PART 13 THE CHURCH OF GOD OR CHURCH OF MAN

HAVING A FORM OF GODLINESS

As Christians, what are we desirous of?

Is church a place where we call out God’s name but never get a response back from Him?

Is church a place where we try to behave better, but we truly don’t understand how to address areas of weakness, regret, addictions, etc.?

Is church a place where we greet those who attend in a kind way but don’t know how to help them in their temptations and easily besetting sins?

Is church a place where we perform our weekly duty, give financially as we’re asked, and yet live the rest of the week with the same carnal thoughts, words, and actions?

This characterized me in my younger years. I went to catechism, was confirmed, became an altar boy, followed the tenets of the faith, and yet something was amiss. I decided to attend other religions and what I found out was that God was someone that would be pleased with me if I obeyed the teachings set forth by those in authority which in most cases had to do with following certain dos and don’ts. I was as someone the following verse contests.

2 Timothy 3:5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

I had a form (outward appearance) of godliness. What is godliness? Godliness is having the life of God in our souls. Godliness is having an inward living power.140 And if all I have is an outward semblance, then what I’m actually doing is denying the power thereof. This means to deny that such life or power is here to be experienced or known.141

This is why I wrote this book. If you’re a new Christian and you follow the guidelines presented in this study, then you’ll find a Spirit-filled church and grow to spiritual maturity. If you’ve been a Christian for some time, having received the Holy Spirit, but this idea of being Spirit-filled has been a foreign concept to you in the church you’re attending, then you likewise can use the checklist and set out on a different course.

And finally, if God’s power has never been experienced in your life at any time. If you’ve never heard of the gospel of Christ but are going to church, then you sound like how I was, i.e., a religious young man without knowing God personally. If this is indeed the case concerning yourself, then I’ll leave you with a prayer to recite quietly or out loud. This will allow you to embark on a spiritual journey that begins by receiving God into your life by means of the person of the Holy Spirit.

God the Father, I’m a sinner. I acknowledge and want to turn from these sins: fornication, stealing, alcoholism, adultery, homosexuality, drug addiction, polygamy, pedophilia, incest, etc.

I believe in your Son, Jesus, one of the members of the Trinity, the others being God the Father and God the Holy Spirit, who left heaven and came to earth, God incarnate (God come in the flesh), deity (possessing a divine nature), being born of a virgin, that lived a sinless life, died on a cross paying for and forgiving me of all my sins, rose again after three days never to die again, and ascended into heaven.

 If you’ve said this prayer, then the Holy Spirit has now come into your life to provide you with His guidance, influence, the conviction of sin, spiritual qualities, presence, promptings, etc. to help you experience this new life that you’ve received.

In closing, may the words of this verse become a reality in all of our lives?

Ephesians 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

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Endnotes

140Adam Clarke’s Commentary Pc Study Bible version 5, 2004. BIBLESOFT. WEB. 21 February 2022

˂http://www.biblesoft.com>.

141Adam Clarke’s Commentary Pc Study Bible version 5, 2004. BIBLESOFT. WEB. 21 February 2022

˂http://www.biblesoft.com>.