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How Do I Grow in Godliness as a Christian? (Christian Character Series Part VII)
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Think about the Bible like you never have before. You're listening to Christian Questions. Access more audio videos and Bible Study resources@christianquestions.com Our topic is how do I grow in Godliness as a Christian? Here's Rick and Jonathan.
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Welcome everyone. I'm Rick. I'm joined by Jonathan, my co host for over 25 years. Jonathan, what's our theme scripture for this episode?
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2nd Peter 1, 6, 7 and in your knowledge, self control and in your self control, perseverance and in your perseverance, godliness and in your godliness, brotherly kindness and in your brotherly kindness, love.
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The blueprint for Christian character development that the Apostle Peter gives us in Second Peter, Chapter one focuses us on a profound series of steps we need to take in order to be more Christlike. With this blueprint, Peter lays out for us a ladder of Christian character development. As we examine it, we find that each rung of this ladder is vital to our success in climbing up to the next rung. In the last five parts of the series, we focused on one rung of this ladder at a time and worked on making the connections between what our foundation is and how each steps makes us more like Jesus. Now comes the sixth step. And this one. This one really begins to shape what our outward Christian character should look like. Here are the first five rungs. Let's recap for a moment. The first five rungs of the Apostle Peter's virtue ladder of Christian character. The first rung, the allegiance attribute of faith.
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This is the allegiance of our life's direction.
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The second rung, the allegiance attribute of moral excellence.
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This is the allegiance of our heart
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and these are important. Our faith in God's power and plan is our foundation. You have to have that foundation. Without a godly standard of moral excellence driven by that faith, by that foundation, everything else we can potentially build upon our faith would crumble, move forward. The third rung is the allegiance attribute of knowledge.
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This is the allegiance of our intellect.
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The fourth rung, the allegiance attribute of self control.
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This is the allegiance of our passions.
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So again, put this together. Moral excellence built on faith keeps our knowledge from being tainted by the agendas and the opinions of our world. Knowing God is true knowledge and this knowledge from forms what the pivot point of Christian self control should look like. Here we begin to build a genuine Christlike character with that self control. The fifth rung is the allegiance attribute of perseverance.
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This is the allegiance of our energy.
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Now perseverance is the regular restating and reapplying of our Discipleship decisions. It's the act of consciously staying the course and of faithfully bearing the weight of our assigned burdens. So, Jonathan, what's next?
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Let's look at two Peter 1:6 and in your perseverance. Godliness.
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Godliness. This is the sixth rung, the allegiance attribute of godliness.
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This is the allegiance of our character. The Strong's exhaustive concordance defines this word as piety. When we hear the word piety, we think of quiet devotion, personal holiness and a religious feeling of. But it's more active and visible. It's not merely being good or being religious. It's a whole life orientation toward God that produces visible fruit. You know, a practical way to think about piety is that reverence for God will reshape how you treat people. Devotion to God produces justice, mercy, peace, patience and integrity. And worship becomes a lifestyle. Why is godliness the next quality after perseverance?
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That's a big question. Why is it the next quality that follows perseverance? So now we need to keep this question in mind and we'll answer it as we go. There's a method to what the apostle is teaching us here. So when honored and followed, the self control and perseverance of a true disciple of Christ will combat our imperfect and sinful ways and will inevitably produce godliness. That's the key. Those things will produce godliness if we put all of the pieces in order to be godly is to have an accurate assessment of ourselves is to be humble as we stand in God's grace and give him the true allegiance of our very character. So again, godliness is a life of reverence, devotional behavior and seeking God's will.
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A good way for me to understand godliness is to see it as the result of of the last five attributes. This latter teaching from Peter is profound. Here's an interesting point. This is the second mention of godliness by Peter in this teaching. Peter opened with its importance in second Peter 1, verse 3, according as his divine power hath given us all things that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue, which which is moral excellence.
