I've been studying and reading about this word godliness recently. And I've come to realise that many people have been living their live contrary to the word 'godliness' that was used by Jesus and various apostles such as Paul and Peter. Thanks to a curriculum that my dad wrote called 'Discipleship 200' under the chapter 'Kingdom Qualities', I'll be writing many things base on that, a very good book indeed.
The word 'godliness' in Greek that they used often in text such as 2 Peter 1:5-7, Titus 1:1, 1 Timothy 4:6-8, 1 Timothy 6:3-5 and etc. was the word eusebeia which means a true and vital/essential relation with God.
It is the opposite of the word threskeia, meaning an outward act of religious observances or ceremonies.
In Acts 10:1-4, we see a centurion named Cornelius that was a devout (Gk: eusebus) man which God was so pleased with that He sent an angel to tell him that his prayers and alms were acceptable before Him. In other words, this guy Cornelius was a person that went to church every week, never skipped any prayer meetings, gave his tithes and offerings regulary, reads his Bible everyday, probably fasted very often too and there was a special celebration, a festival you might say, in heaven because of his deeds. Seems pretty obvious hes a "godly" man and God sent him an angel to praise him coz he's doing all these "religious" stuff. But before we come to any hasty conclusion about what's upon God's mind, we see so often Jesus rebuking the superficial charitable deeds, prayer, and fasting of the religious people of Jesus' day (Matthew 6:1-17).
The final stage of maturity of threskeia is fanaticism. An extreme pride for one's conviction.
Now, the attitude of Cornelius was an important factor in the whole process. He was a eusebus man. He wasn't athreskeia sort of person. In Acts, you will come across that Cornelius did things because he feared God. In other words he didn't do all this things so people could see how "faithful" he was. He simply gave and worshipped because he had a true and a vital relation with God. He loved God because he loved God. Nothing more nothing less. He had a relationship with the Almighty God. A relationship that he understood was special to him and that it didn't matter what people thought of him but what God thought of him. He didn't give in to the pressure of what people thought of him. He didn't try to prove anything before God because he knew that he was already in a relationship. He wasn't doing all those stuff because he needed recognition. He didn't do all those stuff because he needed God to notice him or love him more.
Religion is working for something you already got by relationship. Cornelius knew that very well!
Godliness is always and will always be eusebeia. A wonderful relation with our Father in heaven, our Creator.
I hope your blesse by this note. For further in depth in thought of this subject, check out the 'Discipleship 200' book. I'll try to get better at my writing and maybe add in a few personal encounters of my own in the next edit.
Also check out http://skipmoen.com/2009/04/29/buried-by-desire/
You'll surely be blessed by this amazing teacher. God bless!
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