While reading this morning about John Murray's life, I found this particular piece to be rather wonderful. It made me ponder how the average professing Christian would answer the question, "What is godliness?" Stop for a moment, and ask yourself that question. How would you answer it. Here was Murray's answer:
"What is godliness? Godliness is God-consciousness, and all pervasive sense of God's presence, of His judgement, of our relation to Him and His relation to us, of our responsibility to Him and dependence upon Him. This God-consciousness is spoken of as the fear of God, the profound reverence for His majesty and the fear of His judgements. This fear of God is not something abstract--it is a filial reverence springing from a relation that has been constituted by redemption in Christ, justification and forgiveness by His grace, adoption in His love."
Did this answer surprise you? It did me. Notice it is not about what we do, it is about knowing God; about sensing His presence, and understanding our relationship to Him through Christ.
I found this paragraph to be delightful as well:
"John Murray was also an admirer of Calvin. Looking back on his own conversion, Calvin wrote, "God subdued my heart to teachableness". Calvin has been described as "a God-possessed soul." The same could be said of John Murray. He lived and spoke and wrote as a man deeply aware of the presence of God.."
Some of my concluding thoughts: Godliness is not in the doing; but in the personal knowing of God. The "doing" is a natural result that flows from the "knowing". You can appear to be godly by outward acts of righteousness and yet not be godly at all. O' Lord, subdue our hearts afresh; possess our souls with Your reality; make us deeply aware of Your presense; give us a hunger to know more of You--perhaps then true godliness will flow from your people who are called by your name and the onlooking world will see a true manifestion of Your glory.
"What is godliness? Godliness is God-consciousness, and all pervasive sense of God's presence, of His judgement, of our relation to Him and His relation to us, of our responsibility to Him and dependence upon Him. This God-consciousness is spoken of as the fear of God, the profound reverence for His majesty and the fear of His judgements. This fear of God is not something abstract--it is a filial reverence springing from a relation that has been constituted by redemption in Christ, justification and forgiveness by His grace, adoption in His love."
Did this answer surprise you? It did me. Notice it is not about what we do, it is about knowing God; about sensing His presence, and understanding our relationship to Him through Christ.
I found this paragraph to be delightful as well:
"John Murray was also an admirer of Calvin. Looking back on his own conversion, Calvin wrote, "God subdued my heart to teachableness". Calvin has been described as "a God-possessed soul." The same could be said of John Murray. He lived and spoke and wrote as a man deeply aware of the presence of God.."
Some of my concluding thoughts: Godliness is not in the doing; but in the personal knowing of God. The "doing" is a natural result that flows from the "knowing". You can appear to be godly by outward acts of righteousness and yet not be godly at all. O' Lord, subdue our hearts afresh; possess our souls with Your reality; make us deeply aware of Your presense; give us a hunger to know more of You--perhaps then true godliness will flow from your people who are called by your name and the onlooking world will see a true manifestion of Your glory.
Comments
I'm itching to get my hands on a copy of the book "Godology: Because Knowing God Changes Everything."
Thank you for posting this. :)