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You're right. Godliness comes up in this ladder as this sixth rung. But at the very beginning, the apostle is basically saying God's given us everything that pertains to two really important things. Life. And then the way we live life. Godliness. And again, that godliness, that reverence, that devotional behavior which is which Jonathan is 24 hours a day. Okay, let's Face it, it's not putting. I'm going to put on my piety, my. My godliness suit and then go to church.
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That's.
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That has nothing to do with this. And we're going to see that unfold later. It's something that is life changing. It's how we live our lives in reference to God. Godliness again, which is true character allegiance to God. It's the allegiance of our very character must be attained as a counterpart to the life opportunity that God gives us through his divine power. That's what it said in verse three that you just read. And it's something that doesn't come easily or automatically. It's something we need to strive for.
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A quick observation. No one is naturally godly.
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Yep. And you know what? If you think you are, take a look in the mirror and be honest. It's something that has to be developed. So let's look at the development process. Godliness. This true character allegiance to God is an integral part of the building process that we're currently working on with all of these rungs of this ladder that Peter has shown us. It's to be sought after above and beyond our earthly ambitions. So let's put it in the context this is to be striven for as we strive away from other things. Let's put this to Scripture, 1 Timothy, chapter 4, verses 6 through 8.
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In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine, which which you have been following, but have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourselves to the purpose of godliness, for boldly discipline is only of little profit. But godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. To add to our understanding of having godliness, this came to mind. It's seeing things from God's standpoint through the eyes of eternal eternity and the well being of all his creation. God's word shows us God's plan of salvation, that his kingdom comes on earth as it is in heaven, and he desires all to be saved. This understanding helps shape our character and
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that character has to be godly. And in this Scripture the apostle is telling Timothy, he's teaching them be nourished on the words of faith and of the words of sound doctrine which you've been following. Those are the words of the sound doctrine that create godliness in us. Our whole process of self discipline Self discipline comes before godliness. There's self discipline, there's perseverance and then there's godliness. Self discipline and perseverance have to have a target. Godliness is their target. So this process of self discipline and perseverance must be focused on the development of that true character allegiance to God, of that reverential devotional seeking of God's will on a daily basis. Developing, maintaining godliness leads to even more, even deeper growth. So let's continue now and we're getting a sense of it's gotta be built on truth, just like you said in the previous scripture. And we've got to put all of the other pieces in order. Let's go further because here's where the danger is. Godliness. This true character allegiance to God can seem, it can seem to be present in some, but it's really not there. Let's look at second Timothy, chapter three one through five and Jonathan. These are big important verses.
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But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come for men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips without self control, brutal haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. Let's pause here. First of all, this is talking about our day here and now it says in the last days. And you might say, oh yeah, I see it all around the world and it's true. But listen to who is being talked about. It's the so called people of faith, not humanity in general. Continuing with verse five, holding to a form or appearance of godliness, although they have denied its power. Avoid such men as these.
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So you're right, you have this horrific list and you look at it, say well, it's the world. But then he says, holding to an appearance of godliness. So he's saying that in the last days of watch out because there are, there is much false representation of what true godliness is. And they're putting on essentially a facade or putting on a show or whatever, however you want to describe it. We have to be careful that the godliness we are seeking after is genuine scriptural, humble God driven Christ like godliness, true godliness and Jonathan, here's how we can tell. True godliness grows. That's the first point, from the inside out. While its appearance can be mimicked, you can mimic godliness on the outside, you can't mimic its depth. That's what we need to be really, truly focused on here.
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Well, remember, Satan can appear like an angel of light. You know, these are Christians in name only counterfeits of Christ.
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And you don't want anything to do with the counterfeit. You want only to do with that which is genuine. So this is an important scripture to say. Godliness will be tested, especially in the last days. And that's kind of where we live right now. Godliness, this true character, allegiance to God, is part of the highest standards of true Christianity. Let's look at 1 Timothy, chapter 6. And we're going to spend some time in 1 Timothy, chapter 6. Let's start with verses 3 to 4.
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If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing.
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Godliness has to be built on the words of our Lord Jesus Christ and with the doctrines that conform to everything that is godly, everything that is reverential, devotional and seeking God's will.
