(2 Peter 1:1) Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: (2) Grace and peacebe multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, (3) According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: (4) Whereby are given unto us exceedinggreat and precious promises: that by these ye might bepartakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. (5) And beside this, giving all diligence, add to yourfaith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; (6) And toknowledgetemperance; and to temperance patience; and to patiencegodliness; (7) And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. (8) For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Years ago we used to sing choruses like, "When you're saved and you know it, then you're life will surely show it." In other words, when there is a change inwardly, there will indeed be changes outwardly. The outward characteristics of the inward change is what is meant by the term godliness. We do fast, pray, give, serve, attend, etc., but not to gain something, but to give something. These things for the true believer are outward expressions of inward grace. CONSIDER:
GODLINESS
The word eusébeia literally means well-directed reverence, but does not imply an inward, inherent holiness. It is actually an externalized piety. Paul uses it only in the pastoral epistles.
In Acts 3:12, Peter denies that he healed the lame man in his own power and eusébeia, i.e., his good standing with God apart from his faith in Jesus Christ.
In Acts 10:2, Cornelius is called eusebés, devout and fearing God. A soldier who attended to Cornelius is also called eusebés (Acts 10:7).
When Paul came to Athens and spoke to the Athenians who certainly were not believers, but worshiped idols, he used the verb eusebeíte, to show piety, respect (Acts 17:23). An unbeliever in the NT may be eusebés, pious, or may be asebés, impious. However, neither condition is díkaios, righteous, just, nor dikaiōthés, one justified or having God's righteousness imputed to him by Jesus Christ, nor pistes, a believer who is characterized by the exercise of pistes, saving faith in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. On the other hand, the opposite of eusébeia is asébeia, ungodliness, or, better still, impiety. Asébeia is a characteristic of unbelievers who have absolutely no fear of God and do not bow their knee even to idols or anything that is imagined to be beyond themselves. Therefore, while eusébeia can be a characteristic of both an unbeliever (with qualification) and a believer, asébeia can be a characteristic only of an unbeliever. The same is true with the adj. eusebés in that there can be a pious unbeliever and a pious believer, but not so with asebés which applies only to an unbeliever. Therefore, eusébeia, the demonstration of a good and worshipful attitude toward God when spoken of the Christian, is the proper attitude of reverence toward God akin to hagiótēs, holiness, sanctity.
In 1 Tim. 2:2, the word eusébeia is coupled with semnótēs, decorum, proper standard accepted by God and His people, propriety, orderliness, seemliness. Eusébeia here refers to the simple worship of the believer, and semnótēs refers to the proper attire of the believer. Neither should be flashy for the purpose of making an impression upon others.
When eusébeia is applied to the Christian life, it denotes a life that is acceptable to Christ, indicating the proper attitude of the believer toward Christ who has saved him. It is both an attitude and a manner of life. It is in this manner that 1 Tim. 4:7 says, "Exercise thyself rather unto godliness." It does not come automatically, but is something into which we must put effort. In 1 Tim. 6:11, we are urged to "follow after righteousness, godliness [eusébeia]." In 2 Tim. 3:5, we are told that it is possible to fake eusébeia, "having a form [mórphōsis] of godliness," an appearance and not the real thing. 1 Tim. 6:5 tells us that fake eusébeia may be used for personal profit by false teachers. In 1 Tim. 6:3, we are told that there can be false teaching that does not lead to a holy life.
The holiness of life is an indicator of sound doctrine and teaching.
In Titus 1:1, we are encouraged to have epígnōsin <G1922>, acknowledgment or knowledge of the truth, equivalent to revelation, which, however, does not make us proud, but "according to godliness" (a.t.). This means that it should lead us to a holy life of submission with proper respect and reverence to God. In 1 Tim. 3:16, we are told that eusébeia is a mystery. This refers to a holy life resulting from God's incarnation in the person of Jesus Christ when that incarnation and all that it entails is truly believed. This is eusébeia, a holiness initiated in the life of the believer by Christ Himself through the Holy Spirit. In 1 Tim. 4:8, eusébeia is contrasted to physical exercise with eusébeia having a far greater and wider usefulness, while the latter has limited usefulness.
In 2 Pet. 1:3, we are instructed that our spiritual life and reverence toward God (eusébeia) are gifts of God. It is definitively designated as a Christian virtue in line with continence, patience, brotherly kindness and love (vv. 6, 7), and as part of a developmental process based upon an increased knowledge of God and how to please Him (2 Pet. 1:5). The fact that eusébeia is man's attitude toward God is indicated in that it precedes philadelphía <G5360>, love of the brethren, man's attitude to man. This is the reason why the translators have usually translated it "godliness." This differentiation between eusébeia (our attitude toward God) and our attitude toward man, as indicated by other words, is shown in 2 Pet. 3:11, "Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved [speaking of the termination of this world and the ushering in of the new earth and heaven {Rev. 21:1}], what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness?" What is translated "holy conversation" in Gr. is hagíais, holy, and anastrophaís, behavior in the pl. In view of the passing of the present age, we must behave in a holy manner and worship God acceptably.Complete Word Study Dictionary, The - The Complete Word Study Dictionary – New Testament.
Once again we learn that in the FLOW of the fulness of God in our lives does indeed change our behavior, but the basis of that behavior is no longer FLESH, but FAITH which PRODUCES a likeness to Jesus who behaved as a man with piety, BECAUSE He had a faith connection with God, the Father. We, too, who are true believers have this connection.
BLESSINGS!
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