But refuse profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness. For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come (I Timothy 4:7-8).
Callings in Scripture appear in a number of unique and specific contexts covering the lifetime of a Christian. There is the calling to God-consciousness that comes to a child early in life, gently echoing through a variety of circumstances appointed of the Lord. A definite call to “Come unto Me” is that calling which brings the soul to the threshold of the New Birth. As the Christian continues in his or her walk with God, there will be the commanding call, “For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness” (I Thessalonians 4:7). The Scriptures also declare callings to specific ministries for one’s life; these may include callings to be a pastor, preacher, teacher, missionary, or evangelist.
Strongly interwoven through the Word of God are also commands couched in a call from grace specifically about one’s life in Christ. It is a command-calling concerning how the life should be lived before the Lord. One such command-calling is found in First Timothy 4:7 and summons the whole life to a spiritual pattern of living.
But refuse profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness.
Exercise Thyself
In the context of First Timothy 4:7, the Apostle Paul calls Timothy away from the trivia that tends to surround religion and draws him to this crucial command, “exercise thyself rather unto godliness.” The word exercise is a very delicate Greek word meaning “to strip or to make naked.” It is a metaphor for runners, for wrestlers, for those in athletics in whose heart and mind there must be a resolve to put off all those things that would diminish or hamper strength and power in the match or race. It is a laying aside of any constrictions that would hinder one’s purpose. In this passage Paul declares to Timothy, “You must let godliness be the object of all your care; it must, at all costs, be the object of your life. You must lay aside anything that hinders you. This must become the prominent principle in your life. To come to this I exhort you to strip away anything that will keep you from this one thing; you will have to focus your mind and your attention on this aspect of godliness for your life.”
The second word found in this phrase is thyself. My first spiritual concern as a Christian is for myself. I may have been called to preach and teach God’s Word as a minister of the Gospel. I may have been called to pour out my life in the preparation of young men and women to face the onslaught of this wicked, corrupt, apostate age. But rising above the multitude of hours in a day–physically and mentally pouring out my life in such a calling–there is something higher and of a greater imperative nature: the urgent care of my soul. Evangelism does not approximate the value of this necessity; regular visitation will never be a valid substitute; the consumption of time in study can never replace the daily care of the soul’s relationship with God.
My priority in life is the spirituality of my personal life before God. I have a burden for my wife and for my children, but one thing that must consume my life almost every waking moment of the day is the consciousness that I must personally and privately be ever preparing to meet my God. I cannot invest my life to inspire others in Christ if I do not have that inspiration within myself. This inspiration of God and for God must be controlling my life as I plead for it to do so in others. Heaven’s calling and command is for me to intensely pursue the exaltation of God and His holiness in my own heart.
The greatest accountability I have is my own life. I may give untold hours in a week to the ministry of the Lord. But there is something that rises above every person I love, every student I teach, and every soul to which I minister. This something is the priority of my concern and burden for myself and my walk with God. Is that selfishness? Or is that for the Christ within me? The Apostle Paul declared “For to me to live is Christ.” Such a declaration refers to the fact of Christ being the unfolding of his living every moment of the day. This spiritual realm is a reality when every moment of the day is in communion with God. This is the greatest way one exalts Christ in the life.
The Biblical New Birth and Its Life
Unto what is the Christian to exercise himself? It is unto “godliness.” This command-calling demands that I strip away from my soul’s living before God everything that would compete or hinder this godliness from controlling my life. Such a life is in another kingdom, a spiritual kingdom. No flesh can reign or attend this kingdom, for no flesh can glory in the Lord’s presence. Jesus Christ has come to reign within and He is eternal life for me. The contemporary philosophy controlling the modern church today has destroyed the full understanding of this matter of eternal life. It seems the only thing many are concerned about is that once they die, they will enter into the realm of eternity or a life in eternity. This is basically the message of modern evangelism. The famous question is, “If you died right now, where would you spend eternity?” Thus the hereafter becomes the greater burden in modern evangelism rather than the truth of a Christ-life presently to be lived on earth.
The phrase “eternal life” in the Bible is not simply referring to the duration of life or the fact that we will live for eternity. Eternal life is a quality of life to be known now in this life. It is not simply I will have eternal life in the future, implying that to possess that life I must first physically die. I am to have eternal life right now. It is not only a future life beyond the grave but also a present life that is of a quality not of this earthly kingdom. Life now for the Christian should transcend in its thought and living into the realm where God resides. Life is viewed from His perspective now, not Adam’s. This is the dilemma of a true backslider—he has turned from the quality of life in Christ and resorted back to the old life of the temporal, the mundane, the earthly, the fleshly, and the worldly. He has left the sphere of eternal living.