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How?
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Through the fulfillment of living God's Word. Let's get it straight. Traditions are nice, but traditions may not be God's word. Godliness, true godliness comes from God's word. Godliness can outwardly and partially be developed and thereby be misused to pursue earthly gain. That's the thing you got to be careful of. Let's go a little further. Let's go in first Timothy, chapter six. Let's look at verses four and five.
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But he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth who suppose that godliness is a means of justice gain. This could involve Christian groups accusing other Christians of misrepresenting Christ if they don't share the same beliefs. That reflects evil intentions, control, power and hatred.
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And also it's talking about godliness as a means of gain. Godliness is never a means of gain. It just doesn't fit. And the proof of that is let's look at Jesus. Let's look at Jesus. What did he ever gain physically in life? Let's look at what the apostle Paul did. Let's look at the apostle Peter did. Let's look what the apostle John did. They plowed through their lives to accomplish the mission which was higher than earthly standards and earthly objectives. That's what we need to be looking for. See, all of this may look good. Okay. You know, godliness means again. Hey, that could be good. It looks good, but truly it's only evil. Just to diverge from 1 Timothy. For a moment, let's look at Proverbs 25:28.
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Like a city that is broken into and without walls is a man who has no control over his spirit.
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Godliness comes after perseverance, which comes after self control. It's no accident that it's here because it's the result of those things that are built on the knowledge of God, that are built on moral excellence, that is built on true faith. That's why godliness fits in this part of the equation. And now let's look at it in its appropriate application. In its appropriate application, our true character allegiance to God does bring great gain. Now it sounds like. Wait a minute. Did you just contradict yourself? No. Let's define what the great gain is. 1 Timothy 6:6 10.
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But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering with these, we shall be content.
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Pause right there for a moment. So the great gain is not in things. It's in contentment. It's in saying God is with me in whatever my circumstance, and thereby I am content. That's where godliness can flourish. It's not about getting. It's about being. It's about being from the inside out. Let's continue with verse nine.
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But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil. And some, by longing for it, have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
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So when we look at this, we can see the dramatic difference between godliness with contentment is great gain versus the temptation and snare of foolish desires and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. There's a tremendous difference between the two.
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Stepping away from our faith for a time to chase money seems harmless because we can always return later. But that, That's a dangerous lie. Many have followed that voice, wandered from the faith, and ended up with regret. The problem isn't money itself, but the way the desire for it can lure us away from what truly matters. Very few people can resist that pull, which is why the pursuit of riches becomes such a powerful trap.
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Yeah, it's interesting you brought that up, Jonathan, because earlier in my business career, maybe, you know, four or five years after we actually started Christian questions And we were doing radio. My senior director asked me to go on a business trip with him. And I went and, you know, we're talking about things. He was talking to me and saying, look, Rick, you've got a lot of talent. Because I was explaining to him, doing the radio program with you and all of the things that we're doing and just how excited we are. This is exactly what he said, Jonathan. He said, rick, he said, if you would be willing to back off from that just for two years, give me two years of your time so. So that I can work really hard with you and develop you. You'll be in such good shape that you'll be able to do that anywhere you want. It's funny, cause you're reading this description, you're saying this, and I'm thinking, yeah, I know what that looks like. My answer to him was very, very clear. And by God's grace, you know what? I appreciate the offer. I really do. And I'm actually flattered by the fact that you think that, you know, I have that talent. I said, but you need to understand that those things are what drive me to do everything else. And if I take those things away, I'm nothing. I'm not going anywhere. So I can't do that the rest of my career. Working with him, I was a disappointment. But I am not sad about that for a moment.
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No regrets.
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No regrets whatsoever. So the question is here, how careful are we to regularly and thoroughly avoid such snares? Because they can come up and they can sneak up on us. Let's look at Matthew 13:22, and the
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one on whom seed was sown among the thorns. This is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth. Choke the word and it becomes unfruitful. And Rick, the rich young ruler in Matthew 19, 16, 22 is an example of this.
