Do we know what holds the promise for this life and also for the life to come? What will we give to receive this promise?
1 Timothy 4:8
for bodily 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.
Godliness is simply being like God, or being conformed to the image, likeness, heart, mind, and will of God in our whole being. In other words, to be godly is to be holy in our spirit, soul, and body, just as our heavenly Father is holy (c.f. Matthew 5:48).
So, according to teaching of Jesus and the writing of Paul, this is the godliness that holds the promise for the life to come, that is, for life everlasting.
Now, if godliness holds the promise for the present life and the life to come, then ungodliness does not hold the promise for the present life and for the life to come. In other words, ungodliness is unprofitable, since it will not unlock or realise the promise of life eternal for us.
The questions that we must ask, then, are as follows: What is the quality of this godliness, or what is the standard of “be holy just as your heavenly Father is holy” (Matthew 5:48), that will unlock the promise of our salvation? Do we have an example of such godliness in the Bible for us to emulate?
Colossians 1:15
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
John 14:8-12
Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.”
1 Timothy 3:16
By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh, was vindicated in the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.
Godliness says, “He who has seen me has seen God.”
Godliness is lived; it is imaged by one’s being. When Jesus was walking on earth, He was the mystery of godliness imaged to us.
In other words, the image, quality, and standard of godliness are no longer abstract or “spiritual”, but practically lived in holy conduct, tangibly in the flesh, in the midst of the people on earth.
2 Peter 3:11-12
Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!
Godliness says, “Walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.” (Colossians 1:10-12)
Indeed, godliness qualifies all who walk in a manner worthy of God – all who “keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight” (1 John 3:22) – to share in the inheritance of the saints for the present life and for the life to come.
1 Corinthians 6:15-17
Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be! Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, “THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH.” But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him.
John 14:30
“I will not speak much more with you, for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me;”
Godliness says, “Ungodliness has nothing in me, for I have not joined myself to ungodliness nor prostituted myself to sin. Thus, I hold the promise to be truly joined in one spirit and one flesh with the godliness of Christ in the present life and the life to come.”
Godliness qualifies the bride of Christ to be presented “in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless” (Ephesians 5:27) at the coming of the Christ, the Bridegroom, because the bride is foreordained to conform to His image.
Ephesians 5:1
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children;
Romans 8:29-31
For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?
Godliness says, “Be imitators of God, as beloved children of God, and be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the Firstborn among many brethren of the same Father who do the same works that He did, and even greater works than those that He did, through godliness.”
Since Christ is the image of the holy God, and we are predestined to become conformed to the image of the godliness of Christ, then the image and quality of godliness that holds the promise to our eternal life is the image and likeness of the godliness of Christ.
Not only does godliness hold the promise to our eternal life, it holds the promise of an all-prevailing church against which the gates of hell cannot prevail (c.f. Matthew 16:18), of an all-consummating church for the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth (c.f. Ephesians 1:10), and of an all-glorious church into which kings, queens, and peoples of the earth will come to the light of its wisdom and the rising brightness of its liberty (c.f. Isaiah 60-1-4; Matthew 12:42; Luke 4:18-19) – just like Jesus did and could do in the godliness of His flesh on earth.
Genesis 1:27-28
God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
God is for godliness. His mandate to Adam and Eve to subdue and rule over His creation, even over the serpent in the garden, is founded on the image of their godliness. “When a man’s ways are pleasing to the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.” (Proverbs 16:7)
Surely, if God is for godliness, then who can be against His godly ones?
This is the power of godliness for all who conform to the image of the godliness of God.
No prizes for guessing what happened to Adam and Eve when they lost their godliness.
Indeed, Jesus could not have done what He had done or could do without godliness, and hence we also cannot do what Jesus said we can do without godliness.
Godliness says, “I am the favourable year of the LORD in the heavens and on earth.”
The next question that we must ask ourselves is this: How did Jesus attain His godliness in His flesh, and did the works that He did on earth?
