Late in his life, the apostle Paul wrote to his disciple Timothy:
Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe (1 Timothy 4:7-10).
He tells Timothy to “train yourself to be godly.” That sounds like great advice, and probably not just for him but for us as well. So are we training ourselves to be godly? What does that even mean?
I want to be clear right off that I’m not a Bible scholar. I don’t read New Testament Greek (or any other form of Greek, for that matter), and I’m certainly not qualified to comment on the nuances of the original text of any part of the Bible. But there are some tools I’ve discovered that I can use to get at least some of the benefits of New Testament scholarship. One tool that I’ve found to be particularly helpful is the Blue Letter Bible website (which I’ll abbreviate as BLB). Using that, I can find out what the wording in the original text is, see how words are defined in the standard references used by Bible scholars, and get a list of all the places in Scripture that a particular word appears. And unlike some Bible study resources, BLB is free. So let’s use the BLB to look more closely at what training in godliness means, and at the same time you can get an idea of how I conduct a serious Bible study.
Looking back at this text, I notice first that Paul contrasts training in godliness here with “godless myths and old wives’ tales.” I’m an anthropologist by training, so to me the word “myth” means a sacred story that is told as true (whether or not it actually is true). However, that’s not helpful here. The Greek word that appears here is mythos, which is the source of our English word, but a the time of Paul, according to the BLB, it meant a fictitious story. Interestingly, and probably important in this context, the word often refers to the theories coming out of the Jewish mystical traditions that we know to have been somewhat popular in this era. So in this context, it appears that Paul is warning Timothy not to get involved with mystical speculations. That tells us a little bit about what training in godliness is not, but it doesn’t tell us what it is.
The next thing I notice is that Paul tells Timothy, “train yourself.” The Greek word here is gymnazō, which means “to exercise vigorously” according to the BLB. It makes sense, then, that Paul brings up physical training, since the word itself implies some similarity between physical training and training to be godly. And the word translated “godly” is eusebeia, which Vine’s Expository Dictionary (a standard reference work, and one that is available through the BLB) tells us, “denotes that piety which, characterized by a Godward attitude, does that which is well-pleasing to Him.”
Now, just a few verses earlier in this same letter, we read:
Beyond all question, the mystery from which true godliness springs is great:
He appeared in the flesh,
was vindicated by the Spirit,
was seen by angels,
was preached among the nations,
was believed on in the world,
was taken up in glory.
(1 Timothy 3:16)
The “mystery from which true godliness springs” is personified by Paul in a praise poem that can only be understood as referring to Jesus. It reads like a formal statement of faith, and it may well be one. The key takeaway, however, is that godliness, the attitude and behavior that pleases God, does not come from following a set of rules, but from following a person. It comes from following Jesus. So training myself to be godly means training myself to be like Jesus.
Pulling together everything that we have so far, the sense of this passage is that becoming stronger in godliness, that is, becoming more like Jesus, is not a matter of natural growth, even for believers. It requires continual practice and disciplined hard work. It’s like training for an athletic competition.
This is an important concept because many Christians, and especially those of us who are Evangelical, really like the saying “let go and let God.” Now, I think there are many areas of our lives where we should do just that, but if I take this Scripture seriously, becoming like Christ is not one of them. On the contrary, we’re supposed to work hard at becoming more like Jesus. We are not just passive recipients of God’s Spirit. Rather, he wants us to be active partners in building his kingdom, beginning with building it in our own lives. This requires both intention and effort.
None of this, of course, takes away from the fact that our righteousness is only by grace, through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). Everything I have is a gift of God’s grace, including my own efforts to become like him. Both the will and the ability to do so come from him. But having received them from God, I now must use that will and that ability to follow him. In the words of Dallas Willard, “Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning. Earning is an attitude. Effort is an action.”
In Paul’s letter to the Philippians he wrote about that same combination of effort and God’s Spirit:
Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed – not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence – continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose (Philippians 2:12-13).
Paul tells the Philippians to “continue to work out your salvation.” Not work for, but work out. The Amplified Bible adds, parenthetically, “that is, cultivate it, bring it to full effect, actively pursue spiritual maturity.” Or, as I would put it, live up to the truth of who you are – children of God. And do so “with fear and trembling.” Or, from the Amplified Bible again, “using serious caution and critical self-evaluation to avoid anything that might offend God or discredit the name of Christ.” Both the reason to do this and the power to do it come from the fact that God is already at work in the Philippian believers. He’s already at work in us as well, to accomplish his purpose of sanctifying his children.
Responding to God’s grace by obeying him is a constant theme in both the Old and the New Testaments. I did nothing to earn the inheritance I have through Christ, and I never can do anything to earn it. It can’t be earned at all. But part of my inheritance is the freedom to live the way a son and heir of God ought to live. I can’t earn it, it’s a gift. But I can use what I’ve been given to live in a way that pleases my Father. Not only can I do so, but I must! Refusing to live out the new identity God has given me makes as much sense as receiving a pardon but refusing to leave my prison cell. As much sense as if I were a freed slave who continues to work, without pay, for my old master. But living as a child of God, if I’m reading the Scriptures correctly, does require effort and practice.
Going further, the statement that godliness holds promise for this life, as well as for the life to come, is also important. Godliness is not just about storing up heavenly treasure, although it does do that, but also about how I live my life right now. If I make the effort to train myself in spiritual things, Paul is saying, I will do better in this life.
Looking at the BLB again, we see that the word for training, which we said was gymnazō, is also found elsewhere in the New Testament. Most notably:
But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil (Hebrews 5:14).
So one of the benefits in this life that comes from training in godliness is that it gives us the ability to distinguish good from evil. This pretty clearly implies that, in our natural selves apart from God’s Spirit, we aren’t very good at doing that. Natural moral intuition is not always wrong, but it is not reliably correct either. Our moral intuition has been corrupted by sin, and it’s only by training in godliness that we can learn to rightly judge good and evil. (That fact, I think, goes a long way toward explaining the world we live in.)
The same word is used again later in Hebrews:
No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it (Hebrews 12:11).
When most people read this verse, the first thing that comes to mind is correction for doing wrong, and that is definitely implied here. However, we also see that what God’s discipline produces is training – gymnazō, which returns us to the metaphor of athletic training.
So how do we do this? What does it look like to train ourselves to be godly? Some sort of spiritual disciplines seem to be implied here, but Paul does not give Timothy a list of disciplines he should be practicing. He didn’t need to. Timothy had been Paul’s disciple, and undoubtedly already knew what he should be doing.
We don’t have that advantage. Nevertheless, even though Paul was only writing to one man, the Holy Spirit certainly knew that this letter would eventually be recognized as part of the canon of the New Testament. If we take seriously the doctrine that the Bible is the Word of God, then we need to pay attention not just to what the Holy Spirit says, but also to what he chooses not to say. He does not give a list of spiritual disciplines here, which fits with the experience of the church through the centuries that there is not one, single list that is best for everyone. Rather, each believer must, through practice, and with guidance from the Holy Spirit, figure out for themselves what mix of spiritual disciplines works best for them.
For me, the disciplines I’ve found to be most helpful in my growth toward Christ are the study of God’s Word and prayer, with fellowship and worship being very helpful as well. I’ve written articles about all of these. At times I’ve also found the discipline of solitude and silence has helped me hear more clearly what God is saying. However, your list probably won’t be exactly like mine.
And I want to reiterate; these are called disciplines for a reason; it requires self-discipline to do them. It’s not enough to study the Scriptures, to worship, to pray, etc. only when I’m in the mood. To get the benefits of training myself in godliness, I have to do these things even when I’m tired, or busy, or just don’t want to. Sometimes it really is a choice between pleasing God and pleasing myself. Not to earn favor with God – that’s both impossible and unnecessary – but so that, through training, I can more fully live out my identity as a son of God.
And if you’ve gotten this far, you’ve also seen how I use some of the tools available to those of us who are not Bible scholars, to dig more deeply into God’s Word. Practicing it is up to you.