It Starts Small

Simply put, godliness is living a fruitful obedient Christ centered life. It is one of the seven qualities of living our our faith in Jesus Christ. There are sixteen references to godliness in scripture and all are found in the New Testament. MOst of them occure in 2 Peter and 1 Timothy. Our central focus verse is one of them:

But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.

1 Timothy 6:11

We have ventured these last few months in God’s Word on how to pursue love and righteousness, and now we focus on this month learning how to pursue godliness.

This month we are going to examine what godliness is and is not, the prerequisite for godliness, it’s barriers and potential influence, and consider how to apply godliness to our daily life.

Proof of our faith

The first scripture we are going to examine is that godliness is proof of our faith. Godliness is being faithful to our calling by doing good works for which we were saved. Our good works demonstrate our salvation and help us continually grow.

The initial act of faith and the the proof of faith are different but related. The book of James explains the relationship:

²¹ Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? ²² You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; ²³ and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. ²⁴ You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.

James 2:21-24

Abraham was justified by faith alone, but his faith did not remain alone. True faith is always accompanied by works. When Abraham places his son on the altar, he demonstrated faith in God. His obedience did not make him righteous, but it proved his righteousness.

Godly works are the evidence of genuine faith.

Today, let us do some holy introspection of our hearts. Are we displaying a genuine faith? Does our faith display works? or is our faith dead?

---