The Problem with a Form of Godliness

2 Timothy 3:1-5 – “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God- 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.”

If there is any passage in the New Testament that describes the present age, it seems to me to be this one. If we stop and take a look at the characteristics of people in the last days, it sure seems to fit our time in history. While it is easy to apply these characteristics to others, I can see way too much of myself in them, too. Not all of the terms apply to me, but I can see several that do. For example, I’m not nearly as grateful as I should be. I’ve so much to be thankful for, but I seldom spend much time on my knees thanking God for His great blessings.

But it is the last part of this passage that has my attention today. One of the characteristics of people in the last times is described as being lovers of pleasure rather than of God. It is typified by having a form of godliness but denying the power of the godliness. What does this mean? Moffat translated it this way: “For though they keep up a form of religion, they will have nothing to do with it as a force in their lives.” Paul goes on to suggest to Timothy that he should have nothing to do with such people – people whose religion seems like a godly one, but who go through life unchanged by their brush with godliness.

One of the characteristics of the Christian should be POWER. Ephesians 6:10 encourages us to “…be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.” 2 Timothy 1:7 puts it more bluntly: “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” If your life, and if my life are characterized by weakness, one would have to wonder about the form of godliness that we practice.

Posted by: Keturah
Copyright 2013 by Galen C. Dalrymple