What is godliness? How does a person become godly and live godly in this world? First, we must understand that by nature we are altogether ungodly. We are by nature without God and ignorant of God. This does not mean that by nature we are without a god. We all by nature, even God's elect before true conversion, worship a god but a god of our imagination. The true and living God has revealed Himself in the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ and redemption by Him. Until we learn of Him and know Him as both a just God and a Savior based on the merits of the blood and righteousness of Christ, we are altogether ungodly and all we do is ungodly, not because all we do is immoral, but because it is the fruit of self-righteousness.
 

Secondly, godliness cannot be defined simply as morality. Godliness includes morality but a particular kind. Consider Paul who was dedicated and moral in his religion while ignorant of the true and living God and ignorant of Christ and the only ground of salvation. He noted that all his works while in this state were ungodly (Phil. 3:7-10). True godliness begins with knowledge of God and faith in Christ. True godliness consists of a saving knowledge of God in Christ and life that corresponds to that knowledge. We all ought to rejoice that "God justifies the ungodly"(Rom. 4:5). How? Upon what ground? It ought to be obvious that there can be no conditions, no qualifications on the ungodly for salvation. It must be all of pure grace. This is why God conditioned salvation on Christ. Consider godliness.
 

I. GODLINESS AND TRUTH --
 

• 1 Timothy 3:15 -- But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. {16} And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

 

• Romans 6:17 -- But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. {18} Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

 

 
 
 

Our Lord said "The truth will set you free" (John 8:33). This is a specific truth wherein we see how God can justify the ungodly based on the imputed righteousness of Christ. Until then all we can do is "commit sin" in the sight of God. This is includes even our morality. Even the moral behavior of ungodly sinners, "servants of sin," is unacceptable to God because it is opposed to Him being glorified as the God who justifies the ungodly based on the righteousness of Christ. It is opposed to Christ's righteousness as the only ground of salvation.
 

So the first act of godliness any sinner performs is to believe the Gospel. This is the first evidence that a sinner has been brought from a state of ungodliness into a state of godliness. In this godliness we recognize that we are sinners, that by nature and by practice void of a righteousness that answers the demands of God's law and justice. We admit that if salvation were conditioned on us in any way, to any degree, there would be no hope of salvation for us. We recognize our total dependence upon God and His grace through Christ. And we pay homage and tribute to God by honoring Him as the God who justifies the ungodly based on the righteousness of Christ. We fear God, not with a legal fear of punishment that stirs us up in dead works trying to establish our own righteousness, but we fear Him with a reverence and regard for His glory revealed in our salvation conditioned on Christ, God manifests in the flesh. This is the beginning of true godliness.
 

The next act of godliness a sinner performs is repentance from dead works and former idolatry. This is the first evidence that his faith is genuine, saving, justifying faith. Godly repentance is a change of mind concerning God and the ground of salvation. It is where a sinner, like Paul, comes to see that before hearing and believing the Gospel, all his efforts were evil deeds and fruit unto death (Phil. 3:4-10; Rom. 6:20-21). Before faith, even our repentance is legal and ungodly. True repentance is true godliness.
 

II. GODLINESS AND LIFE --
 

• 2 Peter 1:2 -- Grace and peace be 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;

 

Eternal life is spiritual life, and it has to do, first, with the state of justification based on the righteousness of Christ. Once a sinner is brought from the state of ungodliness as a servant of sin and then translated into a state of godliness, he becomes a servant of righteousness. A servant of righteousness is a justified sinner, a believer, one who serves God motivated by the certainty of final glory conditioned on Christ.
 

Acts of "godliness" have to do with faith, obedience, and devotion. Faith produces good works. All of this is acceptable and well-pleasing unto God. Remember, until we are brought from the state of condemnation, evidenced by unbelief, we can perform no act of godliness. In the state of condemnation, nothing we do is acceptable to God. Everything we do is ungodly, not because everything we do is immoral, but because even our morality is performed while in an unjustified state and the fruit of self-righteousness aimed at the ground of salvation.
 