If we can imitate His way of attaining godliness, then we can also imitate and attain to the image of His godliness, do the works that He did, “make certain about His calling and choosing” of us (1 Peter 1:10), and receive the Covenant promise for the present life and the life to come.
John 17:16-19
“They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.”
1 Thessalonians 4:3-7
For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; and that no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification.
If God has called us for the purpose of sanctification in the truth, and if Jesus’ way of possessing His vessel in sanctification in the truth is also our way of sanctification in the truth that will conform us to the godliness of Christ, then this means that a purpose-driven life is a sanctification-driven life; for the assurance of hope of our salvation is in our sanctification, and we must pursue “the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14), not just for the present life but also for the life to come.
Therefore, sanctification is a salvific process of purification and transformation that will set us apart for the purpose of godliness in the image of Christ, so that we can attain to the promise of salvation according to the Covenant of God for the present life and also for the life to come.
2 Peter 1:2-11
Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, 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. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.
Here’s where the rubber meets the road: His grace and divine power have granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence; for by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them we may become partakers of the divine nature – like Father, like Son; like Son, like sons.
How cool is that for this life and the life to come?!!!
2 Thessalonians 2:13-14
But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Indeed, God has chosen us from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth, and it was for this salvation through sanctification that God has called us through the gospel which He first preached to Abraham (c.f. Galatians 3:6-9).
Godliness says, “I am the vine, you are the branches; for apart from me you can do nothing. I hold the promise for the present life and also for the life to come. Acquire me.”
As godliness is revealed in our flesh, we will be vindicated in the Spirit, witnessed by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, and taken up in glory on the Day of the Lord. (See the definition and purpose of ‘rapture’ in Tribulation, Rapture, and the Enduring Triumph of the Church)
This is the full gospel of Jesus Christ; this is the full assurance of our faith in Christ; and this is the grace of our salvation through Christ.
Ephesians 3:20-21
Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.
God is in the business of restoring godliness and its power on earth through the gospel, both for life in the present age and life in the age to come. This is the true eternal life – or more accurately, God’s kind of life – that Jesus has inaugurated through the Cross and resurrection.
Can you imagine the abundant power of godliness that works mightily through us and in the church when the brightness of our godliness rises within us like the noonday sun?
To help you understand deeper concerning how godliness is the centrality of the gospel, please read “It is Finished, and It is Finishing!“
Post-Script
We often quote or declare that “the LORD will make you the head and not the tail, and you only will be above, and you will not be underneath” without the antecedent condition, that is, “if you listen to the commandments of the LORD your God, which I charge you today, to observe them carefully, and do not turn aside from any of the words which I command you today, to the right or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.” (Deuteronomy 28:13-14)
In other words, God will NOT make us the head and not the tail, to be above and not underneath, if we disobey God, deviate from His commandments, or labour for other things instead of Him as first love.
So, for such declarations to avail much, we must first fulfil the antecedent requirement of faithful allegiance, truthful worship, and uncompromising obedience towards God – all of which were traits of the godliness of Jesus Christ; for only then “the effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much” (James 5:16), “according to the power that is at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20).
This is why godliness holds the promise – the promise of the power to prevail over all the enemies of Christ, and consummate all things in Christ, just like Christ – for the present life and for the life to come.
Post Post-Script
If God is in the business of restoring godliness and its power on earth through the gospel of Christ, then God’s business is our business, and Christ’s godliness is our key performance indicator (KPI).
Galatians 4:19
My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you—
True apostolic labour of apostolic fathers is to form the godliness of Christ in the members of the body of Christ, until every member attains to “the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13); for godliness will have the power to sort ourselves, our families, our churches, and our societies out, just as Christ had the power to do so in the godliness of His flesh.
This is one of the most fundamental doctrines and foundational processes that the church must lay again, and one of the greatest priorities that the church must undertake… for the great reset of the world.
As children of God, what are our greatest priorities in our lives?
As ministers of God, what are our greatest priorities in our churches?
Let us not faff around, but understand what the will of the Lord is (c.f. Ephesians 5:15-17).
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