Order of Operation: Godliness

In the last message, perseverance was discussed. The next step in the plan Peter laid is adding godliness. When someone perseveres, they are typically working towards something. A state of godliness is what Believers should be trying to achieve. At first, one may think that sounds silly. How can we as flawed humans ever reach such a state? What would a truly godly human being even look like? Luckily for us, those questions have already been answered. God has already provided for us the model of a godly human in his son, Jesus Christ.

As we’ve mentioned before in this discussion, our goal should be to become more like Jesus. That’s what it means to seek godliness as a human being. Christians speak a lot about Jesus’ death and resurrection, as well we should. After all, it was Jesus’ death and resurrection that opened the door for our salvation. However, in our attempts to honor his sacrifice, we shouldn’t forget about the life that he lived prior to giving it up. It was during that life that he delivered the Gospel and set the example for how everyone who would follow him should live. So what traits should those that live like Jesus display?

First, godly people should be humble. Jesus was called the “King of Kings (1 Timothy 6:15),” but he came to this world in a humble manner, born in a manger. He maintained a state of humility throughout his life. He was God in the flesh. With such status, one might think that he would have lived like royalty. Instead, he eschewed the noble class and instead spent all of his time with the commoners of the time. He could have demanded to be worshipped as the deity he was. Instead, he simply took on the role of a teacher and allowed those around him to treat him as such. Several of his teachings revolved around humility. So as his followers, we should not act as if we are better than anyone. We should maintain a humble spirit as Jesus taught in Luke 14:11:

For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

Why is it so important that a godly person be humble? Yes, Jesus was humble and we want to be like him, but why is humility such an important part of godliness? Humility was essential for what Jesus truly came to do for this world.

“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” - Matthew 20:28

Jesus came to serve and sacrifice for those around him. To do that, he had to lower himself, and the same is expected of us. When we believe ourselves to be better or more important than others, it makes it more difficult to serve them. However, when we humble ourselves and do not see others as being below us, then serving as Jesus did becomes easier. The willingness to serve is one of the primary traits of Jesus that we should also exhibit. He made that clear when he washed the feet of his disciples (John 13:1-17). Specifically, he said to them:

“You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” – John 13:13-17

Jesus took that action as an example of how everyone should be able to humble themselves to serve others. If our Lord could serve those who were unquestionably beneath him, how can we, who are ourselves just normal humans, do any less for those around us? Jesus was not only willing to serve but to commit the ultimate sacrifice for his fellow man. Dying for our fellow human beings may not be the charge for most of us, but adding godliness to our faith means being willing to put others over self.

Perhaps the most obvious of Jesus’ traits was his sinlessness. He was perfect in that he always acted according to the Father’s will. Peter stated the following:

To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. “He committed no sin and no deceit was found in his mouth.” – 1 Peter 2:21-22

Even when being directly tempted by Satan himself, Jesus stood firm and did not sin (Matthew 4:1-11). Jesus was pure goodness, and in our effort to exhibit godliness, we too must work to be goodness personified. Avoiding sin to that degree is not easy, and our effort to emulate Jesus in that way is perhaps, more than anything else, the reason we must work so hard to build our self-control and perseverance. However, even with all the effort we can muster, becoming sinless like Jesus seems like an impossible task. It absolutely would be if not for the Holy Spirit. Because of God’s grace and Jesus’ sacrifice, we have been given access to the Spirit, which as we have previously discussed, helps in all our steps moving toward godliness. The Holy Spirit is the main reason that we can become godly even as beings made of flesh and blood. If we trust in the Holy Spirit, we should see sin as something that can be conquered.

No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. – 1 John 3:9

That verse does not mean that once we come to the Faith, we instantly become sinless. Earlier in his writing John says:

If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. – 1 John 1:8

What he is telling us is that when we choose to follow God and accept His Spirit, we have the means to escape sin. When we sin, it’s not because the Spirit fails us. It’s because we fail to follow the Spirit’s lead. In our pursuit of godliness, we must apply our developed self-control and perseverance to constantly and consistently acting according to the Holy Spirit, the God within us. Only then can we truly appear as Jesus did and add godliness to our faith.

There are many other traits that Jesus exhibited that we should strive to add to ourselves. What we discussed here is just a start, as we continue to gain knowledge about Jesus, we should focus on what we can do to be more like him. Still, becoming godly was not the end of the process prescribed by Peter. Exhibiting, he most important of Jesus’ traits in its truest form is the end goal. Becoming like him is simply the prerequisite to accomplish that.

Chris Lawyer
Image Courtesy of https://facebookcovers.iorbix.com/