursuit and an overflow of life. Some manifestations of such exercise are normal and need not be mentioned here. But we will mention certain manifestations which may be considered sick conditions and which are defects.
Some Christians, it seems, were born lazy. They neither like to labor nor to work. They use prayer and spiritual words as a shelter for their laziness. A brother told us of a certain sister who did not like to do things. Either she would have the excuse of not knowing how to do it or she would have the excuse of not having the strength to do it. At one point someone arranged for her to pick some flowers from the garden every day and arrange them in a vase. After a few days she stopped doing it, saying that it was not spiritual. This is a sick condition. This is not godliness.
Some Christians think that godliness means to be rigid. Such rigidness makes them appear artificial. One brother met a certain one who, whenever he would say a few words, would bow down his head, or raise up his head to look up into the heavens. This person was pretending to be godly. The brother who related this incident said he felt like shouting to him, “Brother, stop this nonsense!” We know what life is; it is spontaneous. It is hard for the spirit of a rigid person to come forth, and so God cannot come forth either. Therefore, whenever we exercise ourselves unto godliness, we should be living and fresh. It must be God who comes forth in our words and in our attitude.
We mentioned previously, that if we live godly in Christ Jesus we will be persecuted. This means that those who will not sin against God in order to please men will encounter persecutions. This is not to say, however, that we may be negligent in love and in courtesy toward others.
A certain sister was taking a walk in the mountains. There came another sister who greeted her and asked where she was going. She looked up into the heavens and coldly answered, “I am going to see God.” Let us not think that such a self-assumed godliness and such a cold, hardhearted attitude will ever attract others to long after God.
Some Christians who admire Madame Guyon and Brother Lawrence (who practiced the presence of God) seek to practice godliness as they did. This is something to be respected. It is even desirable. However, unfortunately, there are others who imitate them and become passive. Why do we say that they learn yet fall into passivity? Because they often cannot hear what others say. It is right to ignore people’s gossip, but to ignore the important things said by others is an insult to them. Those who practice godliness and become passive also cannot understand what others say, nor show any concern for the affairs of others. Yet they think they are enjoying the presence of God. If this were normal, then how could Brother Lawrence handle the affairs in the midst of the noise and clatter of his busy environment? If someone asked him for a plate and he gave them a spoon, if he could not hear their first request nor understand their repeated request, would it not be a hardship for others? Therefore, we must say that it is not normal to practice godliness by being passive.
Brothers and sisters, our Lord is the Word who became flesh and tabernacled among us, full of grace and reality (John 1:14). This is a great revelation of godliness. Paul, who told Timothy that only godliness is profitable for all things (1 Tim. 4:8), is the one who said, “Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is caused to stumble, and I burn not?” (2 Cor. 11:29). He also worked with his own hands (1 Cor. 4:12), and he labored more abundantly than all the apostles (1 Cor. 15:10). Oh, brothers and sisters, this is our example. We should respect Paul and learn of him.