Who Is a Christian?
A proper understanding of the term Christian has fallen on hard times. The contemporary Church has its own definition of what a Christian is; however, it is a false definition that has allowed almost everyone who attends some kind of church to use the title. There is only one infallible, definitive revelation of who is a Christian, and it is found in the Bible.
The passages which give God’s definition of a Christian, or of being “born of God,” are found in the First Epistle of John. Each of the passages found there is in the perfect passive. The perfect tense is a combination of the aorist (the crisis tense) and the present (the continuation tense). Thus, there was a crisis in the past of a New Birth (John 3:3), but the work of that crisis continues to the present. Modern evangelism is only content with the crisis and not with the continuation of this divine work in the life.
The first of six markings of a truly born again Christian is found in First John 2:29:
If ye know that he [Christ] is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth [in the present tense] righteousness is born of him [God].
Oh, this is of great importance. It is not what I have professed or done for God for many years. The power of God’s birthing must be evident in the life. Such a birth power will give the evidence of the righteousness of God continually in the life.
The second marking of a true Christian is found in 3:8-9:
He that committeth sin [in the present tense; this is his living/practice] is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
If this birth power is truly within the individual, he will not be given to premeditated sin in his life. Why? “For his seed remaineth in him.” This phrase is either declaring that the Christian, God’s seed, remaineth in Him, God; or, God’s seed, the Word of God, remaineth in him, the Christian. Both would be true. Premeditated sin is the exception to the rule of the Christian (see I John 2:1).
The third mark of being born again is presented in 4:7:
Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth [and I have to keep that in the context of God’s true saints] is born of God, and knoweth God.
Again, all of this is present tense.
The fourth mark of being born again John declares in 5:1:
Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ [the Messiah, the Anointed One] is born of God.
A person born of God gives the evidence that he believes that Christ Jesus is Who He is.
The fifth mark of being truly born again is found in 5:4:
For whatsoever [or whosoever] is born of God [in the perfect tense; the power of the election in that man] overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
Such a person will be overcoming the world rather than being drawn into that from which he was to be delivered.
The sixth marking is found in 5:18:
We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not [it is not his practice to premeditatively sin; we read that in 3:9]; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.
This final mark acknowledges that we are responsible, at least in this context, for keeping ourselves. We are exhorted in Proverbs 4:23 to “keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” Jude 20-21 exhorts, “But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God.” There is a keeping that I cannot keep, and only God can keep. But there is a keeping that God will not keep, which is my responsibility. May these marks of a true Christian ever be evident in our living.
Unto Godliness
The Apostle Paul exhorts one to exercise himself unto godliness. This term godliness must be accompanied by a biblical presupposition, for some writers have replaced the term with the word religion. Typically, the broader base of Western civilization would readily respond to the Christian inquiry, “Oh, I’m a religious person; I believe in religion.”
There are two etymologies for the word religion. The first carries the meaning “to choose again.” Biblical history reveals that the first choice man made in the Garden of Eden was the choice of the flesh, the choice away from God. Thus, when man embraces religion, he is now making a second choice, not for the flesh or not away from God, but a choice to God, unto God, or for God. A second etymology for the word religion emphasizes “a binding or a knitting back again.” Isaiah 59:1-2 announces that what broke man’s relationship with God was man’s sin: “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.” Sin was the only thing on the planet that separated our Beloved Lord from His Father. Christ called Him “Father” at the beginning of the Cross ordeal and at the end. But when He was made sin at high noon, Christ could not use that title; it was the cry “My God, My God” because our sins separated Him from His Father. Sin intrinsically is the power to separate from God. Apart from Christ, we have no hope; Christ becomes the propitiation for our sin only if we turn to Him in repentance. True religion is the returning to God. “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water” (Hebrews 10:22).
The Greek word godliness in First Timothy 4:7 is eusebea, meaning “to devote one’s life well to God.” Godliness is a God-consciousness in everything we do and say. How can an individual be conscious of God in every decision he makes during the day? All tend to make decisions simply through self, and such decisions at times are costly and far-reaching. Therefore, one must cultivate in his life that in every decision made—if it is a hundred or a hundred and fifty a day—there must be a consciousness of God (Proverbs 3:5-6). Because the average professing Christian is not conscious of God in such things, godliness is not the consistent marking of his life’s character. It does not mean that he curses or blasphemes God; it simply means he does not bring God into the consciousness of his present-tense living. The past is gone; the future has not been lived. We only have the present moment in which to live; in that present moment we must live for Christ. We must make our decisions for Christ; we must pray for Him to be in that moment.