So Peter is saying that by sovereign power in Christ, God has equipped us with everything necessary to live spiritually and godly in this world. And He has done this through knowledge. This is specific knowledge concerning God's own glory and virtue. God's glory is the revelation of His character attributes. God's virtue is the excellency of those character attributes as they are engaged and honored in our salvation conditioned on Christ. It is the highest revelation of God's character, and therefore a reference to the saving work of Christ.
 

It is by this specific knowledge revealing how God can be just to justify the ungodly, that sinners are called to a life of godliness. This is where we begin to fear God with that reverence and respect for His redemptive character, a just God and a Savior. Until we have this specific knowledge we are not called unto eternal life and godliness. Eternal life is to know God as a just God and a Savior through Jesus Christ. Godliness begins with the fear of the Lord that would move us out of respect and reverence for God and as motivated by the assurance of salvation conditioned on Christ, to obedience.
 

Godliness is a cultivation of a likeness to God in God's moral attributes and a strong desire to honor His character as revealed in Jesus Christ (Eph. 5:1; 2 Cor. 11:2). It includes our efforts at being conformed to Christ, to love God supremely and to love our neighbors, especially our brethren. Having all things that pertain to life and godliness, we desire to worship and serve God. Godliness includes all of this as well as the prayers of a justified sinner. The main way we should seek to be godly is through studying God's word, the Scriptures. This is not mystical, but it is a determined and diligent use of the Word, seeking to apply its doctrines and principles to our lives.
 

So this is obedience to God's revealed will from the spirit of grace and adoption. It begins with fearing God with reverence and respect for His redemptive glory. It continues as we expect God to be faithful to His promise of final glory conditioned on Christ. It continues in true worship and in the use of all the means of grace whereby our hearts are established with grace. It is evidenced by our sincere attempts to love God and to love one another, not just in word, but in actions and deeds. All of it is to be motivated by grace or it cannot be called godliness. Apart from faith all attempts and efforts at obedience are the ungodly acts of an ungodly sinner.
 

III. GODLINESS AND ASSURANCE --
 

• 2 Peter 3:11 -- Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,

 

This is why those who believe salvation conditioned on the sinner, or who believe a sinner can be saved and then lost, cannot be considered godly. No matter how they appear outwardly. And this is why we must make the distinction between our state of godliness before God in Christ and our character and conduct which falls way short of the standard of holiness and which is excluded from the ground or cause of our salvation. How can we have any assurance based on our character and conduct when one of the main acts of godliness is that we cry, "O wretched man that I am" based on my character and conduct?
 

Think about this! One of the main acts of godliness a believer can do is to admit that we are the chief of sinners, that our righteousnesses, when compared to Christ, are all filthy rags, that if God would mark iniquities, we would not stand! We know that our works do not make us holy. They do not sanctify us or make us godly. Only Christ's righteousness can do this. We know that before we can perform the first act of godliness and acceptable obedience, we must see ourselves as dead to sin, dead to the law, free from sin, justified, holy, completely pardoned from both the guilt and the defilement of sin, completely fit and qualified for the favor and presence of God, and completely entitled to whole inheritance of grace. We know that none of these things apply to our character and conduct. If they did, how could we say we are still sinners, or "O wretched man...", etc.
 

If we applied any of this to our character and conduct, we would have to conclude we were not saved, that we were yet ungodly. Or we would have to think, self-righteously, that we could attain holiness of character and conduct in this life with God's help. Or we would have to think that God justifies us, or makes us fit or holy, or rewards us based on some sliding scale that He has not clearly revealed. Or we would just simply have to be confused, and God is not the author of confusion. So in order to glorify God, exalt Christ, and exclude boasting in ourselves, while at the same time, have any comfort and assurance of peace and salvation, and perform any acts of acceptable obedience and godliness, we must make this distinction between what we are positionally in Christ and what we are in our character and conduct. This is essential to true godliness, and without it, there is no godliness. Remember, God justifies, sanctifies, qualifies, and glorifies the ungodly all based on the righteousness of Christ.