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holding to a form of godliness...
2 Timothy 3:5 talks about men "holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power".
what does this mean, and how can we avoid doing this ourselves?
thanks,
jenny
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Tammy on
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I'm sure others will come up with a much deeper answer but my simple answer is people who "play" church
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Permalink Reply by Leonard T on
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Tammy's short answer is good. We could add a little more by looking at verse 4. They do not love God, but rather love pleasure. That is significant.
One of my favorite questions to ask people today is "Do you love Jesus?"
Lord Bless,
LT
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No. We can enjoy the pleasures that God allows or gives us in this life, but that is not the same as having a love for pleasure. We are warned that we must not love the world or anything in it (1 John 3:15-17). We must have a love for God (and others), a love that grows greater and deeper over time. In the verse you posted we recognize that these being described did not have a love for God, but only for the pleasures. With that knowledge about these being spoken of we know the idea of one being able to do both is excluded in this case even if it were possible.
Lord Bless,
LT
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Permalink Reply by Jenny on
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thankyou,
how can you tell the difference between enjoying a pleasure that God has allowed us, and loving that pleasure?
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The answer is found in defining the word love. Think about what love really means and how it is truly defined. Do you wish to take a stab at it. I will check back in later.
Lord Bless,
LT
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hm... love is to yearn for something. that's about the best i can come up with.
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The Bible gives us a good overview of love and it shows that love is relational and not something focused on a thing, which would included personal pleasure.
1Co 13:1-13 NIV84 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. (2) If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. (3) If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. (4) Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. (5) It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. (6) Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. (7) It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (8) Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. (9) For we know in part and we prophesy in part, (10) but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. (11) When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. (12) Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. (13) And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Hope that helps.
Lord Bless,
LT
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ok, so based on what you said about verse 4, that "They do not love God, but rather love pleasure. That is significant." can you please explain the significance? i'm guessing you mean it's significant for properly understanding verse 5.
sorry, i'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer
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Jenny,
You are correct. They did not love God and thus their "religous" activity was void of any power because God is absent from their midst. They may attempt to live by, or as in most cases impose on others, a set of religous codes. These codes that they try to live by may even be found in the Bible. At best they are doing what they do for the wrong reason and at worst they will twist what God's Word says by taking a verse here and a verse there to try and get it to say what they want it to say and thus fit it to their life style.
A good rule of thumb when studying Scripture is that no verse of the Bible stands alone. When we read a lone verse it can appear to have many meanings, yet there is only one true interpretation of any given verse or passage. That interpretation is always what God meant it to say. There can be several principles or applications that come from that verse or passage, but only one interpretation. Therefore it is important when studying (and not just reading) God's Word to do a few extra things:
Here are a couple:
- Identify the verse or passage in question.- Identify key words and seek to understand what they really mean.
-- It is also good to examine how those words are used elsewhere within the book they are found.
- Identify who is speaking (i.e. is it Jesus or one of Job's friends).
- Identify the person or group to whom the Bible is speaking.
- Identify cultural aspects found in the Scripture as culture changes (i.e. what we understand about adoption today is not the same as what they meant by adoption in Jesus day).
- Examine the passage before and after the portion in question.
- Examine how this fits within the book it is found
- Examine what you have found in light of the whole of Scripture on a topic (i.e. grace if it were the subject). If what you think you have found seems to contradict other clear passages then we have come to the wrong conclusion.
- There can be more, but I will stop.
You may not have to do all of the above when studying each passage, but these are good tools to help understand the true meaning that God intended.
A lot of people do not like the next statement, but I stand by it none-the-less:
"Reading Scripture is always beneficial. Studying Scripture is even more enlightening. One is easy and one is more difficult and time consuming."I gave you more than you asked for, but I hope is is helpful to you.
Lord Bless,
LT
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yes thank you this is helpful. i have been reading the bible every day and at first was reading through pretty quickly, but i got some advice to read much more slowly and try to really get what God is saying in small portions or even one verse. these tips are much appreciated and i think will help me to extract more of what God is saying. i guess this is the difference between reading and studying.
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