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It is such a good example because he was incredibly wealthy. And Jesus basically said, sell all that you have and give it to the poor and come follow me. And he couldn't get let go. What happened is he. He could not let go of the emotional hold that his riches held over him. And that's what we need to be careful of. The emotional hold that these things can have and the attachment we have. There's nothing wrong with dollars and cents. There's nothing wrong with having possessions. But the question is, do they hold you or do you hold them for a specific purpose? That's what we have to put in order. We, when we look at what godliness truly is in our lives. Let's get back to 1 Timothy 6, summing up the Apostle Paul's admonition to Timothy to pursue the highest things with your whole being. This is how he is summing it up, 1 Timothy 6:11.
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But flee from these things, Timothy, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness. I added the name Timothy in the verse because Paul was writing to him, which makes it personal. You know, Rick, we were talking about this earlier. What if we insert our names in this verse, for example, but flee from these things, Jonathan, you man of God. This is truly sobering.
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And think about it. Able to be defined as a man of God. That is godliness. There it is. There's the definition. Can we be defined as men or women of God? That what we look like is that what comes out from the inside of us, out to the outside and to those around us? That's the absolute real key here. These admonitions to Timothy. He was a leader in the early church, and Paul was admonishing him toward godliness. But those admonitions, you're right, they belong to us as well. Am I able to be called a man of God? And if not, or if partially, the question is, okay, what do I have to do? What do I have to undo? What do I have to redo? What do I have to reapply to get my godliness, my reverence, my devotion, and my seeking of God's will all the time back in order and back on top and back moving forward. Let's think about Scripture in Ephesians, Ephesians 3. The power of this Scripture increases our perseverance. When our perseverance develops godliness, it increases. Let's listen to the Scripture. What we were just talking about, Jonathan, kind of comes booming out of this text. Ephesians 3, 16, 19 that he would
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grant you according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power through his spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth, the length, the height and the depth, and to know the love of Christ, which surpasses knowledge that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Rick, this is a perfect description of what godliness looks like. What this does not describe are individuals who first learn of Jesus and and only have an emotional attachment claiming Jesus to be their Savior. Don't get me wrong, While that's a good place to start, these scriptures are describing Christlike character development that's rooted in genuine internal godliness.
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And that's the key. It's got to be from the inside out. We know one of our brethren in Christ where his previous associations were really very much from the outside in. And they were like, you know, sort of checking the boxes. They were like, you know, okay, this is good. This is good that you're doing this. You're doing this. But it's not about what you're doing. It's about who you are. And think of it this way, Jonathan, you mentioned those who love God and love Jesus and are very emotional. And it's like a book. You're reading the preface to the book and you get excited what a great story this is. And we like to read that over and over because it's exciting. Well, you haven't started the book yet. The book is the content. The content is the development. The content is learning how to take what, what you see on the outside and feel so strongly towards, to have it drive you from the inside out. That's reverence. That's devotion. That's seeking God's will. That's godliness. So if godliness is our true character allegiance to God, as we've been saying over and over, then complete transformation is in order by definition. Romans 12, 2 and 3.
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And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so. So that you may prove what the will of God is. That which is good and acceptable and perfect. For through the grace given to me, I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think, but to think so as to have sound judgment. As God has allotted to each a measure of faith.
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Don't be conformed to this world, be transformed. Why? Because you decided to? No, by the renewing of your mind. How is your mind renewed? In your faith you have to have that moral excellence. And in that moral excellence you have to continue to develop those pieces. The knowledge, the self control, the perseverance and the godliness. You have to put yourself in a position so that you are living, you are actually daily living the part, transforming as you go. The transformation can't happen like that. It has to happen over time and with effort. And falling down and getting up and falling down and getting up. We cannot prove God's will unless we're in reverent harmony with it. Reverent harmony. This is inside out godliness.
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And this reverence comes from the heart rather than fulfilling an external responsibility like you mentioned before, don't just check off the boxes. Put your heart into godliness and be genuine.
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Sometimes we can question ourselves, well, am I really being genuine? And here's the key to that. If we have a question, bring it before God in prayer and say, lord, show me if I'm not being genuine. Show me how to be more genuine so that I can serve and honor you. Because faking it doesn't honor God. You might look good to somebody else, but you're not honoring God. And godliness, by definition is living in harmony with God's will, God's way, and that's how we honor Him. Let's begin to put this all together. Finally, the apostle Peter brings godliness up again in the third chapter of his second letter. And it's a clear and powerful conclusion to these attributes of loyalty that we've been talking about. So let's jump to Second Peter, chapter three, verses ten and eleven.
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But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and. And the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Let's take a moment to consider what Peter is saying. He says the current world and its order will eventually be removed. We know that the collapse of Satan's present evil world will come, and God's kingdom of love and peace will ultimately fill the earth. Let's continue with verse 11. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy
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conduct and godliness, since these things are going to happen? Those are the prophecies. We see them beginning to unfold. You look at that and say, okay, since these are going to happen, the apostle asked the question, what kind of person are you going to be? And he doesn't stop there. What kind of person are you going to be in holy conduct, Holy, sanctified, set apart conduct and godliness? Reverence, devotion, seeking God's will. So when things start to collapse around you, will you maintain that high level of humility and God focus? That's the real key here.
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We have come to the question we asked in all of our Christian character series. Why is this quality, this next rung of the ladder? Why is godliness the. The next quality that follows? Perseverance?
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It's such an important question because Peter is doing this with great intention. So let's go back a couple of rungs. Self control needs perseverance to be effective. Okay, self control can be great, but if there's no perseverance, it's going to fall flat on its face. Self control needs perseverance to be effective. And perseverance is most effective when there is a clearly defined objective. If you don't have a clearly defined objective, your perseverance is going to lose its objectivity. Well, godliness is that clearly defined objective. Our true character allegiance to God is what our perseverance should be pushing us towards every single day of our lives. That's why it follows perseverance, because it's the character development that honors God always, in all circumstances. Jonathan, let's go to one more scripture to put this in order, because godliness is not just something that we develop on the inside, but it has to show. It has to show. It's got to be a part of who we are, and we can't be hiding it. Matthew 5:16.
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Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
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So you notice that it's saying, they may see your good works and pat you on the back because you did such a good job. No, that's not what it said. Not even remotely close. It's not about us. It's about serving God and having others be able to see us and say, that is a God honoring individual. What honestly and truly, what better compliment could you ever receive than for someone to say, now there's somebody who honors God in everything that they do, and I really appreciate and respect that. What better compliment could you get that than somebody say, well, there's somebody who honors God, and I think they're full of baloney. Both are a compliment. You understand that, because honoring God is part of it. And that's what we want to be all about. Godliness, reverent devotion, and seeking God's will in all that we do and all that we say. So let's wrap this. Jonathan. The allegiance attribute of godliness. Go ahead.
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Godliness is the payoff of perseverance. When we are godly, the fight against our old selves, the world, and the devil can become quickly discernible and quickly remedied. For our very character is now always seeking God. True character. Allegiance to God is a foundational step in actually living as a true disciple of Jesus.
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And you know, that is really the point of everything this whole series that we're engaged in with these rungs of the ladder the Apostle Peter is giving us. The whole point is, how do I become a real, true, actual, authentic disciple of Jesus, how do I follow him? These are the ways that we follow him. These are the things that we have to put in place. So now as we go and review this, you know, second Peter 1, 6:7, in your knowledge and in your knowledge add self control. And in self control, perseverance. And in perseverance, godliness. And in your godliness, here's where we're going. Brotherly kindness. And in your brotherly kindness, love. There is an object that we have to get to. There's a place we have to go. And godliness, that reverent devotion and seeking of God's will every day, day is the way that we actually get there. We need to develop it. Think about it, folks. We love hearing from our listeners. We welcome your feedback and questions on this episode and other episodes@christianquestions.com coming up in our next episode, what does brotherly kindness mean for a Christian.