Pastor Buddy’s Blog

What makes a godly person, godly …

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Journal,

Let’s pick up with another study.

There is a four-fold reason? why Jesus came into our world. First, He came to give us Himself. Secondly, He came to destroy the works of the devil. Thirdly, He came to separate a people for Himself. And fourthly, He came to give His people one heart together. All four purposes can be broken into varied parts. But there is one word that speaks to all these purposes and that is the word ‘godly.’

Let’s call this study, What Makes a Godly Person, Godly.

The simple answer for what makes a person godly, is God Himself. The word for godly in the Hebrew language speaks of people who reflect in their actions and in their personality the very character of God. So, the godly people are those who have a personal relationship with God.

This is why we have to separate the term godly away from the term religious. Anyone can be religious. Not all religious people are godly. Paul actually warned that in the last days there would be ‘forms’ (appearances) of godliness, but these forms would be without godly power, that is, these religious forms would be worldly and without the true character of God in them. (You can always tell a fruit tree by its fruit.)

Sometimes God’s people flounder around looking for the best religion, or even a better religion. The problem is that Jesus did not come to give us another religion, or a better religion, or even the best religion. He came to give us a wonderful relationship with heaven.

In fact Jesus settled the argument about religion in His conversation with the lady at the well. Listen:

Lady - “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet, our fathers worshipped in this mountain, but you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship”

Jesus - “Woman, believe Me, and hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.”

The Lord goes on to say, “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshippers.” (Cf. John 4:19-23)

Jesus is saying that in the new covenant true worship will not be about the place. It will be about a heart alignment with God. This is why God’s people should never confuse the place we worship with true worship itself. True worship is deeply personal. It is in true worship that we experience oneness with God and with one another.

Why is it so important to understand this? It is important because it dismantles the very heart of religious division. Many sectarian groups do better at attacking other Christians than anything else. (Sectaranism speaks to that narrow-mindedness of a particular sect or party or denomination who see themselves as right and everyone else as wrong.)

This brings us back to the word ‘godly.’ The Greek for ‘godliness’ in simple terms simply means ‘good worship. (God-towardness.) Godly people have a true heart of worship and a true reverence towards God. This is why godly people cannot simply be religious. Religion is outward. Godliness is inward.

With this in view a point must be made — We should never credit a denomination or any religious group for making a person godly. A good godly Baptist would make a good godly Methodist, or a good godly Pentecostal, or a good godly Presbyterian. Certainly our Christian traditions can differ, but godliness will always be a thing of the heart. Godliness is the same with all godly people.

Jesus said that the true worshipers would worship the Father in spirit and in truth. Truth means realness in contrast to appearances. Think about it — If godly people live in tune with heaven, then they will also be in tune with one another. This is why godly people have no problem recognizing one another. They speak the same language. Their desires are one and the same. Their worship comes from the same heart of truth.

Are godly people hard to find? Not really. Godly people have the Spirit of God in them. They all share the same love for Jesus. This is why Paul instructed young Timothy to find those worshippers who have a pure heart towards the Lord.

Listen: “Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.” (2Ti2:22)

True worshipers are to gather with other true worshippers. We are to be cautious about sectarianism or any group that implies, ‘we are the way’ group. Every ‘we are the way’ group is divisive at its very core. These kinds of groups like to say that they are creating a unity. All they are doing is causing a fresh stripe upon the back of Jesus. (I take responsibility for this term.)

Paul defines these ‘we are the way’ groups as self-made religion. Hear what he wrote: “If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, do not handle, do not taste, do not touch.”

He goes on to say, “These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-make religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.”

Paul’s entire contention in Colossians centers upon not getting caught up in sectarianisn. He earlier said, “Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day–things which are a mere shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.” (Cf. Col 2)

Paul also warned the Corinthians in the matter — “But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.” (2Co11:3)

So - Did Jesus come to give us a religion? I think not. He came to give us Himself. He came to give us the reality of the Father, and a purity of worship and devotion to Him. He came to give us one heart together. He came to give us Christian love, a love that transcends all boundaries of the Christian groupings. He came to make us one with Himself, with heaven, and with one another.

We are to gather with those who see true worship as relational to Jesus and to the heavenly Father, and not with some group who sees themselves as being the truth. Jesus alone is the truth.

It is not a matter of finding a church with no flaws. As long as the human element is involved, there will be human issues to deal with. We are all sinners saved by grace. However, we should seek to gather with other believers who recognize that there are true believers among all who gather in His name.

One other point I need to make — I believe one great sign of the endtimes is sometimes overlooked. (In my opinion.) The great sign of the end time church will be the separation between the godly and those who are merely religious.

Listen carefully to this prophetic Psalm — “He summons the heavens above, and the earth, to judge His people: ‘Gather My godly ones to Me, those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.’” (Ps50:4,5 - The judging here is the separating of His godly ones from all others. The sacrifice speaks to? those who have come through the cross and have passed out of death into life. They are eternally saved.)

Is this greater sign happening in the church today? Yes. I am seeing it take place in groups like the Women of Faith Conferences, missions groups by the hundreds, such as Christians Sharing Christ, in youth programs such as Awana, in untold para-church organizations. We are seeing vast gatherings of youth who are wholly devoted to Jesus and not to some sectarian idea. (No, we are not children of Azuza. We are children of God.)

Godly people are gathering all over this planet to join in true worship, and they are recognizing one another as true worshippers should and will do. They are lifting one voice to the Father.

Not long ago Betty and I went on a Gaither Home-Coming Cruise with several thousand people from all Christian backgrounds. What made the cruise so awesome was that there were no religious distinctions to be found. It did not matter who you sat with at the breakfast table, you instantly fell into sweet fellowship. And the spirit of worship was totally heavenly. No need to pump people up into emotional frenzies. The worship was often like a quiet river of heaven flowing through the peoples who had gathered.

Does this mean we should forsake our home churches? Never. Our home churches are our personal family-gathering places of worship. The Lord has always flocked His people into groupings. He gives us under-shepherds to help teach us His ways. Church families are ordained of the Lord. We should always see the church as Jesus taught us — “I am the Vine. You are the branches.”

What we should forsake, however, is any notion that our denomination or our group is exclusive to God. Nor should we set about to try and create a unity. The unity we are to keep is our unity in Jesus Christ. Jesus came to give us oneness with the heavenly Father. Let’s keep that oneness.

Just something to think about.

Blessings,

Buddy

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