In Paul’s second letter to his son in the faith, Timothy, he wrote about the attitudes and actions of those who will be living in the last days. It is a familiar passage. [2 Timothy 3:1-5]
As I re-read the passage, I nodded my head over and over and thought, yep, that is where we are. We can just look out our windows and we can find proof of how bad the world is. Then I got to the last line in the passage.
“…holding to the form of godliness but denying its power.” [vs 5 HCSB]
Paul describes people who hold “to the form of godliness” but deny its power. The people in our streets are not claiming any form of godliness, they are shaking their fists at God. It is the people in our churches that claim godliness.
In these last days there are people who make an outward display of religion. They profess to be Christians, but their words and actions do not agree. Their worst feature is that they claim some form of godliness, but there is no evidence of the power of God in their lives.
True godliness results in the transformation of our lives. It changes hearts and lives. It bears fruit. True godliness is born through surrendering constantly to the indwelling Holy Spirit. True godliness is finding the character of Christ Jesus increasing in us, while the character of our natural man decreases.
In that, there is power.