If this truth is not part of our moment by moment living, then we must cultivate it throughout the day. How can one cultivate this? One classic revelation is made after the occasion of the man who had gathered sticks on the Sabbath day (Numbers 15). His judgment was to be stoned to death in accordance to the word of God. The Lord then immediately revealed to the children of Israel (15:37-41) the need of sewing a “ribband of blue” into the hem of their garments. Why a “ribband of blue” in the hem of the garment? This young man’s sin involved the bending down and picking up of sticks on the Sabbath, which resulted in blaspheming God’s Law. So the next time one was tempted to bend down and pick up sticks he would see the blue, thus reminding him of the call to godliness. Three things were to come to mind: “that ye may look upon it, and (1) remember all the commandments of the LORD, (2) and do them, and (3) be holy unto your God” (15:39-40). What could be a “ribband of blue” to cultivate godliness today? It could include verses of Scripture on a refrigerator, on notebooks, appropriately on mirrors, or even the dashboard of a car. These little reminders placed strategically in life’s path call us and remind us, “Have you included God in your decisions today?” There will come a day when these “ribbands of blue” will have helped to establish a mind stayed upon the Lord. Eusebea is a consciousness of God in all that we do, “well-devoted” at any moment.
Conclusion
The Christian who hungers for this godliness must pray to God to be stripped away of anything and everything that will affect this godliness. Is the heart pursuing money, honor, a certain job, etc.? Or, even pursuing just self? What is my pursuit in life? A variety of things could encumber a Christian life from exercising itself unto godliness: pride, self-centeredness, preaching/teaching, exhorting for the wrong reasons, or studying for the wrong reason. There must come a day when God begins to strip away everything that hinders this godliness. We may respond that there will be nothing left if God lays my soul naked. Well, this is where God wants to bring us: that in His sight, we “are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do” (Hebrews 4:13).
Godliness or well-devotedness is also specifically tied up in the word worship. Worship must become the moment by moment attitude of the heart. Worship comprehends all that respect which a man owes to God and that he gives to God. Worship to God is both external and internal. Men in the Old Testament who fell on their faces before God were revealing the heart attitude of eusebea. However, there must also be internal worship of loving God and trusting God at every moment, delighting in Him, and even knowing deep sorrow at times for offending Him. That is eusebea too. Those that worship God give Him their most intense love, their highest joy, their deepest sorrow, their strongest faith, their greatest fear. When Abraham took the greatest object of his love, his beloved son, to Mount Moriah, he told his servants, “I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you” (Genesis 22:5).
This “godliness” also may be likened to a sentinel guarding a gate or entrance, examining everyone that seeks to pass through. Why such intensity of protection? Because there is a king within! Some years ago while visiting Windsor Castle on a weekend when Queen Elizabeth II was in residence there, I was drawn to the presence of a guard dressed in his full soldierly regalia standing as a sentinel at a door. He stood impressively with a machine gun in his hand. Some yards away was a white line drawn on the pavement accompanied by an obvious sign warning that no one was to cross that white line. At that moment some visiting teenagers began to toy with the soldier as they threatened to cross the line. He just stood there until finally one young man did cross the line. Immediately, the machine gun came down from his shoulder as his strong voice demanded the youth get back behind the line.
One may wonder why he was so serious about this matter. Well, there was a queen behind the door, and he was ready to protect her at all cost. Oh, that we as God’s people would have such a tenacity of heart to never allow petty things, grieving things, and sorrowful things to come to our soul. How much more victorious our lives would be if such a vigilant sentinel attitude, standing at the door of our heart, controlled us. Such a life would cry out, “I refuse to allow anything to disturb my king.” That is biblical eusebea. It is the worshiping of my God in inward motions of the heart and the outward actions of my life. It is where all the springs of my affections and conversation run clear; this is true godliness. It is my moment by moment living in His presence—to please Him.
A warning arises from Ezekiel 43:7-8 to us who live in the End Time of the Last Days:
And he said unto me, Son of man, the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever, and my holy name, shall the house of Israel no more defile, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoredom, nor by the carcases of their kings in their high places. In their setting of their threshold by my thresholds, and their post by my posts, and the wall between me and them, they have even defiled my holy name by their abominations that they have committed: wherefore I have consumed them in mine anger.
This is the delusion of the hour! The Institutional Church believes it can build another threshold of entrance into God’s Kingdom, another post of the Cross erected, or another wall to keep us from the full holiness of God for our lives. We need walls of biblical separation established in Christianity today, but many tend to make up their own wall and place it beside God.
“Exercise thyself unto godliness” is the call. May godliness be a precedent in all of our actions. Even down to old age, when the body is declining, may we ever be pursuing godliness right down to the last moment of life on this earth, when even at that late hour God will be stripping away the final shreds of hindrance to bring us to the full reality of Christ in